Post by Andrew is Good on May 18, 2007 23:03:01 GMT -5
Ok, so I hope the dust is starting to clear from the choas today. I was pissed off about the Ariel thing, but hell, I'm pissed off when anybody gets released. I guess I didn't try to wish death on Stephanie McMahon like everybody else, and hopefully people will calm down just a tad bit.
And I also hope that this post doesn't fan the flames of Stephanie hatred, but one thing bothered me when reading what was going to happen to Kevin Thorn after Ariel got released. Here was the quote from another thread:
Now, this bothers me for a few reasons. One, I love Vampire gimmicks. I'll admit, I'm a mark for them. Two, the whole Kevin Thorn character is completely different from many of the characters in the WWE today. This was actually discussed on two shoot interviews I had. One was the Punk/Joe interview, and the other was the Honky Tonk Man/Raven interview. Basically, they both talked about how different everyone was back in the day. Honky Tonk Man was different then Roddy Piper, who was different from Randy Savage, who was different from Ted Dibiase, and so forth. Sure, you had a lot of guys with the same look but they were few and far between. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it. A lot of the cookie cutter guys didn't really get much of a push back then. Guys like the Young Stalions for example are guys who have the look where they would get over huge nowadays, but back then, because they didn't have the character or the charisma to differeniate themselves and get themselves over, they floundered.
Even big guys like Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior, they were completely different from everybody else. They had characters and personas that were larger then life, and therefore, they got over. You also had guys back then who were fatter, but could work. Guys like One Man Gang, Bam Bam Bigelow, King Kong Bundy back in his younger days. And even now, they have Tony Braddock (Roadkill) in OVW, and people are like, oh, he looks disgusting, because he doesn't have that stereotypical look that everyone has today. He actually reminds me of Gorilla Monsoon when Monsoon wrestled (I checked out some of Monsoon's older stuff).
But now, everyone has pretty much the same look. One of the things I loved about the ECW brand was the cookie cutter look was frowned upon. All the top babyfaces on the brand looked different. CM Punk was different from Balls Mahoney who was different from RVD who was different from Tommy Dreamer. They even brought in Rene Dupree as that Model type character just to get over the fact that he was heel because he had the model look, and should be hated for that. Even Big Show, the top heel at the time, definitely didn't have the cookie cutter look. But once Bobby Lashley came in, everything about that ECW brand sunk.
Kevin Thorn is someone you can put on television, and people will differeniate him from everyone else. His whole persona, he wasn't just a vampire, his whole gothic persona. The lights, the music, the smoke, and everything made him great. And one reason I was pissed about Ariel's departure was because she was such a huge part of his act. Because you had this goth chick, hanging upside down like a bat (adding to the vampire gimmick), a mysterious tarot card reader who looked like Elvira, with the hair, the way she dressed, and of course, the mega boobs. That whole package, you can put that on television, and people would immediately recognize him, and remember him.
Today, you look up and down the roster, everyone is the same kind of guy, with the same look and almost the same gimmick. Most people anyway. John Cena, Batista, Bobby Lashley, Chris Masters, Johnny Nitro, Randy Orton, Kenny Dykstra, Triple H, Mr. Kennedy, Snitsky, Hardcore Holly, and in OVW, Ox & Hammer, Dan Rodman, Nick Nemeth, and others. And it's not like all of these guys are bad, or can't be different. I actually love a lot of these talents, and some people might even disagree with some of those names. But it's terrible that when a guy who's shtick is so different has to be changed. It's just something that sucks about WWE, and I love WWE. This isn't one of those, I hate WWE and I want them to fail and all that nonsense. I love Double Double E! But along with every wrestling promotion on the face of the planet, it has it's faults, and this cookie cutter bullshit is one of them.
And I also hope that this post doesn't fan the flames of Stephanie hatred, but one thing bothered me when reading what was going to happen to Kevin Thorn after Ariel got released. Here was the quote from another thread:
With the departure of Ariel, Thorn has been told that he may be receiving a makeover/new look, which leads some to believe that the more dark/vampire elements of the character will go away. There were a few people who felt that since Dave Lagana isn't one to rock the boat, he's going to go with whatever WWE management wants, instead of trying to fight for the characters and make it work.
Now, this bothers me for a few reasons. One, I love Vampire gimmicks. I'll admit, I'm a mark for them. Two, the whole Kevin Thorn character is completely different from many of the characters in the WWE today. This was actually discussed on two shoot interviews I had. One was the Punk/Joe interview, and the other was the Honky Tonk Man/Raven interview. Basically, they both talked about how different everyone was back in the day. Honky Tonk Man was different then Roddy Piper, who was different from Randy Savage, who was different from Ted Dibiase, and so forth. Sure, you had a lot of guys with the same look but they were few and far between. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it. A lot of the cookie cutter guys didn't really get much of a push back then. Guys like the Young Stalions for example are guys who have the look where they would get over huge nowadays, but back then, because they didn't have the character or the charisma to differeniate themselves and get themselves over, they floundered.
Even big guys like Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior, they were completely different from everybody else. They had characters and personas that were larger then life, and therefore, they got over. You also had guys back then who were fatter, but could work. Guys like One Man Gang, Bam Bam Bigelow, King Kong Bundy back in his younger days. And even now, they have Tony Braddock (Roadkill) in OVW, and people are like, oh, he looks disgusting, because he doesn't have that stereotypical look that everyone has today. He actually reminds me of Gorilla Monsoon when Monsoon wrestled (I checked out some of Monsoon's older stuff).
But now, everyone has pretty much the same look. One of the things I loved about the ECW brand was the cookie cutter look was frowned upon. All the top babyfaces on the brand looked different. CM Punk was different from Balls Mahoney who was different from RVD who was different from Tommy Dreamer. They even brought in Rene Dupree as that Model type character just to get over the fact that he was heel because he had the model look, and should be hated for that. Even Big Show, the top heel at the time, definitely didn't have the cookie cutter look. But once Bobby Lashley came in, everything about that ECW brand sunk.
Kevin Thorn is someone you can put on television, and people will differeniate him from everyone else. His whole persona, he wasn't just a vampire, his whole gothic persona. The lights, the music, the smoke, and everything made him great. And one reason I was pissed about Ariel's departure was because she was such a huge part of his act. Because you had this goth chick, hanging upside down like a bat (adding to the vampire gimmick), a mysterious tarot card reader who looked like Elvira, with the hair, the way she dressed, and of course, the mega boobs. That whole package, you can put that on television, and people would immediately recognize him, and remember him.
Today, you look up and down the roster, everyone is the same kind of guy, with the same look and almost the same gimmick. Most people anyway. John Cena, Batista, Bobby Lashley, Chris Masters, Johnny Nitro, Randy Orton, Kenny Dykstra, Triple H, Mr. Kennedy, Snitsky, Hardcore Holly, and in OVW, Ox & Hammer, Dan Rodman, Nick Nemeth, and others. And it's not like all of these guys are bad, or can't be different. I actually love a lot of these talents, and some people might even disagree with some of those names. But it's terrible that when a guy who's shtick is so different has to be changed. It's just something that sucks about WWE, and I love WWE. This isn't one of those, I hate WWE and I want them to fail and all that nonsense. I love Double Double E! But along with every wrestling promotion on the face of the planet, it has it's faults, and this cookie cutter bullshit is one of them.
helped $lim jinx NXT. Woops
