LORD TENSAI – ONE STEP DOWN
I still like Matt Bloom, but after two weeks of "Lord Tensai", I'm not feeling it.
WWE needs to find new ways to introduce these gimmicks. The vignettes leading up to a debut/return, followed by multiple squash matches is simply not effective right now. They are using it way too often.
To make matters worse, Bloom is still remembered by a large portion of the fans as something else. He's not "Lord Tensai" to them and you're asking them to accept it. It's different than Ryback, because Ryback is an up-and-coming superstar and didn't have much of a run in WWE before introducing this new character. Hell, he didn't really have a character at all when he competed in NXT and the short time afterward.
One of my personal issues with Tensai might be expectations going into his return. The way WWE's pushing him right now makes me believe he might be around longer than I expected. I never really wanted that.
Matt Bloom, at this point in his career, would have been better off coming in for a two-three month run, showing quick dominance over a star he'd ultimately put over, and then following through with the whole "putting over" part.
Whether that person was Cena, Punk, or someone else, I think jumping straight into that would have best served everyone involved — including the fans.
