Where Has All The Personality Gone?

[Poop Master Flex]

The title of the thread says it all. It's something that I'm sure many of us have thought of but I couldn't find a thread on it.

Lately in WWE there has been a decline in audience and ratings and I feel lack of personality has a lot to do about it. Maybe it's the old school in me but I feel its a big problem that WWE is currently facing and has a lot to do with their declining interest (I think there is more to it than that but I'll talk about that later).

Back in WWE's 2 biggest boom periods there were more personalities and guys who stuck out than I can count. In the 80's you had Hogan, Savage, Rick Rude, Jake Roberts, The Bushwackers, Demolition, The British Bulldogs, Andre the Giant, The Honky Tonk Man, The Ultimate Warrior, The Rockers, hell even "The Model" Rick Martel had more personality than 90% of the current roster and he was a guy who never came close to the main event scene. Fast forward to the 90's you had Austin, The Rock, HHH, The New Age Outlaws, Val Venis, The Godfather, Mr. McMahon, The Undertaker, Kane, the Legion of Doom, The Nation of Domination and Mae Young (yes, Mae Young is more entertaining than 90% of the current roster) and these are names that just came to me, there were plenty more then what I've listed.

Now look at WWE lets count them off and I mean guys who actually have personality,Punk, Del Rio, Cena, Sheamus, R-Truth, the Miz and that's really all I can think of. Sure they have guys like Sin Cara who are different but Sin Cara does NOT stand out. I don't care what anyone says but guys like Orton, Ziggler, Swagger, McIntyre and Daniel Bryan have ZERO personality, Orton is one of the 2 faces of the WWE and can't even draw a 2.0 in the ratings, that proves my point.

Sure, guys like Ziggler, Morrison and Swagger are solid, but I could not buy 1 of these guys as a true main eventer, hell Daniel Bryan is right now being pushed for the Main Event of Wrestlemania, ARE YOU KIDDING ME, this guy is one of the most technically sound wrestlers I've ever seen, is fantastic in the ring but lacks personality and drawing power, if you don't have either then you don't deserve to be champion, its that simple. Even guys like R-Truth and the Miz who have personality have personalities that get stale after a while, I like that Mark Henry is showing more personality, but he showed more personality and was much more entertaining when he was in the mid card in the 90's as Sexual Chocolate.

I often hear that Ziggler should be champ, Swagger should get a real run, why is Morrison champion yet when the answer is so obvious, they shouldn't be champ, no personality, and no drawing power whatsoever. The reason Hogan was at the top for so long with limited in ring ability was because he had personality, knew how to get over and put butts in seats, right now they don't have any of that and their ratings, PPV buys and overall attendance prove that.

Sure you have an intriguing storyline with HHH and Punk but that's all you have, although Hogan and Austin were the top draws in their era's they didn't have to do it all themselves, when Austin or Hogan disappeared for injuries or movies business didn't suffer and that's because they had intriguing personalities which made story lines more interesting because it involved people we actually care about. TNA may not know how to capitalize on their personalities but at least their talent has some.

All in all I would love for the WWE to put some personality into their guys, too much of the roster just blends together and few truly stand out from the pack whereas in the 80's and 90's even guys like Outback Jack stood out, more so than pretty much the entire WWE Roster today.

Anyways that's all I have to say, what do you guys think? Do you miss the personality that WWE used to show and do you think more personality could help the WWE become more popular than they currently are?

They obviously still make plenty of money, are still a successful company but no where near what they once were, its like Mario Andretti once said "If you have everything under control then you're not going fast enough" and I think those words could be used to describe the WWE.

 

[Rockyfolifebo!!!]

I swear I think about this all the time. I personally call today's roster clones. The only ones who stand out in WWE today are the ones you mentioned. Everyone else is a CLONE to me! The all have a generic walk, cut boring generic promos, and typical nothing special movesets. Hell, nobody really has a unique entrance anymore! Let's take one random guy from each era:

"Macho Man" Randy Savage (80s) - the he talked with that raspy voice, and his colorful outfits with checkerboard hats got him over. Whether tagging with Hogan or battling Steamboat, The multi-catchphrase, tower of power, to sweet to be sour, Savage had the fans in his palm OH YEAH!

Godfather (90s) - this cat had all the hoos, err ladies in the arena on their feet when he entered an arena. He walk out by himself, cigar in mouth, bright colored clothes, and a pimp cane in his hand. The crowd would boo him, until he pointed to the back signaling for the hos to come out! For a mid carder, he'd get loud pops and even have the crowd chanting his catch phrases with him.

Dolph Ziggler (now) - he's managed by Vickie Guerrero. That gives him cheap heat every time she's out there with him. He's pretty decent in the ring, BUT he lacks charisma, mic skills, personality, and crowd reactions. When's the last time you heard someone say "I bought this ticket to see Dolph"? Yeah, you didn't hear it about Godfather either, but you probably heard something along the lines of "I hope Godfather brings out his hos".

Point is, you're right. I love WWE, but I don't want to watch average joes on my screen every week. We watch wrestling to escape reality. We want extraordinary, larger than life characters!

 

[The_Sharpshooter]

I'm glad you said what you did about TNA. If there's one thing that they have over WWE(maybe the only thing), it the depth & variety of their characters. They don't have two of anything outside the X Division, while there are so many "cocky heels" in WWE, I'm about to start rooting for the good guys. What is this?

But the main problem to me is the focus of the same people. Cena, Orton, & now Punk. Everyone else's segments just seem to be fillers until the main event guys come around. And the guys who you want to get behind, like Ryder & JoMo, get squashed regularly. But at least those guys get TV time. I don't even know if any Divas have any character other than "pretty, smiling, good girl" or "pretty, smiling, bad girl"

Another problem is the commentators. They spend so much time bickering & ignoring the ring, sometime I do the same. I feel that I'm supposed to know a lot about a wrestler before I hear him deliver a promo. But no announcers in wrestling besides Jim Ross & Mike Tenay actually focuses on the talent in the ring. How are we supposed to learn the wrestlers personalities when the announcers are focused on themselves?

 

[WrestlingFan97]

I feel the same way. If there is one thing that WWE is lacking today, it's personality, gimmicks, characters, or whatever else you want to call it. The point is, most of the guys/women on the roster have no charisma, and if they do they don't get to show it. A major factor in this is Florida Championship Wrestling. Whatever they "teach" over there clearly isn't working. They churn out "generic clone" after "generic clone". They all look the same and talk the same. Say what you will about anyone in the '80's or '90's, atleast they stood out from each other, whether for better or for worse. Chris Jericho brought up some great points in a recent interview. For awhile, in WCW he was a generic, smiley, long blond hair babyface who did a bunch of flips, until he was allowed to turn heel and actually develop a personality and get over with the fans. That's what WWE needs to do with people on the current roster. Let them have some mic time, let them develop a personality, and let them get over with the fans. That's my opinion anyway, so take it for what you will.

 

[Pedigree1]

amen good thread!! 90% of the stars today have zip zero personality i dont know whether its a product of their environment or the fact that they really have no personality!! Back in the 80s and 90s for better or worse at least one guy stood out from the other guy!! from hogan to the bushwackers hart foundation andre the giant million dollar man i can go on and on!! Now what we have Del Rio Shameus Ziggler (Daniel Bryan is so boring he puts me to sleep) I wish maybe WWE could let these wrestlers just be themselves or at least teach them to have a personality!!

 

[BillAlfonso]

I feel like I started this thread, the biggest reason is the scripts. Back in the day, the guys cut their own promos even if they were given the gimmick by the promoter. This allowed them to put their own words and essence into the gimmick. Certain people just have a knack for standing out for example Austin and The Rock. When Austin was "Stunning" Steve Austin, he didn't get a whole lot of tv time on his own but he always had an air about him that made me pay attention when I was a kid. Even when The Rock was Rocky Maivia, I still liked him. These guys just needed to find their groove, something that matched their actually personality. It was their emotions at the time. The common thread between Austin's real life personality and Stone Cold's was being angry at the pitfalls he befell during his career at this point, cue "Austin 3:16" speech. The common thread between Dwayne Johnson and The Rock was the hurt at being booed by fans just for being a face, cue "I'll Never Forget Die Rocky Die" Speech. These guys are reading scripts and don't know how to connect to the gimmick, let alone fans. Once they take away the scripting, it will all fall in place.

 

[Peoples_Champ]

I rarely post here, but I had to for this thread - great topic!

I feel exactly the same way as the OP (although I would argue Orton has personality, maybe not the best personality, but he does have "the look"). The WWE needs some new talkers, preferably as heel managers. It's so easy to get some 100 lbs. weasel and make him a heel manager - everybody wants to see some little punk get beat up, but he'll always hide behind his heels. WWE should go scout a Toastmasters meeting and pick up a few people from there.

Hell, I hate Ric Flair, but I would pay to see him as a top heel manager. Not a pseudo-wrestler, but strictly a manager a la Freddie Blassie or Lou Albino. These two men weren't superstars, they were average guys who could speak well and could probably have been politicians or lawyers. They captivated the crowd and could sell us dirty water (come to think of it, Shawn Michaels would be an amazing face manager!).

Imagine how far Shelton Benjamin, Mark Henry or Lance Storm could have gone if they had a proper manager to speak for them.

To me, that's where the personality has gone. There are no convincing talkers. Once their heels make it up the ladder, a proper babyface can win over the fans by beating his heel and taking a shot at the manager. And that's half the battle.

 

[PunkNation26]

Guys will have personality again when they are allowed to be themselves. For some reason Vince has this fear of letting guys become stars on their own. I mean Cena has been the only guy allowed to get famous off of his own name in like the last decade.

Now recently Punk has gotten over with his own name which is still shocking to me, considering WWE has allowed him to go this far without completely burying him. When you think about it, it's pretty damn hard to get over when you are basically given a shitty gimmick and told you HAVE to work with it and can't be original or entertaining.

Look at Zack Ryder, he is entertaining and a self made guy, yet he gets very little tv time. If this was 1998 he would be feuding for the Intercontinental Title . WWE today is just plain ******ed.

 

[Headman]

In the two major boom periods the majority of the featured talent were in their mid 30's or older and had spent years in other promotions perfecting their craft before getting their break in WWE. The death of the territories is part of it, but the lack of experience in general is another part. And then there is scouting. Johnny Ace's record for better or worse will be judged by the talent he brought to the table where as JR's and now Triple H will be judged on theirs. However I'm not sure the "Don't hire people over 30" policy will help this any. We'll get some personality out of the current crop but we'll just have to watch them grow up on tv.

 

[Long Island Iced D]

My theory is that somehow throughout CM Punk's 6 year career he has managed to suck the personality out of the WWE roster and is now using it to his advantage. I mean come on, where else would Cena and Orton's personality go. Guys like Rhodes and Ryder better watch out, CM Punk is on the prowl.

Alright in all seriousness I think WWE is just adapting to society. People aren't going to buy that cartoonish gimmick stuff like in the 80s with a guy who walked around in an Elvis costume or a guy who paints his face and sports a mullet. The 90s were very rebellious years which led to guys like SCSA, DX, and the new age outlaws. This era just happens to be very boring. Society today is boring, and it reflects in wrestling. WWE today builds there talent as athletes and recrutes the failed football players and bodybuilders instead of talented guys who want to be wrestlers (hate to copy Punk but its the truth). WWE also needs to allow talent to have more creative direction with their own character. Instead, they find some athlete and give them the spot as a generic cocky heel with generic promos. Smh....im done.

 

[PunkNation26]

Vince is just too damn afraid of TNA in my opinion. I don't understand it. TNA can NEVER overthrow WWE. Just like the XFL couldn't overthrow the NFL. He needs to let guys be themselves, get over as themselves, and draw millions in revenue as themselves.

Assigning gimmicks should be reserved for guys who have no actual personality. Can you imagine Dana White taking UFC fighters and assigning them corny names. Just imagine Forrest Griffin being called "Bill Stewart" or something stupid and generic like that, just so he couldn't go fight for some other promotion under his own name and make money off of his own talent.

 

[slushpuppy53]

It's funny ... my wife and I were discussing this last week (and she is only a casual fan). As a few people have already pointed out ... the scripts are what kills the promos. If even the casual fans like my wife can figure this out, why cant the WWE?
SCSA has said many times, his on-air character is just himself with the volume turned WAY up .... Bret would have gone nowhere without Chief Jay telling him to "go home and work on your promos in the mirror" (and wear the shades to hide your nervousness, lol) ...
There's way more examples, but the point is ... these guys LEARNED to work the hard way. Some people are just a natural. The Rock. Not a fan at all, but even i pop when his music hits now, because we're going to hear something different.
But there is a solution if Vince were to consider what the WWE fans want. You're already paying dozens of people to sit around and collect a paycheque. Why not spend a little more and keep a few rotating people on the payroll to work with the main roster? Not all the people my wife and i discussed were feasible, but just for conversation's sake ...
Hire Roddy Piper full time ... give him someone (or two) to teach at a time. Hire Ted Dibiase Sr. Get Dusty out of Florida while he's still alive and put him to work. Hell, if you thought you could trust them why not have guys like Scott Hall or Jake Roberts OFF camera where they could still earn a living, but not be relied on to show up for every PPV.
As much as I like Orton, how much better would the viper gimmick be, if he had promo-training from Roberts? Or Swagger's "All American American" with some input from the American Dream himself. Mason Ryan ... has the look, still somewhat green in the ring, but if you want to get that tough guy image for him ... get Arn Anderson to teach him how to talk !!!
All the potential tools are in place, and I'm sure there would be dozens of candidates I didn't mention, but seriously Vince .... DO SOMETHING

 

[Lord_Frish]

The personality isn't gone. It just hasn't been allowed to shine through. That is why someone like Zack Ryder had to take to youtube to get over. His youtube videos could have easily being played on RAW or Smackdown but creative wouldn't allow that. Dolph Ziggler has a lot of personality, on the rare moments that he is allowed to talk I have been very impressed with what he said. He has done commentary on a few matches and was entertaining, and (like CM Punk) was better at it than the current commentary team. I think they need to give Ziggler a microphone and give Vickie to someone who can't talk.

JoMo is someone who was a natural heel, his work on the Dirt Sheet with the Miz was good, and I found JoMo to be the more entertaining of the two on there. Funnily enough, that was a show where JoMo and the Miz were allowed to write their own material.

They need to change the physical appearance of some of their wrestlers. Let some wrestlers come out wearing long tights, give them logos branded on their clothing other than T-shirts. Look at guys like Rick Rude, he didn't get a massive amount of mic time but having a picture of himself on his tights was enough to let you know he loved himself. Give wrestlers props to walk to the ring with. Hercules came out with those chains, Hacksaw came out with a 2 by 4, Koko had his parrot (wouldn't work well now days but it is an example). Who can forget Jake Roberts coming out with Damien? Starting a match by throwing a snake into the centre of the ring. I would love to see a heel (or a face) come to the ring with a weapon, it can be anything but let it become his signature weapon. Let it become part of the in ring psychology.

Along the lines of physical appearance comes entrances, I struggle to tell entrance music apart. All the songs sound like the same generic rock tracks. I have no idea why they remixed Ziggler's music from something that sounded somewhat unique to another generic rock track. At least Cody Rhodes' new music makes sense with his character change. At least you know when Zack Ryder or JoMo are coming to the ring since their music is so different. Give Swagger different music, his track doesn't suit his look or his gimmick. I miss Daniel Bryan coming out to Ride of the Valkyrie, at least it stood out.

I guess this list could go on for ages, but those are some basic changes that would make a big difference in terms of showing personality, even if it isn't the wrestlers real personality.

 

[TCBT]

The problem (outside of the scripting, which has been brought up several times) is the bland storytelling in general. The characters aren't only bland, but besides the CM Punk/Triple H feud, what storyline do you actually remember from recent times??? It's all the same pattern: good guy fights vs. bad guy because bad guy did something bad, and good guy won't stand for it. "You screwed me out of my title," "you don't deserve to be Champion," "I will get my revenge," yadi yadi yadda. Same ol' shit each and every week. The Nexus was ALMOST something worth talking about, and we all did, for the first month... then that went to shit, too!

Sad really....

 

[Bender]

Not many WWE wrestlers have personality anymore, and for the lack of matches. You would desperately NEED personality in the wrestlers. Without it, what's WWE? Nothing. Without characters, WWE would be boring. The wrestlers with personality are keeping WWE alive right now, without them. WWE would be dead.

 

[GameOver]

My theory is that somehow throughout CM Punk's 6 year career he has managed to suck the personality out of the WWE roster and is now using it to his advantage. I mean come on, where else would Cena and Orton's personality go. Guys like Rhodes and Ryder better watch out, CM Punk is on the prowl.

Alright in all seriousness I think WWE is just adapting to society. People aren't going to buy that cartoonish gimmick stuff like in the 80s with a guy who walked around in an Elvis costume or a guy who paints his face and sports a mullet. The 90s were very rebellious years which led to guys like SCSA, DX, and the new age outlaws. This era just happens to be very boring. Society today is boring, and it reflects in wrestling. WWE today builds there talent as athletes and recrutes the failed football players and bodybuilders instead of talented guys who want to be wrestlers (hate to copy Punk but its the truth). WWE also needs to allow talent to have more creative direction with their own character. Instead, they find some athlete and give them the spot as a generic cocky heel with generic promos. Smh....im done.

Thumbs up. hear hear
Society has turned into a police state and can't afford to be entertained anyway unless it revolves around "Reality" TV zzzz

That's not just the busines of "wrestling" it extends to sports and other areas too. Back in the days you had sports men and women that were Personalities, like John McEnroe, Jack Nicholas, Merv Hughes, that's just picking some random personalities from a few Tennis, Golf and Cricket. The games were entertaining because the players were not just strictly business though they were still very good at what they did.

Austin and The Rock to name 2 were great personalities and performers and most in that generation were personalities


Now we got "Professionals" who can't entertain to save themselves

Now everything is too professional it's all about money not about entertaining people and the advent of "Reality" TV is the death of entertainment imo. For one thing the "Reality" is bull like in Survivor for instance, they are paid actors not people brought together to be in the game Wrestling is no different. It's about making money with the least effort IMO..

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

I wouldn't put it as extreme as you, the personalities are just dampened. I personally put it down mostly to the fact that WWE for the most part doesn't allow the superstars to create their own characters and work on them. When a wrestler uses a character they inspired, as it's often said, it will usually be "an extensions of that person's character" and they'll play it more passionately, more extensively and just generally better. The character of that person will then shine through.

I also think that the territories helped contribute to a more competitive environment. Back then you had to be the most over guy to climb the ladder and make it to the top (unless you were company made ie Hogan). That guaranteed the people at the top were masters of their craft, they were the very best and they didn't need scripts or make-up making them look good, they had far enough experience in doing it themselves.

The work environment in the WWE is very safe from my viewing point compared to how it used to be. Stay off the juice and you can botch, fumble, bore, do whatever you want as poorly as you need and you'll probably have job security. It may be a better environment for worker morale but it certainly doesn't drive the best out of the employees themselves.

But I like to think of things on a larger scale. This is a major dip in the world of professional wrestling, and like most other businesses there are peaks and troughs. Few businesses are ever mainstay and safe over a long period of time and this is reduced even more dramatically for the entertainment businesses. The peaks and troughs are just part of an ever-flowing system, wrestling will be mainstream again one day. That doesn't mean you should try to recapture the magic of a decade ago, it's just important not to get too chewed up about the current situation. Things will get that bad that desperation comes into play, it's when things are fighting for their life the most amazing innovations and transformations are made. Besides, without the bad how do you ever recognize the good?

 

[Penguin]

I suspect it partly boils down to what is "cool" at the time. For example in the 80s we had glam rock and the wrestlers reflected that, in the 90s we had rage against the machine and DX and so on

God it's strange defending Orton, no really, up until this year I was one of his harshest critics and felt that he was a lazy lazy man in the ring with real potential if only he made more of an effort.

Smackdown Orton is everything he always could always have been, this crazy face personality he has put on is simply astonishing both in and out of the ring which is why I feel the need to defend him now in this very thread. Seriously, did people only watching raw skip his match at SummerSlam? The promo alone would have shown just how genius both Orton and Christian were in the build up.

I also think it's rather unfair that the OP would make wild ratings claims with no citations and say it "proves their point".

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I wouldn't put it as extreme as you, the personalities are just dampened. I personally put it down mostly to the fact that WWE for the most part doesn't allow the superstars to create their own characters and work on them. When a wrestler uses a character they inspired, as it's often said, it will usually be "an extensions of that person's character" and they'll play it more passionately, more extensively and just generally better. The character of that person will then shine through.

I also think that the territories helped contribute to a more competitive environment. Back then you had to be the most over guy to climb the ladder and make it to the top (unless you were company made ie Hogan). That guaranteed the people at the top were masters of their craft, they were the very best and they didn't need scripts or make-up making them look good, they had far enough experience in doing it themselves.

The work environment in the WWE is very safe from my viewing point compared to how it used to be. Stay off the juice and you can botch, fumble, bore, do whatever you want as poorly as you need and you'll probably have job security. It may be a better environment for worker morale but it certainly doesn't drive the best out of the employees themselves.

But I like to think of things on a larger scale. This is a major dip in the world of professional wrestling, and like most other businesses there are peaks and troughs. Few businesses are ever mainstay and safe over a long period of time and this is reduced even more dramatically for the entertainment businesses. The peaks and troughs are just part of an ever-flowing system, wrestling will be mainstream again one day. That doesn't mean you should try to recapture the magic of a decade ago, it's just important not to get too chewed up about the current situation. Things will get that bad that desperation comes into play, it's when things are fighting for their life the most amazing innovations and transformations are made. Besides, without the bad how do you ever recognize the good?

I'm not arguing with the fact WWE doesn't let their talents create their own gimmicks and I think it would help the situation a lot. I just don't see a lot of personality these days in the WWE, to me Ziggler, Swagger and McIntyre are basically the same personality just with a few tweaks here and there which makes it difficult for them to stand out. Faces like Kofi and Bourne have the exact same problem, high energy and smiling, their only difference is one is African and the other is Caucasian, that's where it begins and ends with them, if everyone is the same it's impossible for them to stand out.

I also agree with what you said about the territories and the fact that the WWE environment itself doesn't really push the wrestlers to be the best they can be. I completely understand its part of a much bigger issue and wrestling always has its ups and downs, that's the way most long term businesses are. Also I think the worst idea is to recapture the magic but I'm more talking about making new magic, if you just go back to the well it only works for a little while as the well eventually dries up. The WWE doesn't need to go back to the way things were, I'm not saying WWE needs to have cartoon characters like the 80's or rebellious characters from the 90's but they need to distinguish every superstar on their roster and make them different, if everyone's the same it gets boring (which is why I feel most of WWE Programming is in fact boring save a few characters and storylines).

The wrestlers themselves also need to step it up, Cena and The Miz are both doing great and that's because they constantly push themselves every week, the truth is there aren't too many superstars who do that, most become comfortable and complacent in their roles and don't want to stir the pot. Back in the day everyone wanted to be the best now it seems like very few actually care if they are the best or not, they make good money, only work 3 days a week so why do something different. They don't need to push themselves so they don't. That was one thing the territories did very well is they pushed wrestlers to do better through monetary gain and nothing was guaranteed. You can still do that today if you wish, give them a flat rate (like 125,000 a year), something they can live off of and not starve, but if they push themselves, get over, make the company more money through ticket sales, merchandise or whatever give them more and give them the chance to make millions of dollars a year if they can capitalize on that opportunity, that way it would give the wrestlers more incentive to do better.

Anyway's I'm getting of topic here but I feel you have to treat most wrestlers as possible main eventer's, give them a personality and let them sink or swim with it. If a wrestler can't make his personality work then find one that does work or better yet let them make their own personality. Scott Hall isn't Razor Ramon but he knew how to make the character work, embrace it and run with it which is why he got over so well, and he came up with the idea on his own, that's what I feel wrestlers need to do and the WWE needs to give them the opportunity to do so (assuming they currently don't).

 

[Mustang Sally]

In the 80's you had Hogan, Savage, Rick Rude, Jake Roberts, The Bushwackers, Demolition, The British Bulldogs, Andre the Giant, The Honky Tonk Man, The Ultimate Warrior, The Rockers, hell even "The Model" Rick Martel...

Today, the trend in televised entertainment leans toward "reality"..... we don't see the family sitcoms anymore on TV unless we turn to TV Land ("Ward, aren't you being a little hard on the Beaver?") Today, we're crazy for the reality shows, which consist of camera shots of people delivered in rapid-fire frames, designed to keep your mind occupied so you won't realize that many of the participants have personalities that are as exciting as paper napkins.

Most of the wrestlers named in the above quote could be seen as cartoon characters. There was nothing real-world in the personae of the Bushwhackers or Honky-Tonk Man, was there? Those guys had personalities, but it was strictly show business, that's all.

Today, we have C.M. Punk sitting cross-legged in the ring, talking about his feelings and beliefs. We have John Cena addressing the crowd; sometimes in heroic fashion, sometimes conversationally, sometimes inspirationally; but always real. Even the other performers who get some mic time aren't presenting themselves as over-the-top personalities; it's been toned down from the days of "I'm cool, I'm cocky, I'm bad." There are exceptions: Zack Ryder, for instance, who presents as a total clown, and many folks criticize him for that.

This is what the "reality show" era has brought us, and sports entertainment has followed suit. It's not so much that personality in wrestling has disappeared.....it's more that it's moved on...... maybe to the good, maybe not.

If Honky-Tonk Man was doing the same act today, I believe a lot of folks on this board would be screaming in protest against another unrealistic, stupid, cartoon character.

What constitutes good entertainment?............. Whatever the individual likes, I suppose.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Today, the trend in televised entertainment leans toward "reality"..... we don't see the family sitcoms anymore on TV unless we turn to TV Land ("Ward, aren't you being a little hard on the Beaver?") Today, we're crazy for the reality shows, which consist of camera shots of people delivered in rapid-fire frames, designed to keep your mind occupied so you won't realize that many of the participants have personalities that are as exciting as paper napkins.

Most of the wrestlers named in the above quote could be seen as cartoon characters. There was nothing real-world in the personae of the Bushwhackers or Honky-Tonk Man, was there? Those guys had personalities, but it was strictly show business, that's all.

Today, we have C.M. Punk sitting cross-legged in the ring, talking about his feelings and beliefs. We have John Cena addressing the crowd; sometimes in heroic fashion, sometimes conversationally, sometimes inspirationally; but always real. Even the other performers who get some mic time aren't presenting themselves as over-the-top personalities; it's been toned down from the days of "I'm cool, I'm cocky, I'm bad." There are exceptions: Zack Ryder, for instance, who presents as a total clown, and many folks criticize him for that.

This is what the "reality show" era has brought us, and sports entertainment has followed suit. It's not so much that personality in wrestling has disappeared.....it's more that it's moved on...... maybe to the good, maybe not.

If Honky-Tonk Man was doing the same act today, I believe a lot of folks on this board would be screaming in protest against another unrealistic, stupid, cartoon character.

What constitutes good entertainment?............. Whatever the individual likes, I suppose.

The idea of reality is true in some respects but I don't think its that cut and dry personally. For example, The Big Bang Theory is one of the highest rated shows on television and its a sitcom, other shows like How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men are also extremely popular but do not placate to the reality based era of television, same with more serious shows like Breaking Bad. Bryan Cranston's performance in that show is fantastic and although it has a serious tone its not entirely realistic but at the same time believable.

I'm not saying go back to the cartoon characters of the 80's but to distinguish a personality people can relate to works, you can relate to Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad because the truth is he started out dealing meth to make sure his family was set for life because he was diagnosed with cancer, its far fetched but I can totally see someone doing that as its not about him dealing meth, its about him setting his family up to be comfortable after he is gone, I know the show isn't quite the same in that respect but that was the starting point and it evolved from there. Sheldon Cooper is one of the most popular characters on television and he is from a sitcom and a highly popular one at that.

The truth is you can give any character a realistic tone, just because the a wrestlers personality is distinguishable like Jake "The Snake" Roberts doesn't mean he can't have a realistic tone to him, it can be done. CM Punk and John Cena both have realistic tones to them and are both currently doing very well, hell even a real MMA fighter like Rampage Jackson is a perfect example because he is realistic, legit but also has lots of character (I bet Rampage would do fantastic in the wrestling business if he wanted to) so both can exist. The Undertaker is so far from realistic its insane yet he is still one of the most over guys in the WWE and still puts on a great show given his physical limitations (see his last 3 wrestlemanias as proof).

I always felt wrestling was best when it had variety (of course its just my own opinion) and you got to change with the times no doubt, but that still doesn't mean you can't create realistic and colorful personalities that capture people's imaginations, it can be done.

 

[NWannabe]

Creativity as well a s persona is not missing from the WWE. They just had to homogenize the product for business purposes. It's change in focus from building stars who could stand on their own (why ryder is dangerous) to building stars that for the most part need the machine to have prominence. Aside from that, Ricardo Rodriguez is brimming with the stuff.

 

[frostbite2819]

In the two major boom periods the majority of the featured talent were in their mid 30's or older and had spent years in other promotions perfecting their craft before getting their break in WWE. The death of the territories is part of it, but the lack of experience in general is another part. And then there is scouting. Johnny Ace's record for better or worse will be judged by the talent he brought to the table where as JR's and now Triple H will be judged on theirs. However I'm not sure the "Don't hire people over 30" policy will help this any. We'll get some personality out of the current crop but we'll just have to watch them grow up on tv.

ummm, Del Rio is and was well over 30 when they hired him. so that doesnt float, however i agree about the territories thing.
this is just a different business today than it was even ten years ago.
the turning point for the attitude era was not mae young, or DX, or a ladder match, or a no dq match.
the turning point came when mcmahon called a meeting of all the wrestlers in mid 96 and announced that times had passed him by and he wanted them to go out there and do what they had to do to get over with the fans on their own. right away we had 'stone cold',
a more ruthless taker, a hilarious shawn and hhh, among other things.
this is what they need today. simply more freedom. you cant tell me we dont have some charismatic guys just waiting to break out of their mold.
its just like in real life; there are just some people that seem to be naturally funny, good talkers. im sure there are a few of these in wwe now, but we will never see them if vince doesent regrow his balls.

 

[PunkNation26]

Vince seems schizophrenic to me. It's like he's starving to death while being in a house full of food. However, instead of simply eating the food, he keeps it locked up because he's afraid some monster is going to appear and steal the food before he eats it.

He just won't let people get over and become stars on their own merit because he's afraid they will leave WWE and go to TNA (or Impact), or whatever the hell they call themselves now. So basically Vince is so arrogant and paranoid he only pushes guys that he gives gimmicks and names to. CM Punk, John Cena, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Rey Mysterio are like the only ones off the top of my head that I can think of that are using names they've come up with and are somewhat successful.

 

[Penguin]

.....he only pushes guys that he gives gimmicks and names to. CM Punk, John Cena, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Rey Mysterio are like the only ones off the top of my head that I can think of that are using names they've come up with and are somewhat successful.

I fear I have to correct you on a couple of names here. Orton and Rhodes both got partly pushed because of family that's why they kept the names, Orton admitted on his DVD he got the job because of his father and kept it because of the talent. There are many many people in the WWE over the attitude and onward years that have made themselves. Jericho, Edge, Christian, and the Hardy Boys to name but a few. The big difference between them and a lot of people who have failed is that they all had star quality.
Ultimately that's what Vince will push provided you don't screw up. Take Kennedy, he could have had it all but he was a botch machine and a nightmare backstage, you could apply that to Orton as well pre-clean up but Orton has the It factor and was worth the trouble on a business level but Kennedy just didn't.