Same Person, Different Character

[Unaffiliated]

Earlier this year I asked why the announcers kept mentioning Tensai being a former WWE superstar who went to Japan to hone his skills and now is back, yet never elaborate further and never even bring up the names Albert or A-Train. The most reasonable answer to me was that they didn't want to make him look like a joke, yet didn't want to insult the fans' intelligence.

Was just wondering whether the same applies to Ryback, Dolph Ziggler and Damien Sandow. Is the audience supposed to believe that Skip Sheffield, Spirit Squad Nicky (or Chavo Guerrero's caddy Nick Nemeth) and Idol Stevens were the same, or completely different people? If the former, those past gimmicks can serve as ways for whoever they are feuding with to taunt them with.

[Push R Truth]

I believe Cole himself had stated that Ryback had come a long way from his days as Skip on NXT.

[CH Punk]

When Ryback first debuted, they called him a former member of NXT, but they dropped it pretty quickly.

On the flipside, Idol Stevens was in the WWE for a cup of coffee, so not that many people are going to remember him (also, Stevens look completely different to Damien Sandow) and the same could be said for Ziggler. Also, both had pretty huge gaps between their initial incarnations and the debut of their new gimmicks (two years for Ziggler and almost six for Sandow).

[Deleted]

Nov 20, 2012 19:01:41 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

I believe Cole himself had stated that Ryback had come a long way from his days as Skip on NXT.

Yeah, they have never gone out if they way to deny or hide Ryback's past. They've made jokes about Dolph's past as well without mentioning it.

Sandow is a completely new character and person with no connection to Idol Stevens though. Given Stevens existed only a month or so 4-5 years ago and even the most hardcore fans have trouble remembering him, I don't think WWE is in the wrong with that one.

[Deleted]

At least they're pretty decent with stuff like this nowadays.

When Steamboat returned to the WWF years ago he was just called "the dragon" and was treated as a new competitor with no history in the company when in fact he'd been there a few years prior as Ricky "the dragon" steamboat

[Cronant]

Striker made sly references when Dolph teamed with Chavo on Superstars about a caddy. And Dolph on WWE Inbox referenced Spirit Squad/DX stuff a bit.

I also think they called Dolph a former tag champ a few times.

[Deleted]

I like to believe that Sandow and Stevens are supposed to be the same character. Michelle McCool was just an awesome teacher.

[Mike Wooster]

I could have sworn someone on the announce team said Tensai had won the Intercontinental Title during his prior time with the WWE.

[mrjl]

The only thing about Tensai's past they don't mention is his former names.

[Medicinal Thunder Liger]

Nov 20, 2012 19:14:00 GMT -5 @notoriousnd22 said:

I like to believe that Sandow and Stevens are supposed to be the same character. Michelle McCool was just an awesome teacher.

[agent817]

Okay, I am going far back on this one. What about The Iron Sheik and Colonel Mustafa being the same person?

And this one gets no-sold all the time and I really want people to answer me on this one: Charles Wright's characters. I feel that Papa Shango is a completely separate character to his other ones, but what I really want to know is Kama The Supreme Fighting Machine and Kama Mustafa are supposed to be the same character. Both men have the Kama name and are portrayed by the same man. I know that Kama Mustafa evolved into The Godfather that we all know him as. He was still in The Nation when he started his pimp gimmick. He started wearing the hat, coming out with the women when he accompanied Mark Henry, D'Lo Brown or The Rock in their matches. But I often wonder if his Supreme Fighting Machine character and his Nation character are one and the same.

Also, was it ever acknowledged that Johnny Nitro (as in Bischoff's apprentice) and 1/3 of MNM being the same guy? I know he was only in there for a little bit in 2004 and then returned in 2005 after being in OVW.

[Allie Kitsune]

Yes, Kama Mustafa and Kama the Supreme Fighting Machine were supposed to be the same guy. Faarooq kept making references to "Your New Home" and made it explicit he was bringing back someone who'd been there before.

I always wanted them to square the circle with all his gimmicks, though. Godfather Shango, The Supreme Voodoo Machine.

[lovingway]

Sheik/Mustafa were acknowledged as a former WWE champ.

I think Kama was never acknowledged but then again never denied. He just showed up one day with the expectations that people remembered him

[Deleted]

Nov 20, 2012 19:09:07 GMT -5 @graant said:

At least they're pretty decent with stuff like this nowadays.

When Steamboat returned to the WWF years ago he was just called "the dragon" and was treated as a new competitor with no history in the company when in fact he'd been there a few years prior as Ricky "the dragon" steamboat

That's a Internet myth. Vince and Savage talked about the WrestleMania III match when they were commentating a Steamboat squash match in 1991. Also, there's an episode of Prime Time from May 1991 that I have on tape where Vince introduces a Steamboat match by saying "Let's go to action featuring Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat".

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

Nov 20, 2012 19:10:37 GMT -5 Cronant said:

Striker made sly references when Dolph teamed with Chavo on Superstars about a caddy. And Dolph on WWE Inbox referenced Spirit Squad/DX stuff a bit.

I also think they called Dolph a former tag champ a few times.

Dolph takes jabs at the Spirit Squad, but never acknowledges that he was actually part of the group. The only time he does is in non-kayfabe interviews.

I remember seeing a picture or poster of the Spirit Squad hanging on a wall with someone else's picture taped over Nicky's face.

R-Truth wrestled in the WWE over a decade ago as K-Kwik, yet WWE often referred to R-Truth as a "hot young talent", "a future star" and a lot of other terms used to refer to newer, younger guys.

[Allie Kitsune]

Nov 21, 2012 16:04:18 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

Nov 20, 2012 19:10:37 GMT -5 Cronant said:

Striker made sly references when Dolph teamed with Chavo on Superstars about a caddy. And Dolph on WWE Inbox referenced Spirit Squad/DX stuff a bit.

I also think they called Dolph a former tag champ a few times.

Dolph takes jabs at the Spirit Squad, but never acknowledges that he was actually part of the group. The only time he does is in non-kayfabe interviews.

I remember seeing a picture or poster of the Spirit Squad hanging on a wall with someone else's picture taped over Nicky's face.

R-Truth wrestled in the WWE over a decade ago as K-Kwik, yet WWE often referred to R-Truth as a "hot young talent", "a future star" and a lot of other terms used to refer to newer, younger guys.

WWE.com did temporarily acknowledge his time as K-Kwik during a Royal Rumble preview, saying that R-Truth had a previous Royal Rumble appearance in 2001.

A day later, they scrubbed that, though.

[saintpat]

I'd like to have seen HHH-Taker WM being built around a former Connecticut Blueblood being the only guy with a chance to break the streak.

[Deleted]

Nov 21, 2012 14:40:56 GMT -5 @chrisc said:

Nov 20, 2012 19:09:07 GMT -5 @graant said:

At least they're pretty decent with stuff like this nowadays.

When Steamboat returned to the WWF years ago he was just called "the dragon" and was treated as a new competitor with no history in the company when in fact he'd been there a few years prior as Ricky "the dragon" steamboat

That's a Internet myth. Vince and Savage talked about the WrestleMania III match when they were commentating a Steamboat squash match in 1991. Also, there's an episode of Prime Time from May 1991 that I have on tape where Vince introduces a Steamboat match by saying "Let's go to action featuring Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat".

It's not just an internet myth, I'm 90% sure they mention it in a WWE Dvd, maybe the Rise and fall of wcw.

[Deleted]

Nov 21, 2012 21:08:07 GMT -5 @graant said:

Nov 21, 2012 14:40:56 GMT -5 @chrisc said:

That's a Internet myth. Vince and Savage talked about the WrestleMania III match when they were commentating a Steamboat squash match in 1991. Also, there's an episode of Prime Time from May 1991 that I have on tape where Vince introduces a Steamboat match by saying "Let's go to action featuring Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat".

It's not just an internet myth, I'm 90% sure they mention it in a WWE Dvd, maybe the Rise and fall of wcw.

It's still wrong. He was acknowledged as being Ricky Steamboat and his match with Savage at WM III was referenced by Savage and Vince during at least one squash match during his 1991 WWE run.

[A Platypus Rave is Correct]

Nov 20, 2012 19:27:41 GMT -5 mrjl said:

The only thing about Tensai's past they don't mention is his former names.

That's not true, they haven't mentioned it on TV but his superstars page on WWE.com starts the bio section with this

Who is Tensai?

The answer may surprise you. The mysterious Superstar who thundered into WWE on April 2, 2012 boasts a rich, storied past that spans across both years and continents. Tensai’s path to that fateful night began when he competed in WWE under the names Albert and A-Train for a number of years.