For someone for whom officials had high hopes at one point, it has been disheartening to see his potential go to waste. In Pushed to Punished, we analyze the controversial careers of past and present WWE Superstars who were once in the good graces of management but ultimately met their downfalls for one reason or another. I stayed out of the drama for a while but then an old wound reopens and it gets interesting.". The new look and attitude certainly had promise, but his booking didn't change in the slightest. Also, include any potential Superstars or Divas you would like to see featured in upcoming editions of Pushed to Punished. "I'd never held a gun until the movie. This left the cast and crew of NXT: Redemption, including Curtis, largely directionless. You wouldn't be wrong to categorize him as "damaged goods," but a complete character overhaul would do him wonders (i.e. When asked about her dating life and relationship with WWE Superstar Fandango, Summer Rae has nothing but love for her former tag team partner. © 2020 E! Actor and musician Lenny Kravitz has had no shortage of success over the years. During his time in Deep South Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling, Curtis impressed officials with his exceptional in-ring ability and reigned as FCW Tag Team champion on two separate occasions. Curtis in particular stood out from the rest of the pack with his genuine charisma and above-average wrestling skills. Here, we'll break down every peak and valley in the career of Fandango in an attempt to discover where WWE went wrong with him. By that point, however, winning NXT virtually meant nothing. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his officialFacebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling. From his career's start to his main storyline introduction. I learned that it's not good to force love and when I'm not looking it will come around. Better yet, they were able to showcase their skills and make the most of the garbage they were forced to endure. Entertainment Television, LLC A Division of NBCUniversal. He was still portrayed as an undercard competitor fans couldn't take seriously, and thus his latest "push" was doomed to fail. Fandango was once again removed from WWE programming in the final few months of 2014 before being reintroduced at the Survivor Series pay-per-view. Get to know Fandango's entire biography. NXT Season 4 featured the talented likes of Johnny Curtis, Brodus Clay and Derrick Bateman, and even through the ridiculous challenges, they shined. 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It instead came down to Curtis and Clay, with the former FCW standout ultimately earning the contract. I went to the Chicago Bears game and hung out on the sidelines where I met the players. Get all the latest and breaking news about WWE superstar Fandango. However, a concussion sidelined him from in-ring action for a month, giving up his title opportunity to Curtis Axel instead. "And I'm excited to get back in the dating scene. After filming the movie in Vancouver, I missed living my life in a big city. Read every archived edition of Pushed to Punished here. Instead of capitalizing on the buzz his character (as well as his catchy entrance music) was generating, management cut his momentum short and relegated him to jobber status. Despite having very little chemistry with his on-air mentor R-Truth, they remained a cohesive unit throughout the season, unlike other pairings. NXT Season 1 is best known for giving us The Nexus, but all subsequent seasons were a waste. He maintained a presence on WWE TV heading into 2014 but was mostly utilized as an enhancement talent. Over the last year, he been a regular on Main Event and Superstars with no meaningful direction in sight. Buy, Rent or Watch WWE: SummerSlam 2020 and other Movies + TV Shows online. I wanted to be authentic and I went through a lot of training. Just as Curtis was building momentum, NXT finally met its demise in June 2012 as it prepared to be revamped into the updated developmental system for WWE. The raucous fans in England ate it up, but every crowd from then on couldn't have cared less. It was a good girl power moment and I think all the women on the show are extremely gifted to be in a WWE studios film, so I think I was able to open doors for all of the girls, which is cool.". Kaval was released in late 2010, and Kaitlyn was barely featured on SmackDown, so Curtis' immediate future was very much in doubt. When his SmackDown run failed miserably, he returned to his roots in NXT before reinventing himself as Fandango. Summer Rae has been extremely busy since we last caught up with her! Breezango (also known as The Fashion Police) is a professional wrestling tag team in WWE, consisting of Fandango and Tyler Breeze where they perform on the NXT brand. That said, his massive main-roster flop worked out for the better. But instead of getting the fans hyped for his arrival, the series of strange video packages had people questioning his character and why anyone should care. During his absence, his stock had fallen significantly within the company. On the May 12 episode of SmackDown, Breeze and Truth would … In Pushed to Punished, we analyze the controversial careers of past and present WWE Superstars who were once in the good graces of management but … Click the photos below to see Summer Rae's latest pics! He spent the rest of 2013 chasing the Intercontinental Championship, but to no avail; any chance of his returning to relevance was lost. It was a gimmick so silly that it actually went over with the audience, albeit for a short period of time. His ill-defined persona played a factor in that, but there was more Creative could have done before giving up on him so soon. "I lived there before," she said. In October 2012, vignettes began to air hyping the impending debut of Fandango, a ballroom-dancing wrestler portrayed by the repackaged Johnny Curtis. Despite that, Fandango remained over with the audience for a few months and appeared to be primed for a run with the Intercontinental Championship. And how does Summer Rae feel about Rosa Mendes joining the cast and no longer being the newbie on Total Divas? While a move to NXT looked like a demotion for Curtis on paper, it provided him with the perfect platform to rejuvenate his stagnant gimmick (or lack thereof). Fandango has failed to find his footing in WWE in recent years. Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a journalism major at Endicott College. Danielle Louise Moinet (born November 28, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, model, actress, ring announcer, and former American football player. Simply put, fans gave up on Fandango, and WWE waited far too long to pull the trigger on turning him. Curtis made a handful appearances on the program emanating from Full Sail University in the latter half of 2012 before being taken off TV all together. "I got to shoot a semi-automatic machine gun," Summer Rae explained. What's worse is that the outdated gimmick is holding him back from fulfilling his full potential as a performer. He's put out some iconic songs, like "Fly Away" and "Again" in addition to his cover of "American Woman." No longer was he looked at as a top priority by management, but rather a midcard competitor at best, and with minimal direction upon his return to the squared circle. All rights reserved. The Total Divas star is the first WWE Diva to join the Hollywood elite by turning to acting—the blonde bombshell will appear in the action movie The Marine 4: Moving Target, which will be out in theaters sometime in early 2015. Being left without a dance partner that summer didn't help his situation, either. Be sure to drop a comment below with your thoughts on how Fandango has been utilized over the course of his WWE career. There weren't any updates on his whereabouts or what brand he intended on signing with; it was almost as if WWE forgot about him entirely. As the art of "Fandangoing" became a global phenomenon, WWE failed to capitalize on the trend and missed a golden opportunity to make a recognizable name out of Fandango. These vignettes lasted two months and culminated with Curtis finally wrestling on the Aug. 12 edition of SmackDown, though he was quickly squashed by Mark Henry. The segments he had with Maxine and Derrick Bateman were so ridiculous they were actually entertaining. It was evident the character was a pet project of Vince McMahon's, and although that isn't always necessarily a sign of success, it meant he would be aggressively pushed from the get-go. In addition to never receiving the WWE Tag Team Championship opportunity he was promised, Curtis was never given a chance to succeed on the grand stage. It was there that Fandango would wrestle his first matchup under the new moniker, and few talents can say they had their in-ring debut on the grand stage. When NXT launched in February 2010, the concept was designed to find WWE's next breakout star, but in reality it did nothing but embarrass the up-and-comers. Speaking of which, it was on the next night's Raw that Fandango instantly became one of the company's most popular Superstars, thanks to his theme song. In his first match in over three months, he debuted a new ballroom-dancer gimmick and revealed a partnership with Rosa Mendes, ditching the only aspect of his character that made him special: his entrance music. A rebirth was imminent, and it proved to be the turning point his waning career desperately needed. The rowdy post-WrestleMania crowd took to the electric entrance theme and created an overnight sensation as a result. Over the last three years, Fandango has slowly faded into obscurity, despite his best attempts to rejuvenate his career by going solo and turning babyface. Arguably, Jericho deserved a higher-profile opponent one year removed from challenging for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, but it was undoubtedly a major opportunity for Fandango to prove himself as a competent competitor. When asked about her dating life and relationship with WWE Superstar Fandango, Summer Rae has nothing but love for her former tag team partner. On the April 28 episode of SmackDown, Breeze formed an alliance with R-Truth. The vignettes played for months on Raw and SmackDown, leading to the artist formerly known as Johnny Curtis making his main roster re-debut on the March 1 edition of SmackDown. Originally, the purpose of NXT's fifth season was to bring back competitors who had previously lost and give them a second chance at redemption.