Best WWE/F Gimmicks

[BluePrint83]

Was playing an older mod and was thinking of different gimmiks that the WWE/F has used and was wondering. What do you think are some of the best gimmicks they have used. I was thinking about uing some past gimmicks in a modern day diary.

[Marcel Fromage]

Going back a bit to a time I actually watched WWF (and bear in mind that I generally liked lower card workers better than the major stars), I'd give these honourable mention for gimmicks that were either great, or could have been done better but I liked the general idea... 1) Mr Perfect 2) Gangrel 3) The Quebecers (got to love that singing) 4) The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibia$e 5) Hakushi (pre-turn) 6) Kane (original form - great debut) 7) 'Model' Rick Martel 8) Headshrinkers (original) 9) Goldust (original) 10) The Bodydonnas You can probably tell I always liked the heels! And, for balance, some I could really have done without... 1) Hacksaw Jim Duggan (always bugged the hell out of me) 2) Men On A Mission (Mabel winning King of the Ring was one of the worst moments in wrestling history) 3) Doink 4) Coach - not the current guy. But the guy Hennig got lumbered with for a short while 5) Ron Simmons in that ridiculous helmet he debuted with 6) El Matador (poor Tito) 7) Thurman 'Sparky' Plugg 8) Big Boss Man (in his fan favourite role) 9) Dude Love (give me Mankind or Cactus Jack any day) 10) The Nasty Boys

[BluePrint83]

"Loose Cannon" Brian Pillman was one of my favorites along with Kane and Mr. Perfect.

[shamelessposer]

Edge & Christian, back in their "totally reeks of awesomeness," playing-Benoit's-theme-song-on-a-pair-of-kazoos, Christian-wearing-a-chicken-suit-to-qualify-for-the-Light-Heavyweight-title days Matt Hardy, Version 1 The Hurricane Dean Malenko's "Ladies' Man" gimmick William Regal Al Snow!

[MrSelfDestruct]

I liked the "Hollywood" Rock gimmick it was more realistic

[mad5226]

what no love for Dean Douglas? Class is in session lol

[BluePrint83]

I was always a big Warrior fan. Would be cool to see a modern day warrior gimmick. Not sure who would be good to use though.

[cappyboy]

[QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;425982]Going back a bit to a time I actually watched WWF (and bear in mind that I generally liked lower card workers better than the major stars), I'd give these honourable mention for gimmicks that were either great, or could have been done better but I liked the general idea... 1) Mr Perfect 2) Gangrel 3) The Quebecers (got to love that singing) 4) The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibia$e 5) Hakushi (pre-turn) 6) Kane (original form - great debut) 7) 'Model' Rick Martel 8) Headshrinkers (original) 9) Goldust (original) 10) The Bodydonnas You can probably tell I always liked the heels! And, for balance, some I could really have done without... 1) Hacksaw Jim Duggan (always bugged the hell out of me) 2) Men On A Mission (Mabel winning King of the Ring was one of the worst moments in wrestling history) 3) Doink 4) Coach - not the current guy. But the guy Hennig got lumbered with for a short while 5) Ron Simmons in that ridiculous helmet he debuted with 6) El Matador (poor Tito) 7) Thurman 'Sparky' Plugg 8) Big Boss Man (in his fan favourite role) 9) Dude Love (give me Mankind or Cactus Jack any day) 10) The Nasty Boys[/QUOTE] Okay. I'm not going to go Multi Quote Moe on ya here Marcel. Too much trouble But I do need to tweak your list here a little. First off 2) Gangrel Always hated this gimmick. But then I was never a vampire guy either. I'm clearly not the temperment that was being targeted with Gangrel. And 6) Kane (original form - great debut) Meh. Original form Kane struck me as a whole lot of overkill. I could have done without all these years of "Undertaker's brother" stuff. I have grown to love Kane as he's aged and evolved away from that stuff. But early on, pure Wrestlecrap in my mind. In Gangrel's place, I give you Waylon Mercy. He comes out all calm and serene. All hippie-like and genial. Even shaking the ref's hand. Then the bell rings and he just mauls the poor shlub up against him in oblivion. And the crazed psycho look Spivey got on his face when he worked something like a neck vise or shoulder claw. Gloriously demonic. Shame his body was shot by then. The character just sweated potential. And in Kane's place, I give you Dean Douglas. Awesome gimmick that went to a rather unfortunate choice of talent. Imagine it today in the hands of Matt Striker. With his legit teaching background and abundance of personality, you could have gold. But giving it to a guy who couldn't get along with the power players in the locker room was a sad mistake. Shane's always been terrific at playing arrogant but a guy who runs so far afoul of a de facto ruling class like the Clique was in those days isn't smart enough to be the resident Dean. On the bad side, I will withhold judgment on "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and The Nasty Boys. Both cases are like The Dudleys in that their famous gimmicks pre-dated their runs with the WWE. But there is one I do have to take issue with and that is 4) Coach - not the current guy. But the guy Hennig got lumbered with for a short while If I'm going to take issue with any Coach the E has had, it will be the current guy. They took a pretty decent announcer who had the potential to be a main line guy and ruined him by turning him into an arrogant jackass who always seems to be trying far too hard to make the role work. I can't at all fault the "Coach" John Tolos version conceptually at all. The only mistake I could find there was putting him with someone so "Perfectly" established as Hennig. Put him with some young up and comers and have him abuse them and all is well is that Coach. As for who I replace him with on that list, that too is obvious. Can you say Salvatore Sincere? My word what an abomination. They clearly wanted Rick Martel back to reprise the Model and couldn't get him. So what to do? How about we combine the model gimmick with a smarmy Italian and send some random indie upper-midcarder's career out to die for our amusement? Sincere was about the time I was starting to smarken up as a fan and I so wish I could blot the memories from my mind. Salvatore Sincere promos should have been violations of the Geneva Convention. OY!!

[CubsFan915]

I don't care what anyone says. Gangrel's entrance with the Kurt-Angle-Elevator up through the ring of fire is the best entrance of all time. I'm not much of a vampire-type guy either, but I just loved that entrance.

[BluePrint83]

I wasnt a Vampire type guy either but his entrance was one of the best.

[Beeker]

Gangrel's Entrance remains one of the best ever. As for other great gimmicks... Evil Doink was fantastic. The Repo Man Jake the Snake Roberts - Orginal EVIL Version The Berzeker - Huss! Huss! Vader - in WCW not WWF. White Castle of Fear! Barry Horowitz! - Shut up! Pat on the back ruled! Owen Hart - Double Slammy Award Winner Mr. Backlund - just a great character Demolition - they started out as imitators but then craved out their own niche Ahmed Johnson - sure he was sloppy as all hell but the look was good. I could go on...

[keefmoon]

The Undertaker during his undead/deadman/phenom days. Come on guys, this gimmick has to be up there. I personally really, really liked the American Bad Ass gimmick (I know many didn't) but if it hadn't followed the Phenom gimmick it may have had more of a chance. The way Callaway has evolved the Undertaker character is fantastic really. I especially liked the Ministry 'Taker when he just seemed so damn evil. I agree with the Million Dollar Man, Edge & Christians "reeking of awesomeness" stage and Hollywood Rock. I thought all three were great fun and really suited the people playing the character. Some of the Edge & Christian skits were up there amongst the funniest and most entertaining of all time in my opinion. I always wanted to see what they came up with next, which is difficult in a 2 hour, 52 weeks a year show.

[KColl]

[QUOTE=BluePrint83;425987]"Loose Cannon" Brian Pillman was one of my favorites along with Kane and Mr. Perfect.[/QUOTE] He was doing Loose Cannon long before he made it to the WWE. Stone Cold, The Undertaker, Million Dollar Man, Perfect, and Rdue were the best.

[keefmoon]

Of course, whilst not WWF gimmicks, two of my favourite ever were Hogan around 97 (when he just came across as a giant pr*ck) and crow Sting. To have the two of them facing off at Starrcade should have been curtains for WWF, those two gimmicks in that storyline... phoa. What a shame.

[cappyboy]

[QUOTE=keefmoon;426137]The Undertaker during his undead/deadman/phenom days. Come on guys, this gimmick has to be up there. I personally really, really liked the American Bad Ass gimmick (I know many didn't) but if it hadn't followed the Phenom gimmick it may have had more of a chance. The way Callaway has evolved the Undertaker character is fantastic really. I especially liked the Ministry 'Taker when he just seemed so damn evil. [/QUOTE] Agreed. The fact you could take a character as out there as The Undertaker and evolve him in the ways WWE has over the years is remarkable. One wouldn't think a zombie gimmick had that much growth potential. But they made it well. Probably to best case scenario standards with Taker. And I agree with you on American Bad Ass to a point. Speaking only for myself though, it would have gone over like a lead balloon had they done it earlier. Because the primary reason it worked so well for me was a bit of a harkening back to childhood fandom for me. It wasn't that Taker was so much better in that character. It wasn't that he rocked the ring as American Bad Ass or anything. The reason that worked for me is that he reminded me of my older brother in Alabama in biker mode. I usually hate biker gimmicks. But Calloway played it in a way that felt normal and comfortable so I was able to roll with it. Dude is probably one of the more under-rated personality guys in the game.

[keefmoon]

[QUOTE=cappyboy;426161]Agreed. The fact you could take a character as out there as The Undertaker and evolve him in the ways WWE has over the years is remarkable. One wouldn't think a zombie gimmick had that much growth potential. But they made it well. Probably to best case scenario standards with Taker. And I agree with you on American Bad Ass to a point. Speaking only for myself though, it would have gone over like a lead balloon had they done it earlier. Because the primary reason it worked so well for me was a bit of a harkening back to childhood fandom for me. It wasn't that Taker was so much better in that character. It wasn't that he rocked the ring as American Bad Ass or anything. The reason that worked for me is that he reminded me of my older brother in Alabama in biker mode. I usually hate biker gimmicks. But Calloway played it in a way that felt normal and comfortable so I was able to roll with it. Dude is probably one of the more under-rated personality guys in the game.[/QUOTE] The guys incredible in my book. Me and Nevvy were discussing how good he could have been if he had been in ECW from the start. That size, agility, power, ability to bump and the fact that he's actually pretty good in the ring means he could have been huge even in ECW, which for someone who has largely just been a big brawler in WWF is quite something. I think the A.B.A gimmick was a difficult situation. I think he had to change from the undead gimmick before it became stale, and the Bad Ass thing did suit him. Thing is, the ABA gimmick was never going to be as successful as the Phenom gimmick, and as such was always going to look like a failure (depite fitting him like a glove) but Calaway would never have gotten so over if he'd only ever been the American Bad Ass. Damned if you do, damned if you don't, really.

[sebsplex]

Max Moon = best gimmick ever. Lots of great and horrible gimmicks over the years though. Al Snow as Leif (sp?) Cassidy is another that sticks in mind, that and Mosh as Beaver Cleevage.

[Marcel Fromage]

[QUOTE=cappyboy;426011]In Gangrel's place, I give you Waylon Mercy. He comes out all calm and serene. All hippie-like and genial. Even shaking the ref's hand. Then the bell rings and he just mauls the poor shlub up against him in oblivion. And the crazed psycho look Spivey got on his face when he worked something like a neck vise or shoulder claw. Gloriously demonic. Shame his body was shot by then. The character just sweated potential. And in Kane's place, I give you Dean Douglas. Awesome gimmick that went to a rather unfortunate choice of talent. Imagine it today in the hands of Matt Striker. With his legit teaching background and abundance of personality, you could have gold. But giving it to a guy who couldn't get along with the power players in the locker room was a sad mistake. Shane's always been terrific at playing arrogant but a guy who runs so far afoul of a de facto ruling class like the Clique was in those days isn't smart enough to be the resident Dean. [/QUOTE] Ooh, I forgot about them. Most of my wrestling knowledge is hidden in the depths of my brain somewhere. Waylon Mercy was a great gimmick, but like you said, it was just a shame that Spivey was way past his prime by then. And Dean Douglas should have been so much better done. I remember being excited when I found out Shane Douglas was debuting, being intrigued by the fact he was portrayed as that character, and then rather annoyed by the character's direction.

[Beeker]

Waylon Mercy got hurt... I think via a Diesel powerbomb... not positive. Damn that Nash! Because Mercy was amazing. Oh and I LOVED Mantaur [I]"Part man, part beast... ALL MINE!"[/I] But then I love me some Jim Cornette. And Goldust was nothing short of *deep inhale* m-m-m-magnificent *chomp!*

[Ping von Erich]

Goldust, back before he was turned into a comedy act was one of the best characters to ever grace the WWE. Took the"make the crowd uncomfortable" heel role to a whole new level. Also huge props for The demon Undertaker gimmick, especially during his feud with Stone Cold.. amazing character, shot in the face when he became the "American Bad Ass" but bah well. Also, honestly, props have to go to the Mr. McMahon character, Vince has created one of the most compelling characters to ever grace a WWE ring, think of all the good memories watching WWE programming that center around evil Mr. McMahon. Also, what the crap.. Randy Savage in his WWF heyday was untouchable in terms of keeping the fans captivated with a simple straight forward promo. Oooo yeah.

[TeflonBilly]

I think my favorite under-rated WWF gimmick would have to be The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers when they started to turn heel. I used to get a kick out of their "pro-America" promos, when one brother would talk, and the other would wave his little American flag faster. The first one was great. Raymond-"Hello. I'm Jacques." Jacques-"And I'm Raymond" Together-"And we're the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers!" Jacques-"Actually, I'm Jacques, and he's Raymond." Raymond-"Yes, we shouldn't confuse our American fans like that. We don't want them to think we're like Dino Bravo. We love America!" They just cracked me up.

[Michael Wayne]

[QUOTE=cappyboy;426011]Salvatore Sincere promos should have been violations of the Geneva Convention. OY!![/QUOTE] I still mark out for that gimmick. Funny thing though was they basically used him as a babyface at the end. WWE has had so many crappy gimmicks. 90-96 were the worst. Duke the Dumpster Droese, The Goon, Abe Knuckleball Scwartz, Doink, Dink, The Oddities, Bastian Booger, Skinner, High Energy (anything involving Koko B. Ware was bound to fail), Damien Demento, Giant Gonzoles... I always liked the IRS and Berzerker gimmicks. Rotundo cut awesome IRS promos. And Norde was hilarious. "HUSS! HUSS! HUSS!"

[mad5226]

LOL I forgot all about Duke "The Dumpster" Drose. Didn't he find a bunch of money in his trash can once or something

[MattitudeV2]

I think personally both the Rock and Austin were some of the greatest gimmicks the bionic Redneck and the People's Champ greatest ever.

[CubsFan915]

[QUOTE=keefmoon;426137]The Undertaker during his undead/deadman/phenom days. Come on guys, this gimmick has to be up there. [/QUOTE] Oh, definitely - I'm certainly not slighting whichever incarnation of the deadman as he's one of the all-time best gimmicks. I just think that Gangrel tends to get forgotten about, since he really spent most of his time as almost a manager.