An "intense" look at Vance Archer

Intensity. It is defined colloquially referring to strength, level, amplitude, or magnitude. Usually, when this term is used on someone or about someone, it refers to the person's attitude. It's very strong, very direct, very powerful. It refers to how a person approaches every aspect of their life, if not a certain part of their life. This is usually head-on, full-on, immersion with some extra energy. In wrestling, an intense wrestler is usually a brute of a man or a woman. Some intense wrestlers include Snitsky, Test, Mike Knox, Umaga, Psycho Sid, Bruiser Brody, Buzz Sawyer, Cactus Jack, the Necro Butcher, Homicide, Abyss, Kane, Batista and the Sheik. Those wrestlers are intense for their strength and their unpredictable hardcore nature. Then there's Raven, Jake "the Snake" Roberts, Eddie Kingston, Jimmy Jacobs, Kevin Sullivan, Edge, and even Rowdy Roddy Piper and Chris Jericho. They are considered psychologically intense using their vast intellects, pure cunning, or underhanded diabolical nature to get their points across. Where does Vance Archer fit into all of this? Well, they say he's intense, and although it seems he'd fall into the first category, his silent, stoic, half smirk may prove otherwise. Then again, he might not fall in either category. One thing is for sure, though: his arrival on ECW came rather conveniently, and he has to make due with it or he may never be seen as an intense wrestler again.

Thanks to wikipedia, I can give you all an in-depth look at Mr. Archer and what he's made of. His real name is Lance Hoyt. In the year 2000, he began his training under Solo Faitala and debuted in July of that year against Tarzan Taylor. He worked the Texas independent circuit until 2005, under many aliases, such as Lance Steel, Breakdown (a name he chose when he had to wrestle in his street clothes upon forgetting his ring gear), and Shadow, a dark villianous character. He maintained his Shadow persona for all 9 years of his time with Professional Championship Wrestling (2000-2009), fighting stars like Ahmed Johnson and Paul London and starting a faction called "The Dark Circle". He held the PCW Tag Team Championships with Wally Darkmon in 2006. In 2007, he was the first AMW Heavyweight Champion after beating Shawn Stasiak (former WWE superstar). He lost the title in a three-way dance match involving Action Jackson and Mike Foxx. After which, he was "released" from his contract only to have signed a PCW "legends contract". He was commisioner of the organization for a brief stint until his imminent departure.

While working in PCW, Hoyt maintained a steady position wrestling for TNA: Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He was hired to work there in March of 2004, acting as a bodyguard/relative named Dallas for the then-TNA X Division star Kid Kash. On April 7th of that year, Kid Kash and Dallas won the vacant NWA World Tag Team titles in a tournament, defeating Low Ki and Christopher Daniels of Triple-X in the finals. One week later, they dropped the tag belts to D'Lo Brown and Apolo, only to win the belts back the subsequent week. They then lost the belts to America's Most Wanted on June 4th. Hoyt lost some exposure when Kid Kash was suspended from TNA in June, but regained some of it, helping Kid Kash in his feud with A.J. Styles. In January of 2005, he chose to wrestle under his actual name of Lance Hoyt, as instructed by then-booker Dusty Rhodes, to avoid confusion between himself and Diamond Dallas Page, who was wrestling for TNA at the time. Hoyt and Kash competed as a tag team until Kash was fired from TNA on April of 2005. Hoyt then took part in the TNA Lockdown Pay-per-view event on April 19, 2005, teaming with Chris Candido to fight Sonny Siaki and Apolo in a cage match. During the match, Candido suffered a severe leg injury, Hoyt was pinned, and then Hoyt was attacked by the Naturals, Candido's associates, turning Hoyt into a fan favorite. On a side note, the injury Candido suffered would ultimately lead to his tragic death afterward.

Hoyt's career started receiving a strong fan following, leading to his becoming a character called Hoytamania, referencing the "Hulkamania" movement surrounding Hulk Hogan. His career led him to feud with Team Canada, lose to fellow big men Abyss and Monty Brown, and get eliminated in a 10-man Gauntlet Match at TNA Bound for Glory of that year. The match was to determine the new #1 contender for Jeff Jarrett's NWA World Championship. What followed was a tag team formed by Hoyt and Matt Bentley, that ended in a violent feud that ended at Destination X. After many months off, Hoyt returned to TNA to team up with Ron "the Truth" Killings, in a tag team battle royal which they lost, and in a winning effort against Bentley and Frankie Kazarian. Hoyt would take part in the Fight for the Right Tournament where he lost to Abyss upon being one of the last two men in the match. When that failed, he continued his teaming with Killings to win some matches. Hoyt then started acting as a bodyguard of sorts with the Voodoo Kin Mafia of BG James and Kip James, which ended with Hoyt turning on them and becoming a heel when he saved Christy Hemme from Kip James after the VKM won their tag match at Slammiversary. After Hoyt failed to defeat Abyss and even Kip James on TNA Impact!, he and Christy joined up with new TNA hire Jimmy Rave, a notable independent wrestler from such organizations like Ring of Honor, to form the Rock 'n Rave Infection. They became a comedy rock trio, complete with Guitar Hero controllers, Hemme screaming on a microphone, and Hoyt and Rave impersonating Slash of Guns N' Roses, and Vince Gill of Motley Crue, respectively.

As part of this new faction, Hoyt took part in and lost the "Cuffed in the Cage" match against "Super" Eric, changed his name to Lance Rock, and lost to Matt Morgan on that same day after Morgan beat Jimmy Rave. Since then, the team lost against virtually every tag team in TNA until Hoyt was released from TNA on February 10, 2009. Hoyt then wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling for a short while until signing with the WWE on April 26, 2009. He went to the WWE farm system organization, FCW, under the name Lance Archer. He changed his name to Vance Archer and later debuted on ECW in November of this year. On a more personal note, Hoyt appeared on such shows as the Jenny Jones Show, elimiDate, Scrubs, and Room Raiders. Hoyt also played basketball, football, and baseball, attended Texas State University and played there as a quarterback, has a degree in English, and worked in a nightclub, where he met his wrestling teacher.

That's quite a short resume, but a rather intense one if you look at it from a certain standpoint. Now, he's Vance Archer, and he has intensely ran through whomever has gotten in his way. As I stated before, it was a rather convenient debut for Archer, with all types of implications to it. Here's 3 such implications that I figured I'd share with you all that may very well determine his future.

First off, he debuted one week after another intense individual made his departure from the ECW brand. That wrestler was Sheamus. He was Irish, pale, red-headed, and brutish. He put the hurt on whomever got in his way and dominated virtually every match he was in. Then, when word got out that he was gaining some support from Triple H backstage, he was sent to Raw, depriving ECW of at least one stand-out dominator of a heel. Enter Vance Archer. Are those some big shoes to fill if you're Archer? Well, let's see: Sheamus left to Raw and "retired" Jamie Noble (kayfabe), decimated the competition in his Survivor Series match, and is now the #1 Contender for the WWE title. Yea, I think it's safe to say that Archer has a lot to match, don't you? Sheamus would have to be seen as a pretty big deal for this to happen. Archer, well, is not quite there yet.

Secondly, Archer's debut and subsequent success will mirror the veritable success of his fellow TNA expatriates that now call the WWE home. So far, those who have come to the WWE from TNA have either done it as a return of sorts or as a chance to continue their careers away from TNA. What's the verdict on their careers? R-Truth returned to some pretty decent fanfare. Too bad his match record couldn't match it. He's lost to a number of many important talents, curtailing whatever chances of his becoming a big star. He even cleanly lost to a star the WWE clearly demoted in C.M. Punk so he can prepare R-Truth for the main event scene. Throw in a failed attempt at reinventing his character, and that's R-Truth, a wrestler who is paying his dues at great lengths for being with the "enemy". Gail Kim returned to losses, losses, and more losses to the worst in the Women's and Diva's divisions as well as decisive losses to the best. That's what she gets for joining the "enemy" and establishing their women's division. Christian was supposed to be the person responsible for Jeff Hardy's attacks. However, due to an internet leak and Vince McMahon's general disdain toward Christian, he is now relegated to wrestling on ECW and is now the current owner of the ECW championship. That's not so bad or wouldn't be if, say, Christian was involved on pay-per-view events to a much greater capacity. Then again, can you expect much from a guy who went to the "enemy" afer being spurned by the WWE? I'll sum up Braden Walker in an equation, since the story is just too annoying to hear: former TNA star + big mouth about accomplishments + bad gimmick = instant failure. Do the math! Now, Archer wasn't anyone to bury the WWE while in TNA, but that doesn't put him in the clear at all. This brings me to my third and final implication.

Lastly, Archer is yet another powerhouse of a big man who has debuted in the WWE that...for lack of a better term, has no dimensions to him. Then again, he's another wrestler who, for lack of a better term, has no dimensions to him. Mike Knox is a brute who just developed a need to destroy the human body. Snitsky became a bald brute with bad teeth. Tyler Reks is a surfer from California. D.J. Gabriel is a party animal from England. Vance Archer is intense. The big question is this: and? What else do or did they bring to the table? Why not spend the time to flesh out these guys with better backstories? When you just shoot these guys out there with nothing to go on, no one reacts to it, and in turn, no one cares about it. Sure, Vance Archer is an intense wrestler, but so is Batista, and we already know why he is intense, what he brings to the table, and why he should be watched. Shoot, even Sheamus is branching out using his Celtic roots and his unique look as extra flavor to his blatant disregard for others. What's so special about Vance Archer? Just because someone mentions the intensity of another, doesn't guarantee abject success. So, Archer has his work cut out for him.

Vance Archer is an intense wrestler. However, his intensity should be focused on being seen as something other than a cheap replacement for a far more valuable wrestler, along with his need to be more than just a useless TNA castaway as well as a bland, one-dimensional character. He has to step away from those schemas and be more than just that. I have an idea. Why not have the intense Vance Archer do some research? Study the tapes. Watch the promos. Be bigger and better than those around you by learning from the best. Find out what intensity is by observing the intense. If you can do that, and can become a truly intense wrestler, then the world will take you seriously. Being intense is more than just a smirking scowl and an endorsement from some general manager. If you work on it, it can be a belief, a mindset, or even a lifestyle. In Archer's case, it's a wrestling style. That's great for you, Vance, granted you were the first to do it. Sadly, you weren't, so you have a long way to go. To your credit though, you're doing a prety decent job, which is more than I can say for some guys with gimmick issues..