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Post by eDemento2099 on Sept 13, 2014 10:43:48 GMT -5
Let's talk about the greatest characters in the history of wrestling. By characters, I mean the persona that wrestlers portrayed and/or the backstories they revealed through the promos and vignettes they delivered 'in character.'
It's imperative that we make a distinction between compelling characters and good (or better) wrestlers. For instance, Triple H has had some great matches (I thought he was especially strong circa 1999-2000), but the two major characters he portrayed (A snobby aristocrat and, later, a law-breaking, degenerate bully heel) were mediocre and generic at best. That's not to say that HHH wasn't enjoyable to watch or that his characters didn't suit him - it's just that there was nothing extraordinary about HHH from a character standpoint. HHH's main strengths were his physique and the series of great matches he had around the turn of the turn of the century.
Here are some wrestlers that I feel portrayed some of the best characters in wrestling's history:
Jake 'The Snake' Roberts
Raven
'Stone Cold' Steve Austin (From a character standpoint, he was especially great when he first broke out as a big-time star when he adopted the 'Stone Cold' persona. He essentially played wrestling's equivalent of Mickey Knox)
Jimmy Jacobs (Specifically during his 'I Love Lacey' and Age of the Fall eras)
Rocky Miavia (Once he became 'The Rock')
Damien Demento (Once he returned from obscurity by uploading a bunch of shoot videos onto Youtube)
'Rowdy' Roddy Piper
Brian Pillman and Jon Moxley as loose cannon, Joker-esque characters
'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair (As the man who is simultaneously one of wrestling's most accomplished wrestlers, someone who lives the high life, and is 'the dirtiest player in the game')
Bret Hart during his final days in the WWF, when he called out the fans and McMahon for fueled the fire between himself and Owen for so long, and when he vocally protested the push Shawn Michaels received in spite of his backstage unprofessionalism and the arrogant persona he portrayed in the ring.
'The Heartbreak Kid' Shawn Michaels. HBK played off this arrogant character so well in the 90s that I legitimately hated Michaels until he returned to the ring circa 2002. He was anything but bad in the ring, but I hated him because of how convincingly he played his character.
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saintpat
El Dandy
Release the hounds!!!
Posts: 7,664
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Post by saintpat on Sept 13, 2014 10:59:08 GMT -5
Best ever was probably Gorgeous George. Go look at some of his prime footage on YouTube and learn what heeling it up is all about.
His valet perfuming the ring and the ref coming over to pat him down, with George pulling back in horror and shrieking, "Get your hands off me, you filthy animal!"
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Sept 13, 2014 11:05:50 GMT -5
Captain Redneck Dick Murdoch
His stories alone are legendary, everybody believed that he went to West Texas University with Terry Funk, Dusty, Bruiser Brody, Hansen, and all those guys....Murdoch never went to that college but somehow showed up and played in an alumni football game.
Or riding a mule into a bar shooting a shotgun in the air.
EDIT: Oh shit, sorry I didn't read "in character", well Mankind revealing he was Mick Foley was pretty cool. |
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DjZonk
Don Corleone
Where's my cat?
Posts: 1,325 
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Post by DjZonk on Sept 13, 2014 11:25:19 GMT -5
Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase was in my opinion one of the best character wrestlers of all time.
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Sept 13, 2014 11:36:08 GMT -5
Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase was in my opinion one of the best character wrestlers of all time. I agree, Vince even gave him stacks of bills so that he would live the gimmick in public, like buying everyone drinks at a bar, or buying a newspaper with a hundred dollar bill. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2014 12:00:32 GMT -5
Always have to give a nod to "Exotic" Adrian Street: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bhLK6XPKCswww.youtube.com/watch?v=c8A3ZUMK74swww.youtube.com/watch?v=59xo1j92KBII think it was who said that he was essentially William Regal doing Goldust's gimmick. There was a certain degree of darkness to what he did (calling himself a sadist, doing another song about breaking bones) that is rare in wrestling. The fact that they did Glam rock style music and fashion added a ton to his presentation, as did Miss Linda, his Amazonian manager. She would lounge around while he'd primp himself or she would hold a mirror for him or act like his servant, in a sort of gender reversal for time. Fascinating dichotomy and they would get married irl after retiring from the wrestling business. |
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Post by eDemento2099 on Sept 13, 2014 14:09:30 GMT -5
Always have to give a nod to "Exotic" Adrian Street: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bhLK6XPKCswww.youtube.com/watch?v=c8A3ZUMK74swww.youtube.com/watch?v=59xo1j92KBII think it was who said that he was essentially William Regal doing Goldust's gimmick. There was a certain degree of darkness to what he did (calling himself a sadist, doing another song about breaking bones) that is rare in wrestling. The fact that they did Glam rock style music and fashion added a ton to his presentation, as did Miss Linda, his Amazonian manager. She would lounge around while he'd primp himself or she would hold a mirror for him or act like his servant, in a sort of gender reversal for time. Fascinating dichotomy and they would get married irl after retiring from the wrestling business. Wow, I didn't even know about this Adrian Street character, nor would I have guessed that William Regal was the one behind such a persona! After seeing this, Goldust looks like a clone, although there were aspects of his character that stood out from Adrian Street (I especially Goldust once he started impersonating popular movie/TV characters during his 'odd couple' partnership with Booker T circa 2002). |
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Post by Bob Schlapowitz on Sept 13, 2014 14:14:13 GMT -5
1995-96 Goldust and 1996-97 Mankind were just absolutely amazing characters. Even more so considering the kind of characters the WWF usually had at the time.
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Post by Dean F'n Ambrose on Sept 13, 2014 14:26:32 GMT -5
Mentions Jon Moxley...  |
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Tony Schiavontay
Dennis Stamp
This is the greatest post in the history of this board!
Posts: 4,083
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Post by Tony Schiavontay on Sept 13, 2014 14:29:23 GMT -5
1995-96 Goldust and 1996-97 Mankind were just absolutely amazing characters. Even more so considering the kind of characters the WWF usually had at the time. Original Mankind scared me as a kid. |
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Post by Clawley Race on Sept 13, 2014 15:34:04 GMT -5
Heel Doink
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tms
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,901
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Post by tms on Sept 13, 2014 15:53:31 GMT -5
No mention of Macho Man yet? For shame. His 80s run in particular was the personification of everything good about professional wrestling. Larger than life persona, athletic as hell, superstar getup, the whole nine yards.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2014 16:01:13 GMT -5
Always have to give a nod to "Exotic" Adrian Street: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bhLK6XPKCswww.youtube.com/watch?v=c8A3ZUMK74swww.youtube.com/watch?v=59xo1j92KBII think it was who said that he was essentially William Regal doing Goldust's gimmick. There was a certain degree of darkness to what he did (calling himself a sadist, doing another song about breaking bones) that is rare in wrestling. The fact that they did Glam rock style music and fashion added a ton to his presentation, as did Miss Linda, his Amazonian manager. She would lounge around while he'd primp himself or she would hold a mirror for him or act like his servant, in a sort of gender reversal for time. Fascinating dichotomy and they would get married irl after retiring from the wrestling business. Wow, I didn't even know about this Adrian Street character, nor would I have guessed that William Regal was the one behind such a persona! After seeing this, Goldust looks like a clone, although there were aspects of his character that stood out from Adrian Street (I especially Goldust once he started impersonating popular movie/TV characters during his 'odd couple' partnership with Booker T circa 2002). Oh, I think I should be clearer. Regal didn't have any thing to do with Street, it's just they both used a brawling, European influenced style. That said, WWE had Rico spend time with Street when he started the flamboyant gimmick. |
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Post by bigjohnsons on Sept 13, 2014 16:39:41 GMT -5
Goldust's early career
You have to understand Dustin was just some redneck cowboy playing .....we'll a dark creepy androgynous character
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2014 18:15:47 GMT -5
Sabu is a favorite of mine the dude was like something from another planet when I first saw him in the 90s. Awesome gimmick and absolutely captivating without ever saying a word.
The Sandman was the perfect character for ECW as well, just a blue collar Philly barroom brawler.
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Zach
Trap-Jaw
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Post by Zach on Sept 15, 2014 7:34:04 GMT -5
The original "evil" Doink the Clown
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2014 7:47:00 GMT -5
Yeah, I came in here to mention Evil Doink. I was pretty much a baby when that was going on, but I go back and watch old clips and just love the character.
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