TNA Wrestling – Curry Man

Several months ago, Christopher Daniels went on a long hiatus after loosing the X-Division title to Chris Sabin. For a long time we didn’t hear anything out of him until a series of video packages began airing every week on Impact. In those video packages we kept hearing about how Christopher Daniels was intending to get in touch with a “higher power” and how he wanted to set his sights on a much bigger prize than the X-Division title. Unfortunately, upon his debut, we didn’t get that. Instead, Christopher Daniels made his return by attacking another X-Division wrestler and for the longest time, seemed intent on feuding with the exact same wrestlers he feuded with before he left. A few months later, however, the wrestling world was delighted to learn that Christopher Daniels would be engaging in a feud against the legendary icon Sting at Slammiversary.

Slammiversary would come and go almost as fast as his “feud” with sting, which doesn’t really even deserve to be called a feud. I like to think of it as more of a “conflict of interest”, but that’s really here nor there at the moment so allow me to get back to the topic at hand. Excusing my slight diversion, after Slammiversary TNA decided to rehire Elix Skipper and reform Triple X, a dominant heel stable in the early days of TNA. Daniels fans were outraged to find out that he wouldn’t be continuing his feud with Skipper, but they were excited when they heard about the return of Triple X.

As it would turn out, however, Triple X reformed at the Ultimate X match at Hard Justice and then TNA proceeded to do absolutely nothing with the stable and even less with Daniels. In all of the illustrious reunion of Triple X, the only notable occurrences involving them happened to be a poor X-Division title feud, an Ultimate X match with no build (heck of an oxymoron), and one odd looking video package shortly before Daniels was “fired” from TNA. Shortly afterward, Low-Ki wanted out of TNA, and Elix Skipper began using his old theme music. That was the end of Triple X, and what a huge impact they made!

Earlier in the previous paragraph, I mentioned that Daniels was “fired” from TNA, and for those of you that don’t know or can’t remember, Christopher Daniels participated in that wonderful “Feast or Fired” match at some TNA PPV that I can’t remember the name of, and despite many people thinking he would get a title shot of some kind, he received the briefcase with the pink slip and was hence forth “fired” from TNA wrestling.

Now obviously this was merely kayfabe and Daniels wasn’t really gone from TNA wrestling, but it still left a bad taste in the mouths of many as most felt that Daniels was worthy of a title opportunity and not a storyline that would have him be absent from TNA. In truth, however, it wouldn’t have been very much of a change as Daniels was rarely featured on the program anyway, but the whole ordeal just added unneeded insult to injury.

After Daniel’s kayfabe “firing”, rumors began to swirl around the internet on just how his X-Division legend would make his return to TNA. At first it was reported that TNA was going to run a homeless angle, then it changed into a proposed NJPW invasion, and lastly internet reports began to say that Daniels would cease wrestling as the Fallen Angel and return as his alter ego, the eccentric masked wrestler Curry Man.

I had seen some of Curry Man in various independent wrestling promotions and youtube videos, and I thought he was a pretty funny character. Sadly though, that was the extent of my enjoyment. I wasn’t really looking forward to his debut on TNA Impact and hoped the rumors were false.

Last week’s Impact, in my opinion was fairly mediocre. The wrestling aspect of the show was as good as it always is, but I had several issues with the show. For one I didn’t like Jay Lethal mimicking Shawn Michaels and his “lost smile”, secondly I hated Johnny Devine getting destroyed by Samoa Joe out right after winning the X-Division title, and thirdly The Rock and Rave Infection went from looking like jobbers to jobbers with horrible characters who are addicted to Guitar Hero. I wasn’t sold on the show and neither were most of the fans in which I talked to.

        The segment with Curry Man came on, he did his little dance, and suddenly ninety percent of the fans I talked to proclaimed that show to be the greatest Impact in history. Curry Man and his ridiculous dance was loved so much by the internet fans that they totally forgot about all the other crap they just sat through and were mesmerized by a guy that resembled a giant pizza. I, however, was not so easily pleased with this over-the-top comedy character.

        The fact that so many of the people that bash TNA for their silly storylines and joke oriented characters being the ones that are going crazy over Curry Man really strikes me as quite odd. Upon racking my brain for a solution to the problem I came up with a surprising solution. I really hate to bash the internet or use the term indy darlings, but I can’t help but believe that the only reason internet fans love Curry Man is because he was an indy wrestling gimmick. TNA can have AJ Styles running around in a bunny suite and the internet acts like the idea the worst thing ever (which it is), but when they have Christopher Daniels dancing down to the ring in a mask with a bowl of curry on top, the idea is the greatest idea ever. Curry Man is no different from AJ in a bunny suit, Kurt Angle in a psychiatric ward, or Stone Cold Shark Boy. Curry Man is simply yet another way to illicit a few laughs and cheap pops from the crowd.

TNA has some element of comedy in almost every element of their show, and I racked my brain trying to figure out just how to take any of their stars seriously. AJ Styles, once the crowned prince of TNA, has been reduced into nothing more than a stuttering, idiotic country hick all for the price of a few laughs. Chris Harris, shortly before leaving TNA, was reduced to nothing more than a chronic complainer all for the price of a few laughs. Even Kurt Angle, TNA World Heavyweight champion and the biggest star on the show, has been reduced to nothing more than an idiot once again all for the price of a few laughs. Laughs bring smiles to faces, but they don’t bring dollars to the table folks. I don’t pay money to see running jokes and neither do wrestling fans. That much is evident in TNA’s stagnant PPV buys.

Despite all of this, TNA continues to add more and more comedic touches to every aspect of their program. In the past few weeks we have witnessed such great segments such as the coronation of King AJ Styles, Kurt Angle proclaiming himself to not be the sharpest knife in the shed, the birth of “Stone Cold” Sharkboy, and now we have Curry Man. Daniels, who once had an interesting multidimensional character is now reduced to nothing but a break-dancing joke.

        The fact that so many of the people that bash TNA for their silly storylines and joke oriented characters being the ones that are going crazy over Curry Man really strikes me as quite odd. Upon racking my brain for a solution to the problem I came up with a surprising solution. I really hate to bash the internet or use the term indy darlings, but I can’t help but believe that the only reason internet fans love Curry Man is because he was an indy wrestling gimmick. TNA can have AJ Styles running around in a bunny suite and the internet acts like the idea the worst thing ever (which it is), but when they have Christopher Daniels dancing down to the ring in a mask with a bowl of curry on top, the idea is the greatest idea ever. Curry Man is no different from AJ in a bunny suit, Kurt Angle in a psychiatric ward, or Stone Cold Shark Boy. Curry Man is simply yet another way to illicit a few laughs and cheap pops from the crowd. Curry Man, by himself, is no real issue, but he’s only another addition to a long list of reasons why I and many others can no longer take TNA as a serious alternative to World Wrestling Entertainment television programming, and it pains me for fans all over the world wide web to bash TNA so hard for their over-abundance of comedy angles, yet then turn around and go crazy of Curry Man. How can we expect TNA to every listen to anything the internet has to say when our beliefs are so schizophrenic. There can be no double standards, people. If we want to grab TNA’s attention we have to stand up and say “Hey, this is crap no matter who’s behind the mask.” Let us not get to caught up in our love for Daniels’ indy gimmick, but let us realize that TNA already has way to much for us to laugh at, and they cannot afford so much comedy in absence of real, engaging storylines.

~ by superxero on February 5, 2008.