Powerful_Fox Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 I want to create a cartoony type federation similar to early/mid 90's WWF but with the volume turned right up. The problem is I am useless when it comes to creativity so can never think of some really outlandish gimmicks. All I ever come up with is: Patriot, Rich Businessman, Voodoo Chief Then my mind starts to wander and I lose track a bit. Any help would be great! (Accompanying names would be awesome too!) So on the back of the above, you lot have been massively helpful. Hopefully we can keep this going. A great piece of advice is to take inspiration from TV, movies, books and even music to get character traits that could them be applied to a over the top gimmick. EDIT: Here is a list compiled so far by you great people Bad High School Athletic Coach Barber/Crazed Barber British Nobleman Cocky/Grizzled Veteran Comrade Dancing Fool Dastardly Heel Disco/Party/Rave Lover Escaped Prisoner Evil Clown Fitness Obsessive French Ambassador Gladiator Goth Heavy Metal Fan High Flying Hippie - Name: Jimmy The High Flying Hippie Hillbilly Homeless Guy - Name: Soup Can Sam Hostorocal Warriors e.g. Knight, Viking, Samurai etc. Hot Dog Vendor - Vernon The Hot Dog Vendor Magical Man Scout Manimal e.g. Birdman, Python/Cobra/Viper etc. Military Mobster Mythilogic Creature e.g. Fairy, Mantaur etc. Ninja Noir Detective Obsessed Fan Opera Singer/Pop Star Otaku (Manga/Anime Obsessive) Out of Touch Pop/Youth Culture Patriot/Hometown Hero Pirate Punk Ravishing Rich Businessman Royalty Southern Belle Snob Southern Colonel Superhero Surfer Boy Trash Man Tribal Savage Vampire Vigelante e.g. The Crow Voodoo Chief Waiting Staff - Team Name: The Servers Wannabee Rapper Some absolutely great ideas there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soxfan93 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Well, there's always the trash man, like Duke "The Dumpster" Droese. Beyond that, how about a homeless guy who has to wrestle even though he has no discernable skills just to eat? Name him Soup Can Sam. Hmmmm... I'll get back to you. This could be fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kg04 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 A wannabe Rapper, kinda like John Cena when he got his first big push but with less mic skills. That could be a fun guy to taunt in promos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Collin Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Copy stuff from big TV shows, try and reflect pop culture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammartino Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Some options i thought i 5 minute. hillibilly Surfer boy heavy metal fan disco/party lover Some arrogant anti american (always works in usa) - a french ambassador- A british queen servant ( even a noble can work) - a comrade Pirate fitness obsessed A suppose to be sexiest man alive You can also think about a lot of "manimals" (the beast of the east/moondog/dog (junkyard dog)/bird (koko b. Ware) Ninja A supposed to be king Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilb0y Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 A couple I always like, because you can play them cartoony or dark: Evil Clown - like early Doink Escaped Prisoner - Nailz did this, but he was terrible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingster Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 I've always wanted to do an obsessed paparazzo gimmick who stalks the superstars of the promotion and eventually fights them. So there's that for an idea. As for a name: I don't know, maybe Frankie Flashlight? But be careful, a small spelling mistake in the last name may turn away some of your younger audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seminoledozer Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 A bad high school athletic coach. I always picture him balding with a baseball cap on who tries to butt in and offer useless advice. Could be used as a wrestler/manager who puts over the young guys he is trying to offer advice to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soxfan93 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 As for a name: I don't know, maybe Frankie Flashlight? But be careful, a small spelling mistake in the last name may turn away some of your younger audience. Now that, my friend, is a gimmick you should run with! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingster Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Now that, my friend, is a gimmick you should run with! The thing is, I suck at booking entertainment promotions as I'm not creative enough to come up with that kind of stuff on a regular basis. So, Powerful_Fox and everyone else, feel free to steal this idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyria Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 A Superhero: For a cartoony Promotion you need a Superhero! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackKnifed72 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Saw guys working these at local indie shows: Jimmie the High Flying Hippie Man Scout - an evil boy scout counselor (it was kinda creepy but pretty funny too) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattywood Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 A character that someone created at an e-fed I used to be in, and was featured in Fleisch's Millenium mod, Vernon the Hot Dog Vendor. Basically an oh so evil hot dog vendor who sprays various condiments such as ketchup, mustard, spicy mustard, mayo, you name it, at his opponents when the ref isn't looking. May even spill condiments on the audience to make them mad. While on the subject of food based characters, a tag team that some former co-workers (back when I used to wait tables) and I thought would be hilariously bad would be a tag team of waiters or waitresses who come out, dressed in full uniform and carrying a tray of food and/or drinks. They "accidentally" spill the contents onto fans, berate them for being picky about their food and/or drinks, maybe even smash their opponents with the tray. The team would be known as "The Servers." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoxy Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 I usually run a cartoony/comedy women's product in the USA, so. I typically have such things as (note many of these have already been covered, but...): Top Babyfaces: Hometown Hero (usually several) (works great for my small promotion tastes, in a larger company Patriot is probably a decent alternative) Opera Singer/Pop Star. Always a fun one for me, especially for the angles of them singing their promos or their own entrance music. Superhero. Yeah, that's a pretty good one for a cartoony product. Standard Wholesome Babyface. Fan Favorite generally works pretty well to make generically cheerable people. Leading Heels: a Scarlett O'Hara-type Southern Belle/Snob. In a men's promotion, that could make a decent manager gimmick, or it could be replace with a Southern Colonel-type gimmick. (or both) A mobster. (the self-proclaimed "Queen of Chicago", ever feuding with the "Hometown Hero" babyfaces) Goth/Vampire/Punk. Plenty outlandish to most straight laced folks, typically fun for the silly names you can come up with. Cocky veteran. Pretty standard, easy to get over, and can give a good rub to up-and-comers if booked properly. For both: Animals. These can be literal or more figurative (like a street gang of generic toughs), i typically run animal-themed stables, giving the members names that reflect the theme. (e.g. "The Serpents", "Python", "Cobra", "Viper") I usually take that literally and have them behave in stereotypical behavior for that animal. (With the Serpents example, the members would probably be sneaky, backstabbers, but be legit threats in their own right as well) Royalty/Nobility. Giving people pretentious titles like "Lord Humbuckle XI" and so forth. Always fun. Gimmicky Historical Warriors. Knights, Vikings, Samurai, etc. The more stereotypical and broad the better. Raver/Party Animal/Dancing Fool. Can go a lot of ways with this sort of thing. Mythological creatures. Fairies are a favorite of mine, but any sort would work. Pop Culture/Youth Culture Icon. Can be played straight or hilariously out of touch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jama7301 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 When I was running a small, real world indy, I brought in the former Chris Masters as "The Masterpiece", a living statue who's super Finisher was the full Nelson where his arms "turned to stone" and locked in place. I made a lower card tag team start a fan club over a main eventer. And the main eventer promptly ignored their existence. I can also vouch for pop singers. Give them a longer entrance and you can use it as an angle. What about a gladiator who makes his entry in full regalia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d12345 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 If it's copying mid-WWE just take ANY profession and make that profession either an insane over the top bad guy or smiley face good guy. Literally anyone. A Crazy Barber = Bad (He REALLY wants to use his razor on you) A Wholesome Barber = good (He just wants you to look your best) A wholesome airplane pilot = Good (served in the military defending our nation) A bitter pilot = Bad (Fills the engine with rocket fuel and takes the plane into a nosedive because he hates puppies) The more absurd and ridiculous the more early to mid 90's WWF it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teh_Showtime Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Big gigantic tribal savage in the vein of Umaga or Kongo Kong (one of my favorites today) Facepaint optional, but grunts loudly, surprisingly agile, the whole nine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pteroid Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Instant Heat Step 1: Pair a low-level good looking heel with a good looking heel lady wrestler Step 2: Give both a title Step 3: Have this 'Power Couple' hype each other between matches (which ideally happen back to back) Step 4: Have each cheat to make sure the other retain their title Tada~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordofGustav Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Otaku: Never happened in real life, but it would be interesting. Magical girl: A la Sailor Moon or Ojamajo Doremi or more recently Star Butterfly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-Nection Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 I'll take a que from one of Charisma's diaries....a noir detective! He turned Dolph Ziggler into a fantasy booker's dream with that character. You also could have a "dastardly heel" that never seems to win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaysin Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 A revenant vigilante like the Crow or the Wraith. Basically Sting's gimmick in the mid to late 90s turned up to 11. Someone causes a clean cut babyface to "die" or whatever in kayfabe terms and he comes back as an avenging angel type character shrouded in mystery and awesomeness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thekza Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 If you're using a real world database I can definitely say that taking elements of a wrestler's prior career is a great way to keep their gimmick realistic and unique. For example in one of my games, I have Rusev pushed as a main eventer using a character based on The Iron Shiek's crazed, unfiltered, somewhat humorous but still convincing foreign brute personality. In FCW Rusev did a few promos for Promo Class basically doing an impression of the Iron Shiek, plus his finish is the Camel Clutch, it just works. Rusev is a comedic wrestler anyway, but he's also a serious bad ass and I have that Iron Shiek-like persona in mind when considering his motivation or power level. That advice won't help much for a game not set in real life obviously, so here's more insight into how I personally generate new ideas. Taking inspiration from your favorite movies and TV shows is an act that many people look down on, but if you do it loosely there's nothing more helpful. Watch your favorite movie, or even a random movie you'd enjoy, and pick up on the personality traits or the background story of your favorite character. Take whatever that idea is and fit it like a puzzle piece into your wrestling world. Another example for you, in my game I also have Ivelisse Velez signed, but I didn't want her doing the thug gimmick because I already had Homicide. So I took her character and somewhat altered aspects of it to resemble Salma Hayek's character in From Dusk Til Dawn, a movie I saw recently. I noticed how similar the two reminded me of each other. Also I guess it's kind of a cute reference to Robert Rodriguez, the executive producer of Lucha Underground (who directed From Dusk Til Dawn.) Another less obvious source to lift ideas from: Music. Listen to music you enjoy, pay attention to the lyrics you like most, and base a character's motivation on them. You would be surprised how many possible stories and angles correlate to your favorite music. I can listen to almost any good album in my collection and envision scenes from wrestling that match up with the song's lyrics. Do it in backwards order to come up with brand new stories for familiar wrestlers in your own universe. Remember everything here is hypothetical so you can alter the ideas to match the mood. I assume that both of these methods have been used by real life wrestling bookers, because I always noticed things like this in the writing when watching wrestling, especially from people like Paul Heyman who used to love basing gimmicks on movie characters. He did a lot of the same things with entrance music, tons of inside references that most fans miss because they have no idea where the inspiration came from. Which, of course, is the point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerful_Fox Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 Some wonderful input from you guys here, thanks a lot. I have updated my first post and compiled it together so if anyone else struggles this may suffice as a starting point at least. If/as any more ideas come in, I will update the list accordingly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millsybeast Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 In 2019 of my WWE save I decided to start a new company and use gimmicks I never used before. So I have: Adam the Addict - Basically just a drug addict Barry the Believer - Under the Acolyte (Crazy) gimmick, he will do ANYTHING to please his 'leader' Biker Bob - A brute Biker, similar to the Undertaker I guess. Bruce the Beast - Man Beast who just beats the shit out of people with no remorse Doctor Azaria - A crazy Doctor, who experiments on people. Doink The Clown Jr - Basically he thinks he's Doinks kid and he's a clown Homeless Harry - A Homeless guy who fights to earn money to survive John the Judo Master - A Legitimate Athlete Judo guy who does Judo stuff... Peeping Tom - Pretty much just a pervert. He will have segments where he tries peeping in the womens locker room and get caught, so he gets booked in a match The Grim Reaper - Pretty much what his name is. He's face though, so he believes that he's allowing people to die etc. These are all Generated Workers too btw, which is why I'm having so much fun with this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cappyboy Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 A revenant vigilante like the Crow or the Wraith. Basically Sting's gimmick in the mid to late 90s turned up to 11. Someone causes a clean cut babyface to "die" or whatever in kayfabe terms and he comes back as an avenging angel type character shrouded in mystery and awesomeness. So a dark Midnight Rider or Mr. America type gimmick. I may not be a big fan of dark gimmicks but I can certainly see the potential in this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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