Line #9 Wrestling/CurtisAxel


1	[[quoteright:314:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/raw_1044_photo_154_axel.png]]
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3	Joseph Curtis Hennig (born October 1, 1979) is an American {{professional wrestl\|ing}}er who worked for Wrestling/{{WWE}} as Curtis Axel. He debuted in 2010 in the second season of Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} as Michael [=McGillicutty=], where he was the runner-up, and later joined Wrestling/TheNexus. After the Nexus angle had run its course, he and Otunga still tagged together, as they were the Tag Team Champions during the demise of The Nexus, until they lost their Tag Team titles to Wrestling/EvanBourne and Wrestling/KofiKingston, and he returned to NXT.
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5	Two years later, he returned with a new look and a new ring name, Curtis Axel, with Wrestling/PaulHeyman as his manager. He quickly surged to relevance by capturing the Intercontinental Championship, joining [[Wrestling/CurtHennig his father]] as the only father/son pair to have held the Intercontinental Championship.
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7	He is a one time Intercontinental Champion and a two time WWE/Raw Tag Team Champion, with Wrestling/DavidOtunga ([[CanonDiscontinuity although this reign was under his Michael [=McGillicutty=] moniker]]) and Wrestling/BoDallas.
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9	In 2008, ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' named him "Rookie of the Year," ahead of fellow third-generation wrestler Brett [=DiBiase=], second-generation wrestler Wrestling/RichieSteamboat and Ryan [=McBride=].
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11	In April 2020, he was released from WWE due to budget cuts that stemmed from the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. He hasn't wrestled since.
12	-----
13	!!To apply to me, these Tropes have to be better than perfect!
14	* AbortedArc: His "Axelmania" gimmick (along with a "Meta Powers" gimmick with Wrestling/DamienSandow as "Macho Mandow") was dropped when WWE severed ties with Hulk Hogan over his racist remarks.
15	* AffectionateParody: Of Wrestling/HulkHogan at one time. No, seriously.
16	* AlliterativeName: Michael [=McGillicutty=].
17	* ArchEnemy:
18	** As a "Paul Heyman" guy, Wrestling/CMPunk.
19	** With Wrestling/TysonKidd. Sadly this was only showcased on NXT, but their feud was about how Kidd wasn't a second or third generation wrestler and how he hung out with the Harts.
20	* BadassBoast: "To beat me, you have to be better than perfect!"
21	%% * BeardOfEvil
22	* TheBrute: Since Michael Tarver left, he and [[Wrestling/BrayWyatt Husky Harris]] have taking the role of it for Barrett, doing his dirty work.
23	* BumblingHenchmenDuo: As part of the Miztourage with Wrestling/BoDallas, the two being a pair of bungling cronies to the Miz.
24	* TheBusCameBack: Resurfaces after ''Extreme Rules 2013'' under the new name, Curtis Axel.
25	* ButtMonkey: He spent the vast majority of his feud with Punk losing... and that was just the beginning. Nowadays, he's barely on TV, and usually when he is, he's either getting his ass kicked or something humiliating is happening to him, like getting eliminated from a battle royal in comically short order, or trying to use LoopholeAbuse to claim that he's the rightful winner of a Royal Rumble several months after it ended, or being the last superstar drafted in the latest brand extension (and we mean ''period'' - even behind TV jobbers and announcers.)
26	* CombatPragmatist: The running lariat is probably one of the most dodged moves in professional wrestling. Axel's one of the few in-universe to figure this out and use it to set up a follow-up lariat to the back of an opponent's head (the technical name is Enzui[[note]]Japanese for "brain stem"[[/note]] or Northern Lariat.)
27	* DemotedToExtra: After the fall of Nexus, he had a short run with the tag titles with Otunga, before losing them to Wrestling/EvanBourne and Wrestling/KofiKingston, and then very brief feud with Wrestling/JerryLawler, before going back to NXT, and was repackaged as Paul Heyman's client, Curtis Axel. After a few feuds including an IC Title run and a short pairing with Wrestling/{{Ryback}}, he was sent back to NXT. The 2015 Royal Rumble changed all of that thanks to Axel's insistence he never got eliminated and eventually becoming Axelmania.
28	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: The infamous Genesis of [=McGillicutty=] promo from ''Wrestling/{{WWENXT}}'', bordering on an unintentional OverlyLongGag. To quote the line in full:
29	-->'''Axel''': And starting this moment... from now... from this moment on... this'll be the moment... starting now... of the genesis... of [=McGillicutty=]...
30	* DidntThinkThisThrough: What did Axel honestly think was going to happen by trying to ambush all three members of '''Wrestling/TheShield''' by himself on the 10.17.17 RAW?
31	* FatAndSkinny: The Skinny to Husky Harris's Fat.
32	* FinishingMove: The [=McGillicutter=] / Turning Heads, a running swinging neckbreaker.
33	** As Axel, he's had three: The "Axehole" hangman's facebuster, the Perfect-Plex in homage to his father, and, during his "[=AxelMania=]" gimmick, a "leg drop of doom" that mimiced Wrestling/HulkHogan's famous leg drop finisher.
34	* FiveMovesOfDoom: Already as Axel, he's used several "legacy" moves that his father and grandfather used, including Curt's rolling neck snap and Perfect-plex.
35	* TheGenericGuy: Tends to be tagged with this brush, unfortunately - despite his obvious wrestling skill, his persona just doesn't stand out much. This was the main reason he was aligned with Wrestling/PaulHeyman.
36	** He's become a lot more distinctive after the 2015 Royal Rumble. He never entered the ring, so he technically never went over the top rope. He's now insisting that he was never eliminated from the Royal Rumble and has become a delusional Wrestling/HulkHogan impersonator, complete with Axelmania.
37	* HoaxHogan: In 2015, after being eliminated from ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'' before entering the ring, Axel received a lot of supports of fans and even fellow wrestlers. After that event, he created an angle of being "[[BlatantLies the real winner of Royal Rumble]]", since he wasn't eliminated of the fight, which leaded to his own trend as [[Website/{{Twitter}} #Axelmania]]. After [[HeelFaceTurn becoming face]], he continued the trend posing as Hulk Hogan, also making team with his friend Wrestling/DamienSandow (posing as "[[Wrestling/RandySavage Macho]] [[{{Expy}} Mandow]]") as "The {{Meta}} Powers" (parody of Wrestling/TheMegaPowers). Sadly this won't last so much since few months later the real Hogan was kicked out for "saying the n-word", ending with the Hogan/Savage expies.
38	* {{Homage}}: His new name is a combination of his father's first name (and by extension, his own middle name) and his grandfather's nickname. His theme and some of his moves are also a homage.
39	* ItRunsInTheFamily[=/=]WrestlingFamily: Both with his father, "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig; and grandfather, Larry "The Axe" Hennig. His sister is also a professional wrestler.
40	* LegacyCharacter: {{Deconstructed}}; he really, really, really wants to be Mr. Perfect, and it wasn't helping him. {{Reconstruction}}, after returning as Curtis Axel.
41	* OddFriendship: With Wrestling/{{Ryback}}. They were both Wrestling/PaulHeyman's clients before Brock Lesnar became more important. One would think they would go their separate ways, but no, they still tagged together for a while before quietly splitting up.
42	* PowerStable: A member of Wrestling/TheNexus back when he was Michael [=McGillicutty=].
43	** More recently, he, Wrestling/HeathSlater, Wrestling/BoDallas, and Wrestling/AdamRose have formed a group called "The Social Outcasts".
44	** Now aligned with his former "Social Outcast" running buddy Wrestling/BoDallas as members of [[Wrestling/TheMiz The Miztourage]].
45	* RearrangeTheSong: His entrance theme is a reworking of his father's Mr. Perfect theme song.
46	* RedOniBlueOni: The serious, businesslike Michael and the wilder, more energetic Harris.
47	* TheSixthRanger: By virtue of not being in ''NXT'' season 1, he came late to Wrestling/TheNexus.
48	* TagTeam:
49	** (As Michael [=McGillicutty=]) With Wrestling/DavidOtunga.
50	** "Genesis", with [[Wrestling/BrayWyatt Husky Harris]].
51	** "Rybaxel", with Wrestling/{{Ryback}}.
52	** "The Meta Powers", as Axelmania, with [[Wrestling/DamienSandow Macho Mandow]].
53	** The B-Team, with Wrestling/BoDallas.
54	* TheRunnerUpTakesItAll: [[Wrestling/LowKi Kaval]] was released 4 months into his NXT victory. Axel is the only contestant from NXT season 2 to have won singles gold, until Bray Wyatt's WWE Championship run. Axel is easily the most successful rookie off of his season (although a [[Wrestling/BrayWyatt certain bearded fellow]] is considered to have surpassed him due to frequent brushes in the main event scene).
55	%% * UnderwearOfPower
56	* WrestlingFamily: He's the son of "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig.

Context Wrestling / CurtisAxel