2. Evil Foreigner: Round 378
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zunR4a9qmdQ What year is this, 1984 of 2014? Because the idea of an evil-foreigner who hates America coming into the WWE feels a good 30 years too late. Yes, Alexander Rusev isn't exactly new to the WWE, as he's been in NXT for some time, but for the vast majority of the audience, this is the first time they've really got a good look at this brute. After a Royal Rumble appearance, and weeks of vignettes, Rusev showed up on Raw and SmackDown this week to speak in his native language and attempt to rile up the crowds. It already feels tiring. In NXT, the announcers would compare him and his Bulgarian valet Lana (who is actually from Florida) to Dolph Lundgren and Bridgett Brigitte Neilson's characters from Rock IV. Yes, Rocky IV...from 1985. While the rest of the world appears to have moved on, Vince McMahon seems hopelessly stuck in the past. Being from a country outside of the United States is no longer enough to get someone heel heat. Besides, didn't we just see this act a couple years ago when it was called Vladamir Kozlov? How well did that work for them? What about Antonio Cesaro's initial gimmick or Kenzo Suzuki, Brakkus, La Resistance, Ludvig Borga and all the way back to Nikita Koloff and The Iron Sheik. How many more times do we have to go through this?
Andrew Soucek
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
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Andrew