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Once in a while, a character debuts on WWE TV that is the brain child of Vince McMahon on WWE TV. Take the case of Drew McIntyre; Vince McMahon saw the next ‘big thing’ in him, and had even called him ‘The Chosen One’, vouching for him on many episodes of WWE shows like RAW and SmackDown! What happened in the end? Drew was a massive flop, not because he wasn’t talented, but the pressure of being hand-picked by Vince McMahon to be the next big star took its toll on Drew. Where did he end up? He’s now a part of the 3 MB (Three Man Band), which is this generation’s J. O. B squad. Being hand-picked by Vince to be a success can either be a boon, or a curse, as there are people who will get sick and tired of you.
When reports surfaced online that WWE would finally put Johnny Curtis on the main show after being stuck on NXT for eternity, all of the Internet Wrestling Community was elated. Curtis has been proving himself for years now on FCW and on NXT, and for a while, had been by far the best performer on the show. So, it was just a matter of time when he would get into the ‘big league’, and when that happened, most of us weren’t surprised. What surprised everyone was his new gimmick, and even more, it was the brain child of Vince McMahon himself! When Vince comes up with a gimmick or a character, he pushes it till it either succeeds, or becomes a total bust with the fans. When the promos of Fandango’s character aired, no one knew what to think about it, as it was the character of a Ball Room dancer. Everyone was confused as to where Curtis would end up.
The debut of the now much anticipated character of Fandango ended up being a teaser, as he started saying he wouldn’t compete till people got his name right. After weeks of not participating in scheduled match ups, Fandango got into a feud with the veteran Chris Jericho, and to the shock of those who knew just how good Curtis was, the fans started chanting ‘You Can’t Wrestle’ and ‘Boring’, which is almost equal to the kiss of death for a newbie on the main roster. Although it wasn’t Curtis’ fault, the fans slowly but surely started to turn on him. Although he got booed like any good heel does, it wasn’t the kind of reaction a performer would expect, as it was more of an X – Pac heat than a good heel heat. So this left us with a question: Will Fandango end before he ever gets started? The feud with Jericho provided some hope in an otherwise bleak period ahead, as it seemed.
Fandango did what people can only dream of, and that is to debut at WrestleMania, wrestling his first match on WWE TV. And not just that, he went on to beat a former 6 time World Champion, and one of the best performers in the history of the business, Chris Jericho, at WrestleMania! Although some fans were outraged with the result, it made perfect sense to me. But in the end, this added to the fans’ frustrations, as Fandango, who had been receiving the bad kind of heat till now from the crowds, just defeated one of the ‘Internet Darlings’. Normally, this would make all the internet and smart wrestling fans in general angry, so post WrestleMania, we had to see how the crowd would react to him.
If anyone remembers post WrestleMania RAW from last year, they were firmly behind Daniel Bryan, as he was not only one of the best wrestlers in the world, but was a great character and had lost the World title in just 18 seconds the night before, which was gross injustice. The fans showed Bryan their support in what was a memorable RAW. This year’s post WrestleMania show started off similarly, with the crowd being pro active during all the segments and matches. And so, everyone waited to see how they’d react to Fandango.
When Fandango’s music hit, the place erupted! Not only that, but the crowd started humming Fandango’s theme, which was surreal to say the least. Fandango was over with the fans, as they began chanting his name, and continued singing his theme! Even after his bout, they kept singing his theme during other segments and matches! Not only did it take the locker room by surprise, but it brought out chuckles from the announcers on the live episode!
The night didn’t end there. The fans kept humming his song even on their way back in the metro, and it was nothing short of brilliant. One of those nights that was made memorable not by the performers, but by the WWE Universe.
The great thing about this is, unlike last year’s helter skelter attempt by WWE to stop the crowd from cheering for Daniel Bryan, WWE has actually put videos of fans singing Fandango’s theme, and it going viral on their official Youtube page! Not just that, but they came out with this as well.
It’ll be interesting to see how WWE treats the Fandango character from now. One thing is for sure – if Vince plays his cards right, he might have hit the mother-load with Fandango’s character! I, for one, hope this craze doesn’t end here, and it most likely won’t. Again, the New Jersey crowd might have started a sensation, much like the ‘Gangnam Style’ and the ‘Harlem Shake’ for the WWE Universe! So until next time, Da da… da da da da da, da da…. Da da da da da…
