Alex Wright’s famous WCW dancing almost never made it to television because Wright initially wanted nothing to do with the idea.
Wright explained the unexpected origin of the signature part of his Das Wunderkind character during an interview with Bryan Asbury on Developmentally Speaking, available on the show’s official YouTube channel.
According to Wright, the idea started when he went to a nightclub with people from WCW and danced the way he normally would to German techno music.
Someone from the company noticed.
“What’s that? That’s different.”
Wright explained that there was nothing unusual about it from his perspective.
“Well, that’s how I dance in Germany.”
The response from WCW was immediate.
“You have to do that in the ring.”
Wright initially refused.
“No, I’m not going to do that.”
Having been trained with a traditional wrestling mentality, Wright said he initially resisted blending that type of entertainment into his presentation. WCW eventually convinced him, and his opinion changed dramatically once he saw the reaction.
“That was the best decision what I could have done.”
Wright believes the dance remains a major reason fans remember him decades later.
“One big part is the dance. It was different.”
“It made me very popular and everybody knew me very quickly.”
The success also had a downside. Wright said the dancing became so closely associated with him that some viewers overlooked his actual wrestling ability. His eventual attempt to escape that image led to the darker Berlyn reinvention, which Wright recently discussed with Developmentally Speaking.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Developmentally Speaking, with a h/t to Wrestling Headlines for the transcription.
