Why do people consider Orlando Jordan one of the bad TNA additions?

[.]

Ok I see when people mention the bad ideas made by TNA they always mention Orlando Jordan & The nastys. I get the Nasty's but why Jordan? Orlando Jordan is only 38 years old, granted not a good age to get into wrestling with but even still the guy has impressed TNA mangement with his preformances and he has gotten over more with the fans than they expected him to be. TNA has been getting alot of praise over the character he is now(Which is bisexual) granted the promo last night was creepy as well. Jordan can really go somewhere in TNA if they don't focus completely on his sexual preference.
Your thoughts?

 

[TellMeWhy]

I don't care for Orlando Jordan but I also don't mind him. I don't need him off of my screen like how some of these other marks acts. TNA has a role for him and is using him as an example of pushing the envelope. I don't mind him being exploited if he doesn't mind. TNA is using Orlando in a role that allows them to make a statement which is that TNA is not PG or for children. We are different and through acts like Orlando Jordan, they're making that statement. I see Orlando in his role as kind of like Goldust. He's like the new age Goldust so whatever. I have no problem with his wrestling either. I think he's solid in the ring.

 

[jameshoover78]

The new gimmick that he has is a bit.......well......odd but I don't really have too much of a problem with him either. I don't really rub my hands together in anticipation of his arrival, but I don't make a mad dash to turn off the television when he's on either.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I'm actually kind of curious to see how far they take this.

I was really digging the music, and it's not as though OJ is the world's worst wrestler. Far from it, in fact.

IMO, this has all the ground work necessary to build from if they actually let him cut a promo. Twice now we've seen this shock factor with no follow-up (unless you can read lips), and that's just not the right way to book this, IMO. I don't make too much of a habit in telling professionals how to do their job, but this is a case where I feel they're doing a disservice to the fans and the performer by not actually completing the process, and that's a shame (maybe).

The real question here is whether or not his sexuality is what is going to spark his feuds a la Golddust, where a homophobic opponent feuds with him over his overt sexuality or not?

 

[Very_Silver_Owns]

I liked Orlando Jordon ( dont get any funny ideas ) when he was teaming with JBL but out of nowhere WWE broke them up...teaming with JBL got him the US title and he beat Supe...i mean Cena...how many wrestlers can say they beat Cena ? he was a great wrestler and dont know why WWE fired him...but even though he is gay i mean bio ( he likes girls on the side ) i dont want to know his private life...wrestling is business and should stay that way.

 

[hatehabsforever]

Orlando Jordan is clearly one of the bad additions to the TNA roster for a number of reasons and he typifies all that is wrong about the current TNA product.

For starters, he's too old in terms of being a "new" wrestler to the company. Rather than developing some truly new, exciting, and innovative wrestlers, ideally from within the company, they have chosed a 38 year old WWE reject who became a "reject" because he's a lousy wrestler. While 38 is admittedly not that old, HBK just retired last night and he's only 44. I guess by TNA standards, though, 38 is pretty young, he should have another 20-25 years in this company (if it survives the next 2-3 years).

Plus, I think TNA is focusing way too much on the whole notion of being "more adult," "crossing the line," "pushing the envelope," etc., They have the ridiculously excessive use of blood and the manner in which they use their divas (oops, I mean knockouts). Now they appear to be making a big deal about the whole bisexuality aspect of Orlando Jordan.

Make no mistake about it, I couldn't care less about OJ being bisexual, in real life or on screen. While I'm heterosexual myself, I have no opinion on how OJ lives his life in reality or portrays it in kayfabe. I just don't think it should become a wrestling storyline, it reeks of desperation, trying to "shock the world" with a controversial storyline to entice viewers to watch for the sideshow, rather than for the wrestling or for the progression of properly orchestrated storylines. Sure some people may watch to see where this angle goes, but once they do, they'll see it's going nowhere because he's a horrible wrestler with a lame gimmick. Shock value won't get it done for TNA. It didn't on Jan 04 or March 08, and it won't now either.

 

[MWRedskins]

Well, honestly, I was never a fan of Orlando Jordan. Maybe it's his hair or the fact that he doesn't excite me. I lean to the 2nd reason, he never really excited me like others have. I like Jack Swagger when he's being pushed because he can wrestle and even though his mic work sounds like Sylvester, he's kinda funny. Jordan on the mic never caught me and even when he was a face in WWE, he never caught my eye. That's my problem with OJ, he just never got me to think, wow.

 

[Rammsteinerteen]

Orlando Jordan has a horrible, terrible, gimmick. He can't get big with a gimmick like that. Wrestlers with silly gimmicks don't make it far into the buisness. Think of doink the clown from wwf, or even Curry Man, Stone Cold Shark Boy, and even Eugene.

 

[Blaw716]

Well i have to say the promo last night was really wierd but i think it did its job cause nobody expected it and when it happen everybody was speechless i just hope tna goes in the right direction with this orlando can wrestle trust he really can like i was reading one of the post he beat john cena and alot of people can't say that so i don't think he is a bad addition to the roster. By the way curry man was so over in tna it wasn't funny so he was definitly not a bad addition to tna.

 

[Greenlight13]

I found him a little bit bland during his Smackdown days but I'm with you, I don't get why he was grouped with the Nasty Boys and the Band in the "OMG TNA sucks so much, they've ruined the company with these new guys" discussion. He's not great, but he's not a 45 year old, out of shape, washed up has-been. I'm surprised he's as old as 38, but he's in reasonably good shape and he can work, even if he doesn't set the world on fire.

And it can't even be homophobia, because he didn't start working this gimmick until about a month after he arrived, people were outraged the moment he got hired. I'd hope that people aren't that narrow-minded these days anyway, but you never know.

I remember an early complaint was that he had walked in and was threatening to take the spot of someone like D'Angelo Dinero or Jay Lethal. Well, I think we can answer the question about Pope, as he's got an undisputed spot in the company that is higher up than Jordan's. Lethal's also getting to work with Hogan lately and it seems they're going to push him again. Sucks that Creed is gone, they were a nice little team, but Lethal appears set for his own push as well, so he's not taking anyone's spot that I can see.

It is a mystery to me.

 

[Heater41]

Obviously I am going from real world to e-fed but the way Orlando Jordan is being handled could be HUGE!

For about 10 years I handled and created an e-fed character known as "Rock Hard" Dick Ryder. He was 6'9, 269 lbs and hailed from San Francisco, California. His gimmick? No one was ever quite sure of his sexuality. His promo's simply, as TNA would put it, "Crossed the Line" He also had 2 managers, a female, "Pussy Willow" and a black male, "Hung Phat".

I was able to play this out so well and keep the "over the edge" story line going that the character became THE household name in e-fed role playing. EVERYONE knew who he was whether or not they role played against him. If TNA handles Orlando Jordan properly he has the potential to be a sports entertainment "Superstar". Now, whether it's accepted by the TNA viewers is a different story. Every federation has their own style of fan. I believe in the original ECW that Heyman would have known what to do with Jordan using this real life gimmick. WWE, he would get lost in the shuffle and politics. If he has the charisma of The Pope he can pull this off. Without it, he'll be serving a very short stint pro wrestling because this is a make or break gimmick.

 

[klunderbunker]

Jordan sucks. He always has and he always will. Seriously, what has he ever done? He had a joke US Title run with Benoit beating him three times in less than three minutes. Tell me, what has he ever accomplished in wrestling? Show me one good match that he's had. he had a big afro looking thing and could allegedly throw a punch. He wasn't over and he wasn't a good worker. Jordan is the epitome of a guy that seems to have been brought in for the sake of attempting to be a big name from WWE. One problem: no one cared in WWE and fewer care now. Jordan is a waste of TV time, plain and simple.

 

[The Sparks]

The gimmick.....disgusting. The wrestler......ok at best. He doesn't have any "wow" moves. He's not a great technical wrestler, not a high flier and not a great power wrestler. He's a mid carder for life type of guy. If this gimmick works, great for him but I personally will fast forward my TIVO every time he comes on screen. Heck, even without the gimmick I still would fast forward his matches.

 

[CaptainZaltan]

I think that most of the flak on Jordan comes from the simple fact that he came in with Hogan. Before Hogan, few (if any) TNA fans were anxious for Orlando Jordan to get signed. And of course, for Orlando to be signed and used on Impact, it means that someone else on the roster is going to get less t.v time. So, the automatic question is "what does Orlando bring to the table that TNA is currently lacking?". Unlike a Mr. Anderson or RVD or Hardy, or even the Nasty Boyz or Bubba, you can't really say that Orlando is a recognizable personality who people will tune in to see by default. He's not too old, but not too young either. His mic and ring skills are in doubt. So in Orlando's case, it really seemed that he was simply there because Hogan wanted him there, and for no other logical reason. Which, at that particular time, equaled instant real heat with the IWC.

Aside from that, Orlando has never made a huge impression on me, either inside the ring or out of it. When he first showed up in TNA, I had already completely forgotten that he was ever in the WWE. It took me a minute to realize that he was the guy who used to drive JBL's limo.

Still, I don't think that he's a 'bad' wrestler really, and it's definitely unfair to make conclusions about his potential for developing a character or mic skills based on what happened in the WWE (just look at Pope). It seems like he's trying to develop a modern Gold-dust type character. Whether or not such a character can get over nowadays remains to be seen. I'm going to try and withhold judgment on him until I see how he handles a feud or two with the new character.

 

[johnbragg]

He's grouped with the Nastys, Hall and Waltman, and Flair because--Hogan brought them all in at the same time. He debuted on the big January 4 show, he worked Hogan's Australia tour.

Now, of course, Jordan isn't as old and broken down as the others Hogan brought in. He was never as big a name as Hall or Flair or even Waltman or the Nastys.

The difference between Jordan and the rest, and I think what the OP was getting at, is that Jordan isn't a used-up, broken-down ex-star clinging to a few more big paydays. He's a never-was, which makes him a maybe-could-be.

The downside, he is closer to 40 than 25, so even if lightning strikes and he becomes the black wrestling David Bowie/Adam Lambert, he's not going to be a main event fixture for the next ten or fifteen years.

But if he becomes TNA 2010's answer to WWF 1996's Goldust, I'd say that's a win for TNA.

And if he doesn't, then he becomes the next Consequences Creed and TNA fires him.

 

[wushady]

I just watched Impact on dvr for probably the last time. The main reason is that shit with Jordan. I get their going for shock value, but it's not going help them get viewers. People who were tired of WWE storylines and wanted to see wrestling watched TNA. Now their doing the same stupid shit WWE did in the late '90s. I didn't care much for the shock value then, but at least they had talented wrestlers doing the stupid gimmicks.

 

[Spillz3000]

I said it before on here and I'll say it again. Nothing against Orlando Jordan but if he was such a must have then why wasn't he signed 4 or 5 years ago as opposed to now. At least if they picked him up back then people would have recognized who he was and they could have done something better with him. Instead he comes in with Hogan because he was one of the few wrestlers that wanted to work that Australian tour with him. So yeah he's going to catch a lot of shit for coming in on Hogan's back as to being signed a long time ago. TNA even before Hogan came had a knack for signing any WWE nobody that got wished their future endeavors but for some reason they never picked up Orlando Jordan. That alone should tell everybody something. The guy wasn't fit to get picked up before but since he's Hogan's buddy he's now getting TV time. So I can't blame the IWC for jumping on Jordan's back cause quite frankly he deserved it. Will he bring something to the TNA table? Most likely not. He'll be shoved down our throats like Abyss and it will probably take a while for Hogan and Bischoff to realize this guy isn't going to do much. Sure he was a good wrestler but he is still virtually unrecognizable to this day.

There was a poster on here earlier that said on Jan. 4th it took them a while to figure out who that guy was. I was watching the show with all my boys and as huge of wrestling fans as we are we couldn't figure out who this old dude was interrupting The Pope. After a while we were like oh shoot that's Orlando Jordan(Honestly I think the announcers had to say something). So when you bring in people nobody can recognize off the bat I'd say we have a problem TNA.

 

[RicSpade]

Honestly my problem with ole OJ is he looked like a Booker T. Reject like seriously I turned into the OJ Pope match back when he first arrived and I thought Booker T. jumped back to TNA. It was different when Orlando had short hair and what not, but he looks like he is trying to get over by looking like someone else, and yeah this whole bi-sexual thing is a little odd but Goldust did this same crap in his feud with Scott Hall in the 90's and with Piper so you can't really call it pushing the edge unless he starts wearing a bra and dying his hair pink I'd get it.

In terms of his wrestling ability granted he isn't the best athlete in the world, but he wrestled better then Scott Steiner today (most people don't realize how bad Scott hurts and why he is retired), Hall, Bashir, Rob Terry, anyways you get the point, so in other words at the moment, I don't see a problem with OJ, but they need to have him bring something to the table, or he's not going anywhere in TNA.

 

[Midnite Express 2009]

To the orginial poster, TNA WILL focus their whole storylines for Orlando ON his sexuality. They will do this because that's what TNA is expected NOT to do. Here's my point. TNA could very well use him in a great way, but time & time again (much to my delight) TNA uses their wrestlers in meaningless ways that are hard to understand (i.e. the way that Mr. Anderson got NO crowd reaction last night. I was just saying to myself as he cleared this throat to repeat what he said, ONLY to finally get a crowd reaction, that this man is dying a slow, painful death. I mean, even the jaded fan of the worse guy at the bottom of the roster in WWE reacts better than what Anderson got).

TNA will do what they always do, use someone else's gimmick to market their stars. And with Orlando, he's the black Goldust. He's not a bad addition persay, but he will be looked at as such because he'll make more goofy, werid, Prince-like appearances like what he did last night, and sooner or later, his act will get tired and he'll be buried.

 

[Klown_Karnage]

I'm not an avid TNA watcher, although I do enjoy it as an alternative to the E, kind of a revisiting of the Attitude Era...and of course if I want to see good female wrestling where the wrestlers are believably powerful, I'd take TNA any day (even though they seem to be systematically weakening their knockouts division and I have no doubt they'll be not much far removed from the E's Divas given time.) So, I can't claim to be an expert on OJ. I do have to say that there are plenty of other wrestlers better than him. I also have to say that he seems to be relying too much on the gimmick itself to carry him.

The trouble here is that he's taken only one aspect of his gimmick and is allowing it to define him. This only works short term and only if it has an appreciable effect, positive or negative, on his allies and opponents. So far, his doesn't seem to. He might have a few "shock moments" but that's about it. If he plans to last, he's going to have to either get some versatility in his gimmick and performance or actually make use of the gimmick in relation to the other wrestlers by (more than likely) making them uncomfortable. Make some passes at the guys and gals, try to invite them to an orgy or something of the sort. If they want to push the envelope on TNA, there's no point in doing it half-assed.

As far as I'm concerned, yes, I think at this time OJ is in with the "bad" additions and those are my reasons. Can OJ improve? Yes, but he'll have to work at it. At this time, I'm largely indifferent towards him and his groupies.

 

[mikeyboy]

Wushady hit the nail on the head with his comment, this is 1990'swwf going for shock value crap.that was exactly what popped in my head when i saw the oj segment. i found it disgusting,not the character its self but the fact that TNA would stoop to this level so they can "cross the line". I have preferd TNA over WWE for the last few years but with junk like this they are doing what ive always hated about WWE/F their insistance on silly gimmicks like Hornswaggle,Doink,Repo man etc. .
Actually i found myself thinking throughout the majority of the show last night that it was coming across as a wwe program,come on TNA i had high hopes for you, you can do better than this.

 

[XratedRKO]

Something was done right. n 1 day OJ has garnered over 16 thousand views and 530 replies on utube. omg......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1MAkFa7GU0&feature=player_embedded

 

[GenMe]

Orlando Jordan's entrace was a bit wierd, I was kind of lost for the moment because I didn't knew what he was going to do. But after all I was really digging his entrance music, And his lady gaga outfit. LOL.

I honestly don't have a problem for OJ being bi, And I really will like to see how far will TNA take this storyline. He's a decent wrestler, and he's not bad with the mic. Just that right now he really need to find some one to feud with, Or make him cut promos for the moment.

 

[youngbullzeye]

i dont think he's a bad addition but i also do not see him as one of the big tna stars like rvd hardy or styles but i feel he will be another consequences creed

 

[gd]

I was quite shocked to see that TNA signed Ru Paul, and only slightly less shocked when I realized it was actually Orlando Jordan. I do have to say, that was one of the most surreal/uncomfortable/hilarious moments I've seen in wrestling in quite awhile. How random and pointless was it?

I don't know where they can go with this gimmick. Because it's so different and unique, there is a chance that it could lead to something incredible, but there's an even larger chance that it'll fall flat on it's face. I'm guessing it'll be the latter, as Jordan has yet to do anything special/memorable in his career other than look like The Pope.