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King Cucaracha

The Great Debate: Spirit Squad vs. UMAGA

The Great Debate!  

112 members have voted

  1. 1. Who are you marking for?

    • The Spirit Squad
      70
    • Umaga and Armando
      42


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Okay, Spirit Squad or Umaga. *AIRHORN* vs. UMAGAAAAAAAA~! The two new TSM favourites, following in the fine footsteps of SNITSKY~! and PIMPTISTA~! and all those insanely annoying terms we had to put up with. Every week we seem to get a debate about either one or the other and their relative merits. So, make your choice, one or the other.

 

It's Spirit Squad hands down for me. Umaga's 15 years out of date and I have no idea what anyone sees in Estrada. The Spirit Squad are talented and god bless em, they're making the most of a weak gimmick by playing it with the volume WAY up.

 

 

Also, I've got 3 posts in the 'how long before someone says "X-Pac heat"?' pool.

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Guest croweater

I like the Spirit Squad and all, but they nail every part of their gimmik except the cheers. They're just so bad at them.

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Spirit Squad. Ditto.

 

I'm amazed whenever they still come up with gimmicks like Umaga. It's not the 80s anymore. I wouldn't even mind Jamal so much if he wasn't such a lame savage retread. By and large Estrada is the best part about the gimmick and I wish he was with someone that was worth trying to get over and not one with such limited potential.

 

The Spirit Squad is so amazingly over the top. They're taking a shitty gimmick, having fun with it and making it work. It also helps that they're passable in the ring for the most part, with some cool spots and offense. Everytime I see their video or them hamming it up in the ring I bust a gut. What's not to love.

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I'll never understand what people see in either of the two gimmicks.

 

The Spirit Squad isn't over, it's as simple as that. I won't use the term "X-Pac heat" because to qualify for that distinction they would atleast have to elicit some type of heat in the first place. I also question the quality of the gimmick. It isn't like WWE threw them out there as evil dentists or witch doctors, it is very easy to make the fans hate a squad of male cheerleaders. I thought Kenny had some in-ring potential, but then he had to botch the spinebuster last night. When Stephanie McMahon can take a spinebuster better than you can, you know you have some problems.

 

Umaga and his manager are just as bad. The character isn't any different from every other "monster" that WWE has tried to create the past few years.

 

If people want to say how successful the Spirit Squad and Umaga are, they should shut their mouths about John Cena. John Cena receives more heat on a nightly basis, positive or negative, than these two gimmicks could pool together in a month.

 

I'm not a John Cena fan and I don't really have much against the Spirit Squad or Umaga, but some people just take it a little overboard when they talk about the "greatness" of the gimmick.

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. . .they're making the most of a weak gimmick by playing it with the volume WAY up.

 

This is why I cant stand them. They are all over RAW all the time. They f up their cheers and they are all about making lots of noise all the time. They kind of fly all over the screen without making alot of impact. I get tired of seeing them. To me they havent showed that much talet yet. No match they have been involved in has been a *** yet (not according to me). What they have done that I enjoy is the use of a trampoline. It makes for a cool visual at times.

 

Umaga on the other hand has a bad, bad, bad gimmick as well. However he isnt all over RAW and its limited to a short squash or alike. Estrada is working alright for me. Nothing excellent but not bad either. That squash match from last week was also entertaining for what it was.

 

If I had to choose I would choose Umaga hands down. He doesnt irritate me half as much as the Spirit Squad does.

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Id take Umaga over the spirit squad any day of the week. I mean come on, at least they don't make Umaga involved in the main event somehow every other week, and Umaga has AA Estrada..

 

Plus, they come across as being gay.

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Spirit Squad, hands down.

 

A related question: somebody, anybody, please explain how the SS come off as "gay"? Aside from being male cheerleaders, nothing they do is played as being gay. Yet every week, several people use the terms "acting gay" or "stereotypically gay", etc., and I'm just not seing it.

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I'm going to have to go with Umaga....... *chop*.

 

Umaga isn't that bad since he's having squash matches so his matches are pretty much short, where they should be. Eventually someone at WWE will wake up and say to themselves "Wait, why in the hell do we have a "samoen Bulldozer" gimmick and Umaga will go to Heat.

 

The Spirt Squad is just annoying. The gimmick can be a fun thing to watch but then it just gets to stale and the group is just to big and lets be honest, if we didn't have people telling us the names of each member, would really remember who they are each week?

 

No one involved in the gimmick will become a name out of it. The only name that anyone has been dropping a lot is Kenny and thats only because he had that title shot a few weeks ago but soon casual fans will just remember him as a Spirt Squad member. Each member of the Spirt Squad has no where to go after the gimmick is over and dropped.

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I have SPIRIT.

 

And the NEW WWE champion is....KENNY...KENNY...KENNY...

 

Great stuff.

 

I've got nothing inherently against Umaga but the Spirit Squad play their over-the-top annoying gimmick so well that I can't help but love them. The trampoline spots are cool as hell and I'm with Hawk 34, Doane and Jeter should be main eventing WM in years to come. I also really dig their true tag team style of working, the little details like keeping whoever they're fighting either in the middle of the ring or near their corner and standing between them and their opponent's corner.

 

However I do agree that WWE is running a risk of burning viewers out by saturating the main event matches with them for too many consecutive weeks.

 

EDIT: I also doubt that Umaga would be as over with this board as he is if that initiation video hadn't surfaced.

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Spirit Squad. They work well with the gimmick, are great heels, and are really good in the ring.

 

Umaga only has his manager, and without him, he's boring.

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Spirit Squad. They work well with the gimmick, are great heels, and are really good in the ring.

 

Umaga only has his manager, and without him, he's boring.

 

while I agree, isn't this what we smarky types always say is the solution to a character that is struggling? It's been said about Shelton Benjamin countless times.

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Guest Princess Leena

I guess Umaga is the better character, now. Simply because he just kicks ass, and Estrada does a good job with the manager character. Yeah, it's quite 80s-like, but it's about all you can do with Jamal/Rosie, whichever one he was. The main problem is wasting the time pushing this worker, as it very likely ends up going nowhere.

 

The Spirit Squad is a horrible idea. The male cheerleader thing doesn't even matter for them... I figure the common fans sees them as a group of 5 guys, who came out of nowhere, and instantly cheat in main event after main event. I'm not gonna say it's X-Pac heat, as I don't think fans want them to go away... they just don't believe them going against the top wrestlers, week after week. And it's not helping any of them, whatsoever, since the common fan can't tell any of them apart. I think it can only hurt all 5 of them once they mercifully end this gimmick.

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Quick random question: Does anyone think Umaga is WWE's Abyss? Or that Estrada is WWE's answer to James Mitchell?

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I like the Spirit Squad and all, but they nail every part of their gimmik except the cheers. They're just so bad at them.

 

Maybe I just don't see the point, but I've always thought that was on purpose.

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Goooooooo Spirit Squad!

 

I thought Kenny had some in-ring potential, but then he had to botch the spinebuster last night. When Stephanie McMahon can take a spinebuster better than you can, you know you have some problems.

 

Ok, this is a horribly unfair judgment on Kenny. He botches one spot, and all of a sudden he no longer has any talent? Come on. Ric Flair has botched spots. Bret Hart has botched spots. Chris Benoit has botched spots. And the list goes on. When you're performing as much as wrestler's do, no one's going to bat 1.000.

 

And I'd like to see Stephanie do a leg drop as well as Kenny.

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I think Umaga is they're attempt at Samoa Joe, And to be honest if Joe signed with them and did everything Umaga has done(sans facepaint) everyone would probably think it was the greatest thing ever.

 

I think the Spirit Squad is great, and one of the most entertaining things they've done in awhile.

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Quick random question: Does anyone think Umaga is WWE's Abyss? Or that Estrada is WWE's answer to James Mitchell?

 

I always thought Umaga was their counter to Samoa Joe, only they had to do the savage samoan gimmick so that they're not accused of flat out ripping off TNA.

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Guest Princess Leena

I get the feeling that Umaga is even an inside joke about copying Samoa Joe...

 

And to be honest if Joe signed with them and did everything Umaga has done(sans facepaint) everyone would probably think it was the greatest thing ever

 

This is 100% truth.

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I think Umaga has been entertaining in his matches so far (even if they are just squashes). He has a unique offense, which is a nice break from the usual vanilla WWE wrestling we almost always see on RAW. I also think Estrada is doing a very good job as a manager, and it's nice to see a male manager who is a good talker again.

 

As far as the Spirit Squad, I admit I don't hate them as completely as I did when they first debuted. To me, they seemed like a bad rip off of those Will Farrell SNL skits.

 

My main problem with the Spirit Squad is that they're in the main event slot on RAW almost week after week, and they really aren't over enough to justify that. Hell, they haven't come close to earning it. I don't mind them holding the tag belts, but the belts seem more like a prop for them at this point, since they haven't had any serious title defenses or anything as of yet. Also, I don't see the justification for them being Mr. McMahon's underlings, since they seem like the kind of people Vince would hate (on camera, I mean). They've even already done the "Spirit Squad is running this week's show" angle they love to do with every main event level heel, which was way too soon for these guys.

 

That said, they do seem like good wrestlers, and I hope Kenny (Doane) gets to break away soon and maybe do a face turn, since he seems to have a huge amount of potential.

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I think Umaga is they're attempt at Samoa Joe, And to be honest if Joe signed with them and did everything Umaga has done(sans facepaint) everyone would probably think it was the greatest thing ever.

 

I think the Spirit Squad is great, and one of the most entertaining things they've done in awhile.

 

Actually I think if Joe was in the Umaga spot, the boards would be flooded with "Joe's being misused" posts.

 

I had to go with SS on this one, although I mark for both gimmicks. Sure Umaga is a throwback 80's style gimmick, but I mark for savage gimmicks. I loved Kamala (bring the hate) as a kid, and I like what Jamal is doing with his offense to make it wild and unpredictable.

 

But come on... five cheerleaders? Nicky screaming like a bitch on every big spot? That's classic heel work there. And plus...

 

 

*AIRHORN*

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If I have to pick one, I would go with Umaga, simply because he comes out, has his match and then gets the hell of my tv. Unlike the Spit or Swallow Squad who have to show up or appear at least four or five times on RAW which is way over-exposing guys who aren't that good of workers.

 

With that said, both these gimmicks are prime examples of why the Wrestling business will never be as good as it was when there was competition driving the content.

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Guest Princess Leena
Actually I think if Joe was in the Umaga spot, the boards would be flooded with "Joe's being misused" posts.

 

Hardly.

 

The marks here would be spouting "JOE GONNA KILL U!!!1", and such.

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I think Umaga is they're attempt at Samoa Joe, And to be honest if Joe signed with them and did everything Umaga has done(sans facepaint) everyone would probably think it was the greatest thing ever.

 

Yer kidding right? If anything, people who actually watched Samoa Joe before this hypothetical WWE Run, would be horrified at what Vince had done to him, and would be hoping that he would purposely do something to get fired. Umaga has yet to even show he can work a good match and people want to compare him to Samoa Joe? I mean really, if this is Vince's best attempt at ripping off Samoa Joe, then he is in desperate need for a better creative writing team.

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I mean really, if this is Vince's best attempt at ripping off Samoa Joe, then he is in desperate need for a better creative writing team.

 

Mike states the obvious...

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This is a toss-up for me.

 

From what little I've seen over the last couple months, Umaga doesn't really do much for me in the ring, but Armando Alenjandro Estrada is the best manager I've seen in years. The crowd is already singing along with him when he introduces himself. And his intro of "Uuuuuuuuu-MAAAAAA-Gahhhhhhhhhhhh!" is terrific.

 

The Spirit Squad, on the other hand, has done way more with an awful gimmick than could ever be expected. Having said that, it's nice to take lemons and make lemonade, but it's still not champagne.

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I think Umaga is they're attempt at Samoa Joe, And to be honest if Joe signed with them and did everything Umaga has done(sans facepaint) everyone would probably think it was the greatest thing ever.

 

Yer kidding right? If anything, people who actually watched Samoa Joe before this hypothetical WWE Run, would be horrified at what Vince had done to him, and would be hoping that he would purposely do something to get fired. Umaga has yet to even show he can work a good match and people want to compare him to Samoa Joe? I mean really, if this is Vince's best attempt at ripping off Samoa Joe, then he is in desperate need for a better creative writing team.

 

 

Without the savage look, if Joe squashed people exactly the same as Umaga has so far, it's hardly different then how Joe started out in TNA. I realize Umaga isn't going to have ROH like classics that Joe's has, but if this is how Joe debuted people would like it. For awhile at least.

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I think Umaga is they're attempt at Samoa Joe, And to be honest if Joe signed with them and did everything Umaga has done(sans facepaint) everyone would probably think it was the greatest thing ever.

 

Yer kidding right? If anything, people who actually watched Samoa Joe before this hypothetical WWE Run, would be horrified at what Vince had done to him, and would be hoping that he would purposely do something to get fired. Umaga has yet to even show he can work a good match and people want to compare him to Samoa Joe? I mean really, if this is Vince's best attempt at ripping off Samoa Joe, then he is in desperate need for a better creative writing team.

 

 

Without the savage look, if Joe squashed people exactly the same as Umaga has so far, it's hardly different then how Joe started out in TNA. I realize Umaga isn't going to have ROH like classics that Joe's has, but if this is how Joe debuted people would like it. For awhile at least.

 

Right, but you can't seperate the "Savage Look" because that is a Vince McMahon attribute. You are assuming if Samoa Joe came to WWE, Vince wouldn't stick him with a stupid "Savage" gimmick, which with Vince's track record, I'd say it is AT LEAST a 50/50 chance he would.

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