ASYLUMHAUSEN
Fry's dog Seymour
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Post by ASYLUMHAUSEN on Aug 23, 2022 16:25:56 GMT -5
To be honest, I think you need to lower the tint of rose in your glasses. He can't touch Rock, Cena or even Punk on the mic. With practice and reps I am sure he can get close but he's pretty far off their pace. fluent Japanese.
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Kalmia
King Koopa
Happy to be here
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Post by Kalmia on Aug 23, 2022 16:48:10 GMT -5
Kenny is naturally a little awkward and dorky, and that's part of his charm and why people relate to him. If he came to the ring and delivered a boastful and smooth promo as the Rock or Cena do, it just wouldn't work for him and who he is.
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Dub H
Crow T. Robot
Captain Pixel: the Game Master
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Post by Dub H on Aug 23, 2022 16:51:25 GMT -5
Omega is VERY different in the microphone from your standard wrestler.
But he is very very good.He can go from very natural to very funny and over the top.
I definitely would put him above Cena.
Punk might be the single best in the mic of all time. So I definitely wouldnt put Omega there
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Post by This Player Hating Mothman on Aug 23, 2022 17:44:54 GMT -5
Kenny's dorkiness humanizes him. Ace characters are, by and large, meant to seem like unattainable figures. AEW has tried to peel that back a little bit and make them a tiny bit more grounded. Hangman is the biggest example, where he's outright trading on relatability and groundedness as a driving character concept. Kenny is this generational wrestling savant who is proof 'too good' is a thing you can be and who ruthlessly perfects his craft above all else. But he's not The Rock cutting giant over the top promos with schoolyard insults, he's not John Cena being the unflinching moral core. He's a f***in' nerd. He's a giant nerd who demands to be taken seriously when he shows up cosplaying in a match or naming a move after a gaming meme from 2006, and he'll prove why he should be taken seriously every time he steps in the ring. We've seen a million aces who are flawlessly, exceedingly cool. Kenny isn't that, and that's what makes Kenny Kenny. He finds an authenticity in his promos that, even if a bit weird, comes with a delivery that suits him, where trying to force something else would fail.
It's sort of like how Keith Lee sounding like if reddit was a person helps enhance the act of Keith Lee.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
Celestial Princess in Exile.
Posts: 46,108
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Aug 23, 2022 17:48:48 GMT -5
Kenny's dorkiness humanizes him. Ace characters are, by and large, meant to seem like unattainable figures. AEW has tried to peel that back a little bit and make them a tiny bit more grounded. Hangman is the biggest example, where he's outright trading on relatability and groundedness as a driving character concept. Kenny is this generational wrestling savant who is proof 'too good' is a thing you can be and who ruthlessly perfects his craft above all else. But he's not The Rock cutting giant over the top promos with schoolyard insults, he's not John Cena being the unflinching moral core. He's a f***in' nerd. He's a giant nerd who demands to be taken seriously when he shows up cosplaying in a match or naming a move after a gaming meme from 2006, and he'll prove why he should be taken seriously every time he steps in the ring. We've seen a million aces who are flawlessly, exceedingly cool. Kenny isn't that, and that's what makes Kenny Kenny. He finds an authenticity in his promos that, even if a bit weird, comes with a delivery that suits him, where trying to force something else would fail. It's sort of like how Keith Lee sounding like if reddit was a person helps enhance the act of Keith Lee. I kind of see it a little differently. Like, when Heel Kenny tries to cut a promo sounding like an anime villain, it's a flex. He's such a natural talent in the ring that he doesn't have to moderate himself to be taken seriously. Like, "Yeah, all those rules of behavior that you have to follow if you want to succeed? They don't apply to me."
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Post by Cyno on Aug 23, 2022 17:53:01 GMT -5
FWIW, and I say this as a Cena fan, I think Kenny is way more interesting on the mic than Cena was outside of when he was the Doctor of Thugganomics and doing the raps. Cena's strengths are in different areas. Granted, as the Vince to Triple H transition, and Cena's own success in Hollywood on that note, has shown us, a lot of that might've been due to heavily scripted promos written by an out-of-touch sexpest. But in terms of delivery, Kenny's feels more natural while Cena would do a lot of SHOUTING TO SHOW HOW INTENSE HE WAS.
Outside of bizarre stuff here and there that didn't land like "This is Phil Brooks talking to Paul Levesque," Punk is perhaps the most engrossing storyteller I've ever seen deliver a promo. While the Rock's material didn't age well past the Attitude Era, his oozing charisma made you buy every word he said no matter how immature or offensive it sounded otherwise.
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Post by This Player Hating Mothman on Aug 23, 2022 17:59:08 GMT -5
Kenny's dorkiness humanizes him. Ace characters are, by and large, meant to seem like unattainable figures. AEW has tried to peel that back a little bit and make them a tiny bit more grounded. Hangman is the biggest example, where he's outright trading on relatability and groundedness as a driving character concept. Kenny is this generational wrestling savant who is proof 'too good' is a thing you can be and who ruthlessly perfects his craft above all else. But he's not The Rock cutting giant over the top promos with schoolyard insults, he's not John Cena being the unflinching moral core. He's a f***in' nerd. He's a giant nerd who demands to be taken seriously when he shows up cosplaying in a match or naming a move after a gaming meme from 2006, and he'll prove why he should be taken seriously every time he steps in the ring. We've seen a million aces who are flawlessly, exceedingly cool. Kenny isn't that, and that's what makes Kenny Kenny. He finds an authenticity in his promos that, even if a bit weird, comes with a delivery that suits him, where trying to force something else would fail. It's sort of like how Keith Lee sounding like if reddit was a person helps enhance the act of Keith Lee. I kind of see it a little differently. Like, when Heel Kenny tries to cut a promo sounding like an anime villain, it's a flex. He's such a natural talent in the ring that he doesn't have to moderate himself to be taken seriously. Like, "Yeah, all those rules of behavior that you have to follow if you want to succeed? They don't apply to me." Yeah, when we get full maniacal heel Kenny, that's a very different story. Relatability isn't something you really get out of heels after all. But even then, I think there's a piece to it of "I'm so good I transcend cringe and the only thing keeping me from bringing out the Sephiroth replica sword on my living room wall is venue rules about weapons".
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Post by Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby on Aug 23, 2022 18:01:40 GMT -5
The way I summarize Kenny's heel character in AEW is "stats-obsessed competitive gamer with the body of a god." Because, well, that's how he always came across to me - if the D&D munchkin who just wants to see his numbers go up had the strength and agility to make it happen in a sport.
It's why I'm always a little confused at the critique that he comes across as forced or unbelievable. He's a type of person I've met, just with abilities that aren't stereotypically associated with that kind of person.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
Celestial Princess in Exile.
Posts: 46,108
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Aug 23, 2022 18:05:06 GMT -5
I kind of see it a little differently. Like, when Heel Kenny tries to cut a promo sounding like an anime villain, it's a flex. He's such a natural talent in the ring that he doesn't have to moderate himself to be taken seriously. Like, "Yeah, all those rules of behavior that you have to follow if you want to succeed? They don't apply to me." Yeah, when we get full maniacal heel Kenny, that's a very different story. Relatability isn't something you really get out of heels after all. But even then, I think there's a piece to it of "I'm so good I transcend cringe and the only thing keeping me from bringing out the Sephiroth replica sword on my living room wall is venue rules about weapons".I don't disagree in the least.
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Post by This Player Hating Mothman on Aug 23, 2022 18:13:47 GMT -5
FWIW, and I say this as a Cena fan, I think Kenny is way more interesting on the mic than Cena was outside of when he was the Doctor of Thugganomics and doing the raps. Cena's strengths are in different areas. Granted, as the Vince to Triple H transition, and Cena's own success in Hollywood on that note, has shown us, a lot of that might've been due to heavily scripted promos written by an out-of-touch sexpest. But in terms of delivery, Kenny's feels more natural while Cena would do a lot of SHOUTING TO SHOW HOW INTENSE HE WAS. Outside of bizarre stuff here and there that didn't land like "This is Phil Brooks talking to Paul Levesque," Punk is perhaps the most engrossing storyteller I've ever seen deliver a promo. While the Rock's material didn't age well past the Attitude Era, his oozing charisma made you buy every word he said no matter how immature or offensive it sounded otherwise.
Cena was a tricky situation because as a performer he definitely could have done a lot more and been a more varied character, but there's no denying that he was very good at Being John Cena. John Cena was made to be John Cena. His Hollywood time is showing how good he is at being other things, but honestly his turn as Peacemaker has only kind of solidified for me how much he was just born to Be John Cena because John Cena is just the wrestling equivalent of the kind of character Peacemaker is meant to be a satire of. But being really good at playing a character doesn't necessarily mean you come off as believable as that character. It always felt like the Doctor of Thugganomics was closer to the real guy than the character that followed, and the stalwart company man we see all feels very media trained. If what you want is authenticity, you won't get that out of him, which isn't a knock on his ability, but it's just not the sort of thing he's selling.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
Celestial Princess in Exile.
Posts: 46,108
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Aug 23, 2022 18:34:31 GMT -5
FWIW, and I say this as a Cena fan, I think Kenny is way more interesting on the mic than Cena was outside of when he was the Doctor of Thugganomics and doing the raps. Cena's strengths are in different areas. Granted, as the Vince to Triple H transition, and Cena's own success in Hollywood on that note, has shown us, a lot of that might've been due to heavily scripted promos written by an out-of-touch sexpest. But in terms of delivery, Kenny's feels more natural while Cena would do a lot of SHOUTING TO SHOW HOW INTENSE HE WAS. Outside of bizarre stuff here and there that didn't land like "This is Phil Brooks talking to Paul Levesque," Punk is perhaps the most engrossing storyteller I've ever seen deliver a promo. While the Rock's material didn't age well past the Attitude Era, his oozing charisma made you buy every word he said no matter how immature or offensive it sounded otherwise.
Cena was a tricky situation because as a performer he definitely could have done a lot more and been a more varied character, but there's no denying that he was very good at Being John Cena. John Cena was made to be John Cena. His Hollywood time is showing how good he is at being other things, but honestly his turn as Peacemaker has only kind of solidified for me how much he was just born to Be John Cena because John Cena is just the wrestling equivalent of the kind of character Peacemaker is meant to be a satire of. But being really good at playing a character doesn't necessarily mean you come off as believable as that character. It always felt like the Doctor of Thugganomics was closer to the real guy than the character that followed, and the stalwart company man we see all feels very media trained. If what you want is authenticity, you won't get that out of him, which isn't a knock on his ability, but it's just not the sort of thing he's selling. I'm not even 100% sure of that, because it sure felt like the whole learning Mandarin thing, at the time, was him wanting to be an ambassador for WWE in China. Of course, the Thuganomics aspect was part of Cena for longer, and (considering his cousin's similar personality) what he marinated in from a younger age, but I don't think the "company man" part was entirely artificial. He absolutely grew into it.
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Post by This Player Hating Mothman on Aug 23, 2022 18:53:31 GMT -5
Cena was a tricky situation because as a performer he definitely could have done a lot more and been a more varied character, but there's no denying that he was very good at Being John Cena. John Cena was made to be John Cena. His Hollywood time is showing how good he is at being other things, but honestly his turn as Peacemaker has only kind of solidified for me how much he was just born to Be John Cena because John Cena is just the wrestling equivalent of the kind of character Peacemaker is meant to be a satire of. But being really good at playing a character doesn't necessarily mean you come off as believable as that character. It always felt like the Doctor of Thugganomics was closer to the real guy than the character that followed, and the stalwart company man we see all feels very media trained. If what you want is authenticity, you won't get that out of him, which isn't a knock on his ability, but it's just not the sort of thing he's selling. I'm not even 100% sure of that, because it sure felt like the whole learning Mandarin thing, at the time, was him wanting to be an ambassador for WWE in China. Of course, the Thuganomics aspect was part of Cena for longer, and (considering his cousin's similar personality) what he marinated in from a younger age, but I don't think the "company man" part was entirely artificial. He absolutely grew into it. Oh yeah I think he wanted to do that, I think he wanted to step into that role and do right for the company. He wants to do a good job and look a way, but intention and presentation are very different things. The John Cena who apologized for calling Taiwan a country is the kind of stuff I mean. I think the very straight laced John Cena who we see now is the product of carrying the torch for WWE. A lot of people want to be the company man and put on that face, and would when 'being themself' come off very differently.
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Burst
El Dandy
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Post by Burst on Aug 23, 2022 20:40:53 GMT -5
Yeah, when we get full maniacal heel Kenny, that's a very different story. Relatability isn't something you really get out of heels after all. But even then, I think there's a piece to it of "I'm so good I transcend cringe and the only thing keeping me from bringing out the Sephiroth replica sword on my living room wall is venue rules about weapons". Kenny's character is basically a self-insert crossover fanfic character, and heel Kenny is basically that except in full Gary Stu mode.
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