Negan™
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Jul 31, 2013 16:42:44 GMT -5
Posts: 356
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Post by Negan™ on Mar 16, 2019 8:52:57 GMT -5
There is no imagination in wrestling anymore. Gone are the days of silly gimmicks and bright colored attires. Everyone is just ”a guy” now and most of them wrestle in black. Their main character traits are “I am a good wrestler”... and that’s it.
This is one of the biggest problems in WWE today. They’re too “real” but it makes no sense because we all know it’s fake. So why wouldn’t we just watch real fights then? I don’t know about anybody else but I fell in love with wrestling because of the characters and “circus” feel.
Don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate the hell of a Sami Zayn vs Johnny Gargano match. I can get invested in this just as easily. But I can’t lie... I wish Sami Zayn was El Generico instead of just a normal guy.
When I began wrestling training a few years ago, I always said to myself that I would have a gimmick that stood out and get me noticed. I’ll probaby never be great in the ring but I could always do something nobody’s done before. For example I was gonna do a Children’s TV presenter gimmick. Basically I’d come to the ring with a doll and “make it talk” like a ventriloquist. I’d wear a brightly colored suit and do these vignettes on YouTube which are set like it’s actually a Daytime Children’s TV show.
Okay, it’s not the best idea for a gimmick but it would have been funny. You get my point. Why do no wrestlers do this stuff anymore? Why have we not got wrestling magicians, wrestling bin men, wrestling porn stars and wrestling gladiators? Mason Ryan was employed a few years ago and he was actually on the show “Gladiators”... so why was he not a Gladiator? It would have been 100 times more eye catching and intriguing than “Hoss in the New Nexus that wears black trunks”...
Okay. Rant over. I miss this silliness and creativity in wrestling.
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Post by ~*Young $ Money*~ on Mar 16, 2019 8:57:24 GMT -5
I agree. While we don’t always need these out there characters and things like that,I feel every wrestler needs their own style. Like when Ryder had his one short leg and one long attire. It was cool. Guys need color and their own twist on gear. I don’t think that you always need some crazy out there gimmick either.
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Post by Mox on Mar 16, 2019 8:58:58 GMT -5
Agreed 100%. Regular guy vs regular guy is the norm now. It doesn't feel like a spectacle.
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Post by Cassa Nova Kid on Mar 16, 2019 9:22:02 GMT -5
-Demon Fin Balor - Bray Wyatt - Alister Black - Tyler Breeze - Fandango - NEW Day - The Miz - Bobby Roode - Usos - Ascension - Daniel Bryan - Dean Ambrose - R- Truth - sanity - forgotten sons
Are all gimmicks
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Mar 16, 2019 9:43:54 GMT -5
-Demon Fin Balor - Bray Wyatt - Alister Black - Tyler Breeze - Fandango - NEW Day - The Miz - Bobby Roode - Usos - Ascension - Daniel Bryan - Dean Ambrose - R- Truth - sanity - forgotten sons Are all gimmicks
But none are vampires like Gangrel, so they don't count.
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Post by ahunter8056 on Mar 16, 2019 9:49:23 GMT -5
I both agree and disagree to an extent.
For one thing, gimmicks are good when they're unique, have a purpose and stand out. Gimmicks like Ultimate Warrior, the Undertaker, Kane, the Rock. They're all great gimmicks, with huge connection to the audience. Occupational gimmicks like Repo Man, Duke "The Dumpster" Drose, Matt Striker less so. Those types of gimmicks where it's just "choose an occupation" are just incredibly poor, and rarely create a connection.
To retort to your question of "we all know it’s fake. So why wouldn’t we just watch real fights then?", I am not interested in real fighting in the slightest. I find real fighting barbaric and I really do not understand the appeal of watching one person try to cripple another. I find that sickening, personally. Besides storytelling of course, what draws me to wrestling is the knowledge that they're not actually trying to hurt each other. They're trying to protect each other while providing athletic entertainment. If I did not know that, I would definitely not be watching professional wrestling. While I know not everyone shares my point of view, I'm sure there are enough that do.
While I think there should always be at least a few gimmicks around, I do really enjoy having people that are presented as relatable humans. In fiction, relatability is very important in getting the audience invested. Professional wrestling is no different. That's the main reason why I enjoy listening to podcasts. Hearing the life story of the people behind the characters really helps get me invested in their wrestling career. You can't get that with wrestlers who have a strong gimmick.
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Post by HandsomeHollywood on Mar 16, 2019 10:02:23 GMT -5
-Demon Fin Balor - Bray Wyatt - Tyler Breeze - Fandango - NEW Day - The Miz - Ascension - Daniel Bryan - Dean Ambrose - R- Truth - sanity - forgotten sons Are all gimmicks I removed the ones I didn't agree with. Alister Black having tattoos and the commentary insisting to me he's sinister is a poor gimmick. Usos, catchphrases are poor gimmicks. Bobby Roode wearing a robe and having a song is a poor gimmick. WWE seems to think monikers are gimmicks. That's the thing about most gimmicks these days. They only go so far. Ambrose supposed to be crazy and is anything but. His gimmick is basically wearing jeans. But more of an issue is the lack of kayfabe. I want wrestling to be presented as real and a fight. I want to wonder and get lost in it. Not an athletic display all about workrate. The WWE product has become so watered down that you can already picture how matches are going to go, the spots that'll be called. It makes it hard to determine who's actually good because things are so stifled.
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Post by master of the WORLD! on Mar 16, 2019 10:36:00 GMT -5
im perfectly fine with not having over the top cheesy gimmicks like in the 80s and 90s.
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Henchmen4Hire
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jan 12, 2016 23:48:35 GMT -5
Posts: 1,311
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Post by Henchmen4Hire on Mar 16, 2019 11:19:10 GMT -5
I dont mind the Bobby Roodes and Ric Flairs and Aleisters and Hawkins, those "sort of gimmicks", but yeah I like the explicit gimmicks in all their glory.
They don't have to be overthetop either though.
There's a tag team on NXT UK, Primate Jay Melrose and Wild Boar, Primate sometimes does ape-like movements, and it's fine, he should try to work more of that into his moveset, so to speak.
Wild Boar should have a charging attack where he stomps the crap out of the mat while he's running, filling the arena with the sound. It makes the impact at the end feel like an oh crap moment, regardless of if he hits the target or a ringpost lol. Makes the crowd look forward to that spot.
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Post by HandsomeHollywood on Mar 16, 2019 11:21:35 GMT -5
I dont mind the Bobby Roodes and Ric Flairs and Aleisters and Hawkins, those "sort of gimmicks", but yeah I like the explicit gimmicks in all their glory. They don't have to be overthetop either though. There's a tag team on NXT UK, Primate Jay Melrose and Wild Boar, Primate sometimes does ape-like movements, and it's fine, he should try to work more of that into his moveset, so to speak. Wild Boar should have a charging attack where he stomps the crap out of the mat while he's running, filling the arena with the sound. It makes the impact at the end feel like an oh crap moment, regardless of if he hits the target or a ringpost lol. Makes the crowd look forward to that spot. Yes a lot seem to think that having a gimmick is the same as the mid-90s cheesey stuff. Not so.
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Post by GreyHaze:Big Bad Booty Daddy on Mar 16, 2019 13:04:58 GMT -5
I just honestly feel like some of wrestlers lack character or personality if anything. There’s really no backstory or much to get invested into the character. It also doesn’t help when there’s no build up to these matches prior to a week before a ppv. I’m not saying that it’s the wrestler’s fault, but more of a wwe doesn’t let some guys run with their creativity thing. Maybe let them wing it from time to time.
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garbagemon
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Jan 5, 2016 2:04:18 GMT -5
Posts: 350
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Post by garbagemon on Mar 16, 2019 13:35:46 GMT -5
I can certainly understand this sentiment, I feel much the same. Wresting as spectacle is what sets it apart from the day to day shuffle. I liked some of the over-the-top gimmicks. George the Animal Steele, Kamala, even Tugboat. Of course, not everybody's a fan of this sort of thing, but it adds some flair to the matches. One of my favorite crazy gimmick moments has to be when Kamala ripped a fire door off of its hinges in the back and ran out to the ring to attack the Moon Dogs with it, since they'd already been delivering a lot of brutal chair shots, and he wanted to set himself apart. Crazy stuff like this probably isn't as likely to fly today, and I miss that kind of improv.
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Post by Boy Wonder on Mar 16, 2019 14:03:09 GMT -5
It’s because they try to force every good guy to be a white meat baby face while every heel is a clumsy chicken s**t coward who is more of a recess bully than a heel.
Goof guys can have an edge and bad guys can actually win matches on their own and be BAD.
I don’t want to see Duke the Dumpster Drose vs Simon Dean, but guys need to be allowed to inject their own personality into their on screen personas.
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Post by punksnotdead on Mar 16, 2019 14:17:27 GMT -5
I think every person has a certain amount of this they want in their product but I completely agree. Breezango, Demon Balor and Broken Matt are all at the top of my list of stuff I’ve enjoyed over the last few years. Personality, or individuality, is largely missing from WWE.
Curt Hawkins carrying a cane and turning his spot on the card into a losing streak is the kind of stuff I’d love to see out of everyone. I know these guys can only do so much but we get a ton of generic great athletes thrown at us week-after-week. Not giving those characters depth or a way to stand out is what makes people not care how the matches end.
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Post by Thought Collector on Mar 16, 2019 15:40:20 GMT -5
By all mean YES!! I'm glad someone made this topic. It is so tough to maintain gimmicks and characters in todays world with not only the internet but the style of WWE today and how it caters to social media/reality shows and showing WWE stars as real-life people as much as possible regardless of heel of face. If we got the thug/town bully Razor or the evil Million Dollar Man power trip vignettes and his money challenge humiliation segments today, they would be followed by a segment showing both doing charity events out of character and hugging kids or guest starring in some Total Divas ep. wearing hippo costumes or something. But yeah, back to the main point though-I know it seems a lot of today's younger fans don't like seeing any gimmicks much less over-the-top, colorful, crazy ones, but I grew up loving them and they helped draw me in to being a fav and loving the world of pro-wrestling. Guys like The Undertaker, Kane,'The Deranged Mankind, Goldust, Razor Ramon, Million Dollar Man and Doink The Clown were always some of my top favorites. For all of the 'regular real-life guys' you have on the roster, I think you need that balance of having them face off at times with some imaginative, colorful character. While you can't have a full roster of complete gimmick wrestlers unless it was targeted solely on a much younger audience, you also I feel can't just have one with all normal everyday guys. I think the balance is def. needed. **Oh yeah and btw-I really love your idea for a gimmick with the dummy.I would really love seeing something like that!! lol
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marklud
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jun 5, 2009 21:10:30 GMT -5
Posts: 1,727
Member is Online
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Post by marklud on Mar 16, 2019 16:01:09 GMT -5
It's one of a billion problems with current-day WWE -- the writing/scripting doesn't allow any of the guys to really stand apart from each other. Part of me thinks they like to keep most guys at a certain level because then they can't become The Rock and "not need" WWE any more. I definitely agree.
And I know I sound like a broken record but you've gotta look outside WWE for better characters and storytelling these days. Tetsuya Naito is the best/most amazing character in so many years, a modern Stone Cold mixed with some CM Punk and his own twists. There's a reason quiet/patient Japanese crowds go absolutely nuts for him. AAA can be hit and miss but it has all sorts of wacky characters. (There's a live AAA PPV on tonight streaming through Twitch.)
I say it all the time to my friends when we watch UFC PPVs that UFC does pro wrestling better than WWE does pro wrestling lately. UFC hypes its "characters/performers" in total old-school WWF fashion, slow builds, promos, interviews, hype videos, etc. That's why it's so popular.
So yeah, there's still storytelling and characters out there but you've got to look for it in other places.
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Post by The Brain on Mar 16, 2019 16:45:23 GMT -5
Big reason why wrestling was entertaining back in the day was the gimmicks. It made it more fun to watch as all the guys had their own personalities. Without em we get what we have today and that's guys who are bland and boring.
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Sting
Main Eventer
The Wolfpac
Joined on: Mar 25, 2018 14:33:11 GMT -5
Posts: 2,223
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Post by Sting on Mar 16, 2019 18:28:39 GMT -5
I really hate the lack of gimmicks, it makes it harder for the wrestler to connect with the audience. Yeah a lot of flippy spinny stuff like what Ricochet does is cool, but the audience eventually tires of it and then where do you go from there? Ric Flair, Hogan, Macho Man, Sting, The Rock etc are all way more memorable characters and bigger stars than Finn Balor, for instance, will ever be. Taker's gimmick is still going lol
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hbkowns
Main Eventer
Joined on: Aug 15, 2011 23:33:52 GMT -5
Posts: 4,235
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Post by hbkowns on Mar 16, 2019 19:41:57 GMT -5
Fans 15-20 years ago: There’s too many gimmicks in wrestling. They should focus more on work rate.
2019 fans: There’s not enough gimmicks, everyone is just a good wrestler.
...FICKLE
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Post by Darkhawk on Mar 17, 2019 1:45:59 GMT -5
At this point having a great gimmick will get you far in the wrestling business. A lot of wrestlers lack creativity and focus too much on trying to be the next top guy being themselves.
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