I was watching the NFL Draft the other day. If you don't follow the NFL much, during the NFL Draft they analyze every hit or miss with a college player and even go as far as guess the player's future in the sport. This is something us wraslin' fans do these day's. We look at a new wrestler that begins to jump on the scene and bet on how long he'll stay in the WWE.
Similar to day's of old, gimmicks are what drives a wrestler to either stardom or to the back alley. Many wrestlers live or die by what the fans perceive these gimmicks as: entertaining or a waste of time. How does the WWE find out what the fans want? They tout everything to a live audience and see what the fans react best to. It's almost like an advanced screening to a movie. Companies that made the movie want to understand what type of audience will enjoy the movie most so they can dictate how to sell the product to the masses. Wrestling promoters follow the same direction. They make many different gimmicks for their wrestlers year after year. Most don't make the cut and wind up in the unemployment line, but there are some exceptions to that. Look at The Rock for example. It took him several tries to finally get popular with the crowd. John Cena is another fine example. He had nothing but baby blue tight shorts and a $2 haircut to start out with the WWE. Soon they molded him into the jersey wearing rapper (with the same $2 haircut) that we know him as today. I'm sure it wasn't an easy task though. How many other "wiggers" have there been in wrestling history? Scotty-2-Hotty maybe could pass and I think Billy Kidman and Shane Helms both had a run as that type of character in the wCw days. Either way it was very exciting to see John Cena's character take shape. How many more times are we going to see these successful gimmicks though?
It's no shock that the WWE has taken a shining towards big men. I don't have a problem with that like I usually say I do. Yes, I would still prefer cruiserweights on WWE television today, but I don't necessarily hate big men on T.V. I just don't like how basic their characters always are. Either they're the bodyguard that never talks or their the psychopathic mental patient that we don't want to hear talk. Where’s the Kane character of old? He was the masked giant with a heart of gold (or no heart at all, I can't remember) yet in recent years he's transformed from a stiff no talking brute into a more developed, but less mysterious giant. Same with the Undertaker. Not too long ago he was riding a motorcycle into the stadium with Limp Biscuit songs blasting in the arena. Now he's gone back to the mysterious abyss of hell that we know him best as. With big men, though, there’s a big chance that they will fail and that’s because nobodies going to come close to how Kane and Undertaker personified large athletes at their time. Their characters will remain untouched for years in WWF history. Yet WWE now continues to try to make these deranged and mysterious big men. Gene Snitchy was one attempt. His character was all good and dandy for a little, but then we came to the conclusion that he didn't have a character. A feud with Kane and his unborn baby was his gimmick. Other than that he was just a creepy guy with horrible acting skills saying, "It wasn't his fault." A gimmick like that can only go only so far and WWE squeezed as much juice as possible with the storyline. Fans of course are going to have nothing to do with Gene though because there’s nothing more to him. Is he going to hit pregnant women for the rest of his life and fight the baby’s daddy on every Pay-Per-View event? The reason that the crowd responded to the storyline in the first place was because of Kane. Kane has earned respect in the eyes of many. He's stuck through the company for almost a decade now and has done everything possible for his character. From a burnt freak to a lazy-eyed juggernaut; there’s not many more dark angles you could put him in. But then again it doesn't matter. You could put him in any storyline and make it work because the name "Kane" gets attention. The name "Gene Snitchy" gets a gonzuntight after his name. The point is that with the right angle to start off with the company your name becomes respected among fans. Stone Cold Steve Austin has been through the same "screw the company mentality" storyline for years, but it doesn't matter because Austin can do no harm. He could dress up in a fairy costume everyday and say that he was Eugenes cousin for now, and I doubt that the fans would dislike that. Yet if any rookie were to do that there would be distaste a mile away for such a stupid storyline.
Muhammed Hassan's character will not work only because it's been done about a thousand different times with wrestlers. From the Iron Sheik, to the Un-Americans, to La Résistance, we've seen the American haters for years. So what if he's from a different country? It's still the same gimmick of getting the fans to cheaply boo you and shout USA. You know in a matter of months that the fluff will wear off and the crowd will get bored with his dull character that has nothing important to say. You can maybe give him the Intercontinental Title, but even that will get old in a matter of weeks. La Résistance held the Tag titles numerous times, yet they still got old quick. In fact I'll go as far as saying that La Résistance made the Tag Team titles seem like nothing while they held it. They single handedly took that division to hell (along with their characters.) I don't think they even get on the mic anymore; just wave the flags around and get no attention from the crowd.
Carlos Caribbean Cool is an exception because he's fresh. This guy is like a plush Razor Ramon from the 80's. His gimmick is magic because he is cocky, yet puts a comedic touch towards his heel persona. Jericho pulled off the same qualities, but they're gimmicks are more of a contrast than comparison. Unlike other heels that simply wail around and carelessly talk about killing this guy or that guy, Carlos simply talks his talk and spits fruit, something that hasn't been seen before. Humor is always a plus whenever you want to get over with the fans quickly. Stone Cold did it despite the fact that his anarchist-like character wasn't defined yet. I enjoy watching and look forward to viewing him on WWE TV for years to come (and that’s something I almost never say when it comes to new wrestling talent.)
Chris Masters, however, is anything but funny. How many times do we have to suffer through these played out Lex Luger clones? It wasn't even a year ago that we saw Mark Jindrak try to pull off this gimmick with only minimal Velocity success. So why do it again if we know for a fact that the writers will lose interest in this Masters kid too? No offence to the guy, I just don't get the point of recycling the same gimmick for years only for it to wind up into a dead end each and every year. The only thing that can get Masters by is crowd appeal. That can go either way though, depending on wrestling matches and heel flavor. I personally don't think Masters has neither quality. He's not too shabby in the ring, but he surely doesn't seem to be anything special. Only time will tell if Masters can break away from "RAW Midcard Madness" and get a shot at the IC Title or something along those lines. Don't hold your breath though...
Some gimmicks are absurd and outrageous, but click very well with fans. The Hurricane is a major example of that. Even comic book guru Stan Lee would chuckle over this laughter of a character. Yet the Hurricane gets over with the fans because he's a quality wrestler and a horrible actor. Lets face it, wrestlers simply don't make good actors. That isn't what they were trained to do for years. They were busy learning how to take spots instead of having the star role in Romeo and Juliet. Having acting skills can propel a wrestler into stardom 9 times out of 10. The other 1 out of 10 is something that the Hurricane is. His character likely was made with help from a bad acid trip while reading comic books. So luckily for Shane Helms an Oscar winning performance isn't required for his gimmick. All he has to do is say "wassup wit dat" and use his skill to woo the fans. The Rock, on the other hand, is a good example of an acting wrestler (oh the irony!) The only reason he ever got where he was back in the day was because he had the ability of cutting an interesting promo each and every take. Rocky got the fans to love his trash talking, mostly because it was new. He didn't just talk about getting revenge and "destroy you" like most wrestlers did (and still do.) No, he broke that barrier by coming up with worthwhile comments and had a sort of odd chemistry in the way he did it. I'm not a huge fan of a wrestlers getting by with acting skills alone, but it's entertaining. And in this day and time entertainment is what the WWE is lacking.
So there you go. To be a good rookie wrestler it helps to have an original gimmick, acting talent, and help from veterans. A little luck is also something needed. Randy Orton was sidelined time after time with an injury-plagued couple of years, yet the WWE (for some strange reason) never gave up on Orton. In fact, he's likely one of the luckiest wrestlers in the last decade because Triple H took a shining to him! Anytime a young wrestler gets paired with Trips (friend or foe) you get almost instant stardom is this age of a political locker room. Batista was Reverend D-Vons church lackey for a few months before his big break with Trips. Now he's on the throne holding his gold for all to see.
Thanks again for reading. I hope all of you enjoyed my views on how a rookie wrestler can make it into the WWE. As you can see I really like seeing new faces in sports. It's great to see the circle of life take affect with wrestling. Again, thanks for viewing and...And That's What I Think!
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