By Jon Cudo, PWTorch specialist

TRUE - YOU HAVE TO GO ALL THE WAY

For a character to work, the actor has to go way. The actor must be fully invested with no inhibitions and they must be committed to carrying out the persona in a consistent way. The more outlandish the character, the more this is true.

One of the best examples of this is the movie "Dumb and Dumber." Jim Carrey goes all the way. He's fully committed, never wavers from being a complete simpleton moron. It's a risky role that not everyone could pull off, but Carrey made it special by not sparing an ounce of his pride and fully embracing the role. He even legitimately chipped his tooth to enhance his buffoon appearance. Going all the way made that character and movie.

Monday night's Raw had two characters who may be in similarly tough positions, R-Truth and Chris Jericho. We don't know yet where Jericho is going with his character, but I believe he wrote the character and has shown solid range in the past. I have some faith that he will be able to pull it off.

R-Truth's latest character twist appears to be a babyface shift for his crazed persona. Looking directly into the camera (when most performers aren't allowed to during interviews) sets him apart, as does his conversations with invisible Little Jimmy's. This opening effort wasn't totally convincing and whether his new character works will depend not only on the character's direction, but R-Truth's ability to go all the way and become likable, while crazy.

In Stone Cold's autobiography, he examined one of the most challenging aspects of modern day WWE - wrestlers are athletes who have trained to be wrestlers...then are asked to primarily be actors. While Jim Carrey spent his life acting and developing the skills to go all the way in roles like "Ace Ventura" and "Dumb and Dumber," wrestlers like R-Truth and Chris Jericho have not. Even talented actors struggle to make really outlandish characters work and we will find out in the coming months if these wrestlers can go all the way with their new characters.

FALSE - JOHN CENA IS FUNNY

John Cena has a shockingly low success rate for his jokes, but more importantly his failed comedy usually derails the more important money-drawing elements of being a top drawing centerpiece babyface.

TBD - WWE CAN RE-BUILD THE TAG TEAM DIVISION

For a stretch last year, WWE had a surge making the tag division valuable. The tag division has not been a money make for them, recently or historically, but the elevation of Air Boom helped make the titles interesting and worthy of TV time. Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne in particular injected athleticism and star power.

After Bourne was suspended under the Wellness Policy, the push faltered and hasn't been kick started since his return. The addition of a challenger or a team utilizing some under-utilized talent has not emerged and the gains of the fall seem lost.

Valuable titles and athleticism draw ratings and it will be interesting to see if WWE can get back on track with the tag division in the midst of their focus on returning characters, WrestleMania hype, and John Cena comedy.

***

Jon Cudo is the newest PWTorch Specialist, presenting the "True-False-TBD" format. Jon has worked in the sports entertainment industry for over 20 years, including major league sports teams and Nike. He has been a life-long pro wrestling fan and has attended WWE, WCW, and ROH events in person, including backstage access at multiple events. He grew up in Minnesota and now lives in Cleveland. He runs his own business, www.GameOps.com, a web site designed to connect sports teams and event producers with ideas and tools that will enhance the entertainment value for fans attending their events.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

We suggest these recent related articles...

TRUE - FALSE - TBD 5/3: Cena's place among top performers in history, Lesnar's schedule, impact of WWE's worked shoots

TRUE - FALSE - TBD 4/27: Open Fight Night could be a winner, ROH's lesson from WM28 biz, Int'l boost to WM28 buys

TRUE - FALSE - TBD 4/20: Funkasauras's limitations, Tensai's tattoos, Laurinaitis's introduction of Lesnar, FCW call-ups can spark business