Boss Rock Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 I actually liked the main event a good deal. Definitely not the best Lights Out match, but still a fun plunder match. As for Danhausen, definitely seeing a mixed response. Some don't like the gimmick or his in-ring abilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted January 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 14 hours ago, C.S. said: Why would it piss anyone off? The reaction I've seen has been universally positive. I think it's a great signing, and I've never seen him before, but his personality shines through in interview excerpts I've read and social media posts. There are multiple people who hate him and have expressed it on Twitter. I dislike his shtick myself, I have no time for it. However, he sells merch, probably didn't cost much, and can be easily used to fill segments on their TV shows, so I get why he is signed. It's the people who a) think this is the downfall of AEW - like how the Dark Order and Librarians were supposed to be - and b) are mad that Johny Gargano was not the one to debut who are amusing me to no end. Like is Gargano in 2022 really that much bigger of a signing than Hausen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 I'll be honest: My first reaction was: "Is that Sting? No." "Is Gargano wearing facepaint for some reason? Probably not." Danhausen didn't even occur to me initially, despite the rumors and his obvious intent to sign with AEW. When it finally clicked, it made all the sense in the world to me. I do think Gargano is a bigger signing though. Don't underestimate the power and reach of WWE TV (even if it is only NXT). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 One thing I noticed is that it seems every wrestler loves Danhausen. Even Rock went along with it when he got tagged in his Twitter antics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 I'm very much an old-school stick-in-the-mud on a lot of memey postmodern wrestling stuff but AEW would be absolute fools not to lock Danhausen up. Edit: One issue I have with AEW is they almost rely *too* much on wrestling as a shared universe and assume everybody knows everything. A very sizable chunk of the people watching on TV very likely don't know who Minoru Suzuki was or who Okada or Tanahashi are, and I think AEW needs to take steps to rectify that going forward. So that was my biggest skepticism regarding Danhausen--that they'd act like everybody watching already knows him, when that isn't really the case. But the way they debuted him and hopefully the way they use him for the next few weeks should actually work: he shows up, people go "WTF?", he disappears, and people are intrigued because the crowd pops as he got tonight should let the uninformed know that This Guy Is Somebody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Rock Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 13 minutes ago, PeteF3 said: I'm very much an old-school stick-in-the-mud on a lot of memey postmodern wrestling stuff but AEW would be absolute fools not to lock Danhausen up. Edit: One issue I have with AEW is they almost rely *too* much on wrestling as a shared universe and assume everybody knows everything. A very sizable chunk of the people watching on TV very likely don't know who Minoru Suzuki was or who Okada or Tanahashi are, and I think AEW needs to take steps to rectify that going forward. So that was my biggest skepticism regarding Danhausen--that they'd act like everybody watching already knows him, when that isn't really the case. But the way they debuted him and hopefully the way they use him for the next few weeks should actually work: he shows up, people go "WTF?", he disappears, and people are intrigued because the crowd pops as he got tonight should let the uninformed know that This Guy Is Somebody. Agreed. While I do like surprise debuts, for a couple folks they should probably consider doing vignettes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 I did like how the announcers immediately recognized who Danhausen was (for the benefit of those at home who didn't) and not do the "who is that guy" nonsense WWE likes to do when someone debuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotJayTabb Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 Of all the "meme wrestlers" on the indies, Danhausen is probably one of the better workers and there's definitely a creative mind at work there. It just depends how much of his indie schtick he brings across. That spot where "Tequila" plays over the tannoy whilst his opponent staggers confused on the floor, for example, is dreadful and I hope TK wont allow it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 When he was in ROH his matches were straightforward, and it didn't seem to hurt him so I would assume it would be the same here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotJayTabb Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 Well that's good to hear. I think he's a good enough wrestler with a fun enough gimmick to succeed on those terms, he doesn't need to add anything egregious to his matches. He seems like a nice guy too, came across really well as a guest on Conan O'Brien's podcast, so I hope he has a good run, can see him getting over as a midcard act. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 His interview (out of character but his real voice is pretty similar so it was kind of jarring) with Chris Van Vilet was excellent. You can clearly see that he *gets* wrestling, and that he's someone who deserves all the success in life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted January 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 7 hours ago, Loss said: Liked the show a lot, way better than the last couple of weeks. The opening match was fantastic and the Punk-MJF segment was golden. I didn't like the main event at all. It's not even about Orange Cassidy specifically. For some reason, most of Adam Cole's matches have had lots of plunder and comedy in AEW. I'm not sure why he's not just trying to have great no-frills wrestling matches. I'm not even a huge fan of his, but he clearly did it a good amount in NXT and before that. Orange Cassidy wasn't the issue with the main event, he actually kept it from falling completely apart. This was entirely on Adam Cole imo. Just a weak weak match, surprise debuts aside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 I don't get Danhausen but people seem to like him, he is different and sells merch. A positive no matter how you cut it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 10 hours ago, C.S. said: I guess so, but I'm not seeing any downside in signing a young guy with buzz who's tremendously entertaining and has a fantastic character and gimmick. I legit don't even know what his character and gimmick even are other than adding "hausen" to the end of random words. Is he supposed to be like a Sammy Terry parody or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 Orange Cassidy has shown how a comedy/meme wrestler can be used effectively in a serious promotion. His shtick was a lot more pronounced on the indies, where he did shit like slow-motion chop battles. In AEW, nobody sells his weak/lazy offense and he's only effective when he actually tries. I thought he'd wear out his welcome in a hurry appearing on a regular basis, but I ended up being wrong about that. The key is that he can really go in the ring when he has to. If the steak doesn't match the sizzle, you won't last long (see, e.g., Warhorse). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 I actually think OC is one of the overall best acts in AEW. His look is great and easily cosplayable, he has charisma, obviously knows how to dose his comedy... Him laughing at PAC is easily one of my fave moments and it's far from being a mind blowing athletic spot, just a very strong character moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 5 hours ago, Coffey said: I legit don't even know what his character and gimmick even are other than adding "hausen" to the end of random words. Is he supposed to be like a Sammy Terry parody or something? OK, time for a bit of an essay: There's this concept in anime & related subcultures called "gap moe" (pronounced "mo-ay"). Learned about it myself through vtubers where it's huge, and i think it's useful in this case. In short, the "gap" in the phrase refers to the contrast between a character's look/voice/etc. and their actual personality. "Moe" there roughly means "cute", "endearing", and so forth. The common example there is a deeper-voiced woman with a tomboy character design...who turns out to be really into doing her nails and cooking or something along those lines. i think Danhausen is probably wrestling's best example of gap moe. He has this Satanic look to him with a fitting voice, but deep down he's maybe the most wholesome character in the business. He never swears unless (he thinks) it's part of a wrestler's name, and he gets seriously unnerved at any cheating in wrestling. Honestly, "wholesome dork" in general is an extremely over archetype with the zoomers - that's a conversation much bigger than wrestling though! He has a talent for turning even the slightest bits into comedy & memes, which is critical in today's environment. His whole "Billy Ass and the Ass Boys" schtick is an obvious case there. He's also not afraid to go all the way with these things, such as when he sees rulebreaking in AEW and panic-tweets at Aubrey over it. That's the shortest version i could drum up, hth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 Yeah his catchphrase "very nice, very evil" sums it up. He's clearly only one of those but the character believes he's both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 This all sounds incredibly awful, but I'm old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 Literally every take I've seen (probably 3 dozen or so at this point) is, "I don't really care for Danhausen but he has a following" type stuff. I have yet to see anyone actually saying they like Danhausen. Not sure what that's about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 I enjoy his antics while realizing he is very much the type of person who rubs the "says wrestling should be wacky but doesn't like it when someone actually is wacky" crowd the wrong way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 Conan O'Brien is a fan of Danhausen and had him on his podcast. mainstream rub! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 I have very old school tastes and I hate about 90% of the so-called “comedy” in modern Pro Wrestling…but even I find Danhausen amusing. His Twitter and YouTube can be very funny. Having said that, I think he probably has a expiration date and he will likely go from amusing to “Oh Lord not this shit again” fairly quickly. His only hope is that when you get past the gimmick, he can actually go. Not unlike Orange Cassidy. Under the goofiness the guy can wrestle. It remains to be seen if he’ll be allowed to, and how he is booked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 Maybe he'll thrive in a format where he can show up 10 times a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 5 hours ago, funkdoc said: OK, time for a bit of an essay: There's this concept in anime & related subcultures called "gap moe" (pronounced "mo-ay"). Learned about it myself through vtubers where it's huge, and i think it's useful in this case. In short, the "gap" in the phrase refers to the contrast between a character's look/voice/etc. and their actual personality. "Moe" there roughly means "cute", "endearing", and so forth. The common example there is a deeper-voiced woman with a tomboy character design...who turns out to be really into doing her nails and cooking or something along those lines. Would Matt Riddle be another example of this? Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur) of The Golden Girls? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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