Addressing the Congregation: TNA's Black Pope D'Angelo Dinero is the Future

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Written by Shane Howard

Sunday, 29 November 2009 16:03

A couple of weeks ago on an episode of TNA's iMPACT! , Team 3-D and Rhino declared Jesse Neal as the future of TNA and not the likes of Matt Morgan, Hernandez, and D'Angelo Dinero. Well, guess what Brother Ray, Devon, and Mr. Gore! Gore! Gore!, you couldn't be furthest from the truth.

For those who listen to the Hit the Ropes show, I've never been the biggest TNA fan. It's no coincidence that my interest in company, then, increased with the announced signing of one, Elijah Burke Black Pope D'Angelo Dinero. He is by far the main reason I tune in on Thursday nights now (seeing as how the Machine Guns are rarely featured).

WWE's loss was definitely TNA's gain here.

The first and only African-American OVW (Ohio Valley Wrestling) World Heavyweight Champion, Pope began his professional wrestling career in the WWE as Elijah Burke. From the first time he debuted on July 28, 2006 on SmackDown! as the mouthpiece of Slyvester Terkay, the guy looked like he had "it". His ability to work the microphone gave him an edge that many guys (Shelton Benjamin, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, for example) don't have.

How does a man go from being called "The Future of ECW" by Vince McMahon himself to Creative not having anything for him a year later?

It's really amazing that the men of the New Breed stable, led by Burke, with the exception of Matt Striker, are no longer with the WWE. Kevin Thorn, Ariel, Marcus Cor Von, and Burke—all gone.

No surprise that when TNA came calling earlier this year, he signed on the dotted line. In an August interview with HTR, he explained that he wanted to go to a company where he could be best utilized and also where he felt wanted.

This year's Hard Justice pay-per-view was the debut for D'Angelo Dinero, who was extravagant with his ring entrance and attire. From the onset, he was proving to be unique.

The first action for Dinero would be to try to dispatch of Suicide. These two would go at it until having a Falls Count Anywhere match at the No Surrender pay-per-view. Pope would get the win at the September event, in the process revealing a little more to the viewers than one expected. The following iMPACT! Suicide would be victorious in a street fight.

Thankfully, the feud would end.

What the early part of his TNA tenure proved was how quickly Pope endeared himself to the fans. The Impact Zone would be behind Dinero despite the fact that he was the heel in the angle.

Now, after taking some time off to deal with some personal issues, Pope has returned and is still being cheered, this time as a good guy.

From talking with him on two separate occasions, Dinero comes off as a guy who is very fan-friendly. Look at his matches and how he interacts with the audience. Check out his website and profiles on social networks and see that he is always speaking with his fans, or as he calls them—the Congregation.

"The reason I am the Pope, the reason I am where I am at today, is because of my Congregation."

This is also a man who seems to be very intelligent. Listen to the way he speaks. And despite only being involved in professional wrestling for only about five years, he has a very good wrestling mind.

From the Aug. 26th interview with HTR Radio:

Pope is a new breed of a wrestler. And Pope is a new breed of a wrestler because Pope is old school... I think too many of the guys coming in now they believe getting themselves over is by doing all these crazy moves, or cool moves. Cool moves. And storytelling is still the number one way to get yourself over in this business. Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV, that simple. It's storytelling and it's emotion and that's what the fans want to see, I believe. And that's what I'm going to try to give them.

While I do love to see some jaw-dropping action, I couldn't agree more with Pope here.

When asked about who he wanted to face when in TNA, he said he wanted to face everyone but focused on two big names:

I want Sting. I want Kurt Angle. Those are my goals. I want Sting. I want Kurt Angle. I want to go out there and put on a classic with Kurt Angle and see him at the point wher Pope has indeed arrived.

After last week's episode of iMPACT! where he faced Angle in the first round of the Championship Tournament Series, I would say Pope has arrived. Was this match up there with the match Angle recently had with Desmond Wolfe at Turning Point? No. But I would go to say that this match was the best outing by Pope since showing up in Orlando. The point was driven home even more by the fan reaction and the show of respect by Angle post-match.

So, I'm sorry Team 3-D and Rhino, while Jesse Neal has only showed that he uses a lot of gel and is akin to a lizard with all his hissing and tongue-sticking-out ways, Pope is actually doing something. The doubters out there are quickly being converted and will be booking a first-class ticket on the express to be part of the Congregation. Thanks to Dixie Carter signing him to a long-term deal, as reported via her Twitter in mid-November, Dinero should be around for some time.

The only thing I can't get down with when it comes to Pope is the fact that he likes Brett Favre. But that is a debate for another day.

You can catch Black Pope D'Angelo Dinero, along with the rest of the TNA roster, every Thursday at 9 p.m (ET) on Spike TV.

Quotes were used from 8/26/09 episode of Hit the Ropes. Information was also taken from Elijah Burke's personal website, The Elijah Express.

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