Pruett's Blog: Brodus Clay's debut and why I love "The Funkasaurus"


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Pruett's Blog


Pruett's Blog: Brodus Clay's debut and why I love "The Funkasaurus"
Jan 11, 2012 - 12:41 PM


By Will Pruett

Wednesday, January 11 – 1:00 P.M. (CT)

On Monday night something interesting and not at all uncommon happened among wrestling fans. They sat back, watched something unexpected happen and then instantly hated it. They hated it for all sorts of reasons, but the biggest reason seemed to be the thought of what could have been.

Was I expecting "The Funkasaurus" Brodus Clay? Absolutely not. In fact, it was the furthest thought from my mind. Even when they showed the disco ball graphic on his dressing room door, I still expected the monster that destroyed opponents on NXT and lost a ton of matches in the service of Alberto Del Rio.

Then, as the funk happened and Justin Roberts introduced the dancing Brodus Clay, any initial thoughts of outrage were erased from my mind. The man himself was so dedicated to the act, so convincing and looked to be having a great time. This is the type of fun I like to see on wrestling shows. From the moment his music asked someone to call his momma until he returned to the back, Brodus and the fans in attendance were enjoying this act.

I enjoyed it too. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I showed it to friends that would never dream of watching wrestling and they found it quite entertaining. They agreed with me that it was absurd, but they smiled, laughed and at times sang along. None of them recoiled and refused to watch (which would normally be their standard reaction to wrestling).

There is space in the mainstream conscious of wrestling fans for a mid-card act as entertaining as "The Funkasaurus." Remember that acts like Rikishi, The Godfather and The New Age Outlaws highlighted WWE's most profitable period and fans bought into and enjoyed those acts. I can imagine fans three weeks from now in the arena shouting "Suplex Time" and "My bad" along with Clay while buying some ridiculous "Funkasaurus" merchandise that they'll realize was a mistake about a month later.

There is no rule that says a large wrestler has to be a monster. In fact for every Mark Henry there is a Gene Snitsky type that played a monster but did not quite get over or work out.

For those that say Brodus Clay will never recover from this gimmick, I simply point at Mark Henry as an example of how many times a silly gimmick can be strapped to a wrestler and how he can get over after it. Remember, Mark Henry was Sexual Chocolate, a gimmick that included him fathering a human hand with Mae Young. Then he floundered for a long, long time until he became a babyface that many fans compared to the Kool-Aid pitcher that often smashes through walls. Don't forget that Mark Henry, one of the best acts of 2011, was left off of WrestleMania XXVII before getting this huge push.

What does this say about "The Funkasaurus?" Simply that he will have his time to be a monster. For now, it seems to be his time to dance, call out moves before doing them, (if you don't believe that "suplex time" was brilliant, you are silly) and tear off some breakaway pants. I know I'm excited for the second appearance of the character. Wrestling does not have to be "Davey Richards serious" and not everyone has to be a serious act. I'd rather see Brodus Clay's comedy than Santino Marella's.

For now, calm down all you raging critics that didn't get exactly what you want and embrace "The Funkasaurus" with the full knowledge that his time will come. Perhaps he is just waiting for someone to call his momma.

Let's do some good old fashioned talking about this blog and Brodus Clay! Feel free to email me at itswilltime@gmail.com or to follow me on twitter at twitter.com/itswilltime.

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