Ultra Magnus
Man of a Thousand Holds  
Posts 1491
Registered 1-4-2002 Location Red Sox Nation Member Is Offline Mood: Resigned
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| posted on 1-5-2002 at 08:04 AM |
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Gunn/Palumbo
Can I just bitch about the direction they're going with Gunn and Palumbo for a second? So we're supposed to think they're gay? WTF! Is this
supposed to draw heat onto them?
~~They're gay--oh no, they're probably gonna try to force me to do gay stuff with them! It's completely impossible that a gay would just do their
thing while I went on with my straight life! I better ridicule and mock them to protect my cornhole!~~
Sorry, but even given the intolerant world we live in, I fail to see how them being gay makes me care about them, AT ALL. Even if it did (and,
granted, Goldust worked for a while), where can you go from there? What makes John Q. Redneck keep caring once the novelty of yelling sexual slurs
wears off? Do they switch off to banging farm animals? (Good Lord, can he say "banging farm animals" in a post?!)
They can't go anywhere from here--that isn't destructive to a career (and yes, I know Billy's is long dead, but Palumbo still has a chance to stop
being worthless if he puts forth the effort)--that they couldn't go WITHOUT making them gay.
Ask Dustin Rhodes how well the whole pretending to be gay thing worked for his career. If you can find him. They tried to normalize the Goldust
character, but no one wanted plain vanilla Dustin when they'd had rainbow sprinkles with Goldust...and by the begining of 1998 he was Luna Vachon's
gimp.
So what we have with Gunn and Palumbo is a gimmick that might put some heat on them initially as they're developing characters, but which is gonna
eventually sandbag any efforts they make to take their characters away from that direction.
It's just stupid.
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Jerichohol
ButtViper
Posts 3
Registered 1-5-2002 Location Connecticut Member Is Offline Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 1-5-2002 at 10:13 AM |
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I agree totally. From where they were going, I though they would have more of a Jim Powers/Paul Roma tag team thing going. Decent jobbers that
occasionally get a win tossed thier way.
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General_Failure
rOOkie
Posts 41
Registered 1-4-2002 Location Toronto (The Centre of the Universe) Member Is Offline Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 1-6-2002 at 09:53 AM |
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Hate to tell you, but Goldust's "gay" character worked EXTREMELY well, drawing unbelievable heat for his feud with Razor Ramon. The Goldust
character cooled down when GLAAD complained, and to avoid the public relations nightmare, the WWF introduced Marlena and claimed that Goldust was
"playing mind games". Goldust as a gay wrestler had giant heat attached to it, and in my opinion, would have continued to do so for a while.
As far as your opinion that people aren't going to boo a gay wrestler, I also have to disagree. Your average wrestling fan probably calls someone a
"fag" about 10 times a day. Your average wrestling fans are teenagers with supercharged hormones and questions about their identity. Your average
wrestling fan has a perception of homosexuals as girly, weak and disgusting. They haven't openly declared Billy and Chuck as gay (suppose all the
"subtle hints" over the last few weeks are supposed to have us draw our own conclusions), but I think it's very likely that they will be able to
draw heat with the gay gimmick. Just because they probably *shouldn't* draw heat with it doesn't mean they won't.
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VEGA$
rOOkie
Posts 27
Registered 1-4-2002 Location London, Ont. Member Is Offline Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 1-6-2002 at 01:45 PM |
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Wrestlers don't even need to be working a gay angle to get "faggot" chants. Brutus Beefcake used to get them early in his WWF stint simply because
he dressed funny. I haven't heard that type of heat during any of Gumbo's matches.
I don't think I have ever heard an announcer refer to a wrestler as gay. Not for Lenny & Lodi, not for Goldust, not even for "Adorable" Adrian
Adonis and he was about as close to out as any character ever got. They are usually referred to as "flamboyant". I haven't heard Billy and Chuck
being referred to as such.
Maybe they are just a pair of narcissistic dorks. A combination of Test and Angle. Ah, who am I kidding, they like the strudel.
The WWF has always been so good at drawing on current political and social trends to develop heel gimmicks. If they want real heat for Gumbo they
should have made them Taliban.
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starvenger
rOOkie
Posts 31
Registered 1-5-2002 Member Is Offline Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 1-6-2002 at 03:08 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by VEGA$
If they want real heat for Gumbo they should have made them Taliban.
Or they could just add X-Pac to the mix...
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Ultra Magnus
Man of a Thousand Holds
Posts 1491
Registered 1-4-2002 Location Red Sox Nation Member Is Offline Mood: Resigned
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| posted on 1-7-2002 at 02:00 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by General_Failure
Hate to tell you, but Goldust's "gay" character worked EXTREMELY well, drawing unbelievable heat for his feud with Razor Ramon. The Goldust
character cooled down when GLAAD complained, and to avoid the public relations nightmare, the WWF introduced Marlena and claimed that Goldust was
"playing mind games". Goldust as a gay wrestler had giant heat attached to it, and in my opinion, would have continued to do so for a while.
I mentioned Goldust, because I know it was successful. Here's the thing, though: Goldust wasn't successful because he was gay; Goldust was
successful because it was a strong character. Name me a successful "gay" wrestler, and I'll show you a wrestler with a strong character that
happens to be gay, while simultaneously showing you a wrestler whose career absolutely died after a brief success. Did GLAAD possibly cut a few
months off of Goldust's prime time? Yeah. But that's speculation. The cold, hard, empirically proven fact is this: no gay or effeminant wrestlers
have ever drawn sustained heat in a single territory.
As for your second point, they really won't boo. Lodi and what's-his-face were going to be gay faces. Gayness alone doesn't make people boo,
it's STRONG CHARACTERS that people care about for any length of time. Might they get a quick burst of heat? Sure. I never intended to deny that.
My point was that they won't receive any long-term benefit from going "gay". It can be an element of their characters, but right now it won't
work because that's ALL THEY HAVE.
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General_Failure
rOOkie
Posts 41
Registered 1-4-2002 Location Toronto (The Centre of the Universe) Member Is Offline Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 1-7-2002 at 07:09 AM |
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Goldust's character WAS that he was gay. I agree that being put into a program with the very over Razor Ramon helped him somewhat, but his heat was
drawn by writing Razor love letters, feeling him up on go-behinds and touching himself. The little feeling himself up pose drew major boos, because
the fans in the building knew that this was a gay guy putting on a sexual show for them. Goldust's matches were horrible, he wasn't anything
special on the mic, and if he wasn't given the gay angle, then he would never have been over. He wasn't over when he first arrived, as the weirdo
Hollywood freak who had a few homosexual tendencies. He was over when he sent Razor Ramon a love letter.
When the character is more or less BASED on homosexuality, then regardless of how strong the character was, it was the gay thing that got him over.
How was Goldust turned face? By emphatically denying to Jerry Lawler that he was gay. Drew a HUGE face pop.
Aside from Adonis (who was over for quite a while) we've never really been able to see how long a gay wrestler could stay over, because the
characters have always been warmed over. Lenny and Lodi turned out to be "brothers". We never got to see how far the WWF would push the envelope
with Goldust, due to the introduction of Marlena and the eventual face turn. But for those couple of months, when Goldust had a crush on Razor Ramon,
he was the most unique heel in wrestling.
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RhynoesRUs
Creepy Little Bastard
Posts 79
Registered 1-7-2002 Location Berkeley, Ca. Member Is Offline Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 1-7-2002 at 08:42 AM |
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Seriouly, what else can they possibly do with Gunn? He isn't over because he doesn't appear to know how to be. I say make him gay, make him "the
One", make him team with Big Show and make fun of how unover he is... try everything, so when it's time for contract renewal you can say you tried
everything but there is simply no place for him besides Heat. Or maybe SOMETHING will work for him, this is as good as anything else. The thing is
if they were just the same ol' Gunn and Palumbo no one would have started a thread about them, so maybe they are on to something now. People are
talking about them and there is no such thing as bad press.
"Blond eyebrows are ALWAYS a bad idea."
"Chickens don't have nuggets."
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VEGA$
rOOkie
Posts 27
Registered 1-4-2002 Location London, Ont. Member Is Offline Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 1-8-2002 at 05:41 AM |
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Well, I guess they are officially gay. During their Raw match tonight, JR referred to their "lifestyle" and Lawler compared them to Sigfried and
Roy.
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RhynoesRUs
Creepy Little Bastard
Posts 79
Registered 1-7-2002 Location Berkeley, Ca. Member Is Offline Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 1-8-2002 at 05:50 AM |
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Just got through seeing "Chuck & Billy" on RAW tonight and all I have to say is they don't belong off of Heat. It doesn't matter how they are
presented, Polumbo still doesn't know any wrestling holds besides punches and falling down and Gunn is still a turd no matter what you call him. If
all they are gonna do is DIRECTLY rip off Lenny and Lane they might as well start working on thier next failed gimmicks now.
"Blond eyebrows are ALWAYS a bad idea."
"Chickens don't have nuggets."
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xizor81
ButtViper
Posts 4
Registered 1-4-2002 Location Montreal, Quebec Member Is Offline Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 1-8-2002 at 04:12 PM |
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I just wish Wrestlecrap was still alive, so that "Chuck and Billy" could go where they really belong!
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Mayor of MacAppolis
ButtViper
Posts 9
Registered 1-4-2002 Member Is Offline Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 1-8-2002 at 06:02 PM |
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Palumbo and Ass just suck!
The Real 8th wonder of the World is how has Monty Sopp managed to maintain employment! He has no mic skills, no in ring skills, was at least at one
time a dressing room cancer.
I kinda feel bad for Palumbo to be sattled with this loser. Not that He has shown anything, but at least give him some time in the Developmentals to
try to succeed.
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Cuthbert
Banned
Posts 246
Registered 1-3-2002 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 1-8-2002 at 08:04 PM |
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quote:
I mentioned Goldust, because I know it was successful. Here's the thing, though: Goldust wasn't successful because he was gay; Goldust
was successful because it was a strong character.
This might sound petty, but since it is (covers the eyes of the kids) all worked (uncover eyes), the only way anyone gets over is because of how
strong of a character he is. So, in my opinoin, it is that he had a strong character, but that character is gay, which is what got him over (I.E.: he
got over because his character,which was gay, was strong.). To me, it is very inter-connected.
And I call people fags all the time. For me to use it, it doesn't mean anything sexually. I use it like someone might say "dumbass".
Oh and I gotta say that last nigth, I was really impressed with Chuck and Billy. It was the first time that I felt they were going to be a legit team.
They'll be around a while. The angle is good, I think.
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Mayor of MacAppolis
ButtViper
Posts 9
Registered 1-4-2002 Member Is Offline Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 1-9-2002 at 03:25 AM |
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Was Goldust supposed to be gay? I saw him tonguing with Marlena. I just thought that his shtick was his ring psychology where He managed to make his
opponent a little uncomfortable with his sexuality.
(What the Hell am I trying to say?!)
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starvenger
rOOkie
Posts 31
Registered 1-5-2002 Member Is Offline Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 1-9-2002 at 01:49 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Mayor of MacAppolis
The Real 8th wonder of the World is how has Monty Sopp managed to maintain employment! He has no mic skills, no in ring skills, was at least at one
time a dressing room cancer.
I'm sure he was called Mr. Ass for a reason...
...and Goldust WAS gay or bi... up until he turned face at which point it became "psychological warfare". Go fig.
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brick
ButtViper
Posts 9
Registered 1-4-2002 Member Is Offline Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 1-9-2002 at 04:49 PM |
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Since someone already posted the spoiler I'll ask the next logical question.
Is Goldust coming back to form a stable with Billy and Chucky
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Jimpick
rOOkie
Posts 29
Registered 1-4-2002 Location Wheeling, WV Member Is Offline Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 1-9-2002 at 06:13 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by brick
Since someone already posted the spoiler I'll ask the next logical question.
Is Goldust coming back to form a stable with Billy and Chucky
Didn't Rhodes do a semi-shoot promo in WCW saying that the Goldust gimmick ruined his career?
Did he leave on bad terms with Vince or was that promo just his way of dumping the old gimmicks?
This gay stuff will not last. The WWF will back off fast the first time GLAAD sends them a nasty letter. Their heel or face status doesn't matter
either, the GLAAD people get offended anytime a gay character gets punched. They think if I see Austin stunner a gay character that will make me go
out and start gay bashing.
Thats all for now, I have to go find a homosexual to chokeslam.
~JimPick
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Cuthbert
Banned
Posts 246
Registered 1-3-2002 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 1-10-2002 at 01:37 AM |
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quote:
Thats all for now, I have to go find a homosexual to chokeslam.
~JimPick
Hehe. That made me laugh.
I personally hope they do go/stick with a gay angle. I know that they will get the whiners at GLAAD writing, but I wish that someone would stand up
against them and just tell them to shut the fark up. But I doubt that when it comes down to it, Vince doesn't have as big of grapefruits as he says
he does, in regard to keeping a gimmick going.
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