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After a nearly 15 year career with WWE, Fandango - real name Curtis James Hussey - has been released from WWE's NXT brand.
Fandango quickly took to Twitter, not long after the news broke online. He posted a thank you to WWE, specifically mentioning WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, WWE Legend Triple H, and WWE's Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon.
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In his time with WWE, Fandango has certainly left his mark on the company. From his flashy ring gear, catchy theme song, and his part in various hilarious comedic skits, WWE fans will most likely remember the dangerous dancer fondly.
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With that said, on this sad day of continuous WWE releases, let’s take a look at 5 things about Fandango that you may not know.
#1. WWE Fandango's humble beginnings
Fandango began his career in 1999, competing in various independent promotions at the age of 18, and trained under Killer Kowalski. After gaining some experience, along with winning multiple championships in companies throughout the New England and Connecticut area, Hussey would eventually sign a developmental deal with WWE in 2006.
The developmental deal would see him join WWE's premier developmental territory at the time - Deep South Wrestling. During his time in DSW, Fandango would form a tag team with Robert Anthony, where the duo would face Tag Team Champions Mike Knox and Derick Neikirk in 2007.
The duo were unfortunately unsuccessful in their match, but his work as a tag team specialist began to shine, giving confidence to WWE that they had options with the young star.
However, not long after his arrival in DSW, Hussy would find himself moving. WWE eventually discontinued it's partnership with Deep South Wrestling, and instead would create Florida Championship Wrestling - FCW. In FCW, Hussey would be named Johnny Curtis by WWE and compete in a mix of tag team and singles bouts.
He and Robert Anthony would eventually split, and Hussey would face Ted Debaise Jr. (son of WWE Hall of Famer Ted Debaise) for the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship in 2008. Hussey would come up short in that championship match.
Over time, Hussey would team up with the likes of Tyler Reks and Derrick Bateman, winning the FCW Tag Team Championships with both men at different points. He would also work multiple matches with Reks to try to win the FCW Heavyweight title, losing in every effort.
#2. Fandango competed in Seasons 4 & 5 of WWE NXT
Fandango, then going by Johnny Curtis, competed in seasons 4 and 5 of WWE's NXT program. Back when the show was competition based, superstars would compete in various challenges, hoping to not be eliminated in the process.
Winners would be selected by fans on WWE.com and a panel of judges, all with the hopes of beginning to be declared the winner at the end of the season. Where the winner would receive a "WWE title shot."
Fandango was paired with R-Truth as his mentor for season 4, and would officially win the season by defeating Brodus Clay in the final episode. Fandango would not be given his WWE title opportunity as in previous years, after refusing to team up with R-Truth because of a recent heel turn.
He eventually found his way back on NXT season 5, where he and Michael McGillicutty would eventually form a team and face WWE Tag Team Champions Daniel Bryan and Kane for the titles in lieu of his title opportunity from the previous season.
#3 Fandango's theme song was a hit on iTunes
Admit it, you at one point or another were swooped up in the WWE craze known as "Fandango-ing". The dance and singing sensation that nearly eclipsed Daniel Bryan's "YES" and Stone Cold's "WHAT?" chants.
After Fandango formally made his main roster debut in 2012, he would eventually find himself in a feud with Chris Jericho. The feud led to the two facing each other in a match at WrestleMania 29, where the rookie defeated the former WWE Champion, much to the surprise of many.
The next night, Fandango would face-off against Kofi Kingston, and while he was built as a heel, Fandango's theme song had captivated fans so much that they simply could not stop singing it. They were even humming along to the tune and doing a finger-poke-like dance to the beat.
Fans were recorded doing the dance and singing Fandango's theme song well after his matches were over, with some fan recordings showing people singing them as they left the building. However, it didn't stop there.
Fans clearly wanted to continue having fun on their own time, and many fans would eventually run to iTunes to try and download Fandango's theme song. This caused the song to skyrocket from the 175th spot to the 11th spot in one day on the UK chart. A remarkable achievement for a WWE theme song that has zero words to it!
#4. Fandango rated his various dance partners in an interview
One of the most essential components of Fandago's entrance was that he was joined by a female dance partner. While it is a common trope in WWE for ego-centric heels to be accompanied by female valets, Fandango and co. managed to make their act different and unique, as Fandango knew how to dance.
Even if you hated Fandango's character, you couldn't help but appreciate the skills. Fandango and his female companions would often begin with an intense and sexual dance routine before making their way to the ring.
Often times they would attempt to assist Fandango during his matches by causing distractions. But sometimes they would end up costing him the win.
During his time in WWE, Fandago had multiple women escort him to the ring. Including WWE Superstars Summer Rae, Layla, and Rosa Mendes. Fandango's first partner was a woman named Andrea Lynn, who was a college student and professional dancer at the time.
With Fandango having an array of female partners, many WWE fans began to wonder who were his favorite(s) and/or least favorite(s).
That question would finally be answered - kind of - by Fandango, thanks to popular website Uproxx.com. When the site caught up with Fandango in 2018 during WrestleMania weekend, he was asked a series of questions. Of course, one in particular gained tremendous traction online. The question being: "Who was your favorite dance partner?".
Uproxx.com tried to get Fandango to "rank" them from best to worst, however Fandango refused to do it. Instead, Fandango agreed to rate all four of them out of ten:
'Alright, I’ll rank them 1-10, starting with Andrea. Andrea was a nine. Summer was a two. Layla was a seven. And Rosa is Rosa' - Fandango
As noted before, Andrea was a professional dancer who accompanied Fandango during the early stages of his main roster run. While Fandango was clearly not the biggest fan of Summer Rae's dancing skills. Summer Rae was arguably the most well known and fan favorite of all of Fandango's dance partners. With Rosa Mendes being his last.
Summer Rae's popularity would grow beyond her time with Fandango, as she would eventually split from Fandago and begin her own solo act. Leading her into a romantic rectangle storyline between: Rusev, Lana, and Dolph Ziggler - but that's a story for a different day.
#5. Fandango won his first WWE title almost 10 years after his debut
Many fans are aware that in the first few months of his debut on the main roster, Fandango was supposed to participate in an Intercontinental Championship match at WWE Payback. However, after suffering a real-life concussion injury, Fandango was replaced by his former NXT tag team partner - now going by Curtis Axel - who would replace him and ultimately win the championship
While Fandango would return to WWE in July of the same year, Fandango never really got another chance at another championship again. While Fandango was gifted in the ring, was engaging with the WWE Universe, and had the look that WWE often searches for, many circumstances lead to him having very few looks at opportunities for singles championships. Fandango's place in the eyes of the WWE brass sharply changed from rising mid-carder, to a side attraction.
In addition to the occasional inclusion in battle royals, MITB, and Tag Team tournaments, Fandango was involved in many interesting and comedic storylines in his time. One of the better storylines was, of course, the formation of the Fashion Police with him and Tyler Breeze. But again, no genuine push towards WWE gold was ever given.
Eventually, after years of not doing much on the main roster, Fandango made his way back to NXT in 2019 where he would reunite with Breeze. At NXT TakeOver XXX, the duo - known formally as Breezango - defeated both Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, and Legado del Fantasmato faction to become the number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championships.
This would lead to the August 26th episode of NXT, where Breezango defeated Imperium to win the titles finally giving Fandango his long awaited title. Much to the delight of many fans of Tyler Breeze and Fandango.
