I think its fairly obvious at this point that they didn't have an f'n clue what they were bringing Tensai in to do.
We're what 6 or 7 months into his run as a character now and we've still been offered no explanation as to:
a) Why A-Train has come back? (they referenced that he was a former wwe wrestler on commentary) b) Why has he come back all shaved and Japanese? c) Why did he wear those cheap looking robes? d) Why does he have a follower called Sakamoto? e) Why does Sakamoto follow him around? f) Why does he sometimes beat up Sakamoto after a loss, whilst at other times he doesn't? g) Really why does Sakamoto follow him around?
Who'd have thought such a well defined character wouldn't connect with people? It's like it was designed to make audiences go 'huh?!' and forget about him instantly.
That said they re-debuted him on the same RAW Lesnar returned on. He was pretty much screwed no matter what at that point
"That said they re-debuted him on the same RAW Lesnar returned on. He was pretty much screwed no matter what at that point."
THIS. If Brock hadn't come back, Tensai was going to be the guy built up to go against Cena for that month. It would have taken until then to find out that he still sucked.
I asked this a couple months ago, and no-one can really answer. I've HEARD for the past couple years that him and Tomko were tearing it up in Japan, and that they both got REALLY good. Is there ANY evidence of this? You can even leave Tomko out of it... is there ANY evidence that Albert/Giant Bernard/Tensai was ever good at any point?
I don't understand why they haven't acknowledged him as Albert and gotten it over with. It's oddly dissonant to watch this guy wrestle, know exactly who he is, and be told he's someone different.
My theory is that they debuted two big guys, (Ryback and Tensai) at the same time and two "typical jerk heels," (Sandow and Jinder Mahal) at the same time. gave it a few months and pushed the ones that were more over, and it ended up being Ryback and Sandow. Basically the old "throw it against the wall and see if it sticks" theory
My point was maybe he was brought in just to be a JTTS and not the next big thang. I don't believe for one minute he has moved ratings an iota in either direction and don't think he's being paid to do as such.
The funny thing about that quote is that coming from anyone else one might take it as sucking up to Vince. But since Funk is one guy that clearly never needed to do that leads me to believe that Vince is not sociopath he is made out to be.
He was absolutely brought in to be the "next big thang" and they spent a lot of money on him. And his segments lately have been absolute ratings death.
A longtime friend visited me last night and we had a recent Raw on the Spanish channel on in the background while playing poker. He hasn't watched WWE at all since like 2002. On the show was Big Show, Mick Foley, Kane, Paul Heyman and Tensai. His exact words were "These guys are still here!? This crap hasn't changed in 10 years! Do they push anybody new? All the new wrestlers look the same and have dumb generic names!"
As someone who really never cared for him, I was interested in seeing him come back, since I heard he was doing really well in Japan. And the guy always had an intimidating look, it's just that he was typically a jobber/nobody and suddenly he's A-Train and I should care. And I didn't. This seemed to have potential - rather than him being a loser one week and a monster the next, he disappeared for years, went to Japan, got better, dominated, and so there's a reason why he's supposed to be good now and why he's embracing Japanese culture...only they didn't do much to explore or explain any of that, and seemed to assume/hope that nobody would remember who he was. Why acknowledge that he is a former WWE Superstar who went to Japan and improved and not say who he was? There also seemed to be a bit of 80's thinking where they just threw a guy out there with an evil gimmick and figured he'd be over just because...
The evil heel Japanese character is only relevant to baby boomers and older. No one gives a shit anymore about Japan, Pearl Harbor, WW2, etc. Most of all being younger fans or even the middle aged ones.
There are matches all over youtube. Check out his matches with Tanahashi in 2006/07 for some of his singles work. Check out some of his tag title matches. Puroresufan.com has all kinds of info about when they defended the titles, against whom, etc. Albert never became a "great" worker, or some type of megastar, but he did become a very solid singles performer and a very respected tag team wrestler. Then again, Japan is different than the U.S.; a few power moves and the ability to seem threatening, while having some sympathetic wrestlers to bounce off of him went a long way in legitimizing him as a "gaijin" threat. The WWE involved a different set of skills and a different type of booking to be successful.
I think the question has validity. Remember when the Goon, Freddie Joe Floyd, Salvatore Sincere, and TL Hopper all came in? People were pissed of by the horrible gimmicks, but it turns out Vince just wanted some jobbers with gimmicks.
I still find it hilarious that my sister used to work for Salvatore Sincere. And that he ripped off the place after he turned it over to the new owners.
I think Tensai is doing everything he can. It's not like WWE gave him much, yeah they had him beat Cena and Punk, but he has no character, has cut no promos, he's been given no angles, he's playing a stiff, brutal heel well, but WWE isn't Japan, and nobody can get over on ringwork alone.
I still don't get why they don't just switch the guy back to Albert already. If they're going to half-ass the gimmick (and they clearly started half-assing it after a month or so), they might as well not even bother.
If Scott has inside information I have no counter to that; I was just going by what I thought based on what I've seen on TV. As far as the ratings I have no reason to disbelieve that either I'm too lazy but I could look it up for myself if I wanted.
I speak fluent Japanese with only a barely noticeable accent. I don't have a clue what Albert was saying in his Japanese promos because his pronunciation was so awful. So the gimmick was even more of a sham for me from day one. Plus the big "Tensai" written on the back of his head looks like it was done by a third grader.
I think its fairly obvious at this point that they didn't have an f'n clue what they were bringing Tensai in to do.
ReplyDeleteWe're what 6 or 7 months into his run as a character now and we've still been offered no explanation as to:
a) Why A-Train has come back? (they referenced that he was a former wwe wrestler on commentary)
b) Why has he come back all shaved and Japanese?
c) Why did he wear those cheap looking robes?
d) Why does he have a follower called Sakamoto?
e) Why does Sakamoto follow him around?
f) Why does he sometimes beat up Sakamoto after a loss, whilst at other times he doesn't?
g) Really why does Sakamoto follow him around?
Who'd have thought such a well defined character wouldn't connect with people? It's like it was designed to make audiences go 'huh?!' and forget about him instantly.
That said they re-debuted him on the same RAW Lesnar returned on. He was pretty much screwed no matter what at that point
Once in a while I think we need to remember that Terry Funk quote from Mick Foley's first book: "Sometimes Vince just hires someone to be nice."
ReplyDelete"That said they re-debuted him on the same RAW Lesnar returned on. He was pretty much screwed no matter what at that point."
ReplyDeleteTHIS. If Brock hadn't come back, Tensai was going to be the guy built up to go against Cena for that month. It would have taken until then to find out that he still sucked.
I asked this a couple months ago, and no-one can really answer. I've HEARD for the past couple years that him and Tomko were tearing it up in Japan, and that they both got REALLY good. Is there ANY evidence of this? You can even leave Tomko out of it... is there ANY evidence that Albert/Giant Bernard/Tensai was ever good at any point?
I don't understand why they haven't acknowledged him as Albert and gotten it over with. It's oddly dissonant to watch this guy wrestle, know exactly who he is, and be told he's someone different.
ReplyDeleteExactly. It's like the old Chainsaw Charlie / Terry Funk thing, though I think they at least admitted that
ReplyDeleteMy theory is that they debuted two big guys, (Ryback and Tensai) at the same time and two "typical jerk heels," (Sandow and Jinder Mahal) at the same time. gave it a few months and pushed the ones that were more over, and it ended up being Ryback and Sandow. Basically the old "throw it against the wall and see if it sticks" theory
ReplyDeleteMy point was maybe he was brought in just to be a JTTS and not the next big thang. I don't believe for one minute he has moved ratings an iota in either direction and don't think he's being paid to do as such.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing about that quote is that coming from anyone else one might take it as sucking up to Vince. But since Funk is one guy that clearly never needed to do that leads me to believe that Vince is not sociopath he is made out to be.
ReplyDeleteHe was absolutely brought in to be the "next big thang" and they spent a lot of money on him. And his segments lately have been absolute ratings death.
ReplyDeleteA longtime friend visited me last night and we had a recent Raw on the Spanish channel on in the background while playing poker. He hasn't watched WWE at all since like 2002. On the show was Big Show, Mick Foley, Kane, Paul Heyman and Tensai. His exact words were "These guys are still here!? This crap hasn't changed in 10 years! Do they push anybody new? All the new wrestlers look the same and have dumb generic names!"
ReplyDeleteAs someone who really never cared for him, I was interested in seeing him come back, since I heard he was doing really well in Japan. And the guy always had an intimidating look, it's just that he was typically a jobber/nobody and suddenly he's A-Train and I should care. And I didn't. This seemed to have potential - rather than him being a loser one week and a monster the next, he disappeared for years, went to Japan, got better, dominated, and so there's a reason why he's supposed to be good now and why he's embracing Japanese culture...only they didn't do much to explore or explain any of that, and seemed to assume/hope that nobody would remember who he was. Why acknowledge that he is a former WWE Superstar who went to Japan and improved and not say who he was? There also seemed to be a bit of 80's thinking where they just threw a guy out there with an evil gimmick and figured he'd be over just because...
ReplyDeleteThe evil heel Japanese character is only relevant to baby boomers and older. No one gives a shit anymore about Japan, Pearl Harbor, WW2, etc. Most of all being younger fans or even the middle aged ones.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they admitted that after a few weeks. BTW - Awesome name!
ReplyDeleteThere are matches all over youtube. Check out his matches with Tanahashi in 2006/07 for some of his singles work. Check out some of his tag title matches. Puroresufan.com has all kinds of info about when they defended the titles, against whom, etc. Albert never became a "great" worker, or some type of megastar, but he did become a very solid singles performer and a very respected tag team wrestler. Then again, Japan is different than the U.S.; a few power moves and the ability to seem threatening, while having some sympathetic wrestlers to bounce off of him went a long way in legitimizing him as a "gaijin" threat. The WWE involved a different set of skills and a different type of booking to be successful.
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly good sir
ReplyDeleteDoes MOD mean "Moderator OF DOOM?"
ReplyDeleteYeah, but if he were really being nice he wouldn't subject us to Tensai's matches.
ReplyDeleteI think the question has validity. Remember when the Goon, Freddie Joe Floyd, Salvatore Sincere, and TL Hopper all came in? People were pissed of by the horrible gimmicks, but it turns out Vince just wanted some jobbers with gimmicks.
ReplyDeleteThese days he'd only be relevant backstage, as he'd be better at arcade fighters than everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI still find it hilarious that my sister used to work for Salvatore Sincere. And that he ripped off the place after he turned it over to the new owners.
ReplyDeleteI think Tensai is doing everything he can. It's not like WWE gave him much, yeah they had him beat Cena and Punk, but he has no character, has cut no promos, he's been given no angles, he's playing a stiff, brutal heel well, but WWE isn't Japan, and nobody can get over on ringwork alone.
ReplyDeleteI still don't get why they don't just switch the guy back to Albert already. If they're going to half-ass the gimmick (and they clearly started half-assing it after a month or so), they might as well not even bother.
ReplyDeleteIf Scott has inside information I have no counter to that; I was just going by what I thought based on what I've seen on TV. As far as the ratings I have no reason to disbelieve that either I'm too lazy but I could look it up for myself if I wanted.
ReplyDeleteOnly a ten year old genius would think that this character would have a chance of working.
ReplyDeleteHe did cut that one racist tout, which is probably why WWE hasn't given him the mic since.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is once a monster heel gets exposed, what do you do with him?
ReplyDeleteVince wasn't being nice to us with that hiring.
ReplyDeleteI speak fluent Japanese with only a barely noticeable accent. I don't have a clue what Albert was saying in his Japanese promos because his pronunciation was so awful. So the gimmick was even more of a sham for me from day one. Plus the big "Tensai" written on the back of his head looks like it was done by a third grader.
ReplyDeleteNot buying it.
ReplyDeletei like Tensai's entrance when he knocks over his lackey
ReplyDeleteOnly if Tomko refuses to give him a beat.
ReplyDelete