Hi everyone! Back to normal this month as I bring you articles on a regular basis. Today I’d like to start a three-part series highlighting talent who give comic relief whether they’re supposed to or not. All of this is subjective of course, it would be unrealistic to expect everyone to find every example funny. I’m not sure why I decided to write this, but I will say I’ll be doing a WWE version, a non-WWE version, and a history version which looks at talent who entertained us in the past.
At the end of this we may see how comedy has changed, and whether more could be done to keep us laughing between the serious feuds and hard-hitting contests. What I find funny, you might find annoying. What you find funny, I might find annoying. Comedy is subjective, so you’d be a clown to criticize my choices as I can just say “well I find them funny .. if you don’t then tough luck!”. Laughing at someone, not with someone .. is classed as comic relief as far as I’m concerned. Whether the talent has “talent” doesn’t matter. I am not ranking the funniest talents .. but if you want to go ahead and do that in the comments section, I’ll be interested to see what you come up with.
Chris Jericho
Do you know what happens? When you read one of these lists? You know what happens? Oh .. you don’t know what happens? Well, what happens is I lift my pen high in the air, click it, and say loudly “You Just Made The List!”. The fact of Jericho is, he is comic relief without trying. He is naturally charismatic, and is revolutionary in the way he thinks up new ways to insult his opponents. One day he might call someone an ass-clown. Another day he might call them a stupid idiot. In the case of Stephanie McMahon, he may refer to her as a filthy, disgusting, dirty, brutal, busted, bottom feeding, trash bag ho!
One cannot simply pick a single Y2J moment. Just to highlight his recent work, here are two videos showing what he’s done lately. You know what you do when Jericho entertains? You drink it in .. maaaaaan! Because he’s certainly one of the greatest of all time.
Elias
No .. his name was not Elias Sampson. Or Elias Samson. Or any version of that name for that matter .. as your memories have been altered. He was known as The Drifter (not sure if he is anymore), and this led to hilarity on NXT and his early days on Raw. One of the funniest things about him in NXT was Corey Graves going above and beyond to insult the guy. According to Graves, Elias has always been a waster .. he’s an idiot, he’s someone you certainly don’t want to listen too as he can’t sing or play guitar. It’s funny because Graves always liked heels, except Elias. There’s never been a reason why he does, but some speculate it’s because he’s a big music lover and Elias’ performances is like someone stabbing you in the ear.
When Elias moved up from NXT to Raw we got a weekly dose of laughter as he .. casually drifted through a promo. As far as I’m concerned, he could have drifted in and out for weeks and provided much comic relief. But it had to end eventually, so instead of drifting .. he now gets super cheap heat by performing songs dedicated to the city he’s performing in. And more often than not it makes me laugh! I’m always looking forward to his next song, and I’ll be disappointed if he gets interrupted yet again. The fact is you could’ve given this gimmick to anyone else and they’d have failed miserably .. but not Elias. He’s owning the gimmick, and I’d like to see it evolve in to something we can’t imagine him being without.
(2.30 if you want to skip ahead on the second video)
Heath Slater
Did you know? Heath Slater has kids! He needs to provide man. How can you fire him when he’s got 7 .. scratch that, maybe 8 kids. We ain’t sure how many kids he has .. but it’s a lot! By that logic alone he needs to keep his job. While everyone’s figuring out how many kids he has, Rhyno sits there eating all the snacks. He also needed a job to get a new pool, which was pretty important. Seriously, very important.
Jack Gallagher
While Jack has provided good comic relief on 205 Live, the show itself has been difficult to digest. Because of this, much of his charm has been wasted and/or missed. He reminds me of Eddie Guerrero when he messed around with his opponents heads, but the problem is he’s looked and sounded too much like a circus act since the end of the cruiserweight tournament.
Much to everyone’s cringe, Brian Kendrick found it necessary to give us a physical representation after telling us he’s a clown for the past few weeks. Ok, so perhaps we ain’t getting consistent comic relief out of Gallagher, but I know he has it in him, and if/when he does get over .. he will be a massive hit with young fans. Kendrick is bringing the angry side out of him, so in the future his comic relief will feel natural instead of routine. His humour needs to be more organic, and his wit should be on a Y2J level if he’s going to become a legend one day.
Matt Hardy
Did someone say .. obsolete mule? Or Delete!? Either way, the broken brilliance of Matt Hardy continues to shine through despite the ongoing situation with TNA/Impact/GFW. He’s trying his best not to be broken, but you can tell by his face how much he wants it. You can tell how much Brother Nero wants it as well. The fact is .. Impact Wrestling let Matt Hardy create this wonderfully intoxicating character which he had much (if not most) control over, and it was probably the craziest & funniest time in the history of the company. It was so over fans chanted “DELETE!” during WWE shows. When something is so ridiculous in an industry filled with rehashed content, fans will naturally latch on to it and appreciate it being so different.
He’s still a barrel of laughs on Twitter, where he does not have to adhere to restrictions on what he can or cannot say. I decided not to include his wife Reby Hardy, as I’d like to include her in the non-WWE version (she isn’t hired by WWE .. at the moment). While we wait anxiously for Matt and GFW to sort out their differences, all we can do is laugh at how far he can play the broken character on TV without crossing the line. When Michael Cole is openly reading Matt’s tweets about The Revival being “Obsolete Mules”, it takes the hilarity to a whole other level. It shows how WWE really doesn’t care if GFW tries to sue them over this. GFW must be looking at Matt like this kid ..
Paul Heyman
I freaking love Paul E. I’ve always loved Paul E. The fact is .. Heyman is one of the greatest promo cutters of all time. Even when he’s heel, he somehow manages to make you laugh. He’ll go against what he’s been told by the office (or Vince) by saying something like “I really shouldn’t be saying this ..”, or “I been told not to mention this ..”, so you know he’s going above and beyond to entertain even if he gets in trouble. Like when he said how Brock and Joe were “going to war”, he had to admit it was against the rules to do so. And he’ll get really annoyed about it .. the fact he can’t say this or that. He’s extreme. He hates limits .. and we do too Paul. We hate the fact that Paul has to follow all these rules, because his promos would be far more entertaining if he could say whatever the f**k he wants. Just let Heyman be Heyman .. TO THEEEE .. EXXXXTRREEEEEMMMME!
R-Truth
So he might not be hilarious to older people like you and me, but I can see him being a hoot with the younger fan. Truth is so silly .. he’s like a puppy dog trying to find a way into a shoe. Need proof? Go find Lil’ Jimmy and he’ll tell you. The fact is .. he’s had a job for years as the clown of WWE, and he doesn’t mind it. He’s said in recent interviews how happy he is to have a job, and that he will do anything WWE asks him too as he’s a team player. He’s too old to be winning World titles or anything like that, so with the time he has left .. he’s happy enough to be the comic relief, and he will do so to the best of his ability. He just has to remember which city he’s in .. so he doesn’t draw unintentional heat. Oops.
The Fashion Police
It’s Bill & Ted all over again. You never saw Bill & Ted? You must not be a 90’s kid. The Fashion Police is like .. a hybrid of Bill & Ted, Police Squad, and the X-Files. It’s pretty funny how they incorporate so many 90’s things into this gimmick, and there’s many subtle references to wrestlers (and incidents) of the past like The Big Boss Man. But it’s still in the early stages so we can’t judge it too soon. I feel like it needs a little more time, a bit of polish, and they also need a couple of antagonists attempting to destroy everything they’re doing. Needless to say, this is the best thing in Fandango and Tyler Breeze’s careers since Prince Pretty was in NXT, and Fandangoing was cool.
The New Day
So Xavier Woods was the butt of the joke in the recent rap battle with The Usos, but it’s safe to say The New Day provide much comic relief for most WWE fans. The fact is .. if they weren’t entertaining WWE would’ve split ’em up by now. I love Xavier’s subtle gaming references, Kofi’s burns, and the way Big E shakes his hips with a very .. creepy face. Big E is the comic relief for adults as he’s always doing and saying things which borderlines the PG rating. The New Day keep giving, and I’m not sure what else I can say about these guys other than it seems they enjoy what they’re doing, and when you enjoy what you’re doing it’s infinitely easier. Have we seen the best of The New Day? Only time will tell.
Conclusion
It’s difficult to give comic relief in WWE as you have to cater to many different audiences. Some manage to hit all bases, while others can only reach the young demographic. It doesn’t help when Vince has a strange sense of humour, one you can’t really understand unless you’ve followed the product for a couple of decades. Even then, it can still be difficult to appreciate what he finds hilarious. Some might go on to say all of WWE is a joke, which I have to say .. is a totally unoriginal and boring insult. Tsk tsk. C’mon guys! You can do better than that .. stop being so predictable!
Does WWE need more comedy? Should it get rid of comedy altogether? Are other promotions doing it better? Has WWE done it better in the past? I ask these questions because I’d like to read good feedback on the subject. Please .. don’t try to be funny, unless you’re a comedian. I’m the kind of guy who could go for some Richard Pryor despite being Caucasian .. so unless you’re Richard Pryor or Billy Connolly don’t even bother. I’ve released farts that were funnier than you. See how difficult it is to be funny? We don’t give a crap before you’ve even tried, and same goes in the wrestling business. So I guess .. I’ll see you again? The non-WWE version will be posted in the next few days. Thanks for reading!
