Character Development in WWE

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Greetings WWE non-spam section. Been a while since our paths crossed, but the time has once again arrived. I want to talk a little bit about something that caught my eye on the new NXT. Through the squashes, superstar profiles and the cracking main event stood something pure and blissfully brilliant and had me excited for something very, very special. Allow me to introduce you all to Mr. Bray Wyatt...

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Now I know what you're thinking; gee, when did Husky Harris get that nifty new tattoo, but if you could put that aside for just one moment you'll see a character that within one minute established several facts about himself:

1: He's Southern.
2: He's twisted.
3: He's got a "Messiah Complex" of some sorts.
4: He's clearly based (partially) off of Max Cady of Cape Fear fame.

Now that was done in a minute. We know what to expect on the surface and a little bit deeper too. We've actually established what this guy is here for and what his gimmick actually is. Basically, we know enough to appreciate it, but we don't a lot, making us anticipate more. A similar thing was done upon hyping the debut of Damien Sandow.

He was established as a intellectual superior who spoke in a very narcissistic, rambling fashion, coining big words and phrases and talking down to the audience. This was further backed up by Sandow's live appearances where he cuts promos degrading his opponents and the audience, drawing legitimate heat. In short, this character has been successful, and Bray Wyatt certainly has the makings to be the same, especially with the rave reviews of it from FCW.

Now, that's all well and good, but these are two exceptions to the more recent WWE rule. Normally a character will come from almost out of nowhere, show up and make some sort of "impact" where upon we'll be informed about some very generic, basic facts about them. Take for example Antonio Caesaro.

Put aside the fact that he's Claudio from Kings of Wrestling for just one second and since he debuted the week after WrestleMania what have we learned? He's dating/friends with Aksana, he's Swiss and he's a former rugby player with an aggressive side. Now that's all well and good upon learning the basics, but since he debuted what have we learned about his character? Struggling to think of anything? That's because we haven't learned anything. It's been three months since his debut (or 12 episodes of SmackDown) and we know nothing about him aside from those basics. A character won't grow if it's not over and because we're not learning anything new about Ceasaro, we're not seeing him grow.

In the Attitude Era, there was a desire for more realism in wrestling and ever since that we've been left with a boat-load of characters with one dimensional personalities who have nothing to sink their teeth into and develop. That, combined with the ever more scripted nature of WWE have caused gimmicks and over-the-top qualities to fall by the wayside and in part have caused a decline in character progression and even evolution.

Caesaro is the latest example of this, but really it's rife throughout the roster. I mean, take a look at lower card guys like Jinder Mahal, Tyson Kidd and Ezekiel Jackson. One's rich, evil and Punjabi, one's skilled in the ring, Canadian and a Hart family graduate and one's scary strong, from Guyana and has a biblical theme to his moveset. That's it. Mahal's only been on TV for about a year and we've learned nothing about him since his initial feud with Khali. Jackson and Kidd have both been around since 2008 and neither has developed outside of the points I made really.

WWE's character developmental system, through a lack of will to develop a character (I.E. Laziness), has in essence not helped develop or enhance any talent on a wider scale. Heck even midcarders suffer from these issues like Kofi Kingston and Jack Swagger. Characters have the potential to get over more when they have a piece of the wrestler's soul in it. That's the case with the most successful characters in wrestling. Take Jake Roberts, take the Undertaker, take Steve Austin, take the Rock, take Chris Jericho, take Kurt Angle, take CM Punk, take Damien Sandow and potentially take Bray Wyatt.

So in summary (or tl;dr answer): WWE needs to start allowing it's talent to invest themselves in something, anything that will help them move they're character forward and get over. Anything that a wrestler can exploit with their own character will enable them to attempt to get over further. That's why Damien Sandow showed up about three months ago and is one of the top five or so heels in terms of reaction from the audience. And it's also why one dimensional guys like Ted DiBiase struggle to get over.

Alright, rant over; your thoughts on this old subject with a slightly new twist are welcome.

 

[klunderbunker]

To sum this up, the answer is simple: if they talk, they will grow.

At the end of the day, we learn more than anything in wrestling from talking. Let's take a look at one of the most famous promo men of all time: Steve Austin. When he was with Ted DiBiase he was the Ringmaster, which is about as generic of a gimmick as you can ask for. Then DiBiase left and he got to be himself, and the rocket was ignited.

Now there's one word that can describe Austin perfectly: Rebel. Austin rebelled against everything and everyone and he used his actions and words to show that. Can you imagine if his persona was simply told to us instead of having him act it out? Imagine if we were told the day he debuted that he was a rebel. As in his nickname was The Rebel and he wore a Confederate flag vest or something like that. It would be so corny that no one would buy it.

The key was that Austin ACTED like a rebel. He cut his famous promo against Jake Roberts, talking about how it was his time and his ring and he said his famous Austin 3:16 line. That's something new to hear and it caught people's attention. The same is true of guys like Rock or Hogan or Flair or Cena. They got to talk and it got people's attention.

Now look at guys like Heath Slater, Tyson Kidd and Michael McGillicutty. We have the One Man Southern Rock Band, a guy that was trained by Bret Hart, and the son of Curt Hennig. That doesn't really tell us anything about them (I only remember Josh Matthews explaining Slater's nickname once in the two and a half years that he's had it) and nothing else has ever been added. When you look at modern WWE, other than legends, only Cena has an evolving character. Let me explain.

Take Orton for example. In his modern persona, what do we know about him? He has a quick temper and he can hit an RKO quickly. The majority of the matches and feuds that he has exist because he wants the title or something happens in a match. That isn't developing a character at all. It's just standing around and waiting on something to happen with your nickname being said over and over. Yeah his matches are good, but there are no stories to them other than "I want the title and you're in my way of getting it." Then Orton will feud with that guy and the feud will continue because he's been feuding with them and it'll end with an RKO and a pin.

This is the case for almost everyone but Cena. Cena's feuds have a running story through them. He's feuded with Rock for a year then he feuded with Lesnar because of Ace then he feuded with Ace because he beat Lesnar then he feuded with Big Show because of the match with Ace. Compare this to Orton. He was about to feud with Jericho. Why? Because Jericho jumped him. There was no build to it, no real explanation, no real reason or anything like that. When the feud is over, unless something major happens in the middle of it, Jericho and Orton will be the same person and will move on to their next spontaneous feud. Again, how many people get continuing stories aside from Cena?

Now, what do everyone besides Cena and Punk (on occasion) have in common? They rarely get extended promo time? When is the last time you remember Randy Orton coming to the ring on a regular basis and getting to talk for more than a minute at a time? Just about every promo anymore from everyone not named Cena is "I'm down but I'll come back and win." Think about it. When is the last time you actually learned something about a character that wasn't just told to you point blank. That's why there are so few well defined characters today. You can look at Cena and based on what we've seen and heard from him and know what he's going to say.

At the end of the day there isn't a ton of character development because no one has time for it. Instead we need 25 replays a night and ads telling us not to be a bully and to hear what everyone's favorite Raw is or to have the GM explain every single match five times. Cut that out and you'd be amazed how much more time you have to let people talk.

Referring to the promo above with Wyatt, that works for a variety of reasons that are listed above, but the promo being on location helps A LOT. Instead of it being in front of the Raw or Smackdown set or backstage somewhere, being in the middle of a small town like that puts you in a different mindset. That's a very necessary key to promos. By putting people there like that, it makes you actually believe something is going on in that character's life. Look back to Ted DiBiase and him going out to various places, like the time he bought a pool for an afternoon. That's something aside from just being in an arena and doing something. It makes things seem more realistic. Back in the day that was called kayfabe, which unfortunately has died and with it, so has a lot of good wrestling stuff.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Another problem the WWE has is them actually beginning to develop a character and, all of a sudden, stop cold. I use Cody Rhodes as a example. Rhodes had his dashing gimmick and then Mysterio gave him a 619 and his character changed. He wore a mask and always covered his face from the camera during his ring entrances. Even though nothing changed about his appearance to us, everything changed to him. I thought it was a great example of character development. I forgot exactly when he dropped the mask but ever since then, he's been bland. All he is now is another heel and we have plenty of those. In some aspects, I believe character development is easier to do when you're a heel. You can get the crowd to hate you in many different forms whether it be ADR with his money or the way Punk did with his straightedge messiah gimmick. The one thing I do give the Attitude Era credit for is that even though some of the gimmicks they had were ridiculous, at least every wrestler (even the midcard and lower level ones) had something that distinguished them from everybody else. I don't see that today and that's why I can't get into some of the wrestlers like I did in the past.

 

[ShowOffHEEL]

It comes down to mic time, promo time and the said person to come up with something themselves and push it to creative. No point sitting around waiting for them to think of something.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

The Mic is one of the best tools to grow and develop a character. Yes, some guys don't need to talk cause they are some type of phenomenal freak of nature. But the Mic, and how they talk can make or break a character.

It helps to have a unique character, but a much needed promo is something that is needed. Look at Bobby Lashley. He had a great push when he was in the WWE, even had a decent match with Cena before he left. But his Mic Skills were barely, if not below average. You can't do a lot with that.

Even talking during matches without mic. Express some message to connect with the audience. Watch some of Chris Jericho's matches. You can see how he holds himself, and interacts with the crowd. I remember someone told him to go back to Toronto. He simply told the fan "I'm From Winnipeg you Idiot!" The crowd absorbed that.

The power of the promo. It was almost a year ago, when CM Punk sat on the ramp, and blasted the WWE for what it was. CM Punk was already a decent star, but then his stardom shot up, increasing merch and music sales.

You look at John Morrison. Very very weak mic skills. Didn't really break that connection between audience and wrestler.

Now, I do see a wrinkle in my theory of talking and mic skills creating the connection between audience and wrestler. Sometimes, you will have a Monster, like a Bautisia or a Lesnar, who started out very rough on the mic.

This is where a mouth piece or a manager would get involved. Bautisia got paired with Flair and HHH, and Lesnar had Paul Heyman do his promos. Both guys got over, and reached main even level.

So overall, is my argument, or theory, is established the connection between audience and wrestler. If a wrestler can do so, they will develop very well. The entity needed for that connection is talking. Weather, the talent themselves or a manager can do so.

 

[Martin Gabriel]

Very good read, dude. I do love realism in some cases, such as the incredible feud between Matt Hardy and Edge or the one between Punk and Cena. However, creative seems incapable of writing in such fire most of the time. WWE needs to remember that even if for the past several years they've tried to make their stars more relatable, when you ask for an outside perspective of what one expects a wrestler to be, they'd say something cartoonish. But that doesn't have to be bad. Fucking embrace it. Not EVERY wrestler has to have an elaborate gimmick though. I'd be fine with Cesaro if they'd just fucking use him more. Let him wrestle someone for real already and the same goes for Ryback.

Hell, cartoonish doesn't even necessarily mean unrelatable. There's a reason certain over-the-top character archetypes have pervaded literature for centuries. They reflect certain aspects of humanity, remind us of our ideals or condemn our faults, taking either to the extreme. We shouldn't want characters that are just like average people. They should have qualities we can identify with, but be the personification of those qualities. Sandow personifies our arrogance; Punk's personifies our desire to rebel; Bray Wyatt personifies our desire to lead and have unwavering faith; Ryback personifies our desire to beat people the fuck up. Personification works.

And for those who haven't seen it, here's Husky's debut promo and match as Bray Wyatt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw5jp4XAQB0

 

[Martin Gabriel]

To sum this up, the answer is simple: if they talk, they will grow.

At the end of the day, we learn more than anything in wrestling from talking. Let's take a look at one of the most famous promo men of all time: Steve Austin. When he was with Ted DiBiase he was the Ringmaster, which is about as generic of a gimmick as you can ask for. Then DiBiase left and he got to be himself, and the rocket was ignited.

Now there's one word that can describe Austin perfectly: Rebel. Austin rebelled against everything and everyone and he used his actions and words to show that. Can you imagine if his persona was simply told to us instead of having him act it out? Imagine if we were told the day he debuted that he was a rebel. As in his nickname was The Rebel and he wore a Confederate flag vest or something like that. It would be so corny that no one would buy it.

The key was that Austin ACTED like a rebel. He cut his famous promo against Jake Roberts, talking about how it was his time and his ring and he said his famous Austin 3:16 line. That's something new to hear and it caught people's attention. The same is true of guys like Rock or Hogan or Flair or Cena. They got to talk and it got people's attention.

Now look at guys like Heath Slater, Tyson Kidd and Michael McGillicutty. We have the One Man Southern Rock Band, a guy that was trained by Bret Hart, and the son of Curt Hennig. That doesn't really tell us anything about them (I only remember Josh Matthews explaining Slater's nickname once in the two and a half years that he's had it) and nothing else has ever been added. When you look at modern WWE, other than legends, only Cena has an evolving character. Let me explain.

Take Orton for example. In his modern persona, what do we know about him? He has a quick temper and he can hit an RKO quickly. The majority of the matches and feuds that he has exist because he wants the title or something happens in a match. That isn't developing a character at all. It's just standing around and waiting on something to happen with your nickname being said over and over. Yeah his matches are good, but there are no stories to them other than "I want the title and you're in my way of getting it." Then Orton will feud with that guy and the feud will continue because he's been feuding with them and it'll end with an RKO and a pin.

This is the case for almost everyone but Cena. Cena's feuds have a running story through them. He's feuded with Rock for a year then he feuded with Lesnar because of Ace then he feuded with Ace because he beat Lesnar then he feuded with Big Show because of the match with Ace. Compare this to Orton. He was about to feud with Jericho. Why? Because Jericho jumped him. There was no build to it, no real explanation, no real reason or anything like that. When the feud is over, unless something major happens in the middle of it, Jericho and Orton will be the same person and will move on to their next spontaneous feud. Again, how many people get continuing stories aside from Cena?

Now, what do everyone besides Cena and Punk (on occasion) have in common? They rarely get extended promo time? When is the last time you remember Randy Orton coming to the ring on a regular basis and getting to talk for more than a minute at a time? Just about every promo anymore from everyone not named Cena is "I'm down but I'll come back and win." Think about it. When is the last time you actually learned something about a character that wasn't just told to you point blank. That's why there are so few well defined characters today. You can look at Cena and based on what we've seen and heard from him and know what he's going to say.

At the end of the day there isn't a ton of character development because no one has time for it. Instead we need 25 replays a night and ads telling us not to be a bully and to hear what everyone's favorite Raw is or to have the GM explain every single match five times. Cut that out and you'd be amazed how much more time you have to let people talk.

Referring to the promo above with Wyatt, that works for a variety of reasons that are listed above, but the promo being on location helps A LOT. Instead of it being in front of the Raw or Smackdown set or backstage somewhere, being in the middle of a small town like that puts you in a different mindset. That's a very necessary key to promos. By putting people there like that, it makes you actually believe something is going on in that character's life. Look back to Ted DiBiase and him going out to various places, like the time he bought a pool for an afternoon. That's something aside from just being in an arena and doing something. It makes things seem more realistic. Back in the day that was called kayfabe, which unfortunately has died and with it, so has a lot of good wrestling stuff.

To be fair KB, I assumed Jericho-Orton would eventually evolve into Jericho getting payback for Orton putting him out of action, but even that feels lackluster given if it was such a big deal to Jericho, he would have gone straight for it. Not that I wish that's how things had turned out, considering how good (even if not as good as it should have been) the feud Jericho had with Punk was.

I think you also bring up an awesome point in your comparisons of Orton's and Cena's storylines, KB. There's a sense of continuity in all the rivalries Cena's been having. He's not just going through the motions, randomly getting jumped by someone to instigate a new feud. Everything's flowed from his rivalry with The Rock. Even the bumps along the way, such as his feud with CM Punk, tied into the overarching plot of John Cena's saga with The Rock.

It's something WWE needs more of and can be founded on careful, long-term planning and continuity. For the latter, I think one thing WWE truly lacks these days is consistent rivalries. Even if CM Punk's a face now, there's no reason he should be overjoyed to team with Cena on the occasions he has. It contradicts his character, given Cena is still effectively the same golden boy he hated last summer. I liked when Sheamus and Cena came out to assist Triple H in running the infamous (as in shitty) post-walkout episode of RAW, Sheamus at least referenced that he and Cena hadn't seen eye-to-eye before. I just hate when history is forgotten so matches and angles can coincide with generic heel vs. face scenarios.

As for long-term planning, I think that could be better orchestrated through stables and alliances. You know how sometimes a heel number one contender will approach another heel and say, "Hey, my title shot is this Sunday, how about you rough up the champ for me tonight in your match with him?" Rather than using that just to give a subtle angle to that match, let the second heel play a more significant role in the rivalry. Perhaps he actually attempts to intervene in the title match itself, with the promise the heel number one contender would give him the first challenge should he win the title. Then once that first heel loses, the face world champ could say, "Hey, you nearly cost me the title, so now I have beef with YOU!" And then THEY feud. I think that's a very simple example of long-term planning. Here's another one just so I don't seem lazy: there's a number-one contendership tournament, a heel screws over the face in the finals, the heels goes on to win the title, whereas the face undergoes a storyline where he's trying to fight his way to number one contendership so he can challenge the heel who fucked him over. In the meantime the face who lost the title would get his rematch. Just one. I'm tired of former champions getting two or three rematches unless the rivalry is just awesome.