Usually, when I hear the man in the box, it conjures up images of Tommy Dreamer landing his trademark DDT and then posing with his arms outstretched. It might’ve violated every copyright law in the book at the time, but it can’t be understated how impactful it was that ECW used “real” music as opposed to in-house productions, if for no other reason that it was another way that the promotion set itself a part from the major leagues of WCW and the WWF that had the multi-million dollar budget to produce its own music.
Speaking of the man in the box, there was famously the notion that was attributed to Jim Cornette that “anyone that comes out of a box is over,” and to some extent, that’s true. Abdullah showing up in WCW to attack Sting, and Terry Funk cutting his way out of a crate with a chainsaw are examples of when it worked. Let’s not talk about the Gobbledy Gooker.
Unfortunately, the crate reveal at this past weekend’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view was quite literally a dud, with lackluster pyro that had less boom to it than what you can purchase at a gas station for the fourth of July, and virtually no ballyhoo as it was panned with a chorus of boos from the live crowd in Chicago.
Obviously, one of the keys to these types of segments working, specifically when there’s any mystery involved at all, is that the reveal has to live up to the hype. At one point, there was speculation that this could be the return to the company of Chris Jericho after more than eight years away from the WWE. When he didn’t appear at the Royal Rumble, it added to that speculation that he would show up at the Elimination Chamber PPV with enough time to still be involved in this year’s Wrestlemania. There were longstanding rumors that Y2J was on his way out of All Elite Wrestling when his contract expired at the end of 2025, mostly because he hadn’t been seen in the organization for the majority of the year, which is a common trend for Tony Khan, as far as keeping talent off television when they plan to exit AEW. More recently, there were reports that Jericho’s contract might’ve been frozen when he left for a few months at a time to tour with Fozzy so the actual status of his AEW deal remains unclear.
I was skeptical that Jericho would be the reveal in the crate because that in itself wouldn’t automatically be impactful or something that gave him a firm purpose for what would probably be his final run in the company. It was more or less confirmed that it wouldn’t be Jericho, but rather another AEW alumni when Wade Barrett made jokes about it as a reference to The Christmas Story film that usually runs for 24 hours on Christmas eve on TBS, the same network that airs Dynamite.
Danhausen, the cult favorite from the independent circuit, arrived with generic Scooby Doo-type music, and as mentioned, less pyro than most people blast off in their driveway on holidays. To add to the confusing mess, there were about a dozen Hausen dances, with no explanation or point to any of it. Danhausen gave Michael Cole his trademark jar of teeth at the announce desk before he ended up in the ring to finish the rest of a tacky dance routine that looked like something from the Gong Show in the 70s.
Management put Danhausen in an absolute no-win situation, as the scripting of the segment didn’t include anything that got the character over originally, and put him out there for roughly two minutes without any purpose.
It wasn’t a coincidence that Danhausen made his debut in Chicago, a more savvy crowd than most WWE audiences, but it’s important to keep the scenario in context, he hasn’t been on television in almost two and a half years. In many respects, it’s a credit to his talent to be able to remain relevant on the independent scene throughout that time, particularly to a level that would still garner him a WWE contract. However, there was no reason, even in Chicago, to believe that the WWE audience would be familiar with Danhausen, and the reaction or lack thereof reflected that,
Danhausen is solid in the ring, but even the real-life performer behind the persona would acknowledge that the character and promos are what propelled his popularity. Putting Danhausen out there without the chance to cut a promo did him a disservice, which is why his 30-second cameo on Raw was exponentially more effective than the flop of a segment on pay-per-view.
Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the goofy stuff in wrestling today makes me shake my head, as far too many wrestlers assume that they can get wacky stuff over, and it becomes lame attempts at comedy, but there are rare situations where if it works, it works. For example, the majority of Matt Hardy stuff, specifically cinematic matches are too far outside of the realm of pro wrestling for me. I don’t enjoy cinematic wrestling at all because it’s a total lack of logic to the parameters of the sport. However, there’s no doubt that the “broken” character was over and became a cult favorite that endured over time.
Obviously, some of Danhausen’s act was inside baseball by design when he was on the indies, and he will have to tailor it to the WWE audience, but I honestly think that he will be able to translate the character to the bigger stage of WWE. Some of what he did previously was a niche of a niche, but based on his interaction with Adam Pearce on Raw, asking for a blimp or wondering where Steve Austin was, is something that can get over with the more causal audience.
While I don’t see Danhausen being a regular performer on Raw or Smackdown, that might not be the goal when he was signed to a contract. Again, he wasn’t on television for over two years, but has consistently moved merchandise, including a series of independently-produced action figures, on his own without the promotional push of a national organization. With the distribution ability of WWE Shop, there’s no reason that he won’t become a top merchandise seller for the company, similar to when Mr. Iguana t-shirts sold well after he arrived under the WWE umbrella. Speaking of AAA, there might not be a regular role for Danhausen in the ring on the main roster, but the character could work very well for live events in Mexico since the persona could fit for AAA.
There’s only one chance at a first impression, and there’s no doubt that the Elimination Chamber segment didn’t get over, but similar to Danhausen being one of the rare example of “if it works, it works,” he has the ability to overcome the negativity around the debut. It’s as simple as let Danhausen be Danhausen and he will become one of the most entertaining acts on the roster, and someone that will probably have a job for years. In the grand scheme of things, he wasn’t hired for five star classics at Wrestlemania or the Tokyo Dome, he’s an entertaining guy that the WWE can use on social media, which becomes increasingly more valuable as TKO continues to globalize the product. Furthermore, and while this is a relatively low bar since he was kept off of television for more than two years, the odds are that Danhausen will be yet another example of someone that will be an exponentially bigger star in WWE after they were under an AEW contract for years.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89