Arn Anderson Questions WWE's Unwillingness To Capitalize On Curtis Axel's Lineage
"The Enforcer" doesn't understand the need to remove his identity...
It's been a little more than one week since Curtis Axel was released from WWE, after more than 12 years on the main roster and in developmental.
The son of "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig and grandson of Larry "The Ax" Hennig had a few secondary title runs with the company, but ultimately resided in the midcard, without ever trading on his Hennig surname.
Longtime WWE producer Arn Anderson questioned Axel's usage on a recent edition of the Arn podcast with Conrad Thompson. He believes WWE could've done more by playing up Axel's lineage, instead of giving him unrelated surnames.
"Guys would come up and they wouldn't get to be who they were, who their dad was or who their uncle was," Anderson said. "Well, that just makes the business bigger, that you have second and third-generation wrestlers that are doing well and you see what an edge they have.
"For Curtis Axel, to not be who he was, and them try to name him two or three different times...the kid could perform. He could work. You could have done better by that in a lot of characters that have come along with huge lineages. For whatever reason, it's like, "No, name him something else.'"
Anderson also laments Axel being used in comedy roles, whether it was in The B-Team with Bo Dallas, or impersonating Hulk Hogan, adding, The fact that the guys look like good athletes is not enough. You always gotta put some entertainment on it. Well, if everybody's entertaining, I think *nobody's* entertaining if everybody has the same gimmick, right? If everybody's trying to do "ha-ha", then "ha-ha" is overdone and you don't appreciate any of it."
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.