petef3
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,783
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Post by petef3 on Aug 31, 2019 16:57:15 GMT -5
Even that, if played by someone else maybe it could have worked? Never as world champion material but an obese, obnoxious slob isn't as far fetched or ridiculous as some of the gimmicks mentioned above, all of whom got over. Shaw did as good with the gimmick as anyone could. He was obese, he was obnoxious, and he looked and acted like a slob. Shaw had previously gotten over (at least to some degree) being a fake Pakistani and a mental patient--it's not like he didn't know how to work gimmicks.
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petef3
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,783
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Post by petef3 on Aug 31, 2019 17:01:37 GMT -5
And Undertaker wasn't "undead" until long after he already got over. He got over initially because he was a soulless monster who could also move and also was just a dark, morbid guy. Heenan would declare he was "not human," but that was just standard heeling--it wasn't until he no-sold chloroform at Mania 9 that there was any legitimate element of the supernatural to the character.
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Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,070
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Post by Mozenrath on Aug 31, 2019 17:20:04 GMT -5
Pogo the Clown.
A clown gimmick's fine, and makes sense. A killer clown, even, sure.
Don't name yourself after a very specific murderer clown.
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Post by arrogantmodel on Aug 31, 2019 17:39:17 GMT -5
Pogo the Clown. A clown gimmick's fine, and makes sense. A killer clown, even, sure. Don't name yourself after a very specific murderer clown. A killer clown from outer space? In the words of Cryme Tyme: Money, money! Yeah, yeah!
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67 more
King Koopa
He's just a Sexy Kurt
Posts: 11,504
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Post by 67 more on Sept 1, 2019 3:01:39 GMT -5
Yes.
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chazraps
Wade Wilson
Better have my money when I come-a collect!
Posts: 27,959
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Post by chazraps on Sept 1, 2019 3:16:10 GMT -5
Pogo the Clown. A clown gimmick's fine, and makes sense. A killer clown, even, sure. Don't name yourself after a very specific murderer clown. Yeah, this is the kind of tasteless where a gimmick is objectively bad and shouldn't exist. I'd add the Jersey All Pro Wrestling skin head heel in the early-aughts who would zieg-hail in the ring for heat, but the smarks would zieg-hail right back to him. More recently, "Hasidic Outlaw" Mathias Glass was an exceptionally tasteless gimmick of a hasidic jewish wrestler who IRL was a gentile portraying the most disrespectful Jewish stereotypes as comedy. But he seemed to completely vanish in 2018 after being called out on it.
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Perfect Timing
Dennis Stamp
Sigs/Avatars cannot exceed 1MB
Posts: 4,869
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Post by Perfect Timing on Sept 1, 2019 6:55:52 GMT -5
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Post by EvenBaldobombHasAJob on Sept 1, 2019 8:08:49 GMT -5
Zombies = scary Corrupt cops = scary Bad Elvis impersonators = annoying A rooster? Who has feelings one way or another about a rooster? Those f***ing things wake you up at the crack of dawn. Beaver Cleavage. A character based on an old ass tv show who has a possible incestuous relationship with his mom. Has Vince written all over it. Granted, there was a Leave it to Beaver movie in the 90s, but who in the hell was asking for it? It's like when The Lone Ranger movie came out. Who wants to see these stories when it's damn near 2020? Beaver Cleavage was Vince Russo's idea. it was his dream gimmick. Vince McMahon hated it from the get go and was the one who canned it after one week. it was the straw that broke the camel's back and Vince Russo packed it in to go work in WCW soon afterwards.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2019 9:12:01 GMT -5
Bad gimmick and he rarely won. Winning combination.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2019 9:15:14 GMT -5
Pogo the Clown. A clown gimmick's fine, and makes sense. A killer clown, even, sure. Don't name yourself after a very specific murderer clown. Especially when you just wind up dressing as an obese juggalo than a party clown for hire.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Sept 1, 2019 9:18:55 GMT -5
Anyone else would have failed as Undertaker, tons of people would have bombed as the Honky Tonk Man; ill-fitting gimmicks that don't suit the talent are definitely bad, there's something to be said for misuse of talent as an objectively bad idea. But past that, I do think some ideas are dumb and bad and work in some way in spite of themselves; Undertaker's character is absolutely stupid in several ways and the more you get into the layers and the biker years and the Kane stuff, the more baffling it becomes. It didn't succeed in any way because the gimmick itself was good--which isn't to say it was bad, but it wasn't 'a good gimmick'--it succeeded through the combination of the talent behind the act, and the writing that put the act into stories people got invested in. Sometimes that's enough to overcome the ludicrous nature of what's there, but it's rare. and sometimes a bad gimmick could start off working but give people a massive ceiling later. Like Val Venis. It got him massively over for a time... but dude was never going to be a World Champion after it. He only really got the IC Belt due to the fact that the IC title was given to everyone in the Attitude Era. Besides gimmicks that give you a ceiling, I'd also put gimmicks that don't translate to the ring as bad gimmicks.
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Post by Heinz Doofenschmirtz on Sept 1, 2019 10:04:10 GMT -5
Pogo the Clown. A clown gimmick's fine, and makes sense. A killer clown, even, sure. Don't name yourself after a very specific murderer clown. Yeah, this is the kind of tasteless where a gimmick is objectively bad and shouldn't exist. I'd add the Jersey All Pro Wrestling skin head heel in the early-aughts who would zieg-hail in the ring for heat, but the smarks would zieg-hail right back to him. More recently, "Hasidic Outlaw" Mathias Glass was an exceptionally tasteless gimmick of a hasidic jewish wrestler who IRL was a gentile portraying the most disrespectful Jewish stereotypes as comedy. But he seemed to completely vanish in 2018 after being called out on it. Oh, wow...I don’t even know what to say about those gimmicks.
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Post by arrogantmodel on Sept 1, 2019 11:02:13 GMT -5
Those f***ing things wake you up at the crack of dawn. Beaver Cleavage. A character based on an old ass tv show who has a possible incestuous relationship with his mom. Has Vince written all over it. Granted, there was a Leave it to Beaver movie in the 90s, but who in the hell was asking for it? It's like when The Lone Ranger movie came out. Who wants to see these stories when it's damn near 2020? Beaver Cleavage was Vince Russo's idea. it was his dream gimmick. Vince McMahon hated it from the get go and was the one who canned it after one week. it was the straw that broke the camel's back and Vince Russo packed it in to go work in WCW soon afterwards. Honestly surprised at this, with Vince's history of pitching incest angles, including with his own daughter. And liking blondes built like brick shithouses.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Sept 1, 2019 11:09:59 GMT -5
Yeah, this is the kind of tasteless where a gimmick is objectively bad and shouldn't exist. I'd add the Jersey All Pro Wrestling skin head heel in the early-aughts who would zieg-hail in the ring for heat, but the smarks would zieg-hail right back to him. More recently, "Hasidic Outlaw" Mathias Glass was an exceptionally tasteless gimmick of a hasidic jewish wrestler who IRL was a gentile portraying the most disrespectful Jewish stereotypes as comedy. But he seemed to completely vanish in 2018 after being called out on it. Oh, wow...I don’t even know what to say about those gimmicks. Yeah, I didn't know about the Skin head but Glass was pretty big news a few years ago because David Starr (An actual Jewish Wrestler) was calling him out for it. I mean the dude looked like this. looking it up his YT hasn't been updated in two years so I guess he either stopped or no one would book him.
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Dang!
Dennis Stamp
Posts: 4,276
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Post by Dang! on Sept 1, 2019 11:40:02 GMT -5
I wouldn't call The Shockmaster a bad gimmick per se. Awful execution, but not a "going nowhere" gimmick like Bastion Booger.
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cactussam
Bubba Ho-Tep
The Greatest United States Champion of All Time! Because this building is apropos!
Posts: 572
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Post by cactussam on Sept 1, 2019 11:57:40 GMT -5
The Ding Dongs, maybe a great gimmick for some bell fetishists.
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Post by jason1980s on Sept 1, 2019 12:57:04 GMT -5
I wouldn't call The Shockmaster a bad gimmick per se. Awful execution, but not a "going nowhere" gimmick like Bastion Booger. This is the best way to describe Shockmaster, poor execution. If the 2x4 hadn't been there it obviously would have gone a lot better. I think they needed to do more to mask that it was Fred Ottman and if not, give him an outfit that would be more intimidating. Fred was a good worker but for a gimmick like Shockmaster that was supposed to be more serious they probably needed a guy with a more serious gimmick history. Also Typhoon had been on the losing end of matches in WWF for like 6 months so definitely not coming in as a main eventer. Fred is such a positive guy that he probably appreciates the gimmick and the employment but he deserved better than how it came off and he probably could have gotten longer term employment and a mid 1990s big WCW contract (1995-1997 era) if the gimmick had been more successful and he stayed.
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Post by Hit Girl on Sept 1, 2019 13:03:17 GMT -5
Hey, Fall Through Wall Man was a great gimmick!
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Sept 1, 2019 13:03:29 GMT -5
The hell was shockmasters gimmick even supposed to be?
Take out the fall, it's still a guy in a vest a purple sparkly stormtrooper helmet (which he certainly couldn't wrestle in) with obvious dubbed in voice.
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Post by Tenshigure on Sept 1, 2019 13:05:46 GMT -5
I wouldn't call The Shockmaster a bad gimmick per se. Awful execution, but not a "going nowhere" gimmick like Bastion Booger. Lose the helmet and have him not botch his entrance through the wall (and thus, not have everyone involved break character and laugh), he could've at least made a semi-decent Dungeon of Doom reject.
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