WWE: Fandango or Curtis Axel - Who has the better future?

With the changing of guard happening in a big way in the WWE in the last couple of years, the best of the new talent around the world have been defecting to the WWE and younger and hungrier performers have been filing into the WWE like never before, as the company still is the ultimate dream for a performer in Sports-Entertainment. With the rise of Paul Levesque aka Triple H in the Talent Division of the WWE, the acquisitions and development have been quite interesting. Gone are the days of the big, hulking gym rat prototypes with little mobility, who have given way to the workhorses and the true-blue performers who can entertain the audience in a wide variety of ways.

Among the current crop of newbies, two names have been in the spotlight more than the others: Fandango & Curtis Axel. Both are interesting, to say the least, and have great potential, which is hard-to-miss. And from the little we have seen so far, both are no slouches either in the ring. Another thing that is common to both of them seems to be the ‘push’ behind their ascent to mainstream TV in the WWE. While Fandango is believed to be the pet-project of Vince McMahon, Curtis Axel seems to have got the best start imaginable: as a ‘Paul Heyman’ guy. Don’t know how far that is going to help him given the relations between Heyman and McMahon, though Heyman is no longer Vince’s competitor and is just a performer himself.

Let’s take a look at the performers individually.

Curtis Axel is a third generation wrestler, who has got the most enviable lineage passed on in the form of his grand-father Larry ‘The Axe’ Hennig and father Curt ‘Mr.Perfect’ Hennig. In the association with Paul Heyman, what he finds is an able support that would help him get heat with the fans as a heel, that can only happen if you are a Paul Heyman guy (or a Vickie Guerrero maybe). It also means he is under the same brand as Punk and Lesnar, both big draws for the company at present. All he has to do is back all this hype up in the ring and to his credit, he has been able to do that like a true natural. Apart from having a decent look, his in-ring style is very fluid and athletic. He hasn’t disappointed the couple of times that he has been given an opportunity to speak on the mic.

Fandango, on the other hand, has had a dream debut beginning with his first match happening at WrestleMania 29 against a bonafide superstar in Y2J Chris Jericho, which he won! Follow that with his entrance music gaining unprecedented popularity with the audience beyond the ‘WWE Universe’, Fandango, who used to wrestle in NXT as Johny Curtis, has covered a lot of ground in a very short amount of time, the major part of it being that his is a character, unlike a lot of the wrestlers today. WWE is primarily a family-oriented business model these days and nothing appeals more to the kids and adults than a fleshed out gimmick, and Fandango is just that. As a self-obsessed vain ballroom dancer, he has been able to bring the character to life and that proves his talent as a performer.

Between the two, it’s pretty even in a lot of ways, now that, ironically, Fandango has been replaced by Curtis Axel in his upcoming match at Payback for the IC title, which I feel he will win. That would be a major shot in the arm for Axel, who has the talent to carry the title well, and then you have Paulie doing all the hype-work along those lines. The flip side of a character like Fandango would be his chances at being a title player as when the characters start becoming too entertaining, it has been seen that the wrestling audience stop taking them seriously many times (ask R-Truth or Brodus Clay!). So, my smart money for now would be on Curtis Axel to crack it a bit sooner than Faaaandaaaangooooo……who, by the way, will continue entertaining us in his unique way, as long as it keeps Vince amused.