Sonny Siaki

[Guest [censored]]

what's the overall word on Sonny Siaki? When I first saw this guy I thought he looked great and was good in the ring. However he doesn't seem to be going anywhere. With the talent roster the way it is in TNA this leads me to believe that it's probably talent or lack there of, that is keeping him where he is at, as oppossed to being held down.

 

How good of a worker is he? Can he talk?

 

Basically discuss all things Sonny Siaki

[Mecha Mummy 0]

I liked Siaki's Ace in the Hole gimmick in 2003 when it started and wasn't a COMPLETE parody of The Rock, but it got old after a month. Still, the terrible motivational speeches were fairly amusing.

 

He's a decent heel and a decent wrestler but he's nothing overly great. I'm impressed that he's still with TNA, actually, since he's one of the few guys who's been there since the first show (along with like Jarrett, Styles, Truth, and perhaps a couple of others).

[naiwf 0]

The last time Siaki was remotely interesting to me was when Goldylocks eventually gained his contract when she was doing that gimmick with Abyss and the god awful 'Baby Bear' Alex Shelley, so it's been quite a while. Aside from loyalty, I don't see why he's still there.

[Placebo Effect 0]

I loved him when he was doing the Ace in the Hole gimmick, but once the green baggy pants left, so did my "giving a damn" sentiment.

 

He's barely improved as a worker, and seems more content showing off his body than getting better in the ring.

 

Siaki's a good jobber to the stars, but that's all at this point.

[The Decemberists 0]

I've never been impressed with him, even with the Ace in the Hole gimmick.

 

Not a good worker, and not good on the mic either. It amazes me looking back at what size of a push he got early on and how anyone expected it to work.

 

And apart from "X" he's the second worse X Division champion ever.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I'd say him, Frankie Kazarian, and Michael Shane/Matt Bentley are tied for worst X-Division champions to date. Frankie's title reign just came at a really bad time when the X-Division was pretty much cut down to a post-knee injury Amazing Red, so all of his highspots were slowed down and he couldn't bump as much and thus wasn't nearly as impressive, and Sonjay Dutt, who's a good worker but isn't THAT good. Siaki and Bentley, however, have no excuse for being poor champions, since it was the matches themselves that were bad.

 

Plus, Siaki is a heavyweight who does some innovative power moves here and there, so him being an X-Division worker didn't make ANY sense.

[Guest Coffey]

Personally, I like Siaki. Hell, for awhile, I was even under the impression that he could be a main eventer player if booked properly as a face. Of course, I wanted Abyss to be his foil and Abyss is still rising, so at least I was half right.

 

Siaki is an interesting case. His accent, sometimes, makes him hard to understand. That's part of his charm though. I think that's why the whole 'Ace in the Hole' gimmick caught on. Siaki was also a big part of the reason why I continued to watch NWA:TNA. He was in the first match of the first Wednesday PPV as a 'Flying Elvis' and he impressed me. I like the 'Siakolypse' and 'Siakolypse Now' moves as well.

 

He's got a good look. He's not too big but he doesn't scream indy wrestler like Frankie Kazarian, Amazing Red or Michael Shane. He does need a lot of work though. For example, his punches are awful. He also needs to 'do his own thing' instead of just trying to be a generic, indy Rock rip-off.

 

I think he's worth keeping around. I think he should be above a jobber. He's just another wrestler whom seems to be lost because TNA doesn't have a midcard belt. Maybe they could slap Siaki with someone and give them a tag team run? It worked with New Jack & D-Ray 3,000.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Plus, Siaki is a heavyweight who does some innovative power moves here and there, so him being an X-Division worker didn't make ANY sense.

 

You mean like... Samoa Joe?

[Magus 0]

I think he can be more than what he is now. I liked his old heel push when he betrayed the Flying Elvises and joined SEX.

 

He's got a good look and is pretty decent on the mic. In the ring, he's basically a power wrestler with a few flashy moves. Decent, but nothing spectacular. He belongs nowhere near the X Division, but he's got a lot of charisma, so he should be more than a jobber. They need to give his pants back, too. Siaki needs to do everything he can to not look like a Rock clone.

 

I'd like to see him form a heel tag team with Matt Bentley. Both guys would benefit from that, and it suits their abilities perfectly. Bentley doesn't really belong in the X Division either, and he plays heel better than this tweener shit they're having him do.

[Dangerous A 0]

The reason Siaki was more over back during the SEX days was because he was allowed to be a character and got mic time to get over. He doesn't get that mic time now. So why are fans supposed to care what happens to his character when they just stop him dead in his tracks? This applies for everyone on the roster who doesn't get proper mic time. Siaki is good, but not great in the ring. That can be said about over half the roster.

 

Still, I wonder if he's already damaged enough to where the fans will ever accept him as anything other than a jobber at this point.

[razazteca 0]

Still, I wonder if he's already damaged enough to where the fans will ever accept him as anything other than a jobber at this point.

AMW, Abyss, Monty, etc needs somebody to squash on a weekly basis.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Mini-rant...

 

I hate how the X-Division went from a division based on high-flying, high-impact matches to just being about GOOD matches. Seriously...how do you classify a division that encompasses all styles as long as the workers are good and put on good shows? You can't. Thus, there's no reason for the X-Division anymore. Methinks it needs some rule changes to it that make it stand out from every other match that just happens to be really good.

 

Something like the Pure Wrestling division of RoH has. Make it so that there MUST be a winner, either via KO, submission, pinfall, or count-out. Do something with the ropes, or maybe institute a UFC-like rule where if the action comes to a standstill, the referee can break up the wrestlers and make them go back at it.* I dunno, just ANYTHING to separate the X-Division from the World title scene besides match quality/character development.

 

Giving the X-Division it's own set of rules would also make it so that workers that don't do the high-flying tomfoolery but are labelled X-Division because of the quality of their work (Samoa Joe, Roderick Strong, etc.) don't stick out and actually belong. It also makes it so that ANYBODY can challenge for the X-Division title so long as they work by the rules of the division.

 

* = I'm not saying that the X-Division matches can't have good, solid matwork, but this eliminates restholds that don't matter. Once the fans start getting bored during a resthold, the referee can break it up and make the workers go back at it. Try to keep the matches fast-paced.

[Guest [censored]]

Does anyone else think that him and Elix Skipper would make a really great (atleast looking) tag team. I picture these guys as a team and it just clicks for me. Anyone else? My only hesitation is I don't know if either are a good enough worker that the great teams need. It may be better to put Siaki with someone like Roderick Strong or Charlie Haas wh can carry the brunt of the work load. Still I think if they could overcome come that by picking their game up I think Siaki and Skipper could be pretty good.

[Magus 0]

Siaki/Skipper would be cool, especially since Skipper will always need someone to talk for him.

 

I also agree with Laz's assessment that the X Division is now the division to see the "good" matches. It seems like every other match is allowed to be a by-the-numbers brawl because the X Division is for workrate. The other matches seem to slack off a bit and the X Division is just an excuse for that. Call me crazy, but I think ALL the matches should strive to be good and spectacular without the overbooking and gimmicky stipulations. The X Division should have more definitive rules to define it, instead of being the workrate division. Having good X Division matches doesn't excuse having piss-poor Heavyweight and Tag Team matches.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Here's the amazing thing: when one division is amazing in the quality of its matches and/or feuds, the other two divisions lack focus and are just there to fill out the show.