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As seen on Raw this week, Joe Hennig joined Paul Heyman's stable under a new ring name.
Since Hennig debuted with the company, he has sparked a lot of debate over how badly he had been used. Three of his biggest fans included Paul Heyman, CM Punk and The Rock. In fact, Hennig played a very crucial role in helping The Rock train for the matches he had over the last 2 years. There is strong feeling that Hennig has rarely had a bad match since leaving NXT Season 2, and he has more than proven his microphone and charismatic skills on YouTube exclusive content. Heyman developed Hennig's new gimmick based on Rock's earlier 'Rocky Maivia' gimmick.
Hennig is now called Curtis Axel. Axel is a reference to his grandfather Larry 'The Ax' Hennig. Curtis, and his theme music, are references to his father and Hall of Famer 'Mr. Perfect' Curt Hennig. WWE crews have been baffled with how Vince McMahon had been trying to cover up Hennig's heritage, even going so far as to ban Hennig from using trademark moves that his father used.
The Curtis Axel character allows Paul Heyman to be on Raw more often. This will help keep both Brock Lesnar and CM Punk relevant as they take time off. Lesnar's contract only requires him to make a low number of appearances per year. Punk has been promised more time off, in addition to taking time off now to recover from injuries.
The WWE has encouraged rumours that the new stable member would be someone from NXT. Several websites "confirmed" that Rob Van Dam was due to re-debut with the company, even though Van Dam is still under contract with TNA Wrestling.
The story line regarding the Shield adding a 4th member is officially done.
Axel's push has been taken as a bad sign for Curt Hawkins. Like Axel, Hawkins is also considered to be ready for bigger things, but has rarely been used since losing the WWE Tag Team Championship. Hawkins has also been important in helping Jericho train for his returns to wrestling. But the fact that Axel has intentionally been given a new ring name similar to his own is a sign that there are still no plans to push Hawkins. The WWE are preparing to remove more contracted stars, so Hawkins does not feel that his job is safe right now.
Also, it has been implied that the Fandango gimmick may be his last chance to make it in the WWE. Fandango previously competed as Johnny Curtis. Now that his former ring name is gone, there is more pressure on him to make sure that the Fandango gimmick works.
At one point, the WWE were planning to have a story line in which Michael McGuillicutty would be fired due to "unprofessional conduct". Then this would allow Heyman to hire Curtis as a free agent. Last week, McGuillicutty blasted Sin Cara on Twitter as a part of this now cancelled story line.
Speaking of Sin Cara, there is already talk of a feud between Axel and Cara. Possibly involving the Intercontinental Championship too. But the WWE may change their minds as they are currently very happy with the current Intercontinental champion Wade Barrett.
Since Hennig debuted with the company, he has sparked a lot of debate over how badly he had been used. Three of his biggest fans included Paul Heyman, CM Punk and The Rock. In fact, Hennig played a very crucial role in helping The Rock train for the matches he had over the last 2 years. There is strong feeling that Hennig has rarely had a bad match since leaving NXT Season 2, and he has more than proven his microphone and charismatic skills on YouTube exclusive content. Heyman developed Hennig's new gimmick based on Rock's earlier 'Rocky Maivia' gimmick.
Hennig is now called Curtis Axel. Axel is a reference to his grandfather Larry 'The Ax' Hennig. Curtis, and his theme music, are references to his father and Hall of Famer 'Mr. Perfect' Curt Hennig. WWE crews have been baffled with how Vince McMahon had been trying to cover up Hennig's heritage, even going so far as to ban Hennig from using trademark moves that his father used.
The Curtis Axel character allows Paul Heyman to be on Raw more often. This will help keep both Brock Lesnar and CM Punk relevant as they take time off. Lesnar's contract only requires him to make a low number of appearances per year. Punk has been promised more time off, in addition to taking time off now to recover from injuries.
The WWE has encouraged rumours that the new stable member would be someone from NXT. Several websites "confirmed" that Rob Van Dam was due to re-debut with the company, even though Van Dam is still under contract with TNA Wrestling.
The story line regarding the Shield adding a 4th member is officially done.
Axel's push has been taken as a bad sign for Curt Hawkins. Like Axel, Hawkins is also considered to be ready for bigger things, but has rarely been used since losing the WWE Tag Team Championship. Hawkins has also been important in helping Jericho train for his returns to wrestling. But the fact that Axel has intentionally been given a new ring name similar to his own is a sign that there are still no plans to push Hawkins. The WWE are preparing to remove more contracted stars, so Hawkins does not feel that his job is safe right now.
Also, it has been implied that the Fandango gimmick may be his last chance to make it in the WWE. Fandango previously competed as Johnny Curtis. Now that his former ring name is gone, there is more pressure on him to make sure that the Fandango gimmick works.
At one point, the WWE were planning to have a story line in which Michael McGuillicutty would be fired due to "unprofessional conduct". Then this would allow Heyman to hire Curtis as a free agent. Last week, McGuillicutty blasted Sin Cara on Twitter as a part of this now cancelled story line.
Speaking of Sin Cara, there is already talk of a feud between Axel and Cara. Possibly involving the Intercontinental Championship too. But the WWE may change their minds as they are currently very happy with the current Intercontinental champion Wade Barrett.
