I understand "ruined" is a harsh word. I mainly used it for a sexy headline, but the reality is not that far off. There are so many love/hate situations going on in the WWE right now, it's hard to keep track of them all. They've turned into Walmart.
You either love or hate Chris Jericho's silence. You either love or hate the fact that Kane talks. And now, you either loved or absolutely hated the re-debut of Brodus Clay.
"Gotcha!" That's what went through my mind about midway through Brodus Clay's "funky" entrance on Raw Monday. It had to be what Vince McMahon was thinking. Followed up with something like, "These idiots were expecting a monster — this will teach them to expect shit in the future!"
Some fans might think WWE has enough monster heels, so the apparent direction they took with Brodus could be described as "fresh" and "creative". I don't see enough monster heels in WWE, I see Mark Henry and to a lesser degree, Kane. That's it. Henry's primarily on Smackdown and Kane is…well, whatever he's doing with Cena.
I certainly saw room for another badass monster heel, especially on Raw.
I honestly thought it was a joke. And not in that "This is so stupid, it's a joke!" kind of way. No, like an April Fools kind of joke. A funny ha ha that was simply missing the punchline. The moral. An explanation. Closure! As in, this is the reason we took one of the most anticipated returns in recent history and made a complete mockery of it.
Rather, we were left scratching our heads at the fat man trying to dance.
By the way, the live crowd was absolutely horrible and didn't do this return any favors for the viewing audience at home. That makes a difference.
Did I hate Brodus Clay's return? In a word, "yes". However, it's more complicated than that. I don't mind "outside the box" thinking. It was buzz-worthy and has us talking about it. In that regard, WWE and Brodus succeeded.
The issue I have – concern is more accurate – is how this helps Brodus long-term. Tell me the last person with a "gimmicky" gimmick like this that became World Champion? Maybe King Booker back in 2006? Mankind in '99? I dare you to find one that comes close to what we just witnessed with Brodus.
That being said, I have ALWAYS been a firm believer in wrestlers having a specific role within the company. Not everyone can be a credible Champion or built as Championship material. There's just no room for that. Certain wrestlers have to accept the fact that they are – and will always be – midcard or lower on the totem pole. As a fan, I'm also willing to accept that.
The question then is what role Vince felt Brodus Clay was going to play in the WWE all along. It seems pretty clear to me. Otherwise, he would have NEVER strapped Brodus with this gimmick.
Can the "Funkasaurus" be successful? Absolutely. Will he ever be World Champion? Absolutely NOT.
Last thing — for those of you thinking that this was all just a "shock and awe" tactic and that at some point, Brodus could still transition into that monster role we were all expecting, it better happen fast. I would again encourage you to find me the list of people who shed a gimmick like this and moved on to any serious level of stardom.
I'm pretty sure it's a VERY short list.
Chris Cash can be followed on Twitter @RealityofChris. Email him at wzchriscash@yahoo.com and tune in live every Monday night from 7-8 EST as Chris and Nick Paglino host the Voice of Wrestling radio show.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
