Last night’s SmackDown (re)introduced us to a fan favorite wrestler; he’s been with the company for years, held numerous titles, broke company records, and contributed to some of the most talked about moments throughout NXT’s black and gold era. He’s a fantastic performer in the ring and intimidating enough out of it, and he even made a finger fetish into a whole gimmick. That’s right, it’s your boy Butch.
Sheamus and Ridge Holland brought out the Bruiserweight as part of their SD stable last night, announcing to the world and God himself that Pete Dunne’s real friends have always called him by his nickname. As you can expect, this was a bit of a curveball for anyone who has ever seen Dunne wrestle. Butch was ringside for Holland and Sheamus’ match against The New Day, lending his signature Newsie’s style to the lad stable. That paperboy cap was threatening to fly off his head at any minute, so I guess we’re lucky he took it off before getting in the ring post-match, where he had to be dragged away from beating the piss out of Kofi Kingston. The match against Kingston and Big E unfortunately also lead to Big E getting injured, which made this a rough time all around. Best wishes to Big E in recovery. I’m doing some hip gyrations in his honor.
Let’s break it down: can Butch last, or is he going to suffer the same fate as most of WWE’s other name changes?
Pros
- It’s going to be easier for me to type when I do my little articles, so I’ll give them that.
- If you told me to picture a guy named Butch, I actually probably would come up with something that looks like Pete Dunne. So, I can’t say they aren’t accurate.
- We’ve already gotten a lot of jokes out of this, and at this point, all I can rank this company on is how funny it makes people on the Twitter app.
- Pat McAfee is going to get to go “Damn, that guy got Butchered” on commentary and it’s gonna be great.
Cons
- I guess I’m just confused about the general name aesthetic here. Sheamus — one word, got it. Butch — same thing, nice and quick. Ridge Holland — sounds like he’s starring in the new Downton Abbey movie. Too fancy, it’s giving too much. These lads need to have a chat about their brand.
- Pete/Butch does not pull off that suspenders look. Like, I get what they’re going for, but he looks like a guy who should be in a tracksuit 24/7.
- There’s about a two month lifespan on Butch as a concept and in this stable. Pete can (and should) be a singles guy, and he’s popular enough even with casual fans that he doesn’t really need this backdoor pilot to the character.
