Rockstar Dud?

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

Rockstar Spud was on Destination X and I really feel the only reason this guy is even still on the roster is so that TNA British Boot Camp (the reality show he won which is how he got on the roster) doesn't look like a completely pointless venture. When that reality show was about to start these were my thoughts on Spud when someone said he was main event caliber:

Spud is 5'3. To put things in perspective, Austin Aries is 5'9. Amazing Red is 5'6. Look how small they are, then go even smaller. No way in hell will he ever main event. Not to mention that Spud is also not that athletic despite how small he is. I've seen him live, I mean he does do some athletic stuff but for him it's all about the persona he portrays. He does do it well, but I don't think he will ever make it past Robbie E level.

He seems to do even less moves now in TNA to when I saw him on the UK indys! He did nothing of note that I can recall in his Destination X match. His only real strong suit is his mic skills, and even those aren't anything outstanding. And when you consider that he has had pretty much no mic time whatsoever... I just wonder should he even be in TNA? What do you all think of Spud? Would you rather have him in TNA over the other British Boot Camp participants?

 

[Starkist]

He's terrible. He is a did and why he still has a job surprises me. He got little reaction from the crowd and the only talked guy Trent, had no momentum because Spud sucks that bad.

So short answer is he sucks and should be fired.

 

[harrythem]

Not a fan of Spud. Never really been a fan and, to me, that's because I find his voice boring. In all fairness I find most midlands voices to be nasaly and just, dull, but his sounds even more annoying with his attempts at personality (worse than Stan Collymore)

I'd have hired the Blossom twins over Spud because they'd be just as cheap and the diva stuff they could do would be of more benefit to TNA than a small dude that can't even do the moves a small dude should be able to do (Ray Mysterio in WCW he is not)

 

[Magic Mark]

If TNA can fire Crimson, Joey Ryan, and Madison Rayne, I think they should release Spud too. I also hate that name. "Rockstar Spud". I'd rather have John Smith or Bob Johnson as my ring name than that crap. And I also hate how Christe Hemme announces his name. It's wierd.

But anyways, back on topic. He sucks. It wouldn't break my heart if he was cut.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I haven't seen a guy struggle that hard to get over as a heel in a match in a while, and he certainly had the douche strut, clothes and haircut aiding him.

I was thoroughly unimpressed, though, and voiced as much in the LD. If given the choice between he and Greg Mary-chulo (however it's spelled), for example, I take Mary-chulo ten times out of ten if we're talking about re-stocking the X Division cupboards.

Rockstar Dud, indeed.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I've got to agree with the consensus on this. Whether it's his look, the limited amount we've heard from him on the mic or what we've seen of him in the ring thus far; I'm just not all that wild about what Rockstar Spud brings to the table. I'll give him this much: he's tried really hard to get over in the very limited opportunities he's gotten so far, but they simply haven't done anything for me.

If I had to choose between Spud or someone like Greg Marsu....Marsoli...Marsupial?? Err...Trent Barreta, I'd go with Trent without question. I do think he needs a different name. I know it's his real name but...it's hard to say, hard to spell and has no degree of oomph about it.

 

[ECPirate37]

Hugh, I think this is the first time I've ever disagreed with you. But, I will acknowledge that I might be the only person who likes him. And, I completely see everyone who doesn't like him's point. He's small, and doesn't seem that athletic, and really seems like he wouldn't have the ability to win one-on-one.

However, I rather like his character, and if the X-division keeps these three person format (Hopefully that will change back to one-on-one soon), I think it would be interesting to see him score victories over the bigger guys by being an opportunist. And that would play into his heel character if he brags about how great he is, and how no one can beat him, but he finds more and more ways to not be involved in the matches until the end.

If he was released, I wouldn't be upset at all. Not like I was with Crimson (speaking of Amazing Red, I still believe they missed an opportunity to make a kick ass tag-team with Crimson and Red), Morgan, and Joey Ryan. But, I do not mind having him around. I kind of like the thought of someone that small winning.

 

[dolphinzigglah]

Him being a heelish type guy at 5'3 125 pounds will be IMPOSSIBLE to ever main event. He could be a dirty slimeball type heel with cheap victories like rollups or low-blows, but do ever see the guy beating someone clean? He'll obviously be in X-Divison, which is definitely where he belongs, and I'm sure he can put on a hell of a show seeing as its 3-way matches. But he to me seems more like a David (and Goliath) type character, not a WOOO ONE MAN BAND rockstar type guy.

Sorry if I sound ignorant, I've never seen the guy before Destination X.

 

[Dan Severn's Moustache]

The thing is, I've seen some of Spud's indy work and it's actually pretty good. He's fast and quick, although he's no Paul London and for someone in the X-Division, his mic work is solid too. I just really don't like his dated and bland gimmick that he's using at the moment. They need to work on giving him something a little less cliché, especially considering his size.

That being said, I probably would have chosen him over the other British Boot Camp competitors. Party Marty (or whatever his name was) was an even more dated character, not that great on the mic and just OK in the ring. The Blossom Twins were interesting, but for me personally, it would be difficult for me to see where they'd fit in.

While Magnus is definitely the better British representative for TNA, I say give Spud some time to flesh out and develop. His gimmick is really holding him back at the moment, and that's the thing that I take issue with here. Drop the boring gimmick and work on something more interesting.

 

[Coolquip]

I think there's a spot for Spud on the roster. Look, not everyone can be a World Champion on the roster. I kinda like his gimmick of being the dude who's tiny, but dammit he's got a firecracker under his ass.

He gets your attention which is more than I can say about most X-Division guys. Think about your average guy flipping through the channels and seeing this tiny guy flipping around the ring. I don't know about you, but I know tons of dudes who would watch to see just what this tiny fucker will do.

 

[Lowdown]

Got nothing out of the match with him. Maybe he has a cult following in the UK, but in truth he was really boring to watch. Considering some of the potential and talent that was let go like Tara, this is truly a waste.

 

[Uncle Phatso]

I'm not gonna lie, not everyone has to be six foot plus or three hundred pounds to keep their spot. But if RockstarSpud was the best thing they could get out of british boot camp.... damn, just damn. I remember seeing him next to Robbie e and t for his debut I think. When robbie e makes you look tiny, that's some shit.

Guys like red, super crazy, rey, and more small men have made big names out of their fast paced high flying. Yes he can do spot and has some speed. But its just awkward sometimes to see him. Put him up aganst a bigger dude and it just looks worse. When you are 25-30 pounds heavier than the biggest dumbell at my local gym.... we have a slight problem.

 

[Bischoff's Knob Slobberer]

Rockstar dud is garbage. Puzzling why he has a job and good wrestlers like Crimson, Joey Ryan and Madison Rayne were released.

Continue the cuts and release Rockstar dud asap.

 

[BrianFNPillman]

Crimson was a good wrestler? No, no no no. The others I'll agree with, but Crimson? No. No thank you.

I remember watching spud about seven or eight years ago on FWA TV over here in the UK and I liked him as that smaller guy on a roster that was for the most part, fairly large. They pushed him to the moon as their Rey Mysterio and it got over. But it's a classic example of "big fish, small pond." Same with Burchill.

Spud is impressive until he's put up again guys like PAC and lets be honest, he can't do half the athletic shit even the poorest member of the X-Divison can do.

His gimmick got over with Hogan, who pushed for him huge in an interview with FSM months back. But he was a poor choice. They should've hired the other dude (name alludes me) at least he was a solid workhorse in the ring.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

*Deep Breath*​

I LIKE HIM! Okay? I just do! I'm coming out of the Rockstar closet. I like the dude. I don't care if he's 5'3'' there's a "Jericho" quality to him. Not because of skill just because he has that asshole thing about it. He's just a little fucktard. Like Jericho used to be.

I for one think his size is a damn BLESSING if he is booked right. People already ragging on him, they're making fun of him, so why not book him as this little shit-head who always manages to win in some bullshit way. Clearly he won't be able to overpower someone but that tiny 7th grader body of his could have other advantages in real life. Like speed. Lots of it. He's smaller, he can pull off some sneaky stuff.

I don't know, the guy has a place on the roster for me. Even if he's just a cocky punching bag. I see him in a Spike Dudley type role or something like that. I loved it when Greg Marawhatever picked him up for his finisher and he screamed like a little bitch through the whole thing. That was awesome.

I like Rockstar Spud, man. I wanna see people kick him hard in the face and all that good stuff. Because he's tiny and he falls funny.

Remember, Bryan Kendrick ain't no heavyweight and he did alright. Go Spud!

 

[Alex]

I didn't watch British Boot Camp (weird because I live there) but Spud seemed cool. Sure he was small, but so's Rey Mysterio and others. Trouble is Spud kinda sucks for a guy of his size. He does stuff that bigger guys can do fairly easily. Someone of his size should be more athletic than he is, because that's the only way he'd get any sort of offence in, he sure as hell wouldn't be able to use submission or power moves.

Bottom line The only good thing about Spud is his gimmick and that could probably be given to someone else who could utilize it better. He needs to get better in the ring and possibly more on the mic, (even though we haven't seen much of him on it)

 

[BrianFNPillman]

Remember, Bryan Kendrick ain't no heavyweight and he did alright. Go Spud!

The difference is though, Brian Kendrick is a good 5 inch taller than Spud with about 50lbs weight advantage. Plus Kendrick had those cool ass ring jackets during his big singles push in WWE and I'm a mark for stuff like that. So a man in a white leather jacket strutting out to some horrible self-involved noise-rock with a big bastard of a bodyguard quoting "The Art Of War" had me sat fapping with mark rage quicker than a Raven comeback.

Spuds problem is for his size he just isn't that good, and his gimmick is ok but he doesn't seem to have enough self-belief to pull off being a proper ********.

 

[Cereal Killer]

A lot of you guys here are judging him from just one match, which I was personally disappointed by. I wanted to see more off of him, but all I saw was a small man (shorter than me) who tried to annoy his opponents.

You should see his work from the UK wrestling companies and from British Bootcamp. His promos are pretty good, he knows how to play a rockstar, he knows how to play a great heel and work the crowd. During his recent match at Destination X, he didn't really do much but generally his work is really good. He fits in the X-division and can even make it as the champion.

As far as his size goes, it is not fair to call him a bad wrestler because of his height. Anyone could be any size but can still be good talent. 30 years ago when wrestlers were 6ft plus and 300 pounds, none of them would have ever thought someone like Austin Aries would be World Heavyweight Champion. But men of his size tend to be more talented. As longs as their weight/build goes with their height to make them look decent, that's fine. One guy with that problem is CM Punk. He is considered short sometimes but I reckon it is his build that is the issue. He looks too small and sometimes can't be seen as a legit contender. Who takes a man of that size as a serious threat to an MMA former World Champion and at overt 300 pounds Brock Lesnar? He's lucky he is a great superstar with many talents, otherwise CM Punk wouldn't be known Wrestler, or be where he is today. Rock star spud is a man of many talents and his build goes with his height. I don't think he's to skinny or small to be a great contender. Look at Chris Sabin and how he won the World heavyweight Championship. It surprised many and he looked like a legitimate challenger to Bully Ray.

 

[BrianFNPillman]

Again though, I think his whole "big fish small pond" complex comes into play when he's on the UK scene. He's established, and in fairness we have a lot of smaller talent over here and fewer "big men" so his style fits in and he doesn't look that small in comparison. That being said, with the depth of the X-Division talent pool being what it is, unless it comes down to pure promo skills I can see him getting lost in the shuffle as he can't really go at the same pace that the rest of the division seem to.

Another problem he has is that, the X-Division is already viewed as made up of smaller, talented guys. And he's smaller than them, it's hard to play the chickenshit heel when you're the smallest amongst small guys. It'd make him having matches against even the small end of the Heavyweight division unrealistic UNLESS they set him up with a large bodyguard style figure a'la Kendrick.

Again though, I'm not being pedantic, but even your example of "small guys" winning the world title in TNA doesn't hold much weight...lol pun. Sabin is 205lbs and Aries is 210lbs. Sure it's not huge 300lbs athletes but 210lbs of pure physique like Aries is basically a light-heavyweight MMA fighter. Even Zach Gowen, a pasty dude with the physique of your average recovering smack head was 185lbs, and that fool only had one leg.

I must state though I'm not saying wrestling is all about size and height, and it doesn't make him a bad wrestler. But it's hard to really suspend my disbelief knowing the facts, seeing him out there, and taken him seriously when he weighs about the same as my 16 year old cousin.

As far as Punk is concerned, you're right. Granted he's not a small guy either and because he's tall he doesn't look out of places in matches with Cena or Trips. But against Brock...Well, Brock dwarfs most men, coupled in with them having to invent an entirely new MMA glove size due to his massive, meaty fists and I myself have a problem believing Punk could pull off the win. But that's mostly down to the booking, they need to play up Brock having half his insides removed and punk attacking his abdomen and taking the typical heel tactics to take advantage.