What happened to characters in wrestling?

He’s absolutely right. While they weren’t the best wrestler I loved guys like Boogeyman and Kizarny because they had interesting characters. Same with Pirate Paul Burchill.

Seriously how many All-American/ Amateur Wrestlers do they have now? And how many “I’m a tough guy whole only cares about prize fighting” do they have now. It’s bland.

Characters draw and are needed to get wrestlers over. Look back at the 80's and 90's nearly everyone from that period are remembered and completely stood out from one and other.

I agree and no one stands out anymore because they all use the same music, moves, similar ring gear etc.
People have been saying the new mattel retro figs are all wearing black and aren't as good as the hasbros the line are based on but the truth is they are pretty much exactly how the stars are now.
It's a shame but years ago everyone said no more characters let the wrestlers be themselves and now it's the complete opposite.
A lot of the current stars are just about the workrate and while they can put on great matches they cant entertain like an Austin or Rock did and aren't given chance to stand out in the scripted product that it is today. Maybe a colourful gimmick would give them chance to gain some momentum?
I can say now I wouldn't have remembered some guy called kevin wrestling in black trunks but I do remember the former convict in the orange suit jumping out if the crowd and beating up the former prison guard - even if he more remembered for his run in with Vince lol

In-ring work aside, majority of the guys today have just regular names. That just makes it bland and boring. Where's the creativity?

I'll tell you guys this if Raw was 2 hours,had 2 guys in the booth and had characters I would tune in every week like the old days.

There are plenty of gimmick in the WWE today. People forgetting the age of too many gimmicks went out after the New Generation, because it was pretty much garbage.

Every time they try a gimmick-heavy based character, it flops. John Cena is the biggest star of the decade, and I don’t consider him gimmickie. Gimmicks are dead, it’s character-driven. They have plenty of them. And no, I think it’s preposterous to think that the business is flat because there’s no gimmicks. It’s how they book the talent and where they fill the spots at. They’re doing it all wrong at the moment, that’s why it’s flat.

I think you did a good job of better articulating what I was trying to say.

When I think people should have characters/gimmicks that drive their performance. I feel like a lot of people are hearing words like “character” or “gimmick” and automatically think of guys like Mantaur. I don’t think that’s what anyone is looking for. I think the key is to do less. A lot of people try to be everything and do every move. If nothing makes you different then you’re just another guy.

Look at Samoa Joe. When he first debuted on the main roster he had a character. He was basically the muscle for the Authority. Now, he’s just another guy in the mix.

They call Ambrose the lunatic fringe and always talk about how crazy he is, but when he’s on TV he usually seems pretty normal. He would be a great guy to not really have matches every week. Instead he can have multiple segments where he’s just raising hell.

One of my biggest criticisms on the UK tournament was the interview packages. It was like:
- What does this mean to you? “It means everything to me.”

- Why? “This is my moment.”

- Moment to do what? “Make an impact.”

Basically everyone said the same thing.

Most guys on the roster today, I don’t know what they’re goals are other than to collect a paycheck or to “Entertain the fans! Yippie!” And if creative isn’t cutting it for the wrestlers then it’s up to the wrestler to pitch ideas. If the ideas get rejected or don’t work, at least you tried. If you don’t try, you have no right to whine in a shoot interview that you were ignored or held back.

I almost agreed with everything until he lumped Doink The Clown in with the bad gimmicks. lol....