Dont make them like they use to
 

Ayone else notice that the WWE creative department really has been lettin us down as far as "gimmick" wise these days. I mean CM Punk's "straight edge" lifestyle isnt really a gimmick per say and with Kofi Kingston as a Jamacian cool guy just kinda seems like a repackaged Carlito Carribean thing. Now lets go back about ten or so years and take a look at Nailz. He was a pretty short lived gimmick but his promos were amazing. The mans voice, look and feel were so entertaining. Too bad the couldnt wrestle at all :nono: Or dose anyone remember Waylon Mercy that was the character loosly based off of the Cape Fear movie. The promos he did, the tattoos on his face and body plus the memorable line "Lives are gonna be in my hands" make him a great gimmick in wrestling history. I use to love to watch wrestling for the characters not just for the matches dose anyone else agree?

No

This isn't the mid 90's and OTT gimmicks wouldn't get over like they used to, anyone that does is just a comedy character.

Most people are just themselves with a persona turned up, it's just the way the business has gone

:nono: :'(

Yeah, it's why i'd rather see guys like undertaker and banderas rather than orton and lashley as champion. Wrestlers need a load of personality to get over, a gimmick just adds to it.

then again, i'd still rather see ric flair and edge as chamion rather than anyone else!

Also, Brood = best gimmick stable ever

I wouldn't consider Nailz or Waylon Mercy over the top gimmicks. They were character gimmicks rather than occupational gimmicks, which were usually pretty bad. The wrestling plumber, the wrestling binman, the wrestling NASCAR driver.... there's a thin line.

Guys like The Undertaker bordered between a character and an occupational gimmick, but he made it work because it was more about his character than his job. Heel Doink was an evil guy who dressed as a clown to mask his identity.... face Doink was just a wrestling clown.

I don't mind OTT gimmicks, as long as they are character based. Nailz and Waylon Mercy (and Razor Ramon, and original Undertaker, and even Big Bossman- a former prison guard bully, rather than an actual wrestling prison guard) were all larger than life, but not out of the realms of possibility and reality.

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How did the Big Bossman go his entire career without having the cop mustache?

I agree 100%. Good, interesting gimmicks have been lacking recently. WWE seems to focus on bland, vanilla gimmicks lately.

I think the whole feel of the WWE is a lot more 'realistic' than it ever has before, and as many people here have already mentioned, the goofy shit of yesteryear simply would not fly on a grand scale.

The Spirit Squad, for example. Now, I loved them and marked hardcore for them, but I tend to remember a lot of people absolutely hating them just because they were cheerleaders or whatever. I don't really have much of a point here, but they're just something to think about.

This is great. We're pointing at Nailz as an example of how to make a good gimmick. :nono:

Nailz was a great gimmick. A violent prisoner, released early despite the repeated opinion that he was beyond rehabilitation and should be serving a life sentence, embarks upon a profession in which he gets to release his psychotic urges upon unsuspecting opponents legally. He was also the perfect opponent for The Big Bossman, but even beyond the Bossman feud, the gimmick still works for wrestling.

Couple that with a disturbing portrayal by Kevin Wacholz... watch his promos and you really do believe the guy is a sick and twisted violent monster who should be locked up.

Okay, okay... so he sucked in the ring. But that's besides the point.

If Nailz had never happened in 1992, they could have easily used the gimmick in 2008 and, with the right guy playing him (ie. NOT Nathan Jones), it would have worked. Probably would have had to lose the boiler suit and nightstick, too cheesy for 2008, but it still works as a character gimmick.

The problem with Nailz is that his gimmick had no use after he was done with the Boss Man.

Only because WWE cant think it out further. Its a pretty universal gimmick...psychotic ex prisoner...works with anyone.

Well, he had already moved onto his next feud with The Undertaker when he was fired, so that wasn't a problem. It's a perfect wrestling gimmick, he didn't need any feuds specifically catered towards it.

If people can cheer for a little Irish Midget I am sure they can cheer for something like they had back then these days.

Well I know that Waylon and Nailz never really took off in the WWE but I was just watchin a big bossman match on youtube and I saw the Nailz thing so I looked it up. As for the whole Waylon Mercy thing I thought that he had a heavy southern accent, dressed in all white with a swastika on his forehead :shifty: So I was only partly right. I'm not saying for them to go hire a magician, plumber and a mantaur to come back just a little entertainment in the WWE. The thing that I hated with Bobby Lashley as a champ is that man had no real chrisma. He was big, strong, fast but couldnt cut a promo to save his life. Watch the debate with him and Cena on Raw before the title match the blank look on his face while Cena is doin the "dramatic" speech. :rofl:

You know, "They don't make them like they used to" isn't always a bad thing.

If you get into an accident in a modern car, you're more likely to survive. With Airbags and crumple zones and even improvements in the manufacture of brakes and tires, you're better off in a newer vehicle, even if it seems cheap and breakable.

Modern Cell phone? Less risk of cancer (Assuming there really is one).

Computers that can download gigs of porn in minutes? :shifty:

But seriously. I don't mind that they don't make 'em like they used to. What I do mind is that most of the time, I have no reason to care for "generic new guy number four."

Take, for example, Cody Rhodes. Cody strikes me as someone who's fairly solid, but I can't help but think of him as "The guy who tags with Bobcore." When your notable trait is that you're the guy who hangs around with Sparky Plugg, something's seriously wrong. But he's not really distinguishing himself, and it's hard to without resorting to colourful gimmicks.

Sorry, you're assuming the writers actually have imagination.

Mysterio's Irish????

Touché, Mr. Volcano Insurance Salesman. Touché

While we're at it, let's have a lucky dip over at Wrestlecrap and restart other crappy gimmicks. My pick...


http://73.img.v4.skyrock.com/738/bro...0643_small.jpg

Adam Bomb: Following a nuclear meldown, mild mannered Bryan Clark becomes the Creation of Devastation!

I don't get how guys are more "real" these days. If anything, I think they are more cartoony than the Attitude era. Yeah, some guys are bland and without characters, but the main event feels like it is filled with one-dimensional fools.