Is Orlando Jordan "Simply the Greatest"? No, but He Could Be

Orlando Jordan made his first appearance on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's Impact program on the night Hulk Hogan made his first appearance in the Universal Studios-based promotion.

First, I didn't know really what to make of the man in TNA. He came out in a robe for his first match, and strutted out to his new theme, proclaiming that he was "simply the greatest" before stepping into the ring.

The thing is, he had no real gimmick. Then, the bisexual thing started.

I saw him come out to the ring. Well, if anyone has been to a Lady GaGa concert and seen her descend from the ceiling wearing whatever the hell she wanted to that night, along with sunglasses like the one from her "Bad Romance" music video, that's pretty much how Jordan's entrance one night in the Impact Zone introduced me to the gimmick.

Except, Jordan had some TNA-branded caution tape on him, with no boots. His fists were taped, or maybe it was the caution tape. I don't quite recollect, but other than that and the black boxers, not much else introduced me to the gimmick before the girl and the guy.

Whatever happened to the girl, anyway?

Well, anyway, the gimmick started to blend in with Jordan's new phrase "simply the greatest," and before you know it, his feud with Rob Terry started.

I thought Jordan was talented in WWE, and was actually surprised to see him in TNA, but I wasn't excited initially when I first saw him strut out to the ring in a robe facing guys like Jay Lethal and Elijah Burke. He was JBL's Chief of Staff for his "Cabinet," but when the Bashams left the group, there was nowhere for OJ to go.

With this gimmick that is the pro wrestling version of the real life Jordan, who in real life is openly bisexual, Jordan has somewhere to go.

He's done things that few folks in pro wrestling's recent history have thought of, which is where the argument of him being "this generation's Goldust" comes from. The lotion all over his body, the GaGa-like entrances, and sometimes even the attire he wears are all in a style that is Jordan's and Jordan's only.

As far as athleticism and ability, Jordan isn't the best in the world today, but he's coming close. The fact that he beat Tomko by a guillotine choke shows that Jordan now has more than just the Rocky Johnson-like punch combo he's shown since he was in WWE.

I know that if you say "go," Jordan can go in the ring, and he still can. He's got the tools it takes to one day be in the position that guys like Desmond Wolfe are in now. Not everyone's the best when they're young, and even the ones that seem to be the best at what they do, even when they're young, also have some things to work on.

Being the best isn't a goal you can achieve overnight, especially in the hall of smoke and mirrors that we call professional wrestling. It takes work to get your name on the same level as greats like Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Harley Race, and basically every other world champion that is revered in pro wrestling to some respect.

I'd say to get this result from Jordan, TNA should let him go out on Impact and up the ante on the Rob Terry feud. He already attacked him after losing at Sacrifice, so why not take it a step further by having OJ play more mind games with Terry, and even beating him in a non-title match?

After that, have OJ work up his promo skills just a bit more: have the O-Zone be like a regular TNA Impact talk show thing. Anyone remember seeing Piper's Pit or The Brother Love Show or Jerry Lawler's King's Court, and not only seeing it, but seeing it on a weekly basis?

Have Jordan build himself up to be a bizarre individual through his promos, and then after the Rob Terry feud, if you want to have him face guys like Elijah Burke or Jay Lethal, make sure they actually make the Impact tapings and not just a "web match" that you'd have to see online.

Some people don't even go online. Some people still want to believe that it's real.

Don't believe me? Watch Cena vs. Batista from Wrestlemania 26. There's literally a sign that says, "It's still real to me, damnit!"

Some people only watch Impact, WWE, or both, and they don't go online, not even to catch an episode of Raw or Smackdown that they missed. To get more people to focus on Jordan, that's what TNA needs to do to make people believe that he might really be the greatest of all the current TNA talent right now.

They need to showcase him on Impact, not on Explosion or on the TNA web matches they have from time to time.

"Simply the greatest"? For now, it's too early to go that far with Orlando Jordan.

With time, some honing of his talents, and more TNA exposure, though, the man could be just that.