|
Post by The Thread Barbi on Jul 31, 2020 15:06:21 GMT -5
www.thesun.co.uk/sport/wwe/11703861/wwe-the-undertaker-seth-rollins/Ooooh boy. The latest in "Seth says stuff" and its a doozy! "SETH ROLLINS believes WWE legend The Undertaker would not be able to craft his mysterious persona in the modern-day. Few have enjoyed as long a career in the ring as Taker, real name Mark Calaway, who famously never dropped his supernatural character The Undertaker joined WWE in 1990 and has become one of the most popular wrestlers in the franchise's history. And The Last Ride documentary earlier this year provided fans with unprecedented access into a man who, Rollins feels, could not craft the same horror-themed, supernatural esque gimmick in today's WWE. Speaking on Corey Graves' After the Bell podcast, the 34-year-old spoke of how The Undertaker no longer works as a concept, leading to Calaway taking on more of his own persona through the documentary. Rollins said: "The smart thing about this with Taker is, he did [the documentary] at the right time in his career. "Twelve-year-old you, if you had seen The Last Ride, it would have ruined everything. But we didn’t have that. "His character doesn’t work today" "There are some weird exceptions, Bray Wyatt comes to mind from an ultra-character perspective who sort of slides by a little bit or gets a pass. "The Undertaker character is so supernatural, so now that he’s at this point in his life where he is comfortable transitioning out of the character and into Mark Calaway, it makes it okay for me to watch it and see him being a human being. "In the long run, I think it will help him transition into being himself and retirement and whatever the next phase of The Undertaker looks like."
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2020 15:09:39 GMT -5
I don't really have an issue with anything he said here, but I've also been tired of the Deadman character for years now.
|
|
|
Post by Cyno on Jul 31, 2020 15:13:40 GMT -5
I don't think he's wrong here. On the surface, the Undertaker is an extremely goofy character. Not saying it wouldn't outright work, but it'd take a lot more effort to get over as a fresh character in 2020 vs. 1990.
|
|
|
Post by rnrk supports BLM on Jul 31, 2020 15:18:53 GMT -5
...their top merch seller on the fulltime roster right now is a reality-warping demon clown.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2020 15:19:14 GMT -5
I don't think he's wrong here. On the surface, the Undertaker is an extremely goofy character. Not saying it wouldn't outright work, but it'd take a lot more effort to get over as a fresh character in 2020 vs. 1990. Undertaker feels like one of those characters that the board would be split on if he debuted in 2020 the same way he did in 1990.
|
|
|
Post by The Thread Barbi on Jul 31, 2020 15:42:55 GMT -5
Feels like he's dismissing 30 years of main eventing with that.
The fact that the character is a generational main eventer would logically dictate that it would be over if debuted today.
Is Demon Balor and to an extent Braun Stowman not of the same character driven ilk?
|
|
XIII
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Posts: 18,367
Member is Online
|
Post by XIII on Jul 31, 2020 15:45:03 GMT -5
I mean it’s 30 years later Vince writing and booking so a lot of legendary characters wouldn’t work anymore.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2020 16:05:52 GMT -5
I mean it’s 30 years later Vince writing and booking so a lot of legendary characters wouldn’t work anymore. Current Vince booking Stone Cold is a scary thing to think about.
|
|
|
Post by Hit Girl on Jul 31, 2020 16:07:31 GMT -5
Nothing works anymore. They forgot how to book properly about 20 years ago.
|
|
Hypnosis
T
Posts: 97,036
Member is Online
|
Post by Hypnosis on Jul 31, 2020 16:13:06 GMT -5
I mean it’s 30 years later Vince writing and booking so a lot of legendary characters wouldn’t work anymore. Current Vince booking Stone Cold is a scary thing to think about. Teams with Humberto Carrillo, and they go 50/50 with Andrade and Garza on Raw.
|
|
|
Post by BatPunk on Jul 31, 2020 16:51:56 GMT -5
Lucha Underground worked.
Really well IMO.
|
|
|
Post by A Platypus Rave on Jul 31, 2020 16:55:17 GMT -5
...their top merch seller on the fulltime roster right now is a reality-warping demon clown. I mean if they booked Undertaker like original Bray Wyatt with no real direction and he just showed up said a bunch of meaningless spooky crap... acted completely the same whether he won or lost a feud... and basically only had storylines when he decided to attack a random person because they couldn't figure out an ending to the actual storyline they were in the middle of? yeah it wouldn't work... But the Fiend is almost entirely doing the same kinda shit the Undertaker was used for... so his existence and fact that it's working pretty much proves that Taker could get over. I mean... Funhouse bray even kinda fits the mold of a Paul Bearer type hype man >_>
|
|
|
Post by rnrk supports BLM on Jul 31, 2020 17:16:47 GMT -5
Funhouse bray even kinda fits the mold of a Paul Bearer type hype man >_> I hadn't thought of that before, but it totally fits. Bray is somehow his own manager. Not in the usual sense of cutting his own promos, but as a separate(ish) character who can show up and getting beaten up without ruining his client's mystique.
|
|
Perfect Timing
Dennis Stamp
Sigs/Avatars cannot exceed 1MB
Posts: 4,869
|
Post by Perfect Timing on Jul 31, 2020 18:39:11 GMT -5
Nothing works in the covid Performance Center ERA.
|
|
|
Post by The Thread Barbi on Jul 31, 2020 19:16:23 GMT -5
A young Mark Callaway would still be over with today's crowd. A 7 foot 300 pound guy that moves like an AJ Styles? Plus is a zombie? What's not to like?
|
|
|
Post by King Devitt: Scrum Guzzler on Jul 31, 2020 19:31:00 GMT -5
Lucha Underground worked. Really well IMO. Exactly. If it's presented well people will buy into anything, because wrestling at it's core is escapism, and just because you know it's not real doesn't mean you can't get lost in the imagination of it all.
|
|
|
Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Jul 31, 2020 20:40:33 GMT -5
It wouldn't work now because WWE can't book shit.
The Fiend exists on some other reality - he was killed by booking, not modern wrestling.
|
|
|
Post by SHAKEMASTER TV9 is Don Knotts on Jul 31, 2020 20:47:27 GMT -5
It always depends on the performer and the booking. Undertaker was the exemption in that time too. Kane was an exemption in the Attitude Era. And Matt Hardy recently learned how to teleport and talk to drones.
There are always attempts like Papa Shango, Boogeyman, Yeti, but they don't happen that often.
|
|
|
Post by GuyOfOwnage on Jul 31, 2020 21:40:44 GMT -5
I do believe debuting the character today would really hinder the building of the Undertaker character and mythos. Everything is too visible and everyone is too connected. It could still work, but his ability to keep a low public profile and maintain the mystery and aura of the character would be much, much more difficult than it was to do in the early-to-mid 90s.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2020 21:52:15 GMT -5
Lucha Underground worked. Really well IMO. Exactly. If it's presented well people will buy into anything, because wrestling at it's core is escapism, and just because you know it's not real doesn't mean you can't get lost in the imagination of it all. I would venture to argue that LU was one of the most Kayfabed wrestling companies in decades. There was no wink-wink "it's a work, folks" types of promos, and everything that happened was treated as 100% real. At this point, everyone knows it's a work, so stop reminding us all it's a work with worked-shoot BS and give us good matches involving characters we care about. And, hey, on the main subject.. wouldn't you know it, The Undertaker was a big guy who could wrestle, and had a character that got over as hell.
|
|