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Originally Posted by Heyman
Instead of continuing with their "theatre mentality" from the late 90's/early 2000's, the WWE decided to try and come across as a borderline reality show.
If The Rock were to come out tommorow on Raw and was introduced as "Dwayne Johnson" should the fans be surprised?
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This was a good thing. However, gimmicks are always going to exist in pro wrestling.
The "theatre mentality" was poised to shoot WWE in the rear eventually. Stuff like the Al Wilson, Katie Vick, and Undertaker-vs-DDP debacles (the reason I list that last one is because it prominently featured Undertaker's wife, and she called him "Mark" on TV)...it would eventually wear thin. And it did. For now, I think WWE is slowly learning that some gimmicks just should be left to the wrestlers. After all, you don't see The Quebecers around anymore, do you? (Oh, wait...)
The lack of "gimmick names" that are popping up now is actually kind of cool. It's a lot like WCW was doing in the 90s (and before), before they started to imitate WWE.
WWE wrestlers like Stone Cold, The Rock, HHH, and Shawn Michaels are well established. There's no need to modify them. After all, the reason these guys have stuck around is because they took what could have been a dead-end gimmick and turned it more "real". That's what made WWE popular in the '90s, not the "theater" mentality. It's more "reality"-driven content is just the natural progression...