Can the WWE ever create extreme characters again???

[Saritafan]

The one thing I always loved about the attitude era were the extreme characters like the undertaker and Kane. IMO these 2 have been WWE's greatest creations. Undertaker ministry dead man character put extreme fear into every childs mind and kanes burned monster character also did the exact same. Even though the believability of these characters are rather laughable, they did entertain the hell out of us and some of use actually believed they were these gimmicks because they played them so well

I've always wondered if WWE would ever create a character like these again, their have been laughable attempts like the boogyman but nothing that has been a success. All the characters now-a-days are just ordinary and plain and they'll never entertain us to that degree of undertaker and kane and that kind of upsets me

anyone else think WWE should try create over the top characters again or would that be kind of stupid???

 

[Ferbian]

While I think it could be okay giving it a try, but I could only see it fail, because of Undertaker's meaning to the WWE, they would have to try hard to repeat that one.

Same really goes for Kane, certainly he's not as important as Undertaker, but Kane is quite a character in himself, and I don't see WWE going to those lengths again, at least not by the looks of it now.

Besides, I must admit I don't see the need to put on characters like this, we haven't seen odd gimmicks for quite a while, perhaps WWE has realized it's better putting gimmicks into life that people can either relate to, know of in your normal day life, or just plain common people.

So really I wouldn't mind seeing it given a try, I doubt it will be given a try cause I don't see it ever getting to the levels that Undertaker and Kane put forth really.

 

[Takerfan93]

Completely agree with everything you said. And in all honesty, I don't think they will ever be able to create another Undertaker or Kane type character, atleast not a successful one.

The Boogeyman was never going to work because it was a terrible gimmick, nothing like Undertaker or Kane because he was more for comedy and didn't really have that "everyone fears him" thing going on. The fact that the wrestling gimmick was based on a fictional character that already had been created made it even more difficult to be successful.

But while I don't think they can successfully make another Undertaker or Kane character, I think they can still successfully make over the top, larger than life characters like they did in the 80s and 90s. But sadly, the PG rating prevents them from doing a lot of gimmicks so I don't think we will see extreme characters for a long time. The new gimmicks today are bland and all the same, no one has catch phrases anymore or signature taunts or unique entrance music. If you look at Undertaker, Stone Cold, HBK, The Rock, Triple H they have catchphrases or nicknames; "rest in peace, the lord of darkness, the demon of death valley", "if your down with that gimme a hell yeah, Austin 3:16, thats the bottom line coz Stone Cold said so", "The Showstopper, The heart break kid", "Just bring it, the great one, the peoples champion, it doesn't matter what your name is, The Rock has come back to...", "The Game, the King of Kings, the Cerebral Assassin". They all have their own unique taunts; Undertakers kneel and arm raise, cut throat - Stone Colds middle finger, head rattle - The Rocks arm raise, the head thing - HBKs tuning up the band, kneel and raises arms, the pose in the ring during entrance - Triple Hs arms raised pose, the water thing. And if you heard the first split second of any of their entrance music you would know it was them because they all had unique entrance music which was perfect for them, it fitted so well with their characters and got the audience hyped. The ones today have no unique entrance music, no signature taunts, no catchphrases or anything. Listen to Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, The Miz and Legacys music and see how similar they all sound. Then listen to Undertakers, HBKs, Triple Hs, The Rocks and Stone Colds and see how different theirs all are.

 

[Next/CK]

Ok WWE is the nfl to wrestling when tna is the afl but one thing that tna has that wwe doesnt have is extreme peaple and matches. Also wwe has baned chair shots due to cuncussions. TNA on the other hand has everything from glass tables to tacks when the sickest thing wwe has is a table. Dont get me wrong i am a WWE mark but with all this stuff happening and to the health of the compeditors WWE mit as well be a care bear hospitall. Last friday night in the Jack Swagger vs. John Morrison match some guy came in and interfeared with there match ......... HOLY #$%@ WHAT IS THAT !!! this isnt wrestling this looks like a episode of "HOUSE" i cant believe what im seeing i mean come on. The only thing that WWE has that TNA doesnt have is story lines and that is what keeps use coming back every week but if wwe doesnt toughn up I mite just become a tna mark.

 

[Decarow]

When I think "extreme" characters, I think more of Taz, RVD, the Hardys, etc. But I see what you mean.

They have created a lot of over the top characters within the past few years but they have failed. Boogeyman, Kevin Thorn, Heidenreich, Paul Burchill the Pirate, The Hurricane, Big Daddy V all come to mind. What's in common? They are ALL released now.

People nowadays want their heels to hurt them personally. CM Punk pisses people off by attacking how they live. JBL was prejudice.

Honestly, if a new character debuted and said they were going to take Cena, Orton, or even HHH to Hell with them, he would just get laughed out of the ring. The Attitude Era is gone, get over it.

 

[Fizzy2k10]

well i seriously dont think that wwe can creat those sorta characters anymore just because of how the atmosphere has changed in a wwe show. Plus the fact that do you really think that the PG era would allow a monster of taker or kane standerds ???? because what WWE dont want his kids running home crying which i dont think is family friendly .

Boogey man was plain stupid gimmick. Enough said about that.

However if an attitude era surrounding was to come in the near future i do see undertaker being tounted and stalked by another " ministry of darkness " which would make taker loose and loose untill he just couldnt take it anymore. Something like the kane vs mask kane match but more more better planning, segments and in ring action !

 

[LokiCobain]

Honestly, if a new character debuted and said they were going to take Cena, Orton, or even HHH to Hell with them, he would just get laughed out of the ring. The Attitude Era is gone, get over it.

Undertaker was pre-Attitude Era, by a lot. The Ministry and the Kane storyline worked because Undertaker had already solidified himself as a top guy with a huge fan base. If I remember right, Taker was a biker for a large portion of the Attitude Era.

Kane never had the "over the top" gimmick like Taker had (by telling people he was going to take them to hell). That was clearly left over from late 80s/early 90s silliness that only worked later in the 90s because of Taker's popularity. Kane and Abyss had similar gimmicks of just being destructive. I can see guys like Abyss and Kane being made again, but nothing as "extreme" as Taker. And to comment, even though RVD and those guys are "extreme" because of ECW, I think the creator of the thread means "extreme" as "over the top to the point of ridiculousness". Kane and Abyss aren't characters from a mythical underworld. Undertaker was an "evil" Hulk Hogan to the extent that "nothing hurt him". Hogan would start shaking, it was over. Undertaker would sit up, it was over. THAT isn't believable, and that was what worked in the 80s/early 90s. Abyss and Kane aren't untouchable, and that makes them more likely to be created in the future.

I don't think WWE will be able to create another supernatural character. This "power from above" (or below) is too unrealistic even for wrestling fans, and we expect more from that. When Hogan's talking about getting his power from Hulkamaniacs, and Undertaker from his urn, it's just silly. TNA is doing it now with Abyss with Hogan's ring, and it's absolutely painful to watch their dialogues talking about the force and the Abyssamaniacs. That time is over, and that time WASN'T the Attitude Era. Hogan in the Attitude Era, debuting as the eat your vitamins and pump me up, would've failed, and so would Taker had he debuted. Kane only made it because he rode the Undertaker's coattails and fit into the Undertaker's life. The "evil" stuff that took place got a slide because it was the Attitude Era and it fit that idea, but the creation of Taker didn't come from there. The most "extreme" guys we're going to get from WWE are going to be psychotic, like Orton's character that propelled him to a top heel. Mankind, but without the over the top antics. Wrestling has become more "real", with "real" people, not demons or phenoms or monsters.

 

[Thriller Ant]

The time for over-the-top gimmicks has passed, and that is fine with me. Unless you have an outstanding talent like Mark Calloway or Glen Jacobs, you don't often see the outlandish, unbelievable gimmicks succeed. Kizarny failed, Boogeyman failed, Kevin Thorne failed, the Zombie failed. Wrestling doesn't have the aura it used to, with wrestlers keeping kayfabe outside of shows and most people knowing it isn't "real", which also hurts the success of these characters.

The best characters are the exaggerated real people. Ted Dibiase's stuck up rich guy, Mr. Perfect and Rick Rude's narcissists, Chris Jericho thinking he is better than everyone, CM Punk trying to indoctrinate those around him, etc. They work because most people know those people in real life, and it makes it that much easier to get emotionally connected. It is much easier to care about a guy defending his family than a "deadman."

 

[fredstephenson]

the undertaker and kane charecters in my opinion are probally the greatest charecters in wrestling ever and the whole undertaker burning kane then kane coming to get revenge storyline was pure genius it is fit for a good horror movie but wwe dont come up with charecters or storylines like this anymore they either cant or dont want to.

look at most of the wrestlers ten years back they almost all had a gimmick or at least somthing unique about them now all we have is a bunch of guys in there underpants with no gimmick nothing interesting about them oh and they use there real names and wwe expects them to instantly get over think about it just say the undertaker debuted now he would not be the the undertaker from death valley he would simply be mark calloway from texas

i think the reason behind us not seeing anymore elaborate charecters anymore is because wwe realises that most people now know that the wwe is staged but i dont think they give there fans enough credit as im pretty sure most of its regular fans know that wrestling is just a show but im sure a lot of them enjoy seeing all the insane gimmicks and surreal storylines anyway

what i dont understand though is that the wwe seem to be targeting children as its main fanbase these days so i would have thought there would be an increase in the gimmicks department but that doesnt seem to be the case i think the wwe and the fans could both benefit from some new awesome gimmicks and charecters but i dont see the wwe creating some anytime soon

 

[Takerfan93]

Undertaker was pre-Attitude Era, by a lot. The Ministry and the Kane storyline worked because Undertaker had already solidified himself as a top guy with a huge fan base. If I remember right, Taker was a biker for a large portion of the Attitude Era.

Kane never had the "over the top" gimmick like Taker had (by telling people he was going to take them to hell). That was clearly left over from late 80s/early 90s silliness that only worked later in the 90s because of Taker's popularity. Kane and Abyss had similar gimmicks of just being destructive.

Undertaker was not a biker for the large proportion of the Attitude era at all, only for the last year (as WM 17 is considered the last day of the Attitude era). From the beginning, 1997 to 2000 he was the lord of darkness and from 2000 until the end in 2001 he was the biker.

Kane DID have an over the top gimmick. I mean come on, Undertakers brother who returned years after he was supposedly killed in a fire. He wore a mask and everything to cover up his "burn marks" and was demented and obsessed with doing the same to Undertaker, when he took off his mask he was crazy, he even set JR on fire so he could "feel his pain". If that doesn't sound like an extreme character then what does? And he did have a similar gimmick to Undertaker at the beginning, remember at Wrestlemania in their match when he felt no pain, sat up and kicked out of 2 tombstones

 

[LokiCobain]

Kane DID have an over the top gimmick. I mean come on, Undertakers brother who returned years after he was supposedly killed in a fire. He wore a mask and everything to cover up his "burn marks" and was demented and obsessed with doing the same to Undertaker, when he took off his mask he was crazy, he even set JR on fire so he could "feel his pain". If that doesn't sound like an extreme character then what does? And he did have a similar gimmick to Undertaker at the beginning, remember at Wrestlemania in their match when he felt no pain, sat up and kicked out of 2 tombstones

It only worked because his entire character was completely reliant on Undertaker. If Kane debuted as he did but Undertaker was never a character, it would've failed at that time.

 

[asslber]

I've always like Kanes gimmick more than the Undertakers. Kanes gimmick actually scared me and I used to have nightmares of Kane. I can't say the same for Undertaker. Anyways, I always wanted the Dub to go back to the way Kane used to be. A heartless, dimented, fiend. The last time I remember this was back when he was the tag team champ with the Big Show and See No Evil was coming out. Though, they did end that storyline well and have been playing along with it for quite some time now. At the end of that storyline, his voices were silenced, which were what was flaming Kane. No pun intended.

I think the Dub needs to do something where Kane just finally snaps and freaks again. I would like that. Maybe give him the world title for some time on Smackdown. I always though he looked good with the WHC on the SvR games. Lol