Success, Bust or In-Between: Sheik Abdul Bashir

[It's Damn Real!]

This is a new poll series I'm hoping to run here in the TNA section where (recently) departed former talents of the company will be critiqued regarding their work with the company. You can vote them either a success, a bust or in-between if you don't feel they deserve either extreme.

In addition to your vote, I'd like to know why you feel the way you do. Why was this particular charater a succes, a bust or in-between?

Next in the series is Sheik Abdul Bashir.

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Sheik Abdul Bashir
Years with TNA: 1 (2008–2009)
Number of titles runs: TNA X-Division Champion (2x)

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Notable Feuds:
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• Consequences Creed (2008)
• Rhino (2008)
• Eric Young/Shane Sewell (2008)

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Other Accomplishments:
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• Debuted in TNA on iMPACT! against Jay Lethal
• Was an original member of World Elite (Eric Young, Kiyoshi, Doug Williams, Brutus Magnus, Rob Terry, Homicide)

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Previous Polls:
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• Christian Cage – 87.72% Success, 12.28% In-Between, 0% Bust
• Booker T – 46.43% Bust, 33.93% In-Between, 19.64% Success
• Petey Williams – 52.50% In-Between, 35.00% Success, 12.50% Bust
• Gail Kim – 61.54% Success, 19.23% In-Between, 19.23% Bust
• Senshi – 66.67% Success, 28.57% In-Between, 4.76% Bust
• Monty Brown – 54.05% Bust, 27.03% In-Between, 18.92% Success
• Awesome Kong – 82.61% Success, 13.04% Bust, 4.35% In-Between
• Christopher Daniels – 68.97% Success, 20.69% In-Between, 10.34% Bust

 

[ABMorales787]

I'd say he's a total bust. When he came in he was drawing heat like an oven, but a few months, he was lost in the shuffle that was the X Division of '08-'09. As soo as he lost the belt and it was tossing in that tournament Alex Shelley won, he pretty much vanished from the radar. He was wasted. If you ask me, he could've reached Muhhamad Hassan's level of heat whle staying in the X Division and mid card. And to tell the truth, there wasn't much to his feuds other them being for the X Division belt and a very sketchy feud with Rhino.

 

[Charismatic Edge]

Yeah, the body of work isn't there. But that blame should be shared with creative too. He's a good wrestler and should've been around a few more years.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I say in-between if for nothing else but because initially he drew heat like no other, and I'd imagine in a larger (and subsequently more dumbed down) crowd like the ones not seen in Orlando, I really think he could have gone over as that classic Middle Eastern heel, and made a bit of a splash as the dominant X Division heel, despite the fact it's been done a dozen times since the Iron Sheik.

 

[Thriller Ant]

I'm gonna say bust. He is a very good wrestler, but never really got the chance to do anything in TNA. He drew heat with the same Middle Eastern gimmick he has always had until now in ROH, but never really did anything with it. A good, dominant run as either X Champ or in WE would have done him well but he never really got either one.

 

[Theo Mays]

I'm gonna have to go with in-between. When he first showed up he was a heat magnet and was placed in the Xdiv soon after and quickly became champion. I thought he was an excellent champ and I enjoyed his feuds up until he joined World Elite. WE as a whole was a failure and it hurt those involved (minus Rob Terry and Doug Williams). EY has seen a push out of it, but he keeps getting lost in the shuffle, which is pretty much what happened to Bashir soon after he joined WE. But looking at his earlier stuff he was entertaining. He was good on the stick and had solid matches throughout his TNA career.

 

[Vintage]

Bust. It wasn't his fault as a performer though. Perhaps he'll be back on TV sooner than later, he's a great addition to any show.

 

[mister_b1LL]

As much as I wish Bashir would have been a success in TNA, he was a total bust. Like Creed, he never really did anything worthwhile, which is sad considering he had an enormous amount of heat coming into TNA. His character was played to a T and really made people hate him, but the guys behind the scenes never took advantage of it. I could have seen him get the X-Division title a few more times and maybe get the tag titles with Kiyoshi or Homicide when he was with World Elite. But alas, it was just never meant to be.

 

[dwith]

I think Bashir is a excellent mat wrestler, and could have gone far, if he hadn't been giving the full fledged Middle Eastern I hate the Untied States goverment bit. If they could have just gave him a non cultered gimmic, and just let him wrestle some great matches he would still have a job.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Total bust in my opinion. I never cared for his gimmick all that much because I've seen it in one form of another a hundred times over the years. The angry Arab/Muslim that hates America is a gimmick that belongs 25 years in the past along with the Communist Russians and the Invading Japanese. It just doesn't interest me at all and I think such gimmicks are a cheap way to gain heat.

Bashir's one run with the X Division title is really when the X Division started to go downhill and began the weakest overall period in the history of the X Division. Ultimately, Bashir didn't really do much of anything to make me care about him during his title run.

His time spent with the World Elite was a huge waste of time and accomplished nothing. He rarely cut any promos, just stood around looking snotty with the rest of WE while Eric Young tried to convince everyone how good and tough they were. He was used rarely in matches and, when he was, he always jobbed out whether it be to Hernandez or Matt Morgan or whoever.

Nothing overly memorable about Bashir during his time in TNA. Not saying that he doesn't have talent, but his time spent in TNA was a bust.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I'm going to have to say Bashir was a complete bust. I enjoyed Bashir's feud with Shane Sewell because it was something different. Other than that, I didn't care for anything he did in TNA. His X-Division title reign was very forgettable, and his time in World Elite was nothing special either. Bashir did a on okay job with the anti-American gimmick, and he did cut some passionate promos every now and then, but the anti-American gimmick is something that has been done to death in pro wrestling history, so there really wasn't anything special about what he did.

 

[harrythem]

Bust for me as his character was the type that went after the cheapest of heat. If you have to use the phrase "I like raping America" (or very similar, but deffo used rape) then your character is in a seriously crap place.

A sorry reminder, to me personally, of the early 80s foreign heel that doesn't work today.

 

[AmericanDragonSW]

I'm loosely saying in between because he had a decent run with the X-Division title and he did prove he does have a lot more to offer in the ring than screaming in another language like he did in the WWE as a manager. However, where I lean towards him as a bust, its where he got buried in the world mediocre/elite stable. That angle was doomed because those guys were anything but elite. Personally I think the un-american gimmick is tired and dead and aside from the x-division title run, he had no real big rivalries.

 

[Muffin Top Merkley]

In between.

Bashir instantly debuted and received heat that was almost unheard of in TNA. He put on good X-Division matches and had a good character that worked with the audience. When World Elite first formed, his character was still strong, but as World Elite became watered down, Bashir became lost in the shuffle.

Bashir is not a bust because he was a success in TNA until he was no longer given the time and became lost in the roster.