|
Post by sungod2020 on Jan 27, 2022 20:15:48 GMT -5
As we all know, the New Generation was one of the lowest points in WWF history. While it was headlined by guys such as Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Undertaker, and Razor Ramon and other name talent, pretty much anybody below the upper midcard were saddled with an occupational gimmick.
Garbage men, hog farmers, plumbers, country singers, magicians, clowns, and race car drivers oh my! You can be euphemistic with these guys and say times were so tough that they needed to take up a second job to keep the lights on. While they might've given the company it's less-than-stellar image, they were normally regulated to RAW and superstars, rarely ever making it to PPV.
However, some of these guys stuck around long enough(or returned) into WWF's second golden age, and got upgraded as a result. After multiple failed gimmicks, Charles Wright finally found his niche as The Godfather - a pimp straight out of a Blaxplotation film. Bob Holly denounced his gimmicky past(most notably as Sparky Plug) and became a no-nonsense brawler in the hardcore division. Jeff Jarrett ditched his country singer gimmick and made sure you didn't piss him off or he'd be playing his own tune...on your skull with his guitar. And perhaps the most successful would be The Roadie and Rockabilly having enough of their goofy musician characters and becoming The "Road Dogg" Jesse James and "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn - the New Age Outlaws.
So let's say the same crappy talent made it into The Attitude Era? How would they be updated to stick with the times? How would you do it if you were given the task to book them?
Duke "The Dumpster" Droese - The garbage man hailing from Mt. Trashmore would do fine in the hardcore division. He can even have matches tailor made for him in a junkyard. He can even make use of his environment and using the trash there as weapons. They don't call it "garbage wrestling" for no reason.
Skip - For some reason, I can picture Chris Candido denouncing his fitness gimmick in a worked shoot interview and go by his real name. He can basically be like he was in ECW. Perhaps another tag team title reign. With whom is another story.
Bastion Booger - With that huge hump on his back, he can be another oddity.
Bertha Faye - I can see her shed the whole trailer park character and be who she was in Japan and Puerto Rico as Monster Ripper - a terror in the women's division. She can be a "diva killer" until Chyna stands up to her and eventually comes out on top.
Any you can come up with?
|
|
|
Post by karl100589 on Jan 28, 2022 0:09:08 GMT -5
I picture Bastion Booger as a comedy babyface cashing in on the gross out humour fad of the time (South Park, REN and Stimpy).
|
|
|
Post by dangerousdanpotato on Jan 28, 2022 0:12:39 GMT -5
Doink would have been a good one, as they could have reverted him back to heel and revisited the initial story he debuted with of who was the proficient wrestler behind the mask. Maybe a forced unmasking could lead to Matt Borne becoming unstable like Kane in 2003. Basically, the Borne Again gimmick from ECW with Matt becoming even more psychotic and his Doink persona even sicker.
Tekno Team 2000 - these guys share a paranoid delusion that they're from a dystopic future and have come back to stop American society from destroying the world. Kind of a modern twist on the old American-hating foreigner gimmick. They drop the shiny "futuristic" get up for a more industrial wasteland look. Erik Watts' identity and relationship with his father is discussed a la Goldust as some kind of trigger for his madness.
|
|
|
Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Jan 28, 2022 3:18:40 GMT -5
Jannetty as Marty J, an MTV VJ heel who does Kurt Loder style news updates to bury people
|
|
hassanchop
Grimlock
Who are you to doubt Belldandy?
Posts: 14,796
|
Post by hassanchop on Jan 28, 2022 4:30:16 GMT -5
TL Hopper as a plumber porn character and he teams up with Val Venis. Always talking about laying pipes and clogging drains in a different way.
Bastion Booger as the same person only a bit of a Hoi Polloi from Three Stooges type. They were supposed to reform him but the opposite happened. Let’s say the RTC tried to reform but instead they got influenced by him and now the RTC becomes gross out and shameless about it. Or maybe Beaver Cleavage gets influenced by Bastion and becomes Beavis Cleavage.
Phantasio is still a magician except he is outed as a fake but he doesn’t care he goes after naive individuals and tricks them for cash. A literal scam artist that fakes his antics for money.
Hakushi becomes a supernatural type character with an Asian twist, kinda like someone from Mortal Kombat and becomes part of the Ministry of Darkness.
|
|
|
Post by HMARK Center on Jan 28, 2022 8:47:35 GMT -5
This always makes me think about how many people in the late 90s were wrestlers from the 80s or New Gen eras that I flat-out didn't recognize after their gimmick changes, at least not right away...or I did recognize them, but couldn't really fully process their gimmick shifts.
Like, the most obvious example of the former is Beefer as The Disciple, and with the latter it took me ages to kind of adjust to "wait, the Big Boss Man is back? And he's a SWAT cop or whatever?"
|
|
|
Post by James Fabiano on Jan 28, 2022 10:58:12 GMT -5
Russo had a chance to make Rhonda Singh badass. I think somehow she stays comic relief.
Hakushi somehow is Kaientai member 5 let's be real.
MANTAUR...I can see him get some kind of bodyguard style deal, heck, we saw that in the actual NG. Probably with some midcard act ala JJ and Southern Justice.
We almost had Doink Redux when Mosh went to become Beaver Cleavage. NEWZ had it that Thrasher would do an evil clown gimmick. Anyway I'd envision a kind of copyright-free ICP deal.
|
|
tafkaga
Samurai Cop
the Dogfather
Posts: 2,127
|
Post by tafkaga on Jan 28, 2022 11:38:22 GMT -5
Sparky Plugg wrecks his car while racing drunk and becomes Thurman "Butt" Plugg after embracing BDSM.
|
|
|
Post by Aceorton on Jan 28, 2022 13:10:56 GMT -5
"Gigolo" Jimmy Del Ray becomes an actual gigolo. The highlight of his run is him offering himself to Linda McMahon at the same time Vince is openly fooling around with Trish.
He also has a few weeks where he tries to get in with the Insane Clown Posse as "Juggalo" Jimmy Del Ray, but it goes nowhere.
|
|
|
Post by James Fabiano on Jan 28, 2022 13:51:39 GMT -5
"Gigolo" Jimmy Del Ray becomes an actual gigolo. The highlight of his run is him offering himself to Linda McMahon at the same time Vince is openly fooling around with Trish. He also has a few weeks where he tries to get in with the Insane Clown Posse as "Juggalo" Jimmy Del Ray, but it goes nowhere. Obvious stable with Del Ray, Godfather, and Venis is obvious.
|
|
|
Post by James Fabiano on Jan 28, 2022 20:58:04 GMT -5
Bushwhackers become the Sheepherders again?
|
|
tafkaga
Samurai Cop
the Dogfather
Posts: 2,127
|
Post by tafkaga on Jan 29, 2022 11:15:53 GMT -5
Bushwhackers become the Sheepherders again? Sheep****ers is more Attitude but sure.
|
|
|
Post by "Sweet & Sour" ImSoFudginGreat on Jan 29, 2022 13:08:10 GMT -5
Yokozuna renounces the gimmick becomes Rodney the Samoan gangster in the vein of 3 Minute Warning.
|
|
|
Post by johnnyk9 on Jan 29, 2022 13:55:58 GMT -5
The Goon becomes a hockey coach character he’s suddenly wearing suits and being more vile and ruthless with his character
|
|
Wieners=$$$
Hank Scorpio
Gif Master Extraordinaire
I Miss You Peanut😥
Posts: 6,084
|
Post by Wieners=$$$ on Jan 29, 2022 14:01:51 GMT -5
Jannetty as Marty J, an MTV VJ heel who does Kurt Loder style news updates to bury people He is, once again, released in a week after several of the teenage extras speak up about him hitting on them.
|
|
|
Post by jimmyjackezekiel on Jan 30, 2022 0:49:58 GMT -5
The Goon becomes just a thug in a Detroit Red Wings jersey who likes to beat people with a Hockey Stick.
Repo Man becomes Creepo Man and his gimmick is stalking the female wrestlers showing up in all sorts of crazy places.
Jaques Rougeou ditches the Mountie attire for a tactical vest and becomes Bossman's tag partner.
|
|
hassanchop
Grimlock
Who are you to doubt Belldandy?
Posts: 14,796
|
Post by hassanchop on Jan 30, 2022 3:46:25 GMT -5
The Goon becomes an Adam Sandler type character like Happy Gilmore except much raunchier and hockey related.
Pierre drops the pirate gimmick day becomes more of a mercenary similar to the APA except he works alone and rips his clients off.
Tenryu uses his sumo background to show that it’s not all folks the size of Rikishi or Yokozuna and becomes a combination of Kurt Angle and Ken Shamrock except a more grounded wrestler. He would also team up with Shamrock occasionally and shortens his name to Ryu so they become Ken and Ryu to cash in on the Street Fighter games.
Kamala becomes more of a supernatural monster in the vein of Kane and Undertaker and no longer the simpleton. Kane introduces him as Taker’s past opponents and he rises from the casket from 92 and speaks in English albeit in an accent and a bit broken declaring that Undertaker can’t bury him.
Bushwhackers are the Sheepherders and kinda the same only they are comedy military characters that capture sheep to cash in on Sheep In The Big City, and are joined by Col Mustafa whose name they get wrong and he angrily corrects them similar to the Angry Scientist in the show.
|
|
|
Post by XaviersSS2015hair on Jan 30, 2022 5:59:51 GMT -5
Doink would have been a good one, as they could have reverted him back to heel and revisited the initial story he debuted with of who was the proficient wrestler behind the mask. Maybe a forced unmasking could lead to Matt Borne becoming unstable like Kane in 2003. Basically, the Borne Again gimmick from ECW with Matt becoming even more psychotic and his Doink persona even sicker. Tekno Team 2000 - these guys share a paranoid delusion that they're from a dystopic future and have come back to stop American society from destroying the world. Kind of a modern twist on the old American-hating foreigner gimmick. They drop the shiny "futuristic" get up for a more industrial wasteland look. Erik Watts' identity and relationship with his father is discussed a la Goldust as some kind of trigger for his madness. Headbanger Thrasher was supposed to be repackaged as Doink during the Attitude Era. With Bruce Prichard as his manager. Can't remember all the details or if Prichard was supposed to be Brother Love or a new character but Prichard has mentioned this a few times.
|
|
|
Post by Ronny Rayguns Is All Elite on Jan 30, 2022 8:21:25 GMT -5
Instead racing NASCAR, Sparkplug Holly should have participated in illegal, underground street races
|
|
|
Post by jimmyjackezekiel on Jan 30, 2022 20:55:36 GMT -5
King Kong Bundy becomes just Bundy and serves as the Corporation's answer to Viscera prior to the arrival of Big Show.
Lex Luger comes back tearing down the walls of Kayfabe as an unhinged roided up loon blaming Vince for burying him at Summerslam 93 and ruining his career.
Instead of being fed to Butterbean. Bart Gunn rejoins Billy in DX and becomes Bart "The Fister" Gunn.
|
|