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thinking about the new age outlaws and the absolute dire of the state of their previous gimmicks had me wondering about the greater history at large of wrestling gimmick changes and the biggest improvements and downgrades in gimmick-to-gimmick changes in recorded rasslin history. conditions: a "gimmick change" here being a massive reworking of a wrestler's character, ideally involving a change in ring name and attire, but not necessarily included. for instance, i wouldn't really count chris jericho's character refreshes as a "gimmick change" for these purposes, but i would consider perry saturn's moppy arc. a lot of the first examples that pop to mind for me personally for biggest improvement in gimmick are attitude era changes, like the new age outlaws or, of course, rocky maivia to the rock and "the ringmaster" to goddamn stone cold steve austin. those two seem like the unbeatable 1a 1b in this discussion but i would love to know about your favorite - or least favorite - gimmick changes of all time
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Sep 15, 2023 04:52
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La Résistance changing from being French to French-Canadian happened so easily, I'm amazed it didn't happen earlier.
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Sep 15, 2023 05:07
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in the late 80s through about 1992, the barbarian was relatively popular as a foil or scary guy for an underdog to face. then they made him a lovely headshrinker in like 1993 or 94. then he had to go to wcw as a ripoff of that lovely gimmick until he finally got to go back to being the barbarian for no reason, tagging with meng. why didn't he just go to wcw as the barbarian to start with. and that's the bottom line
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Sep 15, 2023 05:22
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Giant Scary Biker "One Man Gang" to white guy finds his African roots "Akeem" was pointless, at best. Eric Bischoff hanger-on "Johnny Nitro" to Jim Morrison wannabe "John Morrison" had potential.
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Sep 15, 2023 05:25
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Rusty Shackelford posted:Giant Scary Biker "One Man Gang" to white guy finds his African roots "Akeem" was pointless, at best. his character has never shifted far from "hot guy who does flips" and by god why should it ever, but i do have to say the latter day version where he's just "johnny [relevant word here]" on a week to week basis tickles me. he shows up one week, he's Johnny TV? sure, why the hell not man
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Sep 15, 2023 05:35
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Brodus Clay's pre-emptive character change from 'Big Mean Scary Guy' to 'Funk Guy' gave him a boost of popularity he never would have achieved on his own. But he couldn't capitalize on it because he is terrible. It's super recent obviously but Toni Storm going from 'angry vet acting out like a teenager' to 'insane hollywood starlet' took somebody I didn't really care about and made them compelling. ChrisBTY fucked around with this message at 05:50 on Sep 15, 2023 |
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Sep 15, 2023 05:42
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face big show to heel big show and vice versa
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Sep 15, 2023 06:02
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Naito going from trying to be Tanahashi mixed with Mutoh to ungovernable sure is up there for biggest improvement in a gimmick. Guy went from crowds hating him to being loved
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Sep 15, 2023 06:45
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SatoshiMiwa posted:Naito going from trying to be Tanahashi mixed with Mutoh to ungovernable sure is up there for biggest improvement in a gimmick. Guy went from crowds hating him to being loved i started watching njpw not long after naito was ungovernable, i think when he was beating up the ic title and was still kinda heel, but plenty liked him by that point. learning the backstory just knowing *that* naito was like, i had to go back to watch it to believe it, i couldnt imagine the crowd just not caring about the dude to the point of the heavyweight title not main eventing wk bc he was in the match. i mean hell tho, i liked nakamura way better than "the stardust genius" too so who am i to judge
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Sep 15, 2023 07:00
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Wasn't Nakamura a generic black-tights Inokism guy before he became King of Strong Style?
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Sep 15, 2023 07:33
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Hulk Hogan to Hollywood Hogan was pro wrestling's greatest swerve and reversed WCW's fortunes for 2 years after. WWE deciding they drained the well with the Hurricane and had him turn back into Shane Helms was...well it was justifiable in one sense but it was so DoA they might as well have just continued to squeeze water from a stone.
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Sep 15, 2023 07:34
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Isaac Yankem to Kane is about as big an upgrade as it gets
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Sep 15, 2023 09:07
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Rarity posted:Isaac Yankem to Fake Diesel to Kane is about as big an upgrade as it gets
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Sep 15, 2023 11:32
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scott steiners transformation from flippy giant to insane guy with chainmail hat will always be the goat
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Sep 15, 2023 12:06
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apparently Orange Cassidy used to be Fire Ant, and if so, he went from being one of the greatest high flying wrestlers in the US to a goddamn sloth, and it rules also, I can't let this pass without mentioning Sami Zayn's old gimmick. It's problematic as gently caress, frankly quite racist, but we should mention it anyway. That's right, I'm talking about Big Larry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB8rH5fXxTk
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Sep 15, 2023 15:11
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There's a lot of wrestler-redefining gimmick changes in the early days of the WWF, but the most extreme change may be the Sheepherders (two brutes from New Zealand who will casually murder you) becoming the Bushwackers (two tongue weirdos that the kids all love). I'm sure a lot of it is that doing a funny walk is easier than murdering people, but they really did decide that this is just what they're going to do forever now.
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Sep 15, 2023 15:26
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Konor O'Brian going from a guy thinking he's a rat or something in NXT to an Illuminati grunt with Viktor. God the first iteration of NXT as a gameshow was horrific.
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Sep 15, 2023 15:37
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Barry Darsow’s transition from Demolition Smash to The Repo Man
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Sep 15, 2023 15:44
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I don't think it's my favorite or least favorite or anything, but Bear Country (two big hairy dudes) becoming the Iron Savages (whatever their gimmick was) and then still being the Iron Savages with Jacked Jameson and being on questionable supplements and one very loudly and openly being into eating rear end has been fun.
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Sep 15, 2023 16:10
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Luke Gallows was Festus, a simple-minded guy who would flip out when he heard the ring bell ring. They dropped this, eventually, by turning him into Luke Gallows and explaining that his former gimmick was actually a result of RAMPANT DRUG USE, and that joining the Straight Edge Society finally got him clean. I think maybe they even said that his former tag team partner was drugging him?
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Sep 15, 2023 16:27
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Does anyone remember A-Train leaving to go to Japan and then coming back as Lord Tensai? That was pretty awesome. He beat John Cena!!
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Sep 15, 2023 16:56
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surfer sting to crow sting was absolutely enormous for the wcw crowd and for the eraPaper Lion posted:scott steiners transformation from flippy giant to insane guy with chainmail hat will always be the goat yeah, steiner going from legit talented to chainmail math whiz is something I would've never guessed.
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Sep 15, 2023 17:42
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Ben-K used to be a meathead jock Shingo-wannabe, then he watched a bunch of battle rap videos on Youtube and decided to change his gimmick into the "Chiki-Chiki Sensei", a weird battle rap hypeman. It's the best career decision he ever made. I don't even understand what he's ranting about most of the time, but his presentation cracks me up every single time he cuts a promo because his mannerisms are hilarious.
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Sep 15, 2023 18:54
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A Fancy Hat posted:Luke Gallows was Festus, a simple-minded guy who would flip out when he heard the ring bell ring. They dropped this, eventually, by turning him into Luke Gallows and explaining that his former gimmick was actually a result of RAMPANT DRUG USE, and that joining the Straight Edge Society finally got him clean. I think maybe they even said that his former tag team partner was drugging him? He was somehow a better wrestler as Festus, they should have drugged him again!
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Sep 15, 2023 21:24
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I can't think of many gimmick changes that went over better than Husky Harris -> Bray Wyatt. (RIP) Going from a generic big guy wrestler with a ferrari engine to the charismatic cult leader that had people wondering if he actually /was/ possessed.
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Sep 15, 2023 21:30
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How often do you think about Chainsaw Charlie? I’m thinking about him right now. What was up with that guy??
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Sep 17, 2023 15:30
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Sandman McMahon posted:How often do you think about Chainsaw Charlie? I’m thinking about him right now. What was up with that guy?? he lives in the dumpster out back of every wwe show, the new age outlaws thought they kilt him in it but he lives on in there and the dumpster materializes outside the arena at every wwe show forever forever forEVER FOREVER FOREVER FOREVER
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Sep 17, 2023 15:45
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shiksa posted:he lives in the dumpster out back of every wwe show, the new age outlaws thought they kilt him in it but he lives on in there and the dumpster materializes outside the arena at every wwe show forever I wonder if they tell scary stories about him to keep the kids in nxt from misbehaving.
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Sep 17, 2023 15:49
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Sandman McMahon posted:I wonder if they tell scary stories about him to keep the kids in nxt from misbehaving. between him and the parking lot ninjas no ones getting a wink in the performance center, just coming in and doing high impact knee exercises on zero sleep
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Sep 17, 2023 15:53
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Wise Fwom Yo Gwave posted:Barry Darsow’s transition from Demolition Smash to The Repo Man And he was a Russian before that! Raven going from his various neon-tights chickenshit heel gimmicks to a depressed grungy sadist did a lot for him and wrestling in general.
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Sep 17, 2023 15:59
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CombineThresher posted:Raven going from his various neon-tights chickenshit heel gimmicks to a depressed grungy sadist did a lot for him and wrestling in general. Someone should adapt this gimmick for modern times. Like, take the Dark Order guys, drop the whole Dark Order thing, and then have them dress up like whatever musical culture the kids are into these days. Do kids still listen to music?
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Sep 17, 2023 16:16
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Chainsaw Charlie and Mankind were like the two wrestlers I knew about before I knew anything about wrestling. Dunno why
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Sep 17, 2023 16:19
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A Fancy Hat posted:Luke Gallows was Festus, a simple-minded guy who would flip out when he heard the ring bell ring. They dropped this, eventually, by turning him into Luke Gallows and explaining that his former gimmick was actually a result of RAMPANT DRUG USE, and that joining the Straight Edge Society finally got him clean. I think maybe they even said that his former tag team partner was drugging him? Slam Master J was a monster and I will never miss an opportunity to point it out. That's a pretty recurring lovely gimmick they keep trying BTW. Midcard white guy inexplicably gets really into Hip Hop, which screams at me that Vince just thinks that particular thing is hilarious. Shorty G is the most recent example, Akeem could be seen as the proto version of it. I guess it worked with Too Cool, technically? But they were originally heels with the gimmick who kind of organically turned face. The original switch from Too Much -> Too Cool was them being incredibly obnoxious about it. The Worm was meant to be so loving stupid that you laugh at the guy for even trying to do it, and it effectively then became his Finisher. I remember the meme that Scotty just basically had the world's most powerful bulldog for people to stay down that long. John Cena is technically this too, but again, he started off as a heel who organically turned face? I don't know. That's the common thread to making it work? It's still a weird thing that keeps happening.
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Sep 17, 2023 16:46
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NameHurtBrain posted:I guess it worked with Too Cool, technically? But they were originally heels with the gimmick who kind of organically turned face. The original switch from Too Much -> Too Cool was them being incredibly obnoxious about it. The Worm was meant to be so loving stupid that you laugh at the guy for even trying to do it, and it effectively then became his Finisher. I remember the meme that Scotty just basically had the world's most powerful bulldog for people to stay down that long. Rikishi was key to the gimmick getting over as much as it did, though, IIRC they were very much lower-card players both before and after his involvement. Speaking of, Rikishi's transition from "dancing fat guy who gives stinkfaces" to "cold-blooded vehicular homicide attempter" did him no favors. Though it obviously would've gone better had the Austin squash not killed his momentum right out of the gate, the main event scene at that time was so crowded that there was no way he'd ever get the high-profile wins necessary to make the shift in character successful.
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Sep 17, 2023 17:38
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Broken matt hardy was the goddamn best
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Sep 17, 2023 19:03
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Barry Bluejeans posted:Rikishi was key to the gimmick getting over as much as it did, though, IIRC they were very much lower-card players both before and after his involvement. 
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Sep 18, 2023 05:45
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Putting on a purple hat made me like Jake Hager and that should count as a gimmick change
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Sep 18, 2023 07:05
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Sandman McMahon posted:Someone should adapt this gimmick for modern times. Like, take the Dark Order guys, drop the whole Dark Order thing, and then have them dress up like whatever musical culture the kids are into these days. Do kids still listen to music? jncos and crop tops is kind of the thing rn, i think they could pull it off
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Sep 18, 2023 08:04
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Ed Leslie gimmicks: Eddie Boulder > Eddie "Dizzy" Hogan > Brute Force > Baron Beefcake > Brutus Beefcake > Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake > The Mystery Man > Brother Bruti > The Clipmaster > The Butcher > The Man With No Name > The Zodiac > The Booty Man > The Disciple
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Sep 18, 2023 09:29
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The Sandman went from a surfer gimmick who carried a literal surfboard around (in fact that's why his name was "Sandman" in the first place) to the drunken chainsmoking Philly brawler that we all remember today.
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Sep 19, 2023 14:06
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