He's said before that he has it because (as a heel) he didn't feel that he should breathe the same air as everyone else because he was better than that. He may still protray that but most people don't care. If that's a big issue with you, get over it. Not a big deal. Not like he wrestles in the damn thing. His gimmik is a throwback to the "Street preachers" of old. The guys who could be confused for pimps (and in some cases probably were). If you don't know that I understand but you have to think about it before just saying it's not a good gimmik cause you don't understand it.
First off, you should probably spell gimmick right, but I'm just saying that because I respect your opinions and I like busting balls. However, on the main point in this paragraph, I think you missed my point. What I was trying to get across is that this is 2010. This day and age, I believe wrestling has gotten to a point where things don't need to be over the top to work. I believe that someone should be able to "turn up the volume" and be a persona as opposed to a character. The Pope is a character and one that doens't make a lot of sense. He's actually supposed to be a street preacher from New York. I'm from NY and I've never seen a street preacher look like that. Not to say a street preacher COUDLN'T look like that, but I feel that in today's wrestling business, the more reliant you are on an over the top character to get you over, the less likely you are to get over as a persona which is what sells today.
You obviously have not watched more than two or three of his interviews and I'm guessing you were passing them by and not paying attention. The guy is constantly changing his voice in his promos. Up, down, high, low. The guys is all over the place and keeps people interested. So what if his promos are being compared to Rock's. The guy is better than 95% of WWE's roster and 99% of ROH's. If you have ever been to a southern church or even some urban churches that's the way the preachers speak. Very quick, very choppy. It's part of the gimmik. Once again you don't seem to understand the gimmik and it effects your perception of the gimmik and the man. And to your point of him calling people the wrong names, it's part of the gimmik again that he feels he is above the guys and doesn't really care what their name is and two, were you ok with Jericho consistently calling others names over and over? And to play advocate on your points, Rock's promos were just as overrated as anyone's in the buisness. Rock's promos are not the end all be all of wrestling promos. People who think so are so damn blind.
I've watched most of his promos in WWE and TNA. Truth be told, his promos in WWE were better. I sensed feeling in them. I haven't felt feeling in any of his TNA promos, which I find ironic since part of the gimmick is to "preach" which is usually an overexaggeration of feeling. As for the wrong name thing, I do enjoy that sort of thing, and the first time he said it, it COULD have been funny if he said it in a better voice than the one he uses, and even in that voice, I had a small chuckle. The point was, by continuing to use it, it showed a lack of creativity/spontaneity/originality in the rest of the promo. To say he's a better promo man than essentially 95 percent of the business today.............I'll give you some names to ponder. The Miz is miles ahead of him. Jericho is too, though his set promos lately have become a little stale. CM Punk has done a nice job lately and might be the best today at staying in character at all times (probably because he lives his gimmick). I would also put money on MVP, Cena, Orton, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, among others at schooling The Pope on the mic. On the TNA side, I would certainly expect Kurt Angle to school the kid, and as I stated in my first post, though I think his mic work is overrated, Mr. Anderson has done a nice job at creating heat for himself so I have to give credit where credit is due for that aspect.
I would liken The Pope to R-Truth in the WWE. Short, choppy promo style (when Truth actually talks, not raps) where they have a creative line every now and again that gives people hope that they will rise to great mic heights. Then the next 5 promos that stink are ignored because he had one great line.
As for The Rock, while he was my favorite wrestler of the Attitude Era, it was not because of his catchphrases. It was the unpredictability of the rest of his promos. He was entertaining and just owned any area he was ever in. I challenge you to watch any promo he cut from 1999 on. Listen to the crowd eat up every word. Watch as he merely says that the fans are chanting his name and they all respond by doing so. Not many had that ability. However, there are others I have thorougly enjoyed in my life. I love watching old school Piper, Macho Man was interesting, among others. However, most of the old character I enjoyed wouldn't work today. It's a different skill set in being a bit more "regular" and "relateable". Also to note, I judge comedy style promos in a different category than utterly serious ones because it's not fair to compare the two. Thus, comparing vicious heels and funny faces is not a fair comparison. The point is, there's plenty of quality mic men in this business today (and plenty of lousy ones), and I think Mr. Dinero is closer to the middle than the top. That is to say he's above average but not anywhere close to elite.
You seem to be the only one who doesn't understand the character. HE was himself in the WWE and they had no idea what to do with him and if he did go back to being himself in TNA, people wouldn't buy it after being "THe Pope". Some people need that larger than life character to get over, including your apparant #1 hero, The Rock. Rock was Dwayne turned up. Same with Pope. If you want people being themselves and boring most of the time go watch ROH. I like the guys there but Aries is the only guy who really entertains me character wise and that's because he has turned himself into that cocky arogant guy that you love to hate as opposed to most of the guys who are just tights and boots guys. ANd I'm sorry it's damn disrepsectful to call someone in his thirties Kid like you are some damn legend in the buisness. He's connecting with the fans better now than ever before.
To start, I'm not a ROH fan and never will be. It's character development is very weak and I'm a fan of stories and storylines. It's what drew me into the business in the first place and what continues to keep me watching. With that said, while I look for the best stories to further each week, I also tend to look forward to certain segments. In the Attitude Era, while everyone was intrigued with the Stone Cold/McMahon never-ending saga, I would argue that many people felt you could not miss a Rock promo. I, however, feel that the Rock's better stuff was yet to come. I actually think he was at his best later on when he become more human, more relateable. When he started talking about his roots in Miami, his actual life, he become more normal and I think it was probably just natural progression as well. Ultimately, no matter who you are, you should always be striving to get better. I think that's why I'm down on the Pope. I felt he had potential in WWE and I still think he has potential, but I think strapping him with a lame gimmick that I can kind of liken to a bad knockoff of Brother Love is a step in the wrong direction. The best thing that could happen with the kid is to have this cheery Pope thing go for a little but start losing a little bit. He would continue being happy to insult people and put on a show, but slowly realize that he's getting nowhere. This would lead to a revelation and his becoming "himself". Perhaps the name D'Angelo Winters could work so he could keep part of the name. This person would be one who realizes that, while he is a survivor of the streets of New York, he doesn't need to do these ridiculous things for the fans to like him. He needs to show them that anyone can survive and that being from New York makes you tough to the point where you can take anything. I believe this pro NY thing could be a prelude to a great feud with the brit, Desmond Wolfe, who could knock NY and the US to get heat and thus, get the now Winters a lot of cheers to beat the evil Brit. I would certainly be more into this character than this over the top Pope thing. Again, I'm not sayiing the kid can't succeed, but I am saying that he's nowhere near tapped into his potential. In a few years, you might look back at this conversation and be like "wow, i thought he was good then, boy, he's improved leaps and bounds". And that is exactly what I hope happens. I do hope for the best for any talent, but I do prepare for the worst. Here's hoping the former Elijah Burke doesn't buy the internet hype and continues to improve as he matures in his wrestling career.
