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Post by The Barber on Feb 10, 2018 23:25:16 GMT -5
Actually I'd say guys like Michaels were actively a turn off to the teenage guys watching. I know that most of the guys I knew in HS were not thrilled with the idea of him beating Bret Hart at WM 12, and also stuff like him simply superkicking and beating Diesel at the next PPV. Not just teenage guys but most guys. I have no idea why they dropped the rockstar gimmick with HBK and turned him into more of a male stripper. If they continued to present him as a rockstar, like what they're doing with Nakamura, I think he would have been more successful. The rockstar gimmick was to 80s for the 90s. It had to be dropped.
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Post by axebomber on Feb 11, 2018 12:41:42 GMT -5
Not just teenage guys but most guys. I have no idea why they dropped the rockstar gimmick with HBK and turned him into more of a male stripper. If they continued to present him as a rockstar, like what they're doing with Nakamura, I think he would have been more successful. The rockstar gimmick was to 80s for the 90s. It had to be dropped. There were no rockstars in the 90s? Only hair metal was dead. He just needed to update the look. Besides, you think a male stripper is a better gimmick for a number one babyface?
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Post by angelofapocalypse on Feb 11, 2018 17:47:45 GMT -5
The rockstar shtick was dated by the time Wrestlemaina 7 rolled around. Shawn no longer looked the teeny bopper during his Rockers heyday. He was a grown man who needed some changing to get serious about his future as a singles star.
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Post by axebomber on Feb 11, 2018 20:25:17 GMT -5
The rockstar shtick was dated by the time Wrestlemaina 7 rolled around. Shawn no longer looked the teeny bopper during his Rockers heyday. He was a grown man who needed some changing to get serious about his future as a singles star. And I say again, male stripper is how one gets serious? Rock star > Male stripper. All he had to do was update the rockstar look, less Brett Michaels or Vince Neil, more James Hetfield or Trent Reznor. Almost everyone adapted the grunge look in the late nineties. HBK would have been ahead of the curve by a few years.
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Post by angelofapocalypse on Feb 11, 2018 22:32:43 GMT -5
Well, why Shawn Michaels went the male stripper route, I honestly can't answer that. It's his doing. Hell, even Ric Flair gave some insight telling Shawn Michaels to drop the Rockers act, if he wanted to make a name for himself to superstardom. Then again, I guess the male stripper thing kind of made sense, since he had a large following of female fans. Hence his good looks.
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Post by The Barber on Feb 12, 2018 1:50:52 GMT -5
The rockstar gimmick was to 80s for the 90s. It had to be dropped. There were no rockstars in the 90s? Only hair metal was dead. He just needed to update the look. Besides, you think a male stripper is a better gimmick for a number one babyface? Bret Hart and HBK both looked like lead singers of hair metal bands from the 80s. That look (just like WWF's whole mindset) was past it's prime. I agree that a change of appearance was needed. Don't forget, the 90s was very edgy, so a male stripper gimmick could have worked, but not the way the WWF did it. Well, why Shawn Michaels went the male stripper route, I honestly can't answer that. With the way the WWF and Shawn Michaels were rumored to be acting behind the scenes...nah, I ain't going there.
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Post by Joe Neglia on Feb 12, 2018 2:37:00 GMT -5
Another very slight addition to consider in regards to the fanbase growing up and out of it - we were sort of at that point where everything that had been big in the "boy" pop culture bubble during the "golden age" of the 80s toy/show/comic marketing juggernaut was gone or almost gone. He-Man and Thundercats didn't even make out of the '80s, GI Joe was on the decline as a toy brand and was in its forgettable DIC years as a cartoon. The Transformers cartoon was long over, and the comic was cancelled just into the 90s. Marvel was back in decline after a huge 3-4 years in the mid-80s. A lot of the luster of the Post-Crisis DC was starting to fade, with the only saving grace being the huge resurgence in all things Batman thanks to the movie. The company that competed with them with the Hulk Hogan cartoon and LJN dolls was just another part of this group, and they all started plummeting, with most of them years away from having a successful comeback (Marvel and DC got turned around sooner than the others, thanks to the beginning of the speculator boom).
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Feb 12, 2018 2:53:54 GMT -5
Another very slight addition to consider in regards to the fanbase growing up and out of it - we were sort of at that point where everything that had been big in the "boy" pop culture bubble during the "golden age" of the 80s toy/show/comic marketing juggernaut was gone or almost gone. He-Man and Thundercats didn't even make out of the '80s, GI Joe was on the decline as a toy brand and was in its forgettable DIC years as a cartoon. The Transformers cartoon was long over, and the comic was cancelled just into the 90s. Marvel was back in decline after a huge 3-4 years in the mid-80s. A lot of the luster of the Post-Crisis DC was starting to fade, with the only saving grace being the huge resurgence in all things Batman thanks to the movie. The company that competed with them with the Hulk Hogan cartoon and LJN dolls was just another part of this group, and they all started plummeting, with most of them years away from having a successful comeback (Marvel and DC got turned around sooner than the others, thanks to the beginning of the speculator boom). Regarding the comic books of the 90s, it wasn't cool being a good guy anymore, we had the rise of the anti hero. Punisher became big during that era, Spawn sold a million copies, Azrael becoming Batman, even Lobo a parody of that type of characters became popular. I think that also impacted wrestling. The fans now in their mid to late teens saw Hogan for what he was, a liar and not the ultimate good guy they grew up with. I think that's why Hollywood Hogan worked so well.
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