Are European Wrestlers Stuck In A Gimmick

[Deego]

No as long as they have an accent. Regal has been face before and he was teaming with Eugene, talk about letting your face persona go down the drain. Also I didn't like that Wade Barret had to speak in an English accent. They already have Shaemus and Drew speaking in some accent. They don't need another one. Maybe they drop it sometime like they did with Kofi Kingston, but no they are not destined to start out as heels. It's hard to see some European debut as a face, but it has been done before. I'm not sure I remember right now but they don't have to have that gimmick all the time and be heels.

Aye, their own accent. That's where they're from, that's how they speak. It's as simple as that, if the WWE doesn't want too many characters with accents then they better stop signing foreign wrestlers.

"I'm Wade Barret from England, yet I'm speaking in an American accent because some divvy on the internet thinks I should."

Mental.

I think the post I've quoted is an example of why foreign wrestlers aren't generally faces - in a sort of 'oh, he doesn't speak like us, who or what is this creature?' type way.

 

[FromTheSouth]

Can you imagine Chris Jericho's promos with a haughty British accent? They would be even better than they are. The fact of the matter is that British people quite often sound like they're talking down as far as Americans are concerned. On the other hand, they think we all sounds like redneck convicts.

There is just a tone to the voice that sounds heel. Jason Statham is usually the good guy in his movies, but in wrestling, he'd be a tweener at best.

 

[prophefixz]

Recently most English or Irish born wrestlers are basically stuck with having this heel persona with a bad acsent. William Regal, Dave Taylor, Finley, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, and now Wade Barrett of NXT. well finley is a face but that was all because of hornswaggle, not an actual change in how finley acts.

honestly i hate this gimmick and its been done to death. now someone like sheamus may not really have a better option, considering he's so pale and the red hair. but other guys like McIntyre and Barrett dont have to have this gimmick. they could easily just act like a normal guy and possible be face.

my questionm is with the way the wwe is now do any European born wrestlers have a chance of having a different gimmick or are they going to be stuck with this "im english" or "im irish" so "im a heel" type persona??

Just so you know, Drew Mcintyre is neither irish or english.

It's hard for WWE to not have English wrestlers in some kind of posh royalty gimmick.
Tbh sheamus and drew mcintyre aren't playing as much on their heritage as much as william regal or burchill (non pirate). As a pirate, Burchill wasn't being "British".
With mcintyre and sheamus the last few months they are just normal heels in my eyes. Yes sheamus sounds irish and has a celtic necklace and video, but he's not exactly portrayed like finlay was...He had a freakin' leprechaun!!
WWE can't help to play towards how people look.

Is it a coincidence that most of the recent african-american wrestlers come to the ring to rap music? Lately certain people come to mind:- MVP, Mark henry, Big daddy V, R-truth, Rodney mack, Teddy Long. Nation of domination wouldn't have worked for several white people. WWE has always given people gimmicks linked to how they sound/look. It's only really people who don't sound/look like they are from anywhere that don't get that treatment. Edge, christian and jericho are canadian, but they don't sound much different from some american accents (especially to anyone watching from outside america). It's just like Really southern sounding wrestlers must be red necks, French canadians are instantly from France. Have you ever seen a french canadian in a non-french related gimmick? Even sylvan 'the model' was of an arrogant french model.
Indians always come out with indian themed characters:- Great Khali/Tiger ali singh to name a few
Middle-eastern are always anti "west":- Hassan, Daivari, iron shiek...etc

Lastly, how many Mexican or latin american wrestlers have had a gimmick that isn't based upon them being latino? (Except kerwin white...)
There's been tons you can think of:- Savio vega, eddie and chavo, Juve guerrero



To get back on topic, it's easy for WWE to do these gimmicks because people can easily relate to them in some ways, but it's extremely lazy.
To stay on topic, i think wrestlers from england or france will have the most difficulty shaking their stereotypes. England and france has always been protrayed as 'Anti-American'. England, well, civil war anyone? and France, well, i don't really know why, but they are pretty much disliked in many sports due to their perceived arrogance.

Even though it is lazy, i think it's pretty good business (bar from the english stand point). Even the English hate having posh, upperclass characters representing them tbh.

Putting people out there as scottish or irish helps those countries to relate, and like with sheamus, the fact he's irish has been getting a lot of press in ireland atm. People who watched wrestling in the past there may see it and tune in. Unless you are american (or can pass as one) you are always going to be placed in a gimmick that reflects your heritage/accent and/or race. There's no escaping that tbh. It not only helps to cheaply gain more fans from other countries as they essentially gain a 'hometown' hero, but can help increase WWE exposure in that country.

It's not just wwe though. UFC do the same. They play fighters off their countries or heritage. Marcus davies is well liked in the uk. why? because even though he is a new yorker, he is the 'Irish Hand grenade' and plays off the fact hes irish american. British wrestlers like Michael Bisping and dan hardy play the huge british role and are really hated in the US. Huge boos when shows are in the USA. When UFC is outside of US, the cards contain many fighters from that nationality. You are more likely to get into something, if you have something in common with that sport/show.

 

[Tastycles]

It's lazy booking, for sure, but the problem is being exagerrated a little bit. On the same show that Barrett cut that promo on, they debuted a guy with a weird accent that was obviously a face in Justin Gabriel. In short though, it is too easy to make a British guy a heel, ask Hollywood. For whatever reason, the American stereotype of British people is that they are snobby, which is what you get on TV. It's a tried and tested formula and it generates heat, because Americans are generally fiercely patriotic. Nothing wrong with that, but it just means we get lame character building for foreign stars. The ones that brave the initial storm typically get a go at being a proper character, but they are at a disadvantage, and it is a shame, but it is too easy an option and the WWE creative team are too lazy for them not to run with it.