Recyclable Gimmicks

[Uncle]

Do you guys think that any older masked or face painted type gimmicks can be recycled? This has been done a few time with Doink. Now i see they are bring back the Los Matadors. There are tons of guys like this in history.. Some would be harder than others but i think they can easily do a new Goldust, or a Patriot. Doink is always amusing when we see him but i doubt they would ever let that gimmick get a real push. Would a new dude love or mankind work with a new person or would it just be weird? We seen the WWE fake a diesel and razor gimmick. They could do a brazilian bad guy without using Razor.. I mentioned in a different thread they could use Cody Rhodes as the Midnight Rider.. His fathers old gimmick.. That would fit right into the current story..

 

[Slash-LN]

They do it in Mexico and it works there. An example would be Psicosis II or La Parka.
I can't think of anyone really I'd like to see it done with here. You mentioned Doink and he's fun to see for a one off appearance here and there. Maybe if WWE got rid of Mistico they could put someone else in the Sin Cara outfit. I don't think the casual fan would notice the difference.

 

[shalliin]

It depends on if they are trying to be serious, comedic or honoring a past gimmick. A new person coming out as Mankind or any of Foley's characters would not do well and would likely cause a backlash against whoever tried it. A new version of say, Killer Bees or Conquistadors might work as there were many different people who played those roles at various times. They did try a couple of times to bring back old gimmicks.
Remember LOD 2000, or the New Rockers? Failures because there was no hiding the fact that the replacement wasn't as good as the original. Sort of happened even earlier with Demolition. Ax,Smash, and Crush. Those were semi serious attempts to revamp or reinstall a gimmick that didn't work out.
In fact there are some active use of this in place already. The Uso's are just an updated version of the many Samoan gimmicks that have been used in the past. Randy Orton is trying to play the Corp Champ role that was the Rock's in the later part of the 90's. Bray Wyatt is often wrongly compared to Waylon Mercy, but reminds me more of a Raven-esque type role, and if rumors going around are true, then he's brainwashed his two followers and they are going to bring Kane back as a fourth member. Also similar in use if not outward focus as groups like Right to Censor.
A comedic turn of reinventing a gimmick could be entertaining in the short term but not the long. Sort of like how Show and others would occasionally have periods where they dressed and acted like other people. It would be hilarious to have say, Matt Morgan come back dressed and acting like Rey Misterio, or have someone else come out as a blue collar exfootball star lugging a 2x4 around and shouting 'hooooo!' every few seconds.

 

[yellowdog22]

The Narcissists - Luger's presentation with the mirrors and the girls was great and two guys with great bodies could compete for mirror time, etc.

Goldust could manage a team presented by "Shattered Dream Productions" and be the director ala Marlena.

"The Bodigy" - Update on The Body Donnas. Get in shape stuff always works for cheap heat ala "The Simon System."

The Hot Crowd - Kind of an update on "3 Count." Zack Ryder once talked about his love for boy bands, would be fun to see him spread his wings with a new gimmick.

 

[Dirk]

The Genius is being recycled right now and it's doing fine. When Sandow's memory fades, they can go this route again...

Nikita Koloff's gimmick is kind of being recycled with Alexander Ruseev as the cold, brutal Eastern European heel. Vlad Kozlov was the token Russian before that.

Gorgeous George's pretty boy was recycled by SO many guys, with "Dashing" Cody Rhodes and Tyler Breeze being recent examples.

 

[Wolf Pac]

I can't count how many times I've seen this gimmick suggested for guys like Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler, that's The Legend Killer gimmick. But I don't blame people for wanting it back, it worked really well for Orton and it easily helps elevate younger talent.

 

[deadfox081]

Los Conquistadors could be used by any face tag team looking to gain some heat really. And the LOD has already been attempted to be recreated a few times. Face paint gimmicks can be rather generic and are good at drawing in the kids much like the Mysterio mask, so I think they will always have a place.

 

[ecwsux~!]

Yeah of course they do but for someone to be THE guy he needs something that transcends things that have already been done before. Just look at all the times WWE tried to recreate Hogan, or how TNA tried to recreate Flair with Styles and now they're going to use the poor guy as rehash of CM Punk.

 

[dWs]

I like masked guys, when used properly. Red River Jack, Charlie Brown from Outta' Town, Midnight Rider, Yellow Dog... the mask is as much a part of wrestling as the steel chair.

I could see the Patriot being recycled, as part of the original gimmick was that who was in the role was unimportant. But, with today's political climate, he'd almost have to be a heel or comedic role.

A guy who runs in and interferes in matches to "set things right". Like the Shield's original gimmick, but to an extreme. Basically, it'd be working off of the concept of the US as the "World Police". It would start out as a heel, then eventually fade into being just silly... then disappear altogether in 6 months.

Or, it could work as an uber All-American guy. Sort of like what they were doing with the Blue Blazer character before Owen Hart's death.

Another option, have it as a "TNA Suicide" type of character, where random guys dress up in the mask as part of whatever storyline. More like Chris Adams as the "Avenger" in World Class against Jimmy Garvin. Garvin didn't want to give Adams a shot at his title and was priding himself on wrestling scrubs. So Adams dresses up like a "scrub", beats Garvin in short order, then un-masks. Basic wrestling storyline that's been used over and over.

 

[shalliin]

I like masked guys, when used properly. Red River Jack, Charlie Brown from Outta' Town, Midnight Rider, Yellow Dog... the mask is as much a part of wrestling as the steel chair.

I could see the Patriot being recycled, as part of the original gimmick was that who was in the role was unimportant. But, with today's political climate, he'd almost have to be a heel or comedic role.

A guy who runs in and interferes in matches to "set things right". Like the Shield's original gimmick, but to an extreme. Basically, it'd be working off of the concept of the US as the "World Police". It would start out as a heel, then eventually fade into being just silly... then disappear altogether in 6 months.

Or, it could work as an uber All-American guy. Sort of like what they were doing with the Blue Blazer character before Owen Hart's death.

Another option, have it as a "TNA Suicide" type of character, where random guys dress up in the mask as part of whatever storyline. More like Chris Adams as the "Avenger" in World Class against Jimmy Garvin. Garvin didn't want to give Adams a shot at his title and was priding himself on wrestling scrubs. So Adams dresses up like a "scrub", beats Garvin in short order, then un-masks. Basic wrestling storyline that's been used over and over.

Or how many different guys in the territory days would loose a 'loser leaves town match' be gone for a month and come back wearing a little Lone Ranger Mask and be billed as the lone ranger. Alan Embree was one of the most famous for it, but there were at least a half dozen others who did the same thing.

 

[jameyt2003]

WWE has had an Irish/Anglo Saxon characterization throughout the years.

Ken Shamrock, Finlay, Hornswoggle, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Wade Barrett, The Highlanders.

Some of these guys are less of a characterization than others, but they all represent that part of the globe.