Sheik Abdul Bashir!

[Kenny Powers]

Wow, did anyone catch that promo on Impact last night? That was one of the best promos I've seen in years. Bashir may be a heel but that was a full face turn for me. For a minute there I thought it was Bill Maher in the ring. It's been a while since the Sheik has been on the mic. I'm glad they are letting him be himself instead of pretending to be like a terrorist version of Muhammed Assan. I am really impressed with Sheik overall, I'm glad he signed a multi year deal with TNA. World Elite is really starting to grow on me. What do you think?

 

[Jaysin]

I am glad I am not alone. In general I thought last nights Impact was really good. The Hamada/Daffney match was terrific. But hats off the Bashir man, usually the whole politics thing is lame but Bashir nailed it. Its funny you mention Bill Maher I kinda thought the same thing, the promo was to the point and got a really good response.

 

[baken1942]

Yeah I liked the promo too, ive always like Bashir/Daivari. I like World Elite, maybe cuz im Canadian and its run by the Canadian Eric Young lol, its cool though, Great Promo

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

You know the scary part of the Bashir Promo. Most of it was true. When you speak of something you are passionate about, something that you speak of with more fact than anything it usually comes out more powerful and meaningful. Bashir did that last night, I agreed with it, and loved the promo all the same. Great job.

 

[gd]

That was a great promor by Bashir last night. Really emotional and got the crowd into it. Of course, crowds are always way against any type of foreign stable, but what Bashir did was excellent.

However, all of the stuff that he was saying was pretty much true and there acutally was no reason for the crowd to be booing, other than the fact that he was foreign. If that was my first time watching the show, I would've thought that Bashir was the face and Hernandez was the heel.

O well, I guess criticizing the United States in anyway automatically makes you a heel, even if what you are saying is true. Very good promo by Bashir though, I reckon he should be the leader of the World Elite, not scratchy voice Eric Young.

 

[Toscah]

Regardless of all politics, that was a damn good promo. Not only was it relevant to his character, but to the WE's as well. My hats (well a beanie right now) to Bashir for knocking them up a few Heel points.

But honestly though, the Hamada/Daffney match stole the show for me as well.

 

[Pimpin]

I too thought that the Bashir promo came off as a great promo. It came off as real emotion from him & what he said also has alot of truth in it as well. I'm also glad that Bashir is allowed to be a version of himself instead of a carbon copy of Muhammad Hassan cause judging from the promo last night, Bashir can definitely do well by playing a verison of himselfjust being himself.

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

The best part was that the emotion I believe was real. Not sure how many people know this but he is the son of two Iraqie immigrants to the US. So I figure he has a lot of pent up emotion and believe that was what made that promo so good. Because it was real.

 

[Nascarman]

Really good, why where the fan booing every thing he said was true. then the flag burrning Hernandez got cheered. that mixed with the "this is awsome" chants makes me think the crould are morons. push WE fire Hernandez
Not impresed with Hamada/Daffney match.

 

[Tenebrous]

I like the WE concept but Bashir is American...as is Hernandez...

 

[JJYanks121]

I may be in the minority here but I'm going to present an opposing point of view. Bashir's promo coupled with the language used in Kevin Nash's and the Beautiful people's segments are tell-tale signs to me that TNA is trying WAY too hard to be the WWE circa 2000.

Think about the booking here, you have a group of like 9 guys, all heels, 1 guy comes out, basically shits on them for askign him to join, and they just let him walk away? All that after a feigned attempt by Bashir to do the prototypical "americans suck" promo which is about 5 years too late. This is 2009, the year of the stimulus package. Attack that since most of the political pundits have already. The Iraq conflict has subsided in importance due to our own economic woes and other issues. I digress as this is not a political forum, but the point is, to me, that promo DID sound a bit like Mohammed Hassan and it felt forced and again, had dated information. That segment for me was way too long and basically useless. Then after all the "heat" the group should garner, when a face stands up to them, he should either be a badass and beat the hell out of them, or he should have been attacked. Hernandez just walking away does absolutely nothing and makes him look kinda wussy.

Final point, there is not much more that I hate than the TNA crowd right now. They are so desperately trying to become the new age ECW crowd, but remember, ECW FOLDED! You don't want to be something that fails in the end. If I were TNA management, I would want the fans to start getting behind the big face wrestlers, start giving heat to the big heel wrestlers, and stop cheering for the product when a big spot is hit. That's ECW bullshit and it's the reason individuals aren't recognized. It's a small arena, but not ONE face in TNA gets a true face pop, and I've watched it on and off since i'ts been on Spike. I've never seen it. Then again, you never hear huge boos for the big heels either.

I lied, I have one more question...........with a group so large, shoudlnt' someone from the group be going for each of the belts? Otherwise, why have strength in numbers? I'm just sayin'

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

I like the WE concept but Bashir is American...as is Hernandez...

No. Bashir was born in America but is Iraqie. Both parents are full blooded Iraqie, he most likely has family in Iraq. He has every right to feel like he said in that interview if he indeed feels that way.

 

[travoltage]

I KNEW this was gonna be a post as soon as I saw it! That was a damn fine display of what I percieved to be true emotion on the part of the Sheik...did anyone notice Eric Young's face when Bashir said "goddamn"? I think it was a natural reaction because it looked like Eric tried to quickly get back into character...Bashir could be portrayed as a bit of an extreme fundamentalist of the World Elite...similar to Ed Norton's character in American History X when his ideals forced him to stand in the face of his comrades in prison...y'know a bit of "too idealistic to play the game" kind of character...I believe this was the start of big things for the Sheik and TNA should take notice

 

[Kenny Powers]

I may be in the minority here but I'm going to present an opposing point of view. Bashir's promo coupled with the language used in Kevin Nash's and the Beautiful people's segments are tell-tale signs to me that TNA is trying WAY too hard to be the WWE circa 2000.

Think about the booking here, you have a group of like 9 guys, all heels, 1 guy comes out, basically shits on them for askign him to join, and they just let him walk away? All that after a feigned attempt by Bashir to do the prototypical "americans suck" promo which is about 5 years too late. This is 2009, the year of the stimulus package. Attack that since most of the political pundits have already. The Iraq conflict has subsided in importance due to our own economic woes and other issues. I digress as this is not a political forum, but the point is, to me, that promo DID sound a bit like Mohammed Hassan and it felt forced and again, had dated information. That segment for me was way too long and basically useless. Then after all the "heat" the group should garner, when a face stands up to them, he should either be a badass and beat the hell out of them, or he should have been attacked. Hernandez just walking away does absolutely nothing and makes him look kinda wussy.

Final point, there is not much more that I hate than the TNA crowd right now. They are so desperately trying to become the new age ECW crowd, but remember, ECW FOLDED! You don't want to be something that fails in the end. If I were TNA management, I would want the fans to start getting behind the big face wrestlers, start giving heat to the big heel wrestlers, and stop cheering for the product when a big spot is hit. That's ECW bullshit and it's the reason individuals aren't recognized. It's a small arena, but not ONE face in TNA gets a true face pop, and I've watched it on and off since i'ts been on Spike. I've never seen it. Then again, you never hear huge boos for the big heels either.

I lied, I have one more question...........with a group so large, shoudlnt' someone from the group be going for each of the belts? Otherwise, why have strength in numbers? I'm just sayin'

I agree that Hernandez needs to break out of his shell, character wise. He gets pops and is a great wrestler, but I'm still not into his promos. I liked him better as a heel, but I am glad he is getting a push. As for Bashir, I think he was himself in that promo. Yeah there have been anti American heels in the past but it wasn't like he was chanting Arabic or waving an Iraqi flag. The war in Iraq is still going on and may not be as big of an issue as health care but its still an important issue nonetheless. It's especially important to Immigrants who have family over there.

Also, you have to agree that Michael Jackson has been given more attention on the news now more then anything. I don't know what you have against the TNA crowds chanting. You don't hear it much in WWE but you do occasionally hear a Holy Shit chant or a ECW chant now and then. Why can't fans chant what they want? It's better then them not saying anything at all. If I was in charge of any wrestling company, the last thing I would do is stifle the fans. You want the fans to be enthusiastic, it comes across better on live television.

I don't know what you're hearing, but I hear huge pops for Sting every time he comes out. AJ Styles, Team 3D, and Beer Money get a decent pop too. I'm pretty sure Angle gets good heat too, just listen to his promos. I mean it might not be a Cena pop but not too many people get that in WWE either. MEM are the group with all the titles, why would WE feud with their allies? I don't think a group has to have every title to be a force either.

 

[Rated R SuperFan]

First off Shawn Daivari (Bashir) isn't American he is Iranian both parents are Iranian not Iraqi . Second of all no "red blooded American" will give him credit for his "promo" from Thursdays Impact because EVERY SINGLE WORD HE SAID WAS 100% TRUE !! We all know it we just won't admit it Shawn Diavari is a very smart man and a great wrestler The American people / Media (excluding myself) care more Micheal Jackson , Farrah Fawsett , Billy Mays , and Senetor Ted Kennedy's deaths then the war in Iraq , WE care more about Celebrities who die , get drunk , fight , do "reality" shows , then we do American Soldiers who are fighting an endless war dying for our freedom . The core of Shawn Diavari's message is the TRUTH and all the Marks of the IWC can't / won't admit it . In closing I would like to say that as long as there is a war going on , minorities being miss treated in this country the "Anti American" heel storyline will always work in Pro wrestling !! Keep up the great work WORLD ELITE !!

 

[Spaceman Spif]

That promo was a MTFO moment for me. I could not believe how well it was delievered. The emotion, passion, raw feelings were amazing. If he wasn't speaking partly from the heart, then goddamn that was one hell of an acting job on his part. Everything he said was true, but we americans as a whole will still not agree with it on principle, which is why he is still booed. However I think a few of those boos will turn into cheers after that promo. It was one of the best ones I have heard in a loooong time in any company. Great job to Bashir and I hope he keeps it up.