Pimp Down: How to Save the Pope?

[three count bout]

Its hard to believe we are only two years removed from a period of Impact Wrestling when the Pope was being pushed to be a major player in the organization. He picked up impressive wins over Desmond Wolfe, a victory over then World Champion AJ Styles, and won the 8 Card Stud Tournament at Against All Odds over Wolfe (God I miss him) Morgan and Mr Anderson.

Although he failed in his bid to win the World Title, he remained a charismatic, athletic reasonably young talent. Unfortunately he got injured and took some time off to rest and get healthy.

Not too long after his return he was placed in an unlikely alliance with the Stinger and Big Sexy Kevin Nash. To be paired with two legends suggested Impact Wrestling saw big things and thought highly of Pope, but we all know how this ended with both Nash and Sting leaving after Immortal formed and Pope was left to fight the good fight alone. Absent Minded booking led to him jobbing to abyss, and finally turning heel all culminating in a boring feud with Joe.

Since... well Pope has flipped flopped a few times, hasn't been involved in any good storylines of note. He was paired with the energy sucking Devon Dudley and hasn't had a memorable match in forever. All that withstanding I Still think there is potential for Pope. I think that since coming to Impact he's gone heel/face too many times which is a common gripe of mine. When he was the face Pope with the money falling from the rafters, and Michael Jackson pedo mask and he gave his pimptastic glasses to children ala Hitman he had a good thing going. The Impact Zone seemed to like him, I distinctly remember Pope is Pimping chants!

Some guys work better Heel, than Face and I don't think Pope is one of them. Now even though I like the Pope and want to see Impact do more with him, I understand why he can't be in the Main Event ATM because its crowded.
Which brings me to my questions:

Perhaps Not now but can Pope insert himself into the Main Event?

Which Pope do you prefer, Heel or Face?

How can IW present or "Book" Pope to help get him over?

Lastly If you think the Pope is horrible and has no potential Please Say Why

Thanks

 

[ABMorales787]

I don't really see him as more than a flashy midcarder. I used to like him, but over time, his in-ring work just did not do anything for me. I know at the least he could be decent to fill out the midcard range. It TNA got their butts out of their heads and used the TV title better, Pope would most likely gyrate around it constantly.

 

[scottyshowman82]

I remember when Dixie Carter had this segment with Mike Tenay answering TNA fan questions and one asked, if the talented Pope would be punished when Hogan came in and Dixie was like yes. At that time he rising. I used to listen to his promos and say he had charisma to rival the Rock. He was and is one of the best all around performers in the business.

I think wrestling has a lot to do with timing. When Pope was rising up, that was just at the time when AJ turned heel and was with Flair. And then RVD came in and then Jeff Hardy needed a turn and then Anderson and now the tide to turning toward Roode being on top.

Honestly pro wrestling is a business where it really helps to have friends backstage. If you're influential enough and powerful enough you can make anyone a star. It appears that Pope's ship has sailed with Roode, Angle, Hardy, Storm at the top and guys like Morgan and Crimson on the horizon.

I don't like to count anyone out and I want all pro wrestlers to reach their ultimate potential especially some talented like the Pope. I do think his ship has sailed but wrestling a funny business and circumstances change and heels become face and vice versa in the snap of a finger.

I think Pope did some solid work recently manipulating Devon's kids against their father. He was very dark and very evil and made me a fan of the angle.

 

[Jackal960]

I also think Pope was one of the greatest on the mic, at least used to be. I was waiting for his "better than you" promos everytime I watched impact. But then he started to talk meaningless, I mean it was just trash talk without a purpose. The promo was ending and I was thinking "what did he just do" He was still acting the way he always was, but whoever gave him those promos must have been drunk when writing it. Pope is just one of the top of that list when I think of TNA not utilizing their talents. You can't become a star alone, you need backup at backstage, and Pope obviously doesn't have one. So creative is basically filling the time slot with him, without giving him anything proper.

 

[three count bout]

Yeah Killjoy, I also think now that he is out of the ME, a run with the TV title would be good. I'd prefer a Face Pope Vs a Heel Magnus if only IW took their mid card title more seriously it could be a good platform for upcoming talent.

Jackal I definitely remember the good and bad promos. I hope he can regain that flair he once showed.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I don't really see him as more than a flashy midcarder. I used to like him, but over time, his in-ring work just did not do anything for me. I know at the least he could be decent to fill out the midcard range. It TNA got their butts out of their heads and used the TV title better, Pope would most likely gyrate around it constantly.

I'm sort of in the same boat here. I really dig how flashy his look is, and how flamboyant his promo style is, but I just get the sense from him that he'd really struggle as a consistent main event performer, and honestly, I can't quite put my finger on why. He has a lot going for him, but like Anderson, he sort of grows on you quickly and then slowly but surely begins to wear you down and out.

As far as I'm concerned, he certainly has what it takes to hang, but it's going to be intermittent at best.

I'm full on in agreement with you about their TV title use, though. If they did a better job of really establishing some credence around it in the mid-card scene he'd be in that title picture consistently, and if he did so often enough it could be his ticket to the main event, similar to how AJ did with the X Division and Tag Team titles.

 

[King Michéal]

Pope is gold, and with careful booking can go main event again within a few months.

Pope comes out on Impact, interrupts a Knockouts Tag Match, clears the ring and speaks.
"Since Pope won the wildcard tournament, Pope has been a joke here at Impact Wrestling" Crowd chant for Pope "Pope has reached the crossroads at Impact Wrestling" crowd start to boo "Don't boo me peeps, Pope's been loyal, Popes asked for chances, but management have nothing for me" we want pope chants start.

Mr Anderson enters the Impact Zone.

"Quit your crying asshole, at least you've been on tv. I've been sat at home for 3 months, waiting on a call that never came, do you know what thats like?"

Pope: "How about jobbing to rookies and old men whilst your buddy is top guy in your old stomping ground?"

Anderson: "How about being run out of your old stomping ground because of jealousy, destined for the big one i was"

Anderson and Pope stare each other down

Pope " Way Pope sees it Ken, we have a lot in common"

Anderson "Promised the earth by Hogan, and left to rot on the sidelines"

Pope "Lets work together Ken, you and Pope, get what we want, or go back where we came from"

Anderson and Pope shake hands as Impact Wrestling goes to a break

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I remember when WWE let him go and we went to TNA I thought to myself "Wow they messed up with this one, Burke is a solid prospect they should have never let him go, TNA is getting a deal here" Cut to two years later and I do wonder what happened.

I think the recent storyline with Devon and his kids wasn't great and it killed off a lot of his momentum. The heel turn wasn't bad but it didn't end well for him and I can't help but see him taking the path that Anderson is currently on where they don't have anything to do for him

 

[WrestlingFanSinceThe80s]

In order for the "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero to be on IMPACT Wrestling television again, he NEEDS to win the Television Championship. This would give "The Pope" something to do while he continues his road to the world title. Also, you can have "The Pope" feud with Mr. Anderson over the television championship. In order for this possible feud to work, "The Pope" needs to turn heel against Mr. Anderson.

 

[WrestlingFanSinceThe80s]

In order for the "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero to be on IMPACT Wrestling television again, he NEEDS to win the Television Championship. This would give "The Pope" something to do while he continues his road to the world title. Also, you can have "The Pope" feud with Mr. Anderson over the television championship. In order for this possible feud to work, "The Pope" needs to turn heel against Mr. Anderson.

Also, I can see "The Pope" feud with "The Phenomenal" A.J. Styles over the television championship. "The Pope" can talk about his past feud from the 2010 TNA Lockdown steel cage match and how he was screwed in the world title match. "The Pope" needs new feuds with wrestlers that can put him over and chase after the world title.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

It's pretty obvious to me that they have no real intentions of doing anything half-way interesting with Pope. He was saddled into that D-Von feud off-and-on for the better part of a year, and ultimately it resulted in NOTHING for either man. They turned D-Von's kids against him for ONE MONTH, before turning them back and closing the book on it. That after teasing the feud as being "on" for one week every month, and then "off" the other three. It's just frustrating...

I think Pope has a lot of charisma, but it's a gimmick that doesn't provide you with a lot of obvious direction. Creative has to be, well, creative enough to keep giving him direction and making that character interesting. It was a fun gimmick, but they played all of the OBVIOUS scenarios out of it already. Where do they go with it now? Like several other TNA gimmicks, they've milked it for its obvious value and then put it on the sideline because they have nothing creative to do with it. Burke (real name) needs to come up with his own material, promote HIMSELF, or I think he's at great risk for creative terminating his character, and ultimately his career. Maybe he can make a return to the WWE like a few other mid-card guys have done in the past (R-Truth has a similar path to Burke). Ultimately I wish him well...

 

[Tha Wolfpac]

I find it amusing how almost a year ago Pope was becoming one of the top guys in TNA and had some really good momentum for him. I guess thats the biz, Pope has the potential no doubt but he needs the right people to work with. A stop-start storyline with D-Von isn't going to help him reach that next level, the storyline barely gave any relevance to either superstar. Pope needs a superstar that has some sort of significance within TNA and build himself slowly once again, a feud with AJ Styles for example would be great for Pope to showcase what he has.

 

[Lowdown]

Pope is in the same situation as Anderson. He is a solid mid carder, possibly could be a good main eventer. I can see him challenging for the TV title (if they ever put Robbie E on TV to defend it) or getting into a feud with someone like Bully Ray or Gunner. He does have charisma and could be effective as either a face or heel, although I think he makes a better face. Its hard to say if he'll be back on TV in the near future. I for one hope its soon.

 

[GrandSword]

Another huge missed opportunity by TNA... The Pope had the potential to possibly grab the attention the Rock did a decade ago. He is great in the ring, on the mic and has the IT factor everyone talks about.

Like someone already said Roode and Storm had now been chosen to move up, and there are only a certin amount of spots in the ME. I think Pope has the ability to be the one who can make a big name for himself off the back of Roode's ascention.

Storm will probably win back the belt, buut Roode will get it back at some stage, and Pope would beenfit the most and really bring in some ratings for IW. He is that good. Buut of course this is up to the higher ups...

IW is really working with the younger talent at the moment, so hopeflly Pope is in these plans...