Vince's recent creations

[Mayo]

Let's take a look at some of the latest gimmicks that Vince has created/brought back, and discuss why we like/dislike them.


Eugene

We all criticized the gimmick to death when we first heard of it, but people slowly began to grow on Eugene. His innocent nature mixed with his passion for wrestling got the fans attention. William Regal was a mentor-type figure that was stern yet compassionate towards Eugene. His matches so far have been quite good, with his wrestling skill being displayed in flashes of brilliance. His latest 'alliance' with HHH seems to be leading to a heel turn, which could only mean good things for Dinsmore. I think that the gimmick has been great to showcase Dinsmore to all of the fans, and him turning on all of the fans soon enough will launch his career.

Opinion: A good gimmick that hasn't really been used before, great boost for Dinsmore's career :y:

JBL

The man that went from being a tag team nobody to a main-eventing, Million Dollar Man ripoff. He lacks great skill in the ring, and calling him a 'brawler' basically means that he can't really put on a good wrestling match. His gimmick may make up for this because he plays his heel role very well. His feud with Eddie Guerrero helped to make him a hated heel, and his opinions on internet wrestling fans and his Nazi actions only added to this. It could be said that he doesn't deserve to be in the main event scene, much less WWE champion.

Opinion: A very good heel gimmick, could have potential to last very long, if not for JBL's lacklustre wrestling skills.

Undertaker

The undead cowboy was a big disappointment when he returned earlier this year, since people were expecting the old school Undertaker. Mark Calloway likes his biker gimmick more than his oldest one, so Vince decided to put him halfway in between. When the lights go out, when Taker uses his powers to turn them back on, and after sitting up seconds after a powerful move, the fans are engulfed in nostalgia. He still acts like the old school Taker for the most part, except that he has a few of his Bikertaker moves in his latest moveset. His recent heel turn and alliance with Heyman seems to be working quite well, although Smackdown is in need of face main eventers.

Opinion: Taker has changed with the times, the gimmick is pretty freakin cool, new alliance with Heyman could lead to good storylines.

Mordecai

The promos announcing that he was coming had us all wondering when the Mordecai/Taker feud was going to occur. He wants to absolve others of their sins by beating the crap out of them. Entrance is really cool to watch, and has the same type of aura surrounding him as the Undertaker. Mic work fits his gimmick quite well, and doesn't need that much charisma for it. Matches so far have been squashes to build him up, and no great opponents as of yet.

Opinion: Needs to have good feuds with midcard opponents to build him up further, must show that he can wrestle or improve his skills, possibility for Undertaker feud is great.

Kenzo Suzuki

The warrior from Japan had a negative backlash from the start. His Hirohito gimmick was not a great idea, so was moved to Smackdown instead and given a 'Japanese warrior out for vengeance' gimmick instead. His mic work has been mostly Japanese so far, so many fans cannot understand it. Matches so far have been very disappointing even though they were squashes.

Opinion: One of many anti-American gimmicks, not a good wrestler so far, promos have not been impressive, does not look like he will last for very long.

Tyson Tomko

The problem solver has problems of his own. He possesses a great physique, and is another hoss that Vince seems to love. Promos have been almost non-existant, and needs Trish/Christian in order to get over. His feud with Jericho is hopefully over, and it doesn't seem that he will be doing anything until Christian comes back.

Opinion: He hasn't looked too impressive in the ring, but for a dominating monster he has been okay. Needs to develop mic skills to have any longevity.

Mark Jindrak

The Lex Luger ripoff definitely has the body for the gimmick. His mic skills don't seem to be horrible, and having Teddy Long with him definitely assists him in getting over. His wrestling skills are very good, although he has not been on Smackdown enough as of late.

Opinion: Another recycled gimmick, has the mic and wrestling skill to be around for a long time, needs to be thrown into the Smackdown midcard.

Rene Dupree

Dupree seems to be benefitting from his departure from La Resistance. The French Phenom made a big splash in his feud with John Cena, and came very close a few times to being U.S. champion. His wrestling skills are also very impressive so far, and his mic skills are very good for such a young performer. Fifi and the French flag that he carries are part of yet another anti-American gimmick.

Opinion: Needs to win the U.S. title soon enough, can improve his already impressive skills over a long career, must continue to be involved in good feuds.

Rico

This relatively old homosexual is a very accomplished wrestler. He doesn't seem to mind acting his character, and plays the part very well. Being a tag team champion with Charlie Haas resembles the past relationship between Goldust and Booker T. Miss Jackie by his side definitely garners more attention. His latest injury will hamper his popularity when he returns.

Opinion: Too old for a big singles push, at best could be a U.S. champion, will probably not be with Haas when he returns, can't continue with this gimmick for too long, looks like the best is behind him.



Feel free to add any that you wish to discuss.

[Deceit]

You forgot Luther Reigns :)

A very solid and quick wrestler. Me likes ;)

[Corkscrewed]

Wow, those echo my sentiments exactly!!

:y: :y:

[Corkscrewed]

Luther Reigns:
Introduced as Mr. Angle's assistant rather than a wrestler, Luther has quietly emerged as Kurt's protege. Given the least amount of hype of any of SD!'s new stars, Luther has actually gotten the most credibility... all in about three matches. His debut match wsa a predictable but well booked squash, while his second match was surprisingly good, giving former WWE Champ Eddie Guerrero problems and making Luther look like a good threat before Eddie finally cheated to win. This is how you push a wrestler.

OPINION: I have and probably always will liken him to Brock Lesnar. He definitely has the facial look to be a heel (Brock had a babyface and never quite looked intimidating from the neck up) and seems to display some good mat skills. He's not clumsy in the ring, though I think he needs a better, more powerful finisher. His "Drop of the Dice" (Test Drive ripoff) can be a setup move or a secondary finisher, but I personally think he needs a sort of reverse F-5 move where instead of spinning counterclockwise and smashing the opponent's face, he spins clockwise and ends up slamming him down in an inverted suplex fashion... or give him the F-5... no one else is using it.

Opinion: Has been pushed at the perfect rate so far and may have a great future. Potential star, but also potential eternal midcarder. Still, he has a chance to go places.

[The CyNick]

Euegene
-this gimmick has went much as I figured. The fans are entertained to the point that they are willing to laugh at him. That however, wont lead to people paying money to see him main event. As I also predicted we're already hearing signs that the fans are turning on him. Its all about the heel turn down the road, if they do that effectively, Dinsmore might do alright, if they dont, he'll be dead in 4 months.

JBL
-he's probably done the best out of all these new gimmicks since Mania. He's only really had two chances to prove his worth in the ring, and both times he has passed. Yeah he's in there with Eddie, and that helps, but he's held his own. He liekly wont remain champ for very long, but this gimmick should at least keep him as a viable upper mid card heel for a long time.

Mordecai
-cool looking gimmick, but the wrong era and the wrong person to do the gimmick with. He needs to be dominant in order for the gimmick to work, but Kevin Fertig isn't big enough to look intimidating in Vince's land of the giants. If he was in ECW the gimmick might have worked, but in the WWE its doomed to fail.

Cowboy Undertaker
-false advertising hurt this. We were promised the return of the Deadman, and we got that, well sorta. This hybrid version of the characters has been unimpressive. And now that he's going to turn heel, he would have been better off staying as the Biker Taker. At least that way he can sell more, and it makes sense.

Rene Dupree
-still needs some work, but I think he's the best of this bunch. He has a good gimmcik (everyone hates the French), and he's young and decent enough on the mic. Like I said, he still needs work, but he's on his way to having a good career.

Kenzo Suzuki
-whoever hired him should be fired

Tyson Tomko
-haven't seen enough of him to really pass judgement. Nothing to write home about int he ring, and once again suffers from not being big enough to look dominant. Without Christian he seems useless.

Jindrak
-smart to put him with Long, but the gimmick is kinda stupid, and Jindrak isn't good enough to play it off properly. Has some decent moves in the ring, but really shouldn't be featured on WWE TV.

Rico
-had something really good going with Haas and Jackie, too bad for the injury.

Luther
-average in the ring, which makes him the second coming of Kurt Angle compared to all these new big guys. Heard he's a good talker, so that should help.

[Innovator]

Cowboy Undertaker
-false advertising hurt this. We were promised the return of the Deadman, and we got that, well sorta. This hybrid version of the characters has been unimpressive. And now that he's going to turn heel, he would have been better off staying as the Biker Taker. At least that way he can sell more, and it makes sense.

Honestly I'd be willing to bet the ranch on the fact that if Undertaker came back with the collared shirt and grey gloves by now everyone would be talking about how campy and early 90's he is. Yeah it would be cool for a while but it would get old faster than Cena's face turn. I got used to seeing the Hybrid Undertaker and honestly I don't give a rats ass what gear he wrestles in. He's the Dead Man again, bottom line.

[The CyNick]

Honestly I'd be willing to bet the ranch on the fact that if Undertaker came back with the collared shirt and grey gloves by now everyone would be talking about how campy and early 90's he is. Yeah it would be cool for a while but it would get old faster than Cena's face turn. I got used to seeing the Hybrid Undertaker and honestly I don't give a rats ass what gear he wrestles in. He's the Dead Man again, bottom line.

But here's where the stupidity comes in. If he's the Deadman he shouldn't be selling all that much, but as we've seen against Cena recently he's selling a fair bit (for Taker anyway). So in terms of how he works in the ring, he's basically gone back to the Biker Taker, now he just has a cooler entrance.

And in terms of being campy, if you dont find a guy drawing "powers" from an urn campy, then adding some grey gloves isn't going to turn you away either.

The point is the gimmick is for lack of a better term, dead. When you see him sit up or summon a lightning bolt it just slaps you in the face that wrestling is fake. And thats fine, if they want to go back to an 80s style product, but they dont do that in every respect. A lot of the angles are still based on a 90s style, more reality based. So when you have both they contradict one another and it makes the whole show tough to watch.

[Innovator]

The sit-up is just like Hogan Hulking Up or Eugene Tarding Up. I do agree with you though that the lightning bolts got to go.

The match with Cena was a solid match between the two. Honestly him working like the Biker is a hell of a lot better for the rest of the talent than him working like he did back in the day.

With most of the angles being 90's reality based, it is refreshing for at least one gimmick you can escape reality with. When Undertaker was making his return, every RAW people were marking out about the lightning bolts, videos, lights and everything. As long as people still want the Undertaker and as long as he still draws on Smackdown like he does, the gimmick is still going.

[The CyNick]

The sit-up is just like Hogan Hulking Up or Eugene Tarding Up. I do agree with you though that the lightning bolts got to go.

The match with Cena was a solid match between the two. Honestly him working like the Biker is a hell of a lot better for the rest of the talent than him working like he did back in the day.

With most of the angles being 90's reality based, it is refreshing for at least one gimmick you can escape reality with. When Undertaker was making his return, every RAW people were marking out about the lightning bolts, videos, lights and everything. As long as people still want the Undertaker and as long as he still draws on Smackdown like he does, the gimmick is still going.

But here's the problem, the hulking up stuff went out in the 80s, and yeah people will pop for it, but thats different from making money with a gimmick. Hogan in 2002 is a perfect example. People would pop int he arenas to see him, but fewer and fewer people were going to the arenas when he was back on top. Now there are many theories as to why that happened, but I think in 2002 when they went backwards, the fans who got hooked ont he Austin serious ass-kicking style on the product were turned off.

And Taker doesn't draw anything on SD. Ratings have dropped since Mania, many shows on the SD side have been cancelled, they did a bad number with Judgment Day. So there's no eveidence that says Taker as the Deadman is working. But just like the vast majority of promoters who eventually went out of business, Vince is once again becoming a victim of buying into the pop instea dof the dollars.

[Rob]

They are doing the best they can really with the Taker. His gimmick is over and they should just think about wrapping it up soon. The only money angle he has left is career ending angles.

Aside from Eugene and Rene Dupree (and Dupree did most of the work himself), I'm not impressed. Hands up though, I buried the idea of Eugene early and I'm admitting I was wrong. Absolutely fantastic character.

[The CyNick]

I still Euegene is going to die a slow painful death. Just wait till the crowds really start to turn on him.

[Londoner]

I agree that the Taker gimmick is hard to watch, I mean for a start you have to believe it's a dead guy wrestling, so really he would be impossible to beat if that was the case, which doesn't exactly make it very exciting to watch does it?This is exactly the kind of thing making me loose interest in WWE, it's starting to remind me of the dying days of WCW.

[Mayo]

I think that people will like the Undertaker for a while because of nostalgia and such, but he will also get boring after a while. Taker is getting up there in age anyways, so this may be his last gimmick, who knows.

I woulg have to agree with CyNick's Eugene statement. The novelty of his gimmick will wear off as well, and the only reason that it has lasted so long is because it is something new. I've said it too many times, but here's one more:

TURN EUGENE HEEL!