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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

A Tale of Two Pushes

Lord Tensai & Funkasaurus (WWE)
By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Brodus Clay and Lord Tensai are both riding the wave of success in the WWE.  Since finally debuting after weeks (maybe even months) of promises, Funkasaurus has been undefeated on WWE television.  The same goes for the artist formerly known as A-Train.

While each man shares that in common, that's about the end of the similarities.  Tensai is a brutal, raw wrestler who holds impressive pinfall victories over current WWE champion CM Punk, former champ John Cena, and now tag team champion coholder R-Truth.  I like the fact that the WWE has a dominant heel to push, but I'm still not sold on it being Lord Tensai.  I've talked about it before, and I'll say it again he just doesn't impress me.  I was never a fan of his when he was Prince Albert or A-Train, and I'm still not today.

Pinning Punk (WWE)
That's not taking anything away from him, as I do believe he has improved since his last run with the company.  Obviously going to Japan did help.  And as I mentioned, the WWE lacks character development in my view and Tensai could end up being a good one to push.  I do worry though that with two really big wins on Raw and the other squash matches in the course of just over a month, we may be on a Tensai overload.  I hope it doesn't end up coming back to bite him.

As for Brodus Clay, I enjoyed him on NXT and in the weeks that followed.  He seemed lost though and I'm not even sure how much he actually wrestled once being brought to the main roster.  I think the time he spent off TV and being repackaged was brilliant.  I (like many fans) thought Clay would come back as a monster too, dominating his opponents.  Instead, he's the Funkasaurus who enjoys dancing in the ring and keeping the fans entertained.  So far, I'd say it's working for him, but arguably his resume isn't as impressive as Tensai's in terms of victories.  The Lord has pinned two top WWE superstars.  Clay has beaten the Miz (who seems to be on a slide) and Dolph Ziggler.  Of course there have been a lot of squash matches for him too, but the wins over Miz and Ziggler mark an important step in Clay's development too.

Splashing Miz (WWE)
I think many people viewed him as a joke and destined to fail, especially after he disappeared briefly from TV earlier this year.  But I'm going to go out on a limb and say fans enjoy the character and he's going to be around for a while.  Man I hope I didn't just jinx him, because the truth of the matter is I really like Funkasaurus.  He's entertaining as hell.  Plus he (like Tensai) don't fall into that cookie-cutter image that many of the other WWE superstars have.

Kudos to the WWE for their pushing of these two men.  I hope it continues as it will bring new blood to the main event and championship pictures this year.  I like where things have been going in recent months with guys like Punk, Daniel Bryan, and Cody Rhodes in more of the spotlight.  I don't necessarily see a Tensai or Clay world title run in the near future, but I think either man is capable of holding the Intercontinental or U.S championships.


1 comment:

  1. I think it'd be rather interesting to see them have the classic "big man standoff" at the Royal Rumble.

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