Across the Pond: The Last of the Great ‘Gimmicks’
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
Sting, Undertaker, Kane, Papa Shango and the Wild Samoans; all these Superstars had, what I considered to be great ‘gimmicks’. Let’s splash around that idea for a while. What really constitutes a great gimmick? First let me clarify what I mean, when I say ‘gimmick’ I’m not referring to the WWE ‘Superstar’ gimmicks, like the personalities of ‘The Rock’, ‘Stone Cold’ or ‘Triple H’; what I’m talking about is a ludicrously absurd gimmick that is so beautifully over the top and outrageous that one would think it has no business garnering any success in Professional Wrestling. While I am in no way neglecting the contributions and success of the characters of the likes of the Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin, each persona was far too close to what could actually be a real person for me to consider a ‘great’ Professional Wrestling gimmick. I suppose when I say a ‘great’ gimmick I should say a ‘different’ or a ‘bizarre’ gimmick; but I digress. What I mean to say is that in today’s wrestling there is really no place left for really outrageous gimmicks. The fans do not react the same way today then they did back in the 80’s and 90’s.
Through out the course of Professional Wrestling history many WCW and WWE Superstars have earned massive amounts of success because their gimmicks were so over the top one could not help but take notice of them. Allow me to examine one such example; Papa Shango. While I respect and admire the former WWE Superstar, when Charles Wright was competing in his ‘Papa Shango’ gimmick he was not the greatest in-ring performer; however (despite what anyone says in hindsight) his persona; his presence was indisputably more then eye-catching. If we consider this in the context of today it is very unlikely we would ever believe that a witch-doctor could take control of the arena lights and curse his opponents with madness and bad luck (Undertaker notwithstanding, and I’ll get back to him later), however when Wright first adopted the gimmick he was more then impressive with it. He was a frightening supernatural monster who would win a match before even entering the ring. Now to take a more modern example of WWEs The Boogeyman there is no question he is similar to the Papa Shango gimmick, however is anyone really afraid of him? My eight year old cousin isn’t and he wouldn’t be the toughest man in Ireland, but when I think back to how I used to watch the old WWF with my uncle, I remember I was petrified of Papa Shango. My uncle didn’t exactly help, but hey that’s life. Now I’m not saying WWF then was better the WWE is now, I’m not saying Charles Wright is a better performer then Marty Wright and I’m not even saying Papa Shango was a better gimmick then The Boogeyman; what I am saying is that the Papa Shango persona was a product of a time when gimmicks like that were not just acceptable but embraced, and The Boogeyman is a product of the new WWF; WWE and thus can not be expected to reach the heights of success attained by the likes of Papa Shango, Kane or the Undertaker.
I do believe however, that over-the-top gimmicks have a long and enduring lifespan. Kamala for example never seems to get old. Although his in ring ability may have deteriorated and he may rarely be on TV, he still gets a good reaction. The fans didn’t get tired of the gimmick; in fact they grew accustomed to it and thus feel connected with it. Through this connection they feel nostalgic whenever he makes his appearance, and so he gets a positive reaction. This is an ever present quality in the enigma that is the Undertaker. Let me start by saying Taker is one of the hardest working men in the business and one of the greatest in ring performers. However his gimmick is so unbelievable it’s actually funny to think about it. I think WWE best parodied it with the early ECW on Sci-Fi show where a wrestler named ‘The Zombie’ appeared to have the seven shades of… umm, you know what, let’s just say it rhymes with ‘kit’, smashed out of him by ECWs own Sandman. Let’s call a spade a spade; let’s call the Undertaker a Zombie, because that’s what his gimmick really and truly is. The idea that the Deadman actually ‘died’ on WWF television and came back to life, it’s entirely implausible. With that being said, he is still the most successful gimmick in the history of the business (bar ECWs Cactus Jack, but WWE kind of killed that, so I’ll let it go). Baring all that in mind what really proves the enduring nature of these classic, crazy, terrible, brilliant gimmicks is the fact that the Undertaker was repackaged as ‘The American Badass’. He became a motorbike riding, ass kicking thug straight out of Houston Texas with destruction on his mind. Now that was a cool, modern gimmick that suits the current structure of WWE, today’s Professional Wrestling. However when the good old Deadman came back, his reaction was bigger then ever. His presence was more impressive then it ever was as the ‘ABA’ and his entrance sent a chill down the collective spines of each and every fan watching.
This leads one to believe that a good ‘bizarre’ gimmick should get over and stay over with the fans. This is not the case. Remember the doppelganger Kane? Well now, wasn’t that an angle that would have worked incredibly well 10 years ago? Don’t you all feel the Boogeyman would have worked in the 1980’s? Regardless, I don’t believe gimmicks like these will get over like they used to; there are exceptions such as Umaga and Big Daddy V. However for every Umaga there will be six Snitsky’s. ECWs Kevin Thorn has already lost his originality and it’s only a matter of time until we see all WWE Superstars becoming generic automations. Which lead me to my closing statement; I believe the days of the ‘great’ gimmicks are coming to an end. So now I raise my glass and ask you to join me in a toast to Abyss, to Judas Mesias, Undertaker, Kane, to Umaga and every other ‘monster’ who is ‘over’ with the fans. Here’s to the last of the great gimmicks, thanks for the memories.
Right so; that’s about it really. Sorry it took me so long to get this column up; I hope you enjoyed my opinions from across the pond. If you have something you want to say; if you want to contradict me, yell at me, curse me, agree with me or even just have a spot of banter, leave a comment. Interaction is good, it make me feel better (nudge nudge).Please comment or jump on the forums and let me know what you think;
Keep reading and writing,
Hugo.
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