Flash
The Great One 
Posts 3647
Registered 4-22-2005 Location Ontario, Canada Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 10-18-2017 at 10:28 PM |
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Wrestling Gimmicks
So I've been watching Raw from the start and am presently in 1993; a time which many of you no doubt remember was still pretty heavy on
"characters" and gimmicks... ie, clowns, garbage men, over the top guys, and of course evil foreigners.
This got me thinking about how some of these gimmicky characters would work today, if it's a good or bad idea to bring back some
characters/gimmicks, and if it might be time retire some of them.
Case in point; the evil foreigner gimmick is a pretty bread and butter staple of wrestling, and yet in todays ultra PC era it strikes me as a bit odd
that the WWE still continues to embrace this cheap heat getting tactic as essentially hating someone for being foreign seems a bit at odds with them
trying to break into certain markets.
So is it time to retire it? For my part I'm less interested in retiring it for being any kind of offensive, and more because outside of early
Muhammad Hassan it's almost never been done well in the modern era... it's lazy booking that is used to mask a lack of actual
character.
Another gimmick/angle I strongly dislike is the unstoppable monster... I don't have a problem with a near unbeatable guy per se, more that in
execution you get a guy squashing near jobbers for several weeks on end, gets a little resistance from one or two midcarders, eventually falls to the
bigger name you are setting them up for, then becomes very beatable by just about everyone after that... I'd much rather see a guy who is
beatable in the sense that he gets pinned... but maybe he just doesn't give a shit and post-match beats the stuffing out of his opponents so
that the wins and losses don't mean as much, but they re still seen as crazy tough... like 3 bad seconds don't undermine their
toughness.
On the flip side; in watching 1993 Raw I can't help but see the potential in a Doink like character again... just a kind of grubby, dishevelled
clown that plays just nasty tricks on opponents.
Are there any gimmicks you just love in general?
Want to see retired?
Are an older gimmick and you think could work now with some fine tuning?
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CCharger
The Great One
Posts 3748
Registered 7-21-2010 Member Is Offline Mood: Covfefe
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| posted on 10-18-2017 at 10:37 PM |
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I don't think gimmicks last. Characters do. Doink. Duke the Dumpster. Isaac Yankem. Yokozuna. Hurricane Helms. They are just forgettable, one
dimensional pieces of wrestling history.
Characters are memorable and endure: Ric Flair. Shawn Michaels. Randy Savage. Bret Hart. Steve Austin.
Obviously, there are exceptions to every rule; the Undertaker being the most glaring one. But overall, I'd like to see ALL gimmicks vanish and
be replaced with eccentric, complicated, charismatic, and interesting CHARACTERS.
"She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted."
"The powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned."
--- Stephen Miller, Trump senior White House advisor, Feb. 12, 2017
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Flash
The Great One
Posts 3647
Registered 4-22-2005 Location Ontario, Canada Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 10-18-2017 at 10:51 PM |
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I think gimmicks can be a good jumping in point from which the talent can develop a longer lasting character behind... Undertaker being a good example
of this (although I think he's a bit of a weird case where on screen he's floated gimmick to gimmick, but his behind the scenes respect
and longevity has filled in the missing character). The Million Dollar Man gimmick was well done as well; but for various reasons Dibiase
couldn't take it to the next level (Hogan ceiling, reduced wrestling schedule and company flip flopping).
I think that this split between gimmicks (or let's even expand it to certain wrestling archetypes) and wanting to be real is where the WWE
falters sometimes with modern audiences... Like they want us to embrace this whole "grey" thing with Reigns which could be more interesting if some
more complexity were added, but at the same time we are getting the chicken shit heel archetype at the same time by other talents, or the ultra good
guy with no complexity out of others.
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janerd75
The Immortal One 
Posts 4296
Registered 1-28-2013 Member Is Offline Mood: Boob Titterman
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| posted on 10-18-2017 at 10:59 PM |
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I think Breezango's the closest gimmick we have now that ties back to those late-80's, early 90's Occupational Gimmicks. Whatever
alchemy that went into combining cops and fashion and somehow making it get over, especially when we never really get to see them wrassle all that
much, is probably more a testament to those guy's talents than the overall gimmick itself. And while the occasional hijinks like that's
still acceptable, it looks more and more like Gay Spooky is a non-starter anymore given Bray and Finn's inability to gain much traction with
their nonsense. But then agayn the presentation and consistency, especially where Bray has been concerned, has been spectacularly awful.
Otherwise, while they generally wouldn't work now, as a kid I always had a soft spot, mainly near my cranial regions, for over the top themed
wrasslers like Doink, Repo Man, I.R.S., et al. I always thought it'd be cool to have a black dude that wasn't quite getting over get
repackaged as a lawn maintenance guy or gardener with an uncanny knack for winning against impossible odds. His finisher could be called something
like "The Mower" (think Cesaro's swing) or "The Seeds of Destruction" (some variant of a pile driver). His name, of course, would be Miracle
Gro.
Please clap.
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First 9
The Rowdy One
Posts 2789
Registered 1-22-2013 Member Is Offline Mood: Doing the Emma Dance
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| posted on 10-18-2017 at 11:25 PM |
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Would Elias count? There's not much to him but playing guitar and singing songs that take shots at the audience. Which I'm not criticizing
by the way. A cheap but fun gimmick to gain heat is great for a midcard jobber.
I like gimmicks and believe all the duds over the years have been more on shiity execution rather than there wrestling having moved past them.Original
Fandango was over as hell and had the crowd in the palm of his hands while sharing the ring with Cena and Orton one time. Unfortunately he got
concussed and WWE lost interest in him once he came back and slowly the crowd stopped reacting to him. Bray Wyatt in his first incarnation had crowds
popping every week with the ''We're here'' intro and many promos ending with the crowds giving him applause because they
were so into him. Then they took the simple hillbilly cult leader with withcery undertones gimmick and overdid it. Gentleman Jack Gallagher got over
quickly and was one of Neville's oppoents with the most fan support, but after Nevilled trounced him, they cut his promo time and slowly the
crowds stopped reacting to him.
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Paddlefoot
Rocco Rock of Jabroni 
Posts 8001
Registered 1-19-2008 Location Stupid Idiot Section Member Is Offline Mood: ChinceMcMahon
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| posted on 10-19-2017 at 01:20 AM |
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As the designated cynic I can say that I really disliked all the cartoony gimmicks. I got into wrestling when I was older, not as a kid, so none of
the really silly things that Vince pushed appealed to me at all. I was always more into the guys in the Hogan/Savage/HBK/Bret/Stone Cold vein, where
they were obviously playing characters but hadn't been tagged with something genuinely dumb like "evil dentist" or "hyuck-hyuck hog
farmers". As an example, I really liked the One Man Gang because the guy was big and badass and pure destruction. Then they turned him into the
struttin' and jivin' Akeem which effectively killed any interest I had in him.
This is also the main reason I've always been lukewarm on guys like Demolition, the Road Warriors, or deadman Undertaker (I loved biker Big Evil
Taker in contrast though). Yeah, they're destroyers but the surrounding gimmick is just so dumb. Add too much of what I consider stupid and it
drives me away. Keep it at least semi-plausible, like making it at least semi-believable that these are just tough guys that could beat up punks in
the parking area of a truck stop or outside a roadhouse bar, and I'll follow. Simply put I'm glad the Cartoon Age is long over and for
whatever other failures Attitude might have had at least it put to death the nonsense that came before it.
You know, everyone says it's not supposed to make sense, like that's the whole point, dude. And I'm just saying, you know,
that's like an excuse for lazy storytelling. Just don't sell me shite and tell me it's gold, all right? I might be stoned, but
I'm not high. You know what I mean?
- Cassidy from Preacher, commenting on The Big Lebowski and/or professional wrestling
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Flash
The Great One
Posts 3647
Registered 4-22-2005 Location Ontario, Canada Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 10-19-2017 at 01:45 AM |
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I thought Goldust as he originally appeared was interesting, as you didn't quite know what his deal was and he pretty much played on guys
homophobia and use it as an edge in a match like he did against Hall. I don't know if Runnels just wasn't down with the gimmick after a
bit, or USAA's misgivings about the character, but I thought they took what could be a cool heel gimmick that could have evolved and threw it
away after watering it down.
How about a gimmick where a guy is prepared to do ANYTHING to win... not like HHH using a sledgehammer, but like stripping down naked and bear
hugging (they can call it the Bare hug!) the other guy... as no one wants to fight a naked dude.
Like Tommy Dreamer gross out gimmick meets early Goldust.
Kidding aside, it's interesting to hear about some of the gimmicks they give a guy, and their response to it... like Foley knowing that the
originally envisioned version of Mankind was a dead end, but also having to juggle that with having finally made it to the WWE. Foley definitely had
his character shine through which gave the mankind character legs that it might not otherwise have had. You got to wonder how many guys when they hear
stuff like "mighty mouse" or "Ballroom dancer" or "Puke" or god knows what Vince cooks up have the nerve to say pass, or walk away from the
WWE... like Chris Hero is probably kicking himself for not sticking with the KO thing (I know he's still Kassius Ohno, but he's probably
blocked form using it the way Owens does) as it's likely a big money maker. Certain gimmicks probably have a level of stigma to them that sets a
ceiling of mid card or bust on some guys, with only the slimmest of hopes that they can escape that purgatory and move up the ranks... like if you are
Fandango and Vince says hey, you're coming up to the main roster and your gimmick is that of a ball room dancer do you not think great, there
probably goes my shot at main eventing Wrestlemania one day more than likely.
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GodEatGod
Man of a Thousand Holds 
Posts 1525
Registered 1-14-2004 Location Monroe, LA Member Is Offline Mood: Weird
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| posted on 10-19-2017 at 01:31 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Flash
like if you are Fandango and Vince says hey, you're coming up to the main roster and your gimmick is that of a ball room dancer do you not
think great, there probably goes my shot at main eventing Wrestlemania one day more than likely.
I think a lot of them hope that their talent will find a way to shine. They remind themselves that Stone Cold came in as the Ringmaster and HHH was a
Connecticut Blueblood. John Cena got his way to the main event by becoming a lame rapper. You hope you can take those basic, generic elements of the
gimmick and somehow evolve them into something more. Hell, Fandango himself doesn't do that much dancing anymore and arguably has a much more
complex (and surreal) character now.
"It is an impressively arrogant move to conclude that just because you don't like something, it is empirically not good. I don't like
Chinese food, but I don't write articles trying to prove it doesn't exist." - Tina Fey
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Count Zero
The Rowdy One 
Posts 2486
Registered 1-29-2013 Location Canada East Member Is Offline Mood: Joining NJPW
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| posted on 10-19-2017 at 01:41 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
Miracle Bro.
Didn't Booker T already do that?
... I'm ashamed of myself.
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denverpunk
The Rowdy One
Posts 2713
Registered 6-27-2007 Location Mile-Hi Member Is Offline Mood: Stoked
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| posted on 10-19-2017 at 10:47 PM |
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I'm down with Charger's character over gimmick sentiments, but I don't see how you get there in today's WWE where everything
is so scripted. Sure, there's exceptions to the rule like CM Punk, but look at Jinder Mahal. Complete gimmick, no character. The other extreme
is Roman Reigns, who is a tough as hell character, but has no gimmick to make him interesting (as a face, at least).
I do love seeing guys overcome the gimmick to become excellent characters. The two that come to mind immediately are Booker T and William Regal, but
there are countless others.
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Ortonmustdie
Fella
Posts 286
Registered 6-30-2008 Member Is Offline Mood: Plotting
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| posted on 10-25-2017 at 12:39 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
Miracle Bro.
Didn't Booker T already do that?
... I'm ashamed of myself.
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janerd75
The Immortal One
Posts 4296
Registered 1-28-2013 Member Is Offline Mood: Boob Titterman
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| posted on 10-25-2017 at 12:57 AM |
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But Count changed it to Bro. It's supposed to be Gro. It's not proper racialist without the Gro. 
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