A year or two ago, I got very excited when The Great Sanada was unveiled in TNA. A pupil of the Great Muta (one of my all-time favorites)…..young, athletic, Japanese……..all the potential in the world. But we would soon learn that while Sanada is a very good wrestler, he lacks the style and depth of character that one needs to be called “great”. He may still get there……but he is still developing.
So through the haze of my disappointment emerges “Crazzy Steve”!! Admittedly, I wasn’t huge on Crazzy Steve when he made his debut with Knux in “The Menagerie”. Sort of a cross between Doink and the “Heath Ledger Joker” Sting. He was pretty entertaining with the horn, and always being distracted (some great Eric Young influence there)…..but kind of an afterthought. But now!!! NOW!! We see this guy has real serious style and creepiness to him……everything I wanted to see in Sanada….Crazzy Steve has in spades. The facepaint is cooler….the music is cooler….his ring gear is very similar to recent Great Muta, and now he has mastered the “Asian Mist”!!!! Crazzy Steve is now wrestling more coherently, but still with a little “Crazzy” mixed in. The tilting of the head, the shrugging the shoulders up while stalking, the extra snap on his offensive moves, the mist, the paint………..all reminiscent of The Great Muta. LOVE IT!!!
