3 Ups And 4 Downs From Last Night’s WWE NXT (July 8)

Last night, Corey Graves made reference to The Vaudevillains as "not knowing what decade they were in." That's not the case about the two strongmen - after all, nostalgic chap-chic is all the hipster rave right now - but you could certainly lay that criticism at the feet of Marcus Louis.

Ever since the Frenchman had his head chemically baldened by Enzo and Big Cass, he has gone somewhat 'off the rails'. He is now kayfabe insane, and that's fine. A lot of superstars have made cash out of coo-coo over the years, Dean Ambrose currently excelling as an example of family-friendly ker-razy, but Louis isn't faring nearly as well.

Simply put, times have changed. The days of the bug-eyed lunatic who screams incomprehensibly and contorts his face into a million gaping snarls are over. Fans have slowly been conditioned to demand more realistic personas - or at least ones they haven't seen before - and Louis' mouth-wide-open, shouty brand of Kane-lite lunacy feels a couple of generations too old. 

In the 1950s, it would have cleaned up, the unhinged eyes and the constantly wide, WIDE open mouth would have scared grandmas and kids back when kayfabe existed, but now, when fans know that characters have to be crafted, and are spoiled by more charismatic, nuanced lunatics like Ambrose of Bray Wyatt, Marcus Louis cannot help but seem simplistic and lazy by comparison. He needs to develop his character fast, or head back to the drawing board.