Posted by Jack Lord on August 2, 2009, 7:01 pm, in reply to "Re: gimmicks"
I see your point. Though in Big's defense, I always took his character as a little man that refused to be little. Another small guy I used to work with was Chris Badstreet. Outside the ring, Chris is a dedicated bodybuilder and actively participates in MMA training and events. In the ring, his character is a guy who is blaming the world because he is short and takes it out on anybody who gets in the ring with him no matter what size they are. He is extremely believable because he bases his in-ring character on his real personality (although, in my opinion, you will never meet a nicer or humble man anywhere).
When I first started, gimmicks were used to compensate for lack of talent. Guys who were good workers simply wore traditional ring gear (tights, boots) and let their personalities develop over time. Some of the greatest workers in Continental Wrestling simply added some touches over time to increase their characters: Masks (& later painted facial stars) set the very small Nightmares (Danny Davis & Kenny Wayne) apart from the rest, Wendell Cooley added custom cowboy boots, Jerry Stubbs became Mr. Olympia, Bob Armstrong added the famous hood, etc.
Gimmicks, in and of themselves, are all right in the short run, but if no real talent rides behind them, that horse is in for a very short ride.
Oh, and before anyone tries to point out that Adrian Street had a "gimmick", let me tell you, that was no gimmick, that is really what Adrian is about! LOL
I don't mean to take away from this discussion by my comments and I hope I have not. Thanks to everyone who contributes to not only this thread, but to this board in general. Shows me that there are still a lot of intellectual folks in this business!
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