Sometimes, you just can’t win. Even when something happens that, in the bigger picture, is actually for the best, there’s always those who like to nitpick.
After spending the end of 2011 promoting the return to television of Brodus Clay – a character who was last seen in squash matches on WWE Superstars, after being a nondescript bodyguard character – we finally got the payoff. With Clay’s return/debut having been continually pushed back since November, where he was originally meant to debut on an episode of Raw from Liverpool, England, the big event finally happened… but it wasn’t quite the same Brodus.
“Hailing from Planet Funk,” Brodus’ new character would be extremely polarising. “The Funkasaurus” Brodus Clay, an updated version of the Flash Funk gimmick used by the-artist-best-known-as Too Cold Scorpio in the mid 90s, was a refreshing change in a company where every character is either deadly serious, or seriously bad at comedy. Yet somehow, the only criticism of the new character seems to be that “it wasn’t what was promised”. Now, if WWE had still been running the same promos of Brodus in the weeks before, showing him as an unstoppable monster, then I’d understood. However, his name had barely been mentioned on television in recent weeks, so why should we have thought that they were still bringing him back at all? After all, I don’t remember anyone crying and moaning about Hade Vansen…
So, this past Monday, Brodus Clay came out in his red jumpsuit, jacket and fedora, quickly beating Curt Hawkins with the same set of moves he utilised in his squash matches on Superstars. Days later, he repeated the act, beating Tyson Kidd in even less time, showing that the emphasis was on the character, rather than the in-ring work.
Yet, the polarisation of this character is such that fans are either praising WWE for doing something outside of the box – by giving Clay a character that he has to work to play, rather than a by-the-numbers monster heel who would be forgotten as soon as WWE’s resident monster Mark Henry returns from injury. In the meantime, the nay-sayers are screaming from the rooftops, somewhat upset that they didn’t see the Brodus Clay that they (didn’t) see on Superstars, or that Brodus was squashing “the wrong guys”. Somehow, I think these are the views of those who love the sound of their own voice or perhaps have their own agendas, hidden or otherwise.
In short, those who still get a kick out of watching wrestling, regardless of their age, seemed to get a kick out of the Funkasaurus, whilst those who claim to be down on the product, yet still watch (presumably to give them something else to talk about whilst waiting for their next bandwagon – this is not a shot at anyone, trust me). Perhaps this is a sign? In the meantime, I’ll be happily listening out to the music we first heard nearly ten years ago with Ernest Miller, whilst also figuring out another what I should listen to instead, as I’ve hit unsubscribe on that podcast…
