Can monsters be successful for long?

[Long Island Iced D]

Over the years guys like Kane and Big Show have had much success being monster type characters. Recently, most big monster type characters make a huge impact and quickly slow down. Guys like Umaga, Big Daddy V, The Great Khali, Mark Henry, and Koslov have debuted with huge pushes and title shots/runs but after finally losing a few get lost in the shuffle. Now these guys turned up released, in dance offs, wearing a tooth fairy costume, or in a comedy tag team etc. I think that this probably would have happened to Kharma too as after seeing somebody annihilate people over and over until someone beats them shock value is eventually lost.
Do you think that monster type characters could have long successful runs and if so how would you go about keeping a character from becoming stale and boring?
And remember, if you like this post please hit the rep button, take care and spike your hair WWWYKI

 

[Disaster Master]

Yes i believe they can, now does that men they always win? NO, when you have a monster your going to have the audience think no one can beat them so you let them win some matches BUT soon you have someone who LOOKS like they can stand up to them, lets take the recent Kharma (AKA Awesome Kong) she was a monster diva and no one would believe it if someone like Kelly Kelly beat her that's just TOO FAKE, but when someone like Beth Phoenix shows up and puts her down people would enjoy it, now that wouldn't ruin the "monster" feel for Kharma but it just shows she CAN be defeated. I think monsters can be successful as long as they get paired up against the right opponent, not someone who people will think there's no way that little wrestler can take them down.

 

[bigandpissed]

I believe they can.. but theres kinda a dilemma.

I believe for a monster to be successful you can't try to add too many layers of personality or else they completely lose the monster aspect of the character. For example, Kane. To me, he hasn't been the same since he lost the mask and started talking. he has completely shed the monster enigma he had with being the silent burn victim. I believe they were injecting the perfect amount of personality when he was teaming with x-pac. He was still the silent monster, but using x-pac as the mouthpiece allowed them to use the monster aspect for comedy. then they took it too far by having him speak and that slowly turned him into what he is today.

Another example is Abyss. He started out the same way as kane. A monster who didn't talk and essentially dominated the entire company. that gimmick worked great until yet again, he started talking. Now instead of being a monster, he's stuck in the mankindesqe social outcast deal.

the dilemma is how do you keep the monster character fresh, without essentially shedding the monster image? But with that being said I think these guys (at least the ones who speak good english)generally do have long successful runs because they are pushed to the moon by beating established stars the second they premier.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I believe for a monster to be successful you can't try to add too many layers of personality or else they completely lose the monster aspect of the character. For example, Kane. To me, he hasn't been the same since he lost the mask and started talking.

It's a reasonable point, but when you look at the list of "monsters" given by the original poster, you see guys who had absolutely no personality at all, and I believe it caused the shortened their careers as top wrestlers. Guys like Umaga and Khali never spoke. Guys like Koslov and Mark Henry do speak, but shouldn't. Guys like Big Daddy V; well, I never knew what to make of that "Barry White" routine he was pulling with Lilian Garcia, but it certainly didn't add much interest to his act.

On the other hand, I have to disagree about Kane. After his unexpected run at the top (due to Undertaker's injury), he did some promos that were out of this world. He isn't just a monster, he can communicate. It's the same with Big Show; it's his personality that helps keep him relevant, whether as a face or heel.

So, I say yes.....a monster can have a long career; it depends on the longevity of his gimmick, but it sure helps if he has some semblance of a personality.

 

[tripleddd]

i think a monster needs to dominate all around him/her until a major ppv then get defeated. for example in a royal rumble as kane did one year eliminate loads of wrestlers and had an aura about them. . Perhaps they should be used sparingly 3 months on tv and then dissappear

 

[iwinulose]

tough one, some guys are good, like what kane did when he debuted. big show was preh good. andre the giant was a huge hit. see, it depends on how you use the big guys. you gotta realize that they are big and their moveset is limited as opposed to someone who is smaller and athletic like rey mysterio and sin cara.
for whatever reason, people like big promos, then a lil wrestling. big guys dont cut promos to much and somehow thats bad for them. they get short and long title reigns, but for the time they are champ they beat everyone. big guys have more powerful moves which is awesome! downside, they tend to be limited as far as moving around the ring easily.
so theres kinda ups and downs to it.

 

[Brahma Bull]

Big guys stay relevant the same way any other wrestler on the roster says relevant. They have to be able to talk. Granted, Big Show, Kane and Taker, are not known for their speaking abilities, but they are definitely not bad on the stick either. They have kept fans because they can communicate to them. Now I know that Kane started without talking, but he probably would not have lasted as long if he couldnt carry on a good fued. Second, they have too be good at actually wrestling. This is what hurts khali, koslov, and others. They are not good at wrestling. Big show, kane, and taker can go at it in the ring. Taker is obviously the best, but kane and big show always entertain. True, umaga and big daddy v were pretty decent, but they couldnt talk. Whats true for the small is true for the large, if you cant get over with the crowd, your days are numbered.

 

[JJ15776]

At the end of the day, big guys are no different than small ones. You have to be able to get the fans to care about you. Love or hate, you have to be able to get a reaction. If you can do that, you will be successful for a long time. If you can't, you'll only last as long as your look or good booking can take you.

 

[Klown_Karnage]

I think the primary difficulty with characters that are monsters, particularly those for whom the monster aspect is the primary (if not only) gimmick is that they depend on their physical dominance for their relevance. True, you can have something like Kane's or Khali's opening periods of win after win, domination after domination, but that gets old eventually. Besides that, when someone manages to defeat said monster decisively, that essentially "slays" the monster. That character is no longer unbeatable and thus loses the dominant angle quickly. That, in my opinion, is why they gave Kane more aspects to his personality and a voice (although I was not impressed when they had him using that voicebox device. According to interviews, Kane wasn't that pleased about that bit, either.) That being said, Kane eventually would have to start losing, and when he did he'd need more to his personality than his unbeatable dominance, which is temporary at best.

This is also what happened to several other monsters who had almost nothing else to them such as King Kong Bundy and the like. Basically no personality beyond stomp in and destroy your opponent. Monster characters are fine in the beginning, but they need to develop a character beyond that to stay relevant. A great example of this is The Undertaker. 'Taker started out as essentially a monster, his "personality" and the like all shown through Paul Bearer. Gradually, 'Taker developed his own very complex character which allowed him to become one of the absolute greatest and most interesting characters in the mind of the WWE fans. Yes, he kept his physical dominance for the most part, but he could still lose and not lose relevance.

 

[TheKingHustla]

I think that in order for monster heels to remain successful, they have to have fuel to sustain that monster gimmick. Look at one of the longest running monsters in WWE history, Kane. He came in with a well drawn out and well recieved story of his brother burning him, which led to him being in a legendary fued with an established star, Undertaker. Since then, all he has had to do was maintain it. He didn't have to win every match or destroy every opponent, but his history is what makes him succeed today. If you give a monster heel a great foundation, they could be successful for a long time. Even one of the things that kill most heels, the desire of the WWE to suddenly make monsters funny, didn't kill Kane's monster role because he was already established. When you look at Khali and others, they havn't established themselves enough. You also have to have the ability to have the crowd interested, and the skills in the ring to be watchable, something Khali doesn't have. If you were to take someone like Umaga, and give him a great story behind him being a monster, and have him fued with Triple H to establish his monster rage, a monster could go the distance and be successful for long. But the storyline behind the monster is usually what drives the monster for the long haul. That's why most of the others don't work, because their background storylines are weak.

 

[kobrad]

I have one name for you! BROCK LESNER!!!

Seriously this monster had a push from the beginning and never looked back up till the day he left he was awesome! That guy had all the talent in the world and could do a pretty cool promo! Brock was awesome!!! If there was Brock still today there would never of been a super cena! That would be great and everything would probably be soooooo different today in WWE!!!

So yes big men can get over and stay over if they are talented and good enough! Batista also had it and to be honest he wasnt half bad, sure he wasnt technical like Brock but seriously he wasnt that bad.

 

[kidmetal24]

Yes but its tricky. In the begining you need to constantly keep your monster on the warpath eliminating every jobber and mid card talent to get him over. Do it for 3 to 5 months before sending him up to the main event. Also there needs to be something different about him. Maybe a gothic feel or a mask, something along those lines. Keep him as mysterious as possible. Always keep people guessing. Whether your moster is a heel or face, don't let him discriminate, destroy everything and anyone. Destructive temper tantrums seem to work too. After losing a big match at a ppv, have him interupt a match of jobber/mid card ranks and take out everyone. If your monster loses make sure its in a triple threat or to a main eventer.You always want to keep your monster as a main eventer. Never let him hold a mid card championship before the big one. Sorry but that lessens the impact of a monster. Men of few words always made great monsters too. Too if you have a company with a mid card monster (Mark Henry), have the monster you want to push go nose to nose and take their best shots then fire back with his own. Thats my formula for one heck of a successful monster.

Oh I forgot always have your monster fued with your top talent first but not your champion. You gotta hold people in suspense lol

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I do not think that a performer can survive these days only on the basis of being a monster. He is bound to have one successful feud, maybe two on the basis of his physique and monstrous looks but if he does not bring much else to the table, he is bound to fade away. There have been countless such cases in wrestling from Earthquake to Warlord and more recently The Great Khali. They have had one very good feud with the face of the company and then they have faded away into obscurity.

The reason why Kane and Big Show are still somewhat relevant is because they have talents that go beyond their physique. Both guys are good talkers ad decent in ring. Kane, in particular is someone whom the crowd has always liked due to the cool mask he wore and his entrance. His supernaturalism also adds a bit more substance to his character.

But it would be fair to say that even they have not been abl to recapture the magic of their first few feuds ever since.