Ah, the early 2000’s. Mountain Dew was that generation’s choice of soft drink, Jack Ass set the new standard for how to best impress your friends, and wrestling was a thing that the mainstream media was actually interested in covering. So naturally, anything targeting that sweet 18-49 demographic was going to include the variant use of the word extreme. It worked for Doritos!
Dave Chappelle, clearly at a cross roads in his career since Half Baked had tanked at the box office, was apparently the right spokesperson for this new extreme type of deodorant stick. And to show just how effective Right Guard Xtreme Sport was, Dave set up some poor schlub on a blind date in the most extreme of conditions. Those conditions being inside a ring in a 2-on-1 handicap fetish match against a couple of Amazonian women who could give Nicole Bass a run for her money. Surprisingly, this doesn’t take place in somebody’s apartment, while recorded on video tape and then advertised in the back pages of Wrestling Revue magazine.
Naturally, the poor schlub gets his ass handed to him. Clotheslines from hell, double-team X-factor finisher, and a half-assed camel clutch are just the beginning. All the while Chappelle encourages the poor sap to get her number. Then we get a face-down Cesaro swing, an airplane spin, and the obligatory cartoony moves that are far-fetched. Like, the Boston Crab where you pull somebody so far back you make their feet reach their head and touch the ground. Legitimately paralyzing the poor bastard. But the deodorant is working according to Chappelle. In his defense, there were no visible wet spots under the guy’s pits. They at least they proved that right. He says it doesn’t smell, but this ain’t smellavision so we’ll have to take his word for it. It does go on clear though.
After Dave feels he’s proven his point and justified his pay, the blind date guy is then hurled out into the audience Spike Dudley-style by one of the female wrestlers.
The arena itself is pretty sweet. Indy shows should take note and shoot for this type of production quality. Granted, most indy shows don’t have that sweet Right Guard deodorant money, but at the very least Sinclair Broadcast Group should take their lighting cues from this commercial when producing ROH shows. It’d sure make Jim Ross happy.
And now I wish Raw had guest hosts back in the day, because having Chappelle on there would’ve been great. Especially if he was encouraging Stone Cold or The Rock to try on Right Guard Xtreme Sport before heading out to the ring, then hanging out in the back to roll a fatty with The Godfather and Road Dogg.
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