Tensai: What Happened?

[Bernkastel]

The point he's trying to make is nobody is going to buy into a fat bald guy that has worked tons of different gimmicks in the United States as being this mythical Japanese God just because he went overseas and honed his craft. That's the point he's making.

And it's a poor point when US audiences have been accepting similar things in other media like television and movies for a while now. You are reaching too far out of kayfabe if you believe that.

WWE wasn't modifying the Japanese culture into Tensai; they were bastardizing it.

They weren't trying the modify the Japanese culture with Tensai; it was an attempt to modify the puro style [which is influenced by Japanese culture] and bring it to the States in a way the US audiences would understand - obviously it failed miserably because of bad booking.

Instead of Tensai using power moves they had him doing weird shit that a junior wrestler would do IE: chop strikes, leg kicks, and sentons that his speed could not properly execute. Not to mention the complete bastardization of Keiji Mutoh's poison mist. Apples and oranges in your comparisons, my friend.

The moves have nothing to do with anything - it was the way they handled his promos and his mannerisms that didn't go over with the fans. And creative saying "Yeah Tensai used to work for us, but he went to Japan and now he's back" did him no favors.

 

[Dirk]

None of the other big men wear so little. Big show & Mark Henry at least wear singlets that cover their bulk. Even Brodus covers it up.

That facial hair, the eyebrows, the fact that he's constantly squinting.....is it just me, or does he look like someone trying his very best to look like an old comic book stereotype of an Asian person?

^^^ These

I'm not saying everybody should look like Batista or Orton, I like the look of big guys like Show, Clay and Henry. To me, these guys don't look fat at all, because they wear the appropriate attire. Maybe when Clay jiggles, but he wears a tracksuit backstage.

Tensai pretty much wears a red, plastic diaper and now that he got rid of the back-hair we can see how pale he is.

Ole Duthty Rhodeth was a special talent with tons of charisma, and if you don't have that, then you better have a great look...

 

[berlinbrawler]

I think one of the main reasons for his failure is that they didn't acknowledge enough on TV that he used to be Albert. Rather than trying to ignore it they should have embraced it.

Yes, they did say he was a former WWE performer who then he went to Japan yadayadayada, but mostly they tried to sweep his past under the rug and tried to present him as this brand new monster guy. The fans went "F that, we know who you are."

This "new" guy, for all intents and purposes, seemed to be under the impression that he was Japanese. Suuuuure, it was mentioned that he wasn't and that he only used to work there. But there was still this disconnect, because everything about his gimmick was screaming "Hey, I'm Japanese." The fans went "Sorry, not buying it."

Then they had an opportunity. The fans, refusing to play along, wouldn't stop chanting "Albert." What a great chance for Albert to embrace that, to come out and throw tantrums about it. But apparently the powers that be decided that that would be too similar to Daniel Bryan freaking out over the YES-chants. So instead they had Bloom casually acknowledge the Albert-chants in behind the scenes interviews and go "Yay, the fans recognize me, that's always good." So rather than rise to the fan-issued Albert-challenge, Tensai went over like a fart in church.

Tensai comes across as too phony even for wrestling. His actual wrestling may even be somewhat underrated by most, seeing as he rarely gets a chance to really let it shine. But this "Hey, I used to live in Japan; that's terrific"-gimmick is just awful.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I hated the entire gimmick, it was doomed to fail from the start. Honestly, if Matt Bloom had managed any success with it I would have been shocked.

It's not like he actually looked any different than when he was in WWE years ago as Albert. Yeah, he had the mask and robe etc when he walked to the ring and people were actually interested, but as soon as you saw his face and tattoos you knew it was Albert, he looked exactly the same.

WWE should have capitalised on that, letting everyone know who he used to be rather than just saying he was a former WWE wrestler who had gone to Japan, we arent stupid.

He is ok in the ring, but I definitely think he style is more suited to Japan than the US, there is no excitment in anything he does and that shout he does before any move still pisses me the hell off. Apart from the fact he probably earns more in WWE I would think Tensai is a bit jealous of the success his ex-partner Karl "Machine Gun" Anderson is having as a singles wrestler in Japan while he struggles back in the US.

I couldn't give less of a shit if WWE released him at this point. I was actually pleased to see they were bringing him back but after this run has bombed so much I dread seeing Tensai appear on my tv screen. I havent bothered D/L him for WWE13 for the X-Box, I just like to pretend he doesnt exist

 

[mojmass]

Who cares? he is being paid to get beaten up by jobbers and it seems he is being paid so well .anyone else would quit at this rate. so the conclusion f*#k tensai f*#k WWE if we don't matter to them and they want the fans only for their money why should we even bother and I say again f*#k them all.

 

[BaconBits]

Racial stereotypes? Surely you must be joking. By that definition every single non white character to ever exist in WWE has been based on racism.

You can't possibly be that dense. Matt Bloom is a white AMERICAN playing an ASIAN. It's like Akeem the African Dream being white. That one was offensive to a lot of people too.

You missed my point entirely. No one gave a fuck about Albert as heel when he was at his prime, why would anyone care about him as a face now? Lord Tensai was a chance for Bloom to leave the Albert character behind, but creative made that next to impossible by deciding to tether him to it - they pretty kicked Bloom into the water and didn't even offer him a flotation device.

He was a decent low to midcarder the first go-round, and he would have been far more accepted as the same this time around instead of some stupid gimmick destined to fail. Guess what, he's back to the low to midcard where he belongs.

Oh? And how did the casuals even find out about that information in the first place? Could it be that it was the internet along with dirt spread by the IWC? Nah couldn't be - that makes way too much sense.

And your last analogy makes no sense. By that definition all wrestling fans are ******s because we watch something that we know is fake - the point is to make it so that we forget about that non kayfabe stuff and creative did the opposite.

They chanted Albert because they saw he was Albert. It's not rocket science. But no, they obviously read the internet and wanted to shit on the shit gimmick before he even debuted?

Please, come off it.

My last statement makes perfect sense. The saw the fans knew who he was so creative stopped trying to insult their intelligence. They do that all the time.

 

[Dagger Dias]

What happened was that WWE took a very strange gimmick and gave it to someone who sucked. Strange gimmicks can succeed if the wrestler is skilled enough to make it work, within reason. The Tensai character is one of the weirdest characters I have seen in recent years and while WWE tried to make him out to be a monster when he first came back, I couldn't help but laugh each time he came out. I've enjoyed laughing at his ridiculous entrance far more than any match or promo he has ever done, and that's not really a good thing. The whole gimmick was really stupid from the start.... and that's just the character itself.

Then we have Matt Bloom, the guy who has been portraying the Tensai character. I've never liked this wrestler. Ever. I didn't like Albert, hated A-Train, and have not been a fan of Tensai. When I first learned he was even coming back I cringed. They should never have brought him back in the first place honesly. He might have done better if he had not been given a gimmick like Tensai, it was just too strange and you would need someone more talented to make it work. Even though he sucks they can always keep him around as a jobber or something, but no further pushes please. I prefer seeing pushes for wrestlers who aren't boring and don't suck.

 

[Toroc102]

I used to think Albert sucked, back in the day but I think that was just because he had been portrayed as such a loser until one da they just started to push him out of nowhere. The same thing happened with JBL. When he first became JBL everybody hated him for real, and that was mostly because he was APA Bradshaw Tag-Team for life wrestler one week, and the next week he was a Main-Eventer.

Anyhow, for a big man I absolutely do not think Albert sucks. He has a good look he can move and he doesn't really botch moves. I think had they had Albert come in under a mask or just said that he'd been in Japan improving his game and destroying people for the past 5 or w/e years he would've been MUCH more accepted. Instead they gave him this weird Asian character where he makes weird sounds and makes these ridiculous looking poses. Anyone remember the Ginyu Force from DBZ or how the Power Rangers would make poses after every battle? Goofy right? Well they forced that on Albert and combined with all the other factors it was just destined to fail.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The whole Tensai project was a strange decision by WWE. In his first go-around with WWE, we could accept his transitions from Prince Albert to Albert to A-Train because he wasn't pretending to be someone else each time.....he was simply changing his name. But I can't understand this whole Asian thing; did the company really not think the fans were going to be chanting his old ring name? Surely they didn't believe the fans wouldn't recognize Albert, did they?

I really wonder what management was thinking by re-hiring Matt Bloom. If they were looking for a menacing Japanese presence to stalk the federation, they should have hired someone we didn't know from a previous incarnation. Yes, we're aware of the success Bloom had in Japan these past years, but the point is the same there as here: the Asian fans didn't know Bloom; he was a big guy who could move around the ring pretty well for his size. He wasn't trying to fool them into believing he was someone else than the guy they knew before.

Still, WWE gave him an immense push; getting early wins over Punk and Cena isn't exactly what I call soft-pedaling it. Then, the whole thing came apart and Tensai became a jobber almost overnight.

How does management gauge these things? You can ask the same question of many performers whose time came and went in a flash, but in this guy's case, it was as mysterious as the character he's supposed to be playing.

What did they say to Matt Bloom when they hired him? "We'll give you a huge push at the beginning and see what happens. If the gimmick doesn't catch on in a big way, we're not going to belabor the point; we'll just have you finish out the rest of your contract as a flunky."

Is that what they did? What did Matt Bloom think of that? If he signed the contract, he presumably agreed to it, no? Perhaps he thought it was a no-brainer; he knew he'd be a huge star. Or, maybe he figured he'd pull in the big bucks no matter whether his push succeeded or failed, so what the hell?

As always, I'd love to be a fly on the wall at Creative meetings, just to find out what really goes on in Stamford, Connecticut.

And no, I don't think they're going to turn around and give him a huge push in the future. I think they were positive they had a sure winner.....and now are stuck with a contract they wish they never negotiated in the first place.

 

[multiverseman.com]

It's simple really. Writers thinking they're cute and so much smarter than the audience. We'll make him a white Japanese guy and it'll get over. Sure it's asinine, but so's our audience so it's cool. Look at the results.

 

[Strong Style X]

I'm sorry what? The Attitude Era is long over if you haven't noticed. If anything WWE has largely returned to the style they booked before everything went crazy.



Japanese fans have been that way for years. They were idolizing the top guys whilst American fans loved realistic looking performers like Hogan. Not surprisingly Hogan was also huge star in Japan - I guess your idea of modifying styles and outsourcing them not being able to work is wrong.



Modifying a foreign style and bringing it to the States isn't a recipe for disaster; nor is it stereotypical. Was Rey Mysterio stereotypical of Lucha Libre? How about Sin Cara? What about Tajiri? All three of those men were abysmal failures now weren't they



As have I, but the difference is I know enough about both cultures and their styles to know what will work and what won't - you've shown me that you don't. The idea behind the Lord Tensai gimmick was good, but the execution was so poorly handled that there was no surprise that it flopped.

Since when did WWE stop doing batshit insane booking? It's very unorganized and not every match has a meaningful follow-up in both short-term and long-term results. The Attitude Era has nothing to do with that, so I'm not sure I'm following you. That being said, it's not as bad as TNA's booking as far as randomness.

And did you just call Hulk freakin' Hogan realistic? The guy that gains super powers in his matches and Hulks up? Right... And when did I say anything about modifying styles? If Bloom had kept his A-Train gimmick and used the same style as he had, his career would at least have a bit more worth.

Modifying a foreign gimmick and giving it to a stateside wrestler is ridiculous unless it's a comedy act (El Generico). Otherwise it ends up falling into the stupidity of something like Kerwin White (Or Akeem if you will). How you could possibly see this as a realistic gimmick is... interesting.

Hat off to ya for tryin' though.

 

[Azane]

He never really offered anything unique, he was just a squash match attraction, give him a ton of those, and when nobody cares about him still, just throw him under the bus and job him out, hoping he makes someone elses career.

 

[SaveUsCMPunk]

It's interesting he had the most success under the "Albert" moniker in WWE/F. He beat Kane for the IC title (A short reign although most IC title reigns back then were.) and was in two moderately successful teams in T & A and Scotty 2 Hotty and Albert. (Did they even have a team name? The Hip Hop Hippo was a good gimmick, BTW.)

You know you're not going places when you're jobbing to people like Santino and Khali. That's questionable booking. It's a shame too, because I like the guy and he should be higher up the ladder than those two. He debuted looking like a beast and now he's barely on the radar. The blame falls on WWE creative.

 

[3drinks]

Ultimately, he just doesn't mesh into WWE's environment right now. Like a fish out of water, he is too out of place, unfortunately. Which is a shame as Matt Bloom is a pretty talented guy, considering his size. He should have never left New Japan because he was not only over there, but he was also a very respected individual.

 

[Bernkastel]

You can't possibly be that dense. Matt Bloom is a white AMERICAN playing an ASIAN. It's like Akeem the African Dream being white. That one was offensive to a lot of people too.

You realize it's 2013 right? Actors have been portraying different nationalities and racial cultures believably for years now. You are reaching too far out of kayfabe.

He was a decent low to midcarder the first go-round, and he would have been far more accepted as the same this time around instead of some stupid gimmick destined to fail. Guess what, he's back to the low to midcard where he belongs.

Why would WWE want to bring back a proven midcard gimmick when they had the opportunity to build one higher than that? Surely you aren't dumb enough to believe that someone's relative success with one mediocre gimmick is a measure of their overall potential. See Steve Austin. See Kane.

They chanted Albert because they saw he was Albert. It's not rocket science. But no, they obviously read the internet and wanted to shit on the shit gimmick before he even debuted?

And it was creative's job to make the fans forget about that and push Bloom as Tensai, not Albert. Instead WWE drew attention to it and made things worse. When fans kept chanting "Golberg" at Ryback WWE changed up his booking style so that it didn't happen anymore. Now only the smarks chant it.

My last statement makes perfect sense. The saw the fans knew who he was so creative stopped trying to insult their intelligence. They do that all the time.

No they don't. WWE tries to keep things inside kayfabe as much as possible; they chosen not to do this with Tensai and it failed immediately.

Since when did WWE stop doing batshit insane booking? It's very unorganized and not every match has a meaningful follow-up in both short-term and long-term results.

The lower card is disorganized, but it doesn't matter since it's the lower card. How do you figure the main card is disorganized? WWE has kept pretty consistent booking all year.

The Attitude Era has nothing to do with that, so I'm not sure I'm following you. That being said, it's not as bad as TNA's booking as far as randomness.

The end of the Attitude Era is what started this insane booking you speak of.

And did you just call Hulk freakin' Hogan realistic? The guy that gains super powers in his matches and Hulks up? Right... And when did I say anything about modifying styles?

Hogan's matches usually consisted of nothing but punches, kicks, and the occasional slam. Why? Because it looked like a realistic looking struggle - in an actual fight you'd beat someone's ass, not roll around and chain wrestle before hitting a dozen different variations of a piledriver. Learn the differences between realism in kayfabe and realism in actuality.

You didn't say anything about modifying styles, I did - and you have no clue what I was talking about.

If Bloom had kept his A-Train gimmick and used the same style as he had, his career would at least have a bit more worth.

The A-Train gimmick had no more worth to it; the WWE had the opportunity to create something more successful in Tensai and they failed.

Modifying a foreign gimmick and giving it to a stateside wrestler is ridiculous unless it's a comedy act (El Generico). Otherwise it ends up falling into the stupidity of something like Kerwin White (Or Akeem if you will). How you could possibly see this as a realistic gimmick is... interesting.

The fact that he's a white guy playing a take on an Asian style of wrestling shouldn't matter unless you look outside of kayfabe and over-analyze it. Casual fans don't so this - they just accept kayfabe for what it is.

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

Hogan's matches usually consisted of nothing but punches, kicks, and the occasional slam. Why? Because it looked like a realistic looking struggle - in an actual fight you'd beat someone's ass, not roll around and chain wrestle before hitting a dozen different variations of a piledriver. Learn the differences between realism in kayfabe and realism in actuality.

You forgot the part about where Hogan is vulnerable for 90% of the match and absorbs a ******ed amount of damage... and then suddenly he hulks up and shakes around like he's having a seizure... blocks a punch... points his finger at his opponent as if to say "No No Bad Man" and then proceeds to hit a big boot and big leg drop. Yeah... that's realistic.

You make a lot of good arguments but the fact that you refuse to let yourself be proven wrong when you clearly are is a bit ridiculous.

Hogan vs. Slaughter at Wrestlemania 7... Hogan gets his ass beaten for almost the entire match.. He gets choked half to death with a ringside mic cord, he's bleeding like a stuck pig.. even in a Kayfabe he would have passed out ala Steve Austin/Bret Hart. But no... He no-sells the entire beating and hits his big boot and leg drop... and not only that he celebrates after the match as if nothing ever happened with the American flag...

 

[Revelations]

One thing I noticed about this generation of people is that they can be really childish. When the crowd started chanting Albert when Tensai debuted, I thought it was amusing. I laughed along with them but in a nostalgic kind of way. Then I started to notice that they were doing it every time he wrestled and I started to think that this gimmick isn't going to get over at all because the crowd is burying him with these chants. They do this with Ryback which again at first I thought was amusing but started to devolve into nonsense. I get the fact that Tensai use to be Albert (of which kids have no idea who Albert was back in the Attitude Era but follow their parents like the mindless sheep they are) and I get the fact that Ryback reminds people of Goldberg (once again mindless sheep). It just shows how bored the crowd is that they got nothing better to do than try to bury the talent with stupid chants. I mean how could Tensai connect with the crowd if that's all they were doing. I appreciate the fact that the WWE hasn't given up on Ryback. They even edit out the Goldberg chants on taped shows which shows that they are trying to build new stars regardless of how childish the crowd is acting. I'm just afraid that they will continue to do it to other superstars that are going to try to get over in the future ex. Bray Wyatt (Husky Harris) Joe Hennig (Micheal Mcgillicutty) etc.

 

[KingShaw3]

It's pretty simple why Tensai failed, and most people have hit on the head already.

Basically, he's a big white dude with Sharpee marker on his face, trying to pretend to be Japanese. Why is he Japanese now? Because he's been wrestling in Japan? Anybody who is going to move to another country and just start talking and dressing like the people of that culture would be a serious poser idiot. That's enough to turn most people off right there. And let's not forget, he was cutting promos in Japanese for goodness sake. So, he goes to Japan for a few years and not only becomes a MAJOR star there, but easily picks up the language? I know I'm over-thinking it, but damn what a stupid gimmick he got stuck with, ESPECIALLY coupled with the fact that most people knew he was Albert/A-Train from his previous stint in WWE.

Not to mention that ridiculous entrance getup he was wearing to the ring with the mask and everything. It was just WAY too over-the-top. And I know his in-ring skills have improved, but the moves he was working with, or given to work with, were pretty bad, especially for such a big "monster" guy. I mean, he was using the tired out "green mist" thing, and the silly 'claw to the face' thing.

I'm not much of an Albert mark, but the poor guy didn't stand a chance with this gimmick from the beginning. The only way for him to even hope to recover now (in WWE) would be if he took a couple more comedy defeats, got pissed, and did a somewhat 'shoot' promo saying he was awesome in Japan and therefore WWE stuck him with this cultural gimmick, but he's sick of it and going to rip people apart RAR RAR RARRRWWWW (that's my angry monster voice). I don't know... he's toast I'm sure.

WWE's meetings to discuss wrestler/show ideas or 'meetings of the minds' have to be the most cringe-worthy thing to sit through ever.

Booker #1: So, he's been wrestling in Japan for a couple years now?
Booker #2: Yeah, he sure has..
Booker #1: Well, let's just give him a Japanese-guy gimmick and say he adopted the culture or something...
Booker #2: Hmmm, well, um, yeah, that might work...
Booker #1: Ok then, well, anyone else have any different ideas?
*****CRICKETS******
Booker #1: Ok, White guy adopts Japanese culture gimmick it is! Next on the agenda....

 

[Bernkastel]

You forgot the part about where Hogan is vulnerable for 90% of the match and absorbs a ******ed amount of damage... and then suddenly he hulks up and shakes around like he's having a seizure... blocks a punch... points his finger at his opponent as if to say "No No Bad Man" and then proceeds to hit a big boot and big leg drop. Yeah... that's realistic.

You make a lot of good arguments but the fact that you refuse to let yourself be proven wrong when you clearly are is a bit ridiculous.

Hogan vs. Slaughter at Wrestlemania 7... Hogan gets his ass beaten for almost the entire match.. He gets choked half to death with a ringside mic cord, he's bleeding like a stuck pig.. even in a Kayfabe he would have passed out ala Steve Austin/Bret Hart. But no... He no-sells the entire beating and hits his big boot and leg drop... and not only that he celebrates after the match as if nothing ever happened with the American flag...

You are discussing the face vs heel psychology of the match, which has nothing to do with what we've been talking about - which has been about kayfabe, and how causal fans don't read outside of it if the booking is good enough. Instead of pushing the character as "Lord Tensai" creative pushed him as "the guy that used to work for us, but he went to Japan and came back." Instant recipe for failure.

The argument that the character Tensai was destined to fail because it was a fat white guy playing an Asian is as ******ed as saying the character Yokozuna wasn't believable because it was really a fat Hawaiian in a loin cloth.

 

[Strong Style X]

Islanders are closer related to Asians than white people...

Honestly, this stupidity has gone on long enough. You're running in circles with nothing.

Lord Tensai gimmick was bad. End of. Next?

 

[Bernkastel]

Islanders are closer related to Asians than white people...

Honestly, this stupidity has gone on long enough. You're running in circles with nothing.

Lord Tensai gimmick was bad. End of. Next?

But it doesn't matter since casuals wouldn't see any of that under kayfabe. You do know what that is right?

I haven't been running in circles - everything I've said has been directed to the same point. The Lord Tensai gimmick was good in theory, but poor in execution.

Your reasoning? Lord Tensai was bad because it was bad; keep up the fallacies.

 

[WrestlingSabermetrics]

How many wrestlers have left the WWE as complete failures (Prince Albert wasn't abysmal but c'mon), gone onto another company in which they had a lot of success and then came back and were a success in the WWE? Not many.

The problem wasn't how he was utilized. This will sound harsh, but honestly it was him. His mic skills are poor, his wrestling moves have hit a ceiling and he's not good as a face or heel. Cut him loose. I'm also not a huge fan of looking at New Japan Pro Wrestling from a talent standpoint.

All wrestling companies are not equal in talent- a slightly above average wrestler in ROH will most of the time be a bigger success in the WWE or TNA than a top tier New Japan Pro Wrestler, assuming the NJPW wasn't already a top tier guy in the US.

Also, you can't assume American crowds and Japanese crowds will respond in a similar fashion. Just an observation from having seen NJPW (and yes, this is a small sample size), but they seem to care significantly less about mic skills than over in the US. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Rather, a different skill set is required. The bottom line is that I just don't see Matt Bloom being a good fit for either the WWE or TNA, but I wouldn't be shocked if he went back to NJPW and took off again.

 

[Bernkastel]

How many wrestlers have left the WWE as complete failures (Prince Albert wasn't abysmal but c'mon), gone onto another company in which they had a lot of success and then came back and were a success in the WWE? Not many.

Steve Austin - started as The Ringmaster; repackaged as Stone Cold - huge success.

Kane - started as a Dentist with bad teeth; repackaged as Undy's demented brother - huge success.

Ron Killings - started as K-kwik; repackaged as R-truth - big success.

Christian - like Albert never amounted to anything during his first run, went to TNA, came back and did much better.

Your logic doesn't hold any water...

The problem wasn't how he was utilized. This will sound harsh, but honestly it was him. His mic skills are poor, his wrestling moves have hit a ceiling and he's not good as a face or heel. Cut him loose. I'm also not a huge fan of looking at New Japan Pro Wrestling from a talent standpoint.

It has everything to do how he was utilized. Faces and heels don't just magically appear, they have to be built first; and Tensai's execution was poor. His look was great, but his mannerisms were terrible, as were his promos - all bad idea's from creative.

Also, you can't assume American crowds and Japanese crowds will respond in a similar fashion. Just an observation from having seen NJPW (and yes, this is a small sample size), but they seem to care significantly less about mic skills than over in the US.

The problem is booking a character that has a gimmick styled after a different wrestling style and marketing him in a way that will be believable to a different target audience. Something like that isn't easy; it takes finesse - that's not something the current WWE writers have, so logically they failed.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Rather, a different skill set is required. The bottom line is that I just don't see Matt Bloom being a good fit for either the WWE or TNA, but I wouldn't be shocked if he went back to NJPW and took off again.

If a superstar can be big in both the US and Japan, then why can't a superstar with moderate success in the States, that was big in Japan, not go back and become big in the US? More nonsense.

 

[WrestlingSabermetrics]

Having four successes out of the hundreds or even thousands of wrestlers who have fit the Prince Albert/Matt Bloom mold is not enough reason to give him a third chance. When Steve Austin and Kane came back to the WWE, it was apparent that they'd succeed repackaged. The equivalent would be debating whether a success story from New Japan Pro Wrestling could translate back to the WWE on a second chance. We're way past that point. If Kane came back and failed as 'Taker's demented brother, what would you have done with him? What direction would you have taken if it came to a third go around?

Again, two different things. Success in the US and success in Japan can be mutually exclusive. One could have a certain amount of potential in one country and another amount of potential in another. I don't think Bloom has enough mic skills to succeed in the US, whereas it's less important in Japan. Have there been exceptions? Of course. There'll always be exceptions. But we're essentially now on a third chance for him. Third time isn't necessarily a charm.

 

[Bernkastel]

Having four successes out of the hundreds or even thousands of wrestlers who have fit the Prince Albert/Matt Bloom mold is not enough reason to give him a third chance. When Steve Austin and Kane came back to the WWE, it was apparent that they'd succeed repackaged.

Those were off the top of my head; with prep I could probably name dozens. And how do you figure that? Jacobs had just come off as a terrible stint as the freakin' Fake Diesel.

The equivalent would be debating whether a success story from New Japan Pro Wrestling could translate back to the WWE on a second chance. We're way past that point.

There aren't many because the booking style between the two companies is so different that it takes allot of finesse to pull it off. That's something that the WWE creative doesn't have right now.

If Kane came back and failed as 'Taker's demented brother, what would you have done with him? What direction would you have taken if it came to a third go around?

He would have gone the way of Giant Gonzales. But obviously the Kane character - and someone like Hiaku Hogan will tell you that Jacobs has always been mediocre - was destined to succeed because of the way it was booked.

Again, two different things. Success in the US and success in Japan can be mutually exclusive. One could have a certain amount of potential in one country and another amount of potential in another.

It's not because the culture and the audiences expect different things from their entertainers. If it were that easy then we'd see allot more of the strong style in WWE.

I don't think Bloom has enough mic skills to succeed in the US, whereas it's less important in Japan. Have there been exceptions? Of course. There'll always be exceptions. But we're essentially now on a third chance for him. Third time isn't necessarily a charm.

Since when do you need mic skills to be a successful heel in the WWE? Especially a monster like Tensai. They still do promos in Japan, but not in the same format that WWE does theirs.