Remember that Mad Scientist thing that Mike Knox had?

[ratetankmark]

When he would do those little talking head segments about the human body and how Striker would always say 'he's reading countless books on human anatomy' and I thought it was a good character to add to Knox, who I thought was good in the ring but as interesting as watching paint dry if you get what I'm saying.

[JTG Fan]

Remember when he attacked Evan Bourne every week?

[mrbananagrabber]

Remember when he was awful?

[Famous Rocking Chimes]

"Mike Knox, why do you always beat up Rey Mysterio every week?"

"...I don't know."

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

Nov 10, 2013 16:45:11 GMT -5 mrbananagrabber said:

Remember when he was awful?

Kinda no.

[rnrk supports BLM]

Nov 10, 2013 16:45:11 GMT -5 mrbananagrabber said:

Remember when he was awful?

No, I don't, because Mike Knox was awesome.

[hossfan]

Remember when he tried to cut a threatening promo that referenced "restless leg syndrome"?

[Bo Rida]

I genuinely liked that gimmick, I think a softly spoken description of an upcoming dissection is more threatening than the usual "I'm gonna kick your ass" type promos.

[DZ: WF Legacy]

Nov 10, 2013 18:02:24 GMT -5 Bo Rida said:

I genuinely liked that gimmick, I think a softly spoken description of an upcoming dissection is more threatening than the usual "I'm gonna kick your ass" type promos.

Me too. They were just lazy as hell with booking him, which sucks since that calm demeanor he had while describing anatomy absolutely worked.

[Big DSR Energy]

I thought Knox was so good! Big burly dude who beats the shit out of people, but then talks about it as casually as he would talk about having to mow the grass later. Then, before he could any momentum going, they jobbed him out to Rey a bunch. Then did nothing for a follow-up.

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

Ain't that always the way? Guy gets pushed when he doesn't really bring anything to the table... FINALLY finds something that could work, but by then he's already old news and WWE have moved on to their next new toy (which, in a kind of perpetual cycle kind of way given how this happened to him as well, might actually have been McIntyre at the time).

[Ryback on a Pole!]

I enjoyed the gimmick but WWE did nothing with it.

It kinda seemed to me like somebody came up with the gimmick for Knox that was too good for them not to use... but they had no intention of ever pushing Knox. So they gave him the gimmick to use it but without the push to get it over.

It was half-assed too. He cut the promos yet wore his generic black ring gear. When really he should have changed his name to Dr. Knox and wore a white lab coat and surgeons mask to the ring.

[Deleted]

Nov 10, 2013 16:45:11 GMT -5 mrbananagrabber said:

Remember when he was awful?

Yes, if I'm reminded of him.

[Deleted]

Even if you're not a Knox guy, you have to give him that running cross body he hit Rey with that one time.

I was at a bar when that happened and it got a pop from people that didn't even give a snork.

[Burst]

Yeah, Knox's crossbody was ridiculous, yet totally believable as a finisher from a guy his size, and it was good enough to make the Smackdown intro. I feel like as a whole the WWE doesn't really seem to know how to book midcard big guys (see also what Tensai hasn't been up to lately).

[Chainsaw]

Nov 10, 2013 17:39:16 GMT -5 rnrk supports BLM said:

Nov 10, 2013 16:45:11 GMT -5 mrbananagrabber said:

Remember when he was awful?

No, I don't, because Mike Knox was awesome.

I do, because I remember them debuting as Kelly Kelly's jealous boyfriend. Ugh. The turning point was definitely the Rey Mysterio attack. Him not having a reason and dispassionately stating that really indicated something was off about the guy.

It's funny that he only got interesting when they knew there wasn't anything they were going to do with him and just threw the weird, sociopathic stuff against the wall to see if it would stick. Shame they didn't really follow through with it, it would have been crazy.

[Ryback on a Pole!]

Nov 11, 2013 8:00:40 GMT -5 Burst said:

I feel like as a whole the WWE doesn't really seem to know how to book midcard big guys (see also what Tensai hasn't been up to lately).

I never realised before but... you're right. Midcard big guys either get misused and jobbed out constantly as heels, become a comedy face jobber or get a huge push.

There's no real big guys who have been career midcarders like John Morrison, Shelton Benjamin or Kofi Kingston. I guess the closest is Umaga... but honestly, I'd class him as a fringe maineventer more than a midcarder.

[Deleted]

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

Nov 11, 2013 8:40:31 GMT -5 Ryback on a Pole! said:

Nov 11, 2013 8:00:40 GMT -5 Burst said:

I feel like as a whole the WWE doesn't really seem to know how to book midcard big guys (see also what Tensai hasn't been up to lately).

I never realised before but... you're right. Midcard big guys either get misused and jobbed out constantly as heels, become a comedy face jobber or get a huge push.

Ryback's another example.
Part of the problem is the face/heel dynamic, too. Big, midcard heels are in trouble, because if they're booked too strongly, they'll get cheered as faces, since the WWE has gone out of its way to train their fans to believe that being aggressive and competent is the same as being a good guy.