"Monsters" in Wrestling

[Kenny]

The more I think about it, the more I realize that the Undertaker is the only "monster" ever to remain a monster throughout his career. Whether the character was just flat out big, or promoted as an actual monster, they all end up joining the job squad before too long. Lets look at a few...

Kane - It once took 3 tombstones to beat him, today it takes a bearhug. The last singles match Kane had, he lost to a man half his size via his finisher.

Abyss - The Monster Abyss is a classic example of a monster being used to get people over. A review on Netflix states that in the DVD "The Best of Abyss," he wins only one match. It's pretty sad when you win only one match on a "best of" DVD.

The Boogeyman - He comes in and beats guys like Booker T and JBL like they're nothing, only to be used to get the guys like Mark Henry and Big Daddy V over.

Other examples could be Yokozuna, The Big Show, Snitsky, and so on...

I can't think of a single "monster" character who can stand up to the history and current reputation of The Undertaker.

[BigDaddyCool]

Boogen

[ozzman6669]

Their still The Great Khali

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by ozzman6669 Their still The Great Khali

Khali jobbed to Hep C.

[Verbose Minch]

Andre the Giant would like to have a word with you...

[Outsider]

The monster is a crap gimmick the writers use when they can't be arsed thinking that does nothing more than harm the credibility of others.

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

Kane

He was awesome when he started, interupting matches between decent midcarders etc and tearing them apart. Now when that is emulated it is with jobbers, and no one cares that they're being killed.

I miss masked monster Kane

[Kenny]

Originally Posted by Lord-Of-Darkness Kane He was awesome when he started, interupting matches between decent midcarders etc and tearing them apart. Now when that is emulated it is with jobbers, and no one cares that they're being killed. I miss masked monster Kane

When I talk to guys at work about wrestling we usually share our bitter feelings about that very subject.

I think the feeling among the creative teams (specially WWE) is that when somebody beats a "monster" they are getting over. You can only have a guy like Kane lose so many matches before a victory over him isn't that big of a deal. The only fued Kane has been involved in for a long time where he has gotten the upper hand was his fued with Regal and Taylor. Other than that he's put just about every other wrestler over. MVP even eventually got the last laugh on him.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by Lord-Of-Darkness Kane He was awesome when he started, interupting matches between decent midcarders etc and tearing them apart. Now when that is emulated it is with jobbers, and no one cares that they're being killed. I miss masked monster Kane

I miss the recently unmasked Kane, who was a borderline serial killer type.

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

To be fair, that was the masked Kane, just a bit more on edge, and more three dimensional since he could talk. Completly off topic, but I preferred that attire to any he's had as well, it made him look bigger and more 'dark'.


Come to think of it, I think I miss that Kane more.

[FourFifty]

I miss the Kane that hooked a car battery up to Shane's nuts, and tombstoned Linda.... That Kane was fucking great!

[owenbrown]

Originally Posted by FourFifty I miss the Kane that hooked a car battery up to Shane's nuts, and tombstoned Linda.... That Kane was fucking great!

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by Lord-Of-Darkness To be fair, that was the masked Kane, just a bit more on edge, and more three dimensional since he could talk. Completly off topic, but I preferred that attire to any he's had as well, it made him look bigger and more 'dark'. Come to think of it, I think I miss that Kane more.

He was the best he had ever been. I was never a big Kane fan, but that really did clinch it for me. It was an awesome character shift.

[Gerard]

Thats WWE for you, one minute the characters unstoppable and nothing hurts him, next minute he's being beat down by people wielding feather dusters. Big Show got the same treatment as kane with the monster\pussy role changes on a weekly basis. Same as Lesnar come to think of it, for a while nothing ever hurt him then that disappeared.

I think takers "monster" schtick has lasted so long is because a big part of the original deadman gimmick was no-selling offense or selling it as little as possible. Probably has it written into his contract.

[Lock Jaw]

When he was BikerTaker he wasn't as invincible though. Still didn't lose all the time, but was able to be beaten up more.

[Gerard]

Originally Posted by Lock Jaw When he was BikerTaker he wasn't as invincible though. Still didn't lose all the time, but was able to be beaten up more.

True but he still was prone to do the old "sit up and not be hurt" routine from time to time. Then you had the spot where he'd whip someone into the ropes to backdrop them, they'd kick him on the return and he's just stand and look at them. So there was still elements of no-selling in even that gimmick.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by Gerard Thats WWE for you, one minute the characters unstoppable and nothing hurts him, next minute he's being beat down by people wielding feather dusters. Big Show got the same treatment as kane with the monster\pussy role changes on a weekly basis. Same as Lesnar come to think of it, for a while nothing ever hurt him then that disappeared. I think takers "monster" schtick has lasted so long is because a big part of the original deadman gimmick was no-selling offense or selling it as little as possible. Probably has it written into his contract.

It's power creep. You really can't have monsters remain unstoppable. If they truly were, it'd be pointless.

I think Taker's "monster" shtick has lasted as long as it has because he's a major player. Guys who are liked tend to be bigger than they otherwise would be.

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

Exactly, Undertaker was brought in at main event level. Few of the other 'monsters' were, just brought in or repushed as unstoppable in mid card. I mean look at Kane when he debuted, He took out Taker, then feuded with Vader in the midcard, then back to Taker, then had the whole BOD vs Austin thing. Then all of a sudden the character had to be given 'emotion' and got all pussified.

[Deadman's Hart]

I think Psycho Sid was a monster for most of his career. I'm sure some of us remember HBK gave Sid the night off and Sid gave HBK a powerbomb for his trouble. I kinda do hope Sid comes back.

[El Fangel]

Originally Posted by FourFifty I miss the Kane that hooked a car battery up to Shane's nuts, and tombstoned Linda.... That Kane was fucking great!

[94 SVT Cobra]

Originally Posted by MoleyPwnis Andre the Giant would like to have a word with you...

+1

[Fox]

I think it's fair to say that Goldberg was a "monster" throughout his entire career; always billed as unbeatable - NEVER losing a match clean. Even up until his last match when he defeated Brock Lesnar, he was always the man.

Although, when you compare Goldberg's 5-year career to Undertaker's 14-year career, there's really no question as to who is the longest lasting monster in wrestling.

[Kenny]

Originally Posted by Deadman's Hart I think Psycho Sid was a monster for most of his career. I'm sure some of us remember HBK gave Sid the night off and Sid gave HBK a powerbomb for his trouble. I kinda do hope Sid comes back.

In all honesty, I do miss Sid. I don't even know why. You should check out the Sycho Sid vs Triple H match on YouTube from an early Raw. It's a complete squash with Triple H running away after a power bomb.

I think Sid basically just came it at a good time. He was brought it when all it took to get over was looking like a monster.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I personally don't even consider The Undertaker a monster. In his matches these days, they tend to go on too long, and he takes too much of a beating. I'm not too big on no-selling Taker, but he is a lot more human than he's ever been.

Also, I'd love to see Kane get warped by ECW. He's doing a stint there, apparently, so just have him become seduced by the ECW rules, and their mentality, and it unleashes the monster within again. Next week, have him disqualified by Big Daddy V, whacking him continuously with a steel chair. Big Daddy won't go down, and Matt Striker runs into the ring, and gets a Chokeslam for his trouble. Kane then gives V a Chokeslam, and then Tombstones Matt Striker onto the steel chair. Kane then gets the microphone, looks at the fallen Big Daddy V and says "Next week...you and me...Extreme Rules...*evil Kane laugh*".

At Cyber Sunday, Armando Estrada takes issue with Kane, and says he didn't OK an Extreme Rules Match between the two, and Kane grabs Armando by the throat and says "We're having the match...OK?" Armando nods out of fear, and then Kane laughs and tosses Estrada through a window.

On ECW, the General Manager is out, so Shane McMahon is filling in for him. Shane is out cutting a promo on how Kane's behaviour won't be tolerated. The Big Red Machine then makes his way out, and Shane tells him he wouldn't dare, but Kane smacks him around, hits him with all his signature power moves, and then takes him up to ECW's "stage" and gives him a Tombstone. Joey Styles and Tazz just seem amused that Kane has taken out not one, but two General Managers.

Later that night, Kane takes on Big Daddy V in the Exteme Rules Match, and it should be a lot better than a regular match between the two. Matt Striker constantly tries to get involved, but he ends up taking some sick bumps through some tables, and such. Big Daddy V gets the time he needs to mount a comeback, though, and he tries to put Kane away, but he keeps sitting up. V eventually ends up horrified, and even puts Kane through a table with an avalanche, but Kane remains standing, and then hits a Chokeslam on nowhere on V! Kane then gets a table, sets it up near the turnbuckle, and places V on it. Kane goes to climb, but V rolls off and cuts Kane off. He climbs, looks for a superplex, but Kane grabs V by the throat, and gives him a modified Chokeslam off the top rope, and V goes back through the table. Kane then leaps off the top with an elbow drop, and gets the pin.

SmackDown! would be the first edition after Cyber Sunday, where Batista probably will retain against The Undertaker. Kane can then show up in Vickie Guerrero's office, and demand the same shot his brother got. Vickie says that no one demands anything from her, and Kane just laughs at her. Vickie says that Kane would not put his hands on her, because he will not take it like Armando and Shane, but we then get Kane doing something to Vickie. I don't see her taking any real bumps, but they could maybe stage some kind of "fall" for her, and have her get into place by the time the camera gets there, and just have Kane standing at a height laughing.

Kane just needs to go insane again.

[Kenny]

WWE won't do something like that because people may actually enjoy it...

Instead Kane will get a few one ups on V over the next few weeks, and then will fight him at a PPV. Probably Cyber Sunday. Striker will interfere and get chokeslammed, and then V will win with his black hole sidewalk slam. He'll probably beat Kane around a little after the match too.

Big Daddy V will continue to dominate the roster until one of two things happens...

He will fight the Undertaker, and lose.

Or John Cena will return and manage to tap him out to the STFU, cast and all.

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

Originally Posted by Alienoid06 Kane just needs to go insane again.

Thats what I've been thinking for a while. But he works his 'insane' character so much better as a heel. Not looking for pops, just going crazy on top faces. Crazy heel Kane is where the moneys at. Or at least where we'd see a decent side of the character again.

[Stickman]

Anytime you're "over" 7 feet tall you can only be a monster.

[The One]

Something is really wrong with me, not only did I read the entire post by Noid, but god help me, I actually thought it was good.

[BigDaddyCool]

Originally Posted by Alienoid06 I personally don't even consider The Undertaker a monster. In his matches these days, they tend to go on too long, and he takes too much of a beating. I'm not too big on no-selling Taker, but he is a lot more human than he's ever been. Also, I'd love to see Kane get warped by ECW. He's doing a stint there, apparently, so just have him become seduced by the ECW rules, and their mentality, and it unleashes the monster within again. Next week, have him disqualified by Big Daddy V, whacking him continuously with a steel chair. Big Daddy won't go down, and Matt Striker runs into the ring, and gets a Chokeslam for his trouble. Kane then gives V a Chokeslam, and then Tombstones Matt Striker onto the steel chair. Kane then gets the microphone, looks at the fallen Big Daddy V and says "Next week...you and me...Extreme Rules...*evil Kane laugh*". At Cyber Sunday, Armando Estrada takes issue with Kane, and says he didn't OK an Extreme Rules Match between the two, and Kane grabs Armando by the throat and says "We're having the match...OK?" Armando nods out of fear, and then Kane laughs and tosses Estrada through a window. On ECW, the General Manager is out, so Shane McMahon is filling in for him. Shane is out cutting a promo on how Kane's behaviour won't be tolerated. The Big Red Machine then makes his way out, and Shane tells him he wouldn't dare, but Kane smacks him around, hits him with all his signature power moves, and then takes him up to ECW's "stage" and gives him a Tombstone. Joey Styles and Tazz just seem amused that Kane has taken out not one, but two General Managers. Later that night, Kane takes on Big Daddy V in the Exteme Rules Match, and it should be a lot better than a regular match between the two. Matt Striker constantly tries to get involved, but he ends up taking some sick bumps through some tables, and such. Big Daddy V gets the time he needs to mount a comeback, though, and he tries to put Kane away, but he keeps sitting up. V eventually ends up horrified, and even puts Kane through a table with an avalanche, but Kane remains standing, and then hits a Chokeslam on nowhere on V! Kane then gets a table, sets it up near the turnbuckle, and places V on it. Kane goes to climb, but V rolls off and cuts Kane off. He climbs, looks for a superplex, but Kane grabs V by the throat, and gives him a modified Chokeslam off the top rope, and V goes back through the table. Kane then leaps off the top with an elbow drop, and gets the pin. SmackDown! would be the first edition after Cyber Sunday, where Batista probably will retain against The Undertaker. Kane can then show up in Vickie Guerrero's office, and demand the same shot his brother got. Vickie says that no one demands anything from her, and Kane just laughs at her. Vickie says that Kane would not put his hands on her, because he will not take it like Armando and Shane, but we then get Kane doing something to Vickie. I don't see her taking any real bumps, but they could maybe stage some kind of "fall" for her, and have her get into place by the time the camera gets there, and just have Kane standing at a height laughing. Kane just needs to go insane again.

Whatever this novel says is wrong because it was written by 'Noid.