10 WWE Attempts To Capitalise On Popular Culture

As Johnny Curtis, Curtis Hussey impressed WWE enough in taking on cringe-inducing tasks on NXT’s original format to have months of vignettes aired, building the debut of his ballroom dancer character, Fandango. 2012’s season of Dancing With The Stars had averaged an audience of between 11 and 13 million viewers, and WWE, forever chasing a ratings draw no matter the source, invested so much faith in Fandango that the wrestler won on his debut against Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 29. AJ Styles, in his WrestleMania debut in 2016, lost to Chris Jericho, showing just how much potential WWE’s executives saw in the 29-year-old flamenco master.

Whether it was the fancy footwork or the revolutionary idea of being booked strongly from the get go, Fandango achieved a surprising amount of success, perhaps a result of Jim Johnston penning the wrestler's theme tune, which was, at one point, #11 in iTunes UK Charts. The character slowly moved to the bottom of the card over the coming months, but the initial popularity of the gimmick shouldn’t be understated. In a way, Fandango’s momentum is a foreboding presence to wrestling fans, proving to WWE’s creative that if enough effort is put into a character, the rewards could be worth it. Let’s hope we don’t see a Tiger King pastiche on SmackDown anytime soon.