Does WWE need more true characters?

[Martin Gabriel]

I mean, WWE's overall talent is good. Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Antonio Cesaro, Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, Randy Orton, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, Rey Mysterio -- from the jobbers to the main event, WWE has tons of guys capable of putting on excellent matches in a slew of different styles. However, I would appreciate if there were more true "characters" sometimes, which is why I'm so excited by the prospects on NXT. Bray Wyatt is one of the coolest fucking characters I've seen in ever. Then The Ascension is rad as shit and I hope they keep the gimmick going even without Kenneth Cameron. Leo Kruger, Dean Ambrose (on the roster, but his individual character isn't being emphasized compared to his stable), J Bronson -- these guys have real characters. They're not just generic heels facing generic faces -- there's depth and creativity to how they conduct their promos and the sort of mannerisms and methodologies they employ in the ring. WWE already has the reputation of being ridiculous and flamboyant, even with these past several years of generic, smiling babyfaces. Might as well embrace the stereotypes and use what elaborate characters the WWE's core demographic actually enjoys. Like Bray Wyatt!

WWE could also stand to be less black-and-white. I hate when a guy turns face and suddenly he's bros with all the other faces he ever fucked with as a heel. The Rock didn't always rub other faces the right way; Stone Cold sure as fuck didn't. Let characters still be who they are without contriving these bullshit relationships with other faces just because they're both "good guys." Randy Orton's face character would have worked a lot better if they had made him more of an unsociable tweener who wouldn't cooperate with other faces, but still primarily feuds with heels, thus garnering more of a face reaction. Just little comments like, "I hate you," toward Mick Foley at Survivor Series could have worked wonders for him. Hell, I even remember a few instances where he RKO'd low-card faces out of nowhere just because people would pop for it and the guy wasn't big enough for the people to get upset at him. Had they sustained such reactions, he could have been as psychotic and deranged as ever (minus punting) without pretending to actually like anyone other than himself and the voices in his head.

 

[Diet Soda]

I mean, WWE's overall talent is good. Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Antonio Cesaro, Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, Randy Orton, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, Rey Mysterio -- from the jobbers to the main event, WWE has tons of guys capable of putting on excellent matches in a slew of different styles. However, I would appreciate if there were more true "characters" sometimes, which is why I'm so excited by the prospects on NXT. Bray Wyatt is one of the coolest fucking characters I've seen in ever. Then The Ascension is rad as shit and I hope they keep the gimmick going even without Kenneth Cameron. Leo Kruger, Dean Ambrose (on the roster, but his individual character isn't being emphasized compared to his stable), J Bronson -- these guys have real characters. They're not just generic heels facing generic faces -- there's depth and creativity to how they conduct their promos and the sort of mannerisms and methodologies they employ in the ring. WWE already has the reputation of being ridiculous and flamboyant, even with these past several years of generic, smiling babyfaces. Might as well embrace the stereotypes and use what elaborate characters the WWE's core demographic actually enjoys. Like Bray Wyatt!

Something that irks me is that the majority of sueprstars' ring names these days are just too similar to real life names. If these guys are meant to be over-the-top, larger-than-life characters, give them names to reflect that. Look at the Undertaker; such a gimmick may not get off the ground these days, but part of his huge popularity stems from the mystique surrounding his identity. Nicknames like the 'Deadman' and the 'Phenom' add to this. Compare this to Ryback now, would he be as over if he we announced with just a standard forename and a surname? If they changed the gimmick but retained the moniker Skip Sheffield would the fans react to him the same?

Some real names do work, such as John Cena, but since his character now is supposed to be the good-guy, everyman role model that young 'uns are meant to look up to and relate to, having such a prosaic name works for him. Names like Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes are functional too, since these guys come from famous wrestling families and this is tied in with their characters. If Michael McGillicutty had debuted with his real name, he may have been able to ride on some of the success of his father much like Legacy did.

WWE could also stand to be less black-and-white. I hate when a guy turns face and suddenly he's bros with all the other faces he ever fucked with as a heel. The Rock didn't always rub other faces the right way; Stone Cold sure as fuck didn't. Let characters still be who they are without contriving these bullshit relationships with other faces just because they're both "good guys." Randy Orton's face character would have worked a lot better if they had made him more of an unsociable tweener who wouldn't cooperate with other faces, but still primarily feuds with heels, thus garnering more of a face reaction. Just little comments like, "I hate you," toward Mick Foley at Survivor Series could have worked wonders for him. Hell, I even remember a few instances where he RKO'd low-card faces out of nowhere just because people would pop for it and the guy wasn't big enough for the people to get upset at him. Had they sustained such reactions, he could have been as psychotic and deranged as ever (minus punting) without pretending to actually like anyone other than himself and the voices in his head.

This is also something that bugs the fuck out of me. Continuity people, it's not rocket science. Yeah, Orton acknowledged his feud with Foley before Survivor Series this year, but the same emphasis wasn't put his feud with Kofi. Moreover, JBL is putting over John Cena on commentary - JBL utterly despised Cena when he was still wrestling!

 

[THTRobtaylor]

JBL is portraying a "wise veteran" rather than the JBL he was in the ring when commentating. Just as Jesse Ventura, Ted DiBiase, Piper and Mr. Perfect would put over people who they feuded bitterly with while active, JBL is now in that role.

You have an element of character for most guys on the roster, where it falls down is the "shades of grey" concept has been watered down. The nearest to it anyone has is Ziggler, where he is just about at the Tweener point now.

The reasons for this are simple, in 1997 when Vince did his "good guy vs bad guy is passe" speech, he was targeting older guys as his demographic, who had money to spend on PPV's and merch and tickets and who would religiously watch WWE TV. They were too old for toys (unless in mint and boxed with hologram lol) and cartoon characters.

Vince is not after that demo now, indeed if it's true the Cena/AJ thing is an attempt to bring women into the product then he is clearly beginning to promote WWE as, what in essence it is, a live action soap opera. In soaps the archetypes are even more defined than most shows, you have the "good girl", "concerned dad type", "clean cut heartthrob", "misunderstood villain", "tart with a heart" and various others. Bad for us older fans, but for WWE's survival it does sadly make a lot of sense to go this route.

Simplifying the enemies to friends journey is essential for wrestling or there would be no basis for the show to work, WWE is simply not "showing you" the bit where they work out their differences or at best they occasionally put out that "it was business" rather than a personal dislike. If they go more soap, we might get to see more of this, unsteady alliances etc.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Antonio Cesaro, Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, Randy Orton, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, Rey Mysterio....

Your points are well taken and I'd just like to add a plug for the guy you didn't mention: John Cena. As far as true characters, his is unique. He goes by his own name; his ring persona is his own.

Other performers go by assumed names: Hulk Hogan is really Terry Bollea, Mark Calaway is The Undertaker, Michael Hickenbottom is Shawn Michaels, Dwayne Johnson is The Rock. In addition to that, they have nicknames: Hogan has a lot of them, Undertaker is The Dead Man as well as The Phenom, Michaels is the Heartbreak Kid & The Showstopper, Rock is The Brahma Bull & The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment

Then, we have John Cena. It's his real name, he has no nicknames. We don't call him anything else. Yeah, you can hit me with the whole "Doctor of Thuganomics" thing early in his career, but his true stardom came after he abandoned all the pretenses and went with his own persona.

Sure, a lot of you are sick of him, but what he's accomplished by being himself is amazing...... and qualifies him as the truest of the true characters.

 

[Mongoose McQueen]

the WWE lack true characters today, the only ones I can think of are John Cena, CM Punk and Randy Orton on the full time roster. Wrestling has always been built around true characters and over the top gimmicks. Which is why there so important because its the foundation of the business and always have been.

When you look at the top two guys, both of which have over the top, entertaining persona's and they have built themselves around them. Your persona and name is what makes you a star and makes you a big deal. Without a unique character, you won't get anywhere.

To make it in wrestling, you need to do something which has never been before. And will never be matched again, you shouldn't be compared to anyone, you should be the first of your persona and the last.

 

[robbo316]

Moreover, JBL is putting over John Cena on commentary - JBL utterly despised Cena when he was still wrestling!

That is a form of cognitive dissonance. A term used in modern psychology to describe the feeling of discomfort when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions.
So, he couldn't stand him in the ring, but respects him on commentary. It''s really not that difficult to understand.
In "real" sports such as rugby, for example, there is an immense amount of violence between teams on the pitch, they will happily hook up after the game for a beer. It's that kind of thing.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

WWE's top guys : Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin,John Cena, Randy Orton,CM Punk.

WCW's top guys : Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Bill Goldberg

All those guys wrestled with their real names and are considered all time greats. None of them needed an over-the-top character to succeed.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

I would imagine you ask this because you believe that the lack of "true" characters is something that is detrimental to the WWE storylines.

I would say WWE DOES need more characters - even if they are slightly different versions of past characters. What WWE really needs is an end to START/STOP booking, and build characters more slowly. This whole Ryback thing is a good example - he is rushed and he is likely to lose 3 WWE PPV main events in a row at the start of his push. What is more, people did not really believe in him in the first place. He reminds me of Bobby lashley.

I find the booking and the WWE booking priorities to be somewhat bizarre. I mean pushing Ryback, then making him lose to CM Punk so punk can fight and lose to the Rock is just strange and short sighted anyway.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

Well I defiantely see where you are coming from. Alot of guys in WWE right now are simply "that young cocky heel" or "that young up & comer from.." the indies or wherever. It seems like half of the roster is copying the other half sometimes.

But I kind of disagree with you at the same time. Like stated before me MANY wrestlers with their real names & little or no gimmick have succeeded in the past.

Also, like some others, I believe wrestling is cyclical & from the looks of things it seems like we are in a sort of 1996/1997 transistional period, where WWE like toeing the line. So to have some larger than life characters like Funkasaurus mixed with some more "plain" wrestlers like Cody Rhodes I think could be a good direction to go.

 

[Merkin353]

WWE's top guys : Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin,John Cena, Randy Orton,CM Punk.

WCW's top guys : Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Bill Goldberg

All those guys wrestled with their real names and are considered all time greats. None of them needed an over-the-top character to succeed.

Um Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels & CM Punk are not their real names... I don't know why you said CM Punk is wrestling under his real name. I get the others but really?

The WWE needs more characters but it seems like when they bring in guys it's always a joke. Fandango anyone? Brodus Clay? Where are the darker characters to offset these gimmicks? I think Justin Gabriel should turn heel, call him the dare devil & have him never talk. That would be cool in my humble opinion

 

[Con T.]

WWE's top guys : Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin,John Cena, Randy Orton,CM Punk.

WCW's top guys : Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Bill Goldberg

All those guys wrestled with their real names and are considered all time greats. None of them needed an over-the-top character to succeed.

Do you even bother to read the threads you post in?

I actually do miss the cases where you have wrestlers who will still act like their heel character in a subtle way, even when they are faces. But, if you're going to do it, you have to do better heel and face turns. Just having Miz turn face because... Well, it's his time, makes little sense. What would make sense is that Miz has a reason to turn face, you build to it slowly, adding subtle little changes to his character, before he outright turns face

As for the whole consistency thing... Eh, things change, people change. Just because you voted Democrat 4 years ago doesn't necessarily mean you're going to vote Democrat now. JBL isn't even that much of a heel character now, and even if he were, he's had more than four years to get over his beef with Cena. Fuck, even Cole and Lawler's biggest issue was over a year ago, and circumstances change the dynamic of their relationship. The WWE is usually very good about immediate changes, and that's all that really matters

 

[Diet Soda]

That is a form of cognitive dissonance. A term used in modern psychology to describe the feeling of discomfort when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions.
So, he couldn't stand him in the ring, but respects him on commentary. It''s really not that difficult to understand.
In "real" sports such as rugby, for example, there is an immense amount of violence between teams on the pitch, they will happily hook up after the game for a beer. It's that kind of thing.

Well, thanks for clearing that up for me, champ. I knew my water didn't feel right.
Of course, you can show respect for a former adversary, especially if yours is a 10-time WWE champion, but merely for the sake of entertainment value, I'd like to see JBL sprinkle a bit more of his heelishness (sp.) into his commentary.
And it's fruitless comparing pro wrestling to real sports, because for those who leave their differences on the field there are plenty more who don't. You'd have been better off saying that Daniel Craig and Javier Bardem stop trying to kill each other once shooting had finished. But, regardless, thanks for reminding me that wrestling is fake. Always good to know.

Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, CM Punk.

All those guys wrestled with their real names

 

[Suviluer]

WWE's top guys : Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin,John Cena, Randy Orton,CM Punk.

WCW's top guys : Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Bill Goldberg

All those guys wrestled with their real names and are considered all time greats. None of them needed an over-the-top character to succeed.

AAH! let me send a curve ball your way, WWE's and WCW's top guys, did have over the top "somethings" you need!!! to be larger than life to get over! Let me explain:

Bret Hart- Was part of one of the greatest tag-teams during his time, his ring gear during and after the tag-team where unique, pink!!! and those shades!! WOW! He also had amazing nicknames, i mean he was the excellence of execution, the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be!

Shawn: Had the ring gear too, great ring gear!and his unique gimmick to get over "the heart brake kid" was special, along with many nicknames that made him amazing! HBK, Mr. Wrestlemania, he was the man!

Steve: He was STONE COLD! STONE COLD! STONE COLD! STONE COLD! and well do i even have to say what made him larger than life?!

Cena: He got over with the Dr. of Thuganomics gimmick, rapping, gearing unique ring gear, being larger than life, before he became the poster boy.

Randy: the History of his last name along with Evolution, and.... He was the legend killer! I mean who did that!! his only purpose was to destroy legends! that was unique and larger than life evil. then he went into this sadistic persona and the rest is history.

CM Punk: is not a real name, Phil is the real name, and he shot up to true stardom with the shoot promo and leaving the company with the title along with his "voice of the voiceless" gimmick, but before that: the SES was big, he pretended to be a prophet with the New Nexus. and well Im straight edge and that means im better than you, back in the day when SE was not that mainstream.

Goldberg: was a freak accident, will never happen again and the last name along with the gimmick was larger than life, and in WWE, His ENTRANCE was almost as awe inspiring as Undertaker, IMO.

Nash: got over as DIESEL! BIG DADDY COOL! and then into the biggest larger than life angle EVER!!!

Hall: was RAZOR RAMON! "the bad guy" and then went on the same boat as Nash to the NWO!

You see, all these men had something that made them larger than life, gimmick, back story, presence, nickname... they all had something! And i didn't even mention that most of them were also perfect examples of the male specimen "HUGE", or had amazing ring ability, or great talkers, and all of them have 2 out of the 3 as a minimum. AND EVERYONE HAS THIS,

Today thou, the closest thing to a good nickname anyone has is "Show of" "the all american, american" and "Celtic warrior"
and as for ring gear goes... well all bland, SHITTY, except for some very few.
and Gimmicks, Sandow is the best gimmick there's been in how long?!?!

TL;DR- EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE LARGER THAN LIFE AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER AND IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. think about it, EVERYONE!

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Um Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels & CM Punk are not their real names... I don't know why you said CM Punk is wrestling under his real name. I get the others but really?

The WWE needs more characters but it seems like when they bring in guys it's always a joke. Fandango anyone? Brodus Clay? Where are the darker characters to offset these gimmicks? I think Justin Gabriel should turn heel, call him the dare devil & have him never talk. That would be cool in my humble opinion

Stone Cold changed his name to Steve Austin. CM Punk even said in his promos that "This is Phil Brooks talking to Paul Levesque". So everybody knows CM Punk is just his ring name.

AAH! let me send a curve ball your way, WWE's and WCW's top guys, did have over the top "somethings" you need!!! to be larger than life to get over! Let me explain:

Bret Hart- Was part of one of the greatest tag-teams during his time, his ring gear during and after the tag-team where unique, pink!!! and those shades!! WOW! He also had amazing nicknames, i mean he was the excellence of execution, the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be!

Shawn: Had the ring gear too, great ring gear!and his unique gimmick to get over "the heart brake kid" was special, along with many nicknames that made him amazing! HBK, Mr. Wrestlemania, he was the man!

Steve: He was STONE COLD! STONE COLD! STONE COLD! STONE COLD! and well do i even have to say what made him larger than life?!

Cena: He got over with the Dr. of Thuganomics gimmick, rapping, gearing unique ring gear, being larger than life, before he became the poster boy.

Randy: the History of his last name along with Evolution, and.... He was the legend killer! I mean who did that!! his only purpose was to destroy legends! that was unique and larger than life evil. then he went into this sadistic persona and the rest is history.

CM Punk: is not a real name, Phil is the real name, and he shot up to true stardom with the shoot promo and leaving the company with the title along with his "voice of the voiceless" gimmick, but before that: the SES was big, he pretended to be a prophet with the New Nexus. and well Im straight edge and that means im better than you, back in the day when SE was not that mainstream.

Goldberg: was a freak accident, will never happen again and the last name along with the gimmick was larger than life, and in WWE, His ENTRANCE was almost as awe inspiring as Undertaker, IMO.

Nash: got over as DIESEL! BIG DADDY COOL! and then into the biggest larger than life angle EVER!!!

Hall: was RAZOR RAMON! "the bad guy" and then went on the same boat as Nash to the NWO!

You see, all these men had something that made them larger than life, gimmick, back story, presence, nickname... they all had something! And i didn't even mention that most of them were also perfect examples of the male specimen "HUGE", or had amazing ring ability, or great talkers, and all of them have 2 out of the 3 as a minimum. AND EVERYONE HAS THIS,

Today thou, the closest thing to a good nickname anyone has is "Show of" "the all american, american" and "Celtic warrior"
and as for ring gear goes... well all bland, SHITTY, except for some very few.
and Gimmicks, Sandow is the best gimmick there's been in how long?!?!

TL;DR- EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE LARGER THAN LIFE AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER AND IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. think about it, EVERYONE!

No. "Larger than Life" does not mean having various nicknames. A "Larger than Life" character is someone who is not ordinary (in his character and size).

The "Larger than Life" characters are : Sting, Undertaker, Kane,Big Show, etc.

 

[Con T.]

Stone Cold changed his name to Steve Austin. CM Punk even said in his promos that "This is Phil Brooks talking to Paul Levesque". So everybody knows CM Punk is just his ring name.

Considering the fact that Steve Austin changed his name well after his in ring career was over, it's clear you're trying to cover your ass on something you were wrong on.

Look, it's ok to be wrong. But it makes you look silly when you do this.

No. "Larger than Life" does not mean having various nicknames. A "Larger than Life" character is someone who is not ordinary (in his character and size).

The "Larger than Life" characters are : Sting, Undertaker, Kane,Big Show, etc.

So in short, if you have super powers or are a freak, you're larger than life. Gotcha.


I really doubt you run into people like Steve Austin on a daily basis. Or for that matter, any wrestler on a daily basis. Characters like Steve Austin are more than you see in real life.

But of course, you know nothing about wrestling. So why should this shock me?

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I think the big issue that prevents more characters or even gimmicky guys is the fan reaction. They will clamor for them, then complain when they get them. Look at Brodus Clay. When he made is long awaited return roughly a year ago who expected The Funkasauras? We haven't seen anything like that in the E for a little while and how do people react? They hate it and want him to be a monster heel.

There are still guys, R-Truth, Kane, Bryan being a few who you look at and can say "man that guy is a character" but I think we are in an era where people want more realism in their wrestlers, people that are more relatable.

 

[Da Solo]

WWE does need more characters. I'm kind of tired of seeing all the faces try to be happy-smiley-kiss the babies and all the heels being this generic cocky, arrogant tool. Most, if not all, of WWE's biggest success stories were/are in-ring characters rather than simple personas (Rock, Stone Cold, RVD, Undertaker, Kane, Booker T, Edge, Cena before the Supermanning, JBL, etc.). Only Sandow, Truth, Hell No, AJ, Rhodes and Orton and lower card talents with nothing to lose like Hunico and Yoshi Tatsu have out-there characters like that anymore, which is not a good progression.

I also think that along with this, WWE needs more in-ring names. The only current, non Attitude/Ruthless Aggression era full timers with special names I can remember are R-Truth, Sin Cara, Kofi Kingston, Miz, CM Punk and, once again, lower card talent like Tensai, Hunico, Epico and other with nothing to really lose. I'd rather have some badass gimmicky name than to end up with another Michael McGillicutty or Dolph Ziggler.

 

[Alastor]

This WWE need more characters because everyone is exactly the same is just excessive whining. What? There can't be more than one cocky douchebag in the ring? There can't be overlapping similarities in personality? There are only two distinct characters in wrestling, one who do things fans like, and another who do things that fans dislike.

The Funkasaurus was horrible. The idea for a fun loving dancing fatman gimmick is doable but they totally got the pulse of the audience wrong on that one by making it disco instead of more popular music. How do they expect to get arena cheers with a cheesy disco theme?

 

[BK Styles]

WWE's top guys : Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin*, John Cena, Randy Orton,CM Punk.

WCW's top guys : Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Bill Goldberg

All those guys wrestled with their real names and are considered all time greats. None of them needed an over-the-top character to succeed.

* I'm fully aware Steve Austin is now his legal name, but that was in 2007, well after his active in-ring career ended.

On one hand, I want to tell you to fuck off, the go find someone to dropkick you in the face so hard you smash through reality and into the parallel universe where your opinions are actually valid.

On the other, I'm finding it hilarious. Keep on going.

WWE has shifted somewhat, where the larger than life characters have become more grounded, more reality based. Someone like Kofi at the moment is just being Kofi. Ziggler is just being Ziggler. You look at a guy like Austin and you see he's a beer drinking redneck. We see that, and we get it when he has a beer. With Kofi, I know that he's...athletic? That's all I really get from him. Like Del Rio. I get he's rich, but how often do you see it? How often do you see him use his wealth to his advantage?

It's not so much about needing true characters, and more about the current crop using what they have in stories, so we actually see them as being a wrestler, AND something else. Taker = wrestler AND undead. Austin = wrestler AND redneck, etc.

Ziggler as an example; 'Stealing the show and your girlfriend', then he goes and steals AJ (sort of). Don't just tell us your character; show us.

 

[King Regal]

Like Del Rio. I get he's rich, but how often do you see it? How often do you see him use his wealth to his advantage?

I have thought this also with his character. He has so much wealth but all he has to show for it is a loyal underling in a tux and a flashy entrance in a car (and a pimp scarf). I wanted him to be more like Ted DiBiase with more promos showing how filthy rich and arrogant he was, taunting people and maybe the ability to buy results/have a heel stable who did his dirty work for him (Big Show, maybe Hunico).
I always feel his character is so under-developed, which perhaps forced the face turn as he was a bit in the mire.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I have come to the conclusion that the reason the WWE is constantly bitched about is because their show has so much variety. You'll literally read "I want more characters" right before you read "I want more realism". WWE has a great mix.

I whole heartedly agree with the Wyatt character. Fucking awesome. Ambrose is the shit too.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

That is a form of cognitive dissonance. A term used in modern psychology to describe the feeling of discomfort when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions.
So, he couldn't stand him in the ring, but respects him on commentary. It''s really not that difficult to understand.
In "real" sports such as rugby, for example, there is an immense amount of violence between teams on the pitch, they will happily hook up after the game for a beer. It's that kind of thing.

lol someone has taken psych 101 in college. Practically ripped the wiki definition word for word too.

Someone legitimately upset that a guy who used to hate someone in wrestling working with them is an idiot. Even in real life, unless you're white trash, this doesn't exist. Bischoff worked with Flair, Vince, and Austin. People who hate each other get along at work all the time. WTF?

Someone complained about using Disco instead of modern music. Disco is, and always will be fun. Disco got over in 1997, it got over in 2012, and it will probably get over in 2040. It's like Gangnam Style or the Macarana, human beings should have never come up with it, but we did and it's ridiculous so we make fun of it.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Does WWE need more true characters?

In terms of everybody to be the tweeners because they were faces one day and heels the other one no, but in terms of character development, yes...

For example, i liked Punks heel terms on RAW1000. Was somewhat unexpected and delivered certain amount of fun but they could do more even on that one. Why couldt he "bitch" about how he wasnt on the the last match of PPV all the times before that RAW1000(he was bitching about it year before but he simply forgoten how he demanded that his match on Wrestlemania be last and other stuff from the yaer before). Would off bring more logic and realness and OP is right about that...

Other thing is that WWE sometimes just disses logic in terms of character development. Del Rio is face now because his character couldnt get over as heel and thats fine bussiness logic, but why is he face? Just because he saved Ricardo? Got some logic but people need more then just that. People need to believe in his character and that he could really be good and not just because he saved his announcer friend. Let him snap because he cant win WHC Championship, let him reinvent himself in order to change something to be other person, dont just let him beat the heels and that automaticly means that his character is face. Give him some believable reason to change and people will back up that change...

 

[newwaveknight]

WWE could also stand to be less black-and-white. I hate when a guy turns face and suddenly he's bros with all the other faces he ever fucked with as a heel. The Rock didn't always rub other faces the right way; Stone Cold sure as fuck didn't.

Here's the problem with that. The whole shade-of-grey thing is very lazy writing. It basically says, "Hey, why should we make anyone an actual babyface or heel when we can make EVERYONE a shade of grey and call it a day?"

The problem is that face-heel turns are either happening TOO often with some people and not often enough with others. You have to have that solid good guy/bad guy dynamic to build the drama in the matches and promos.

And as far as Stone Cold not being a traditional face? They pretty much kept him a shade of grey because he couldn't make ANY characters changes at all. That way he could only SLIGHTLY go face or heel and not really change his merchandising sales. I mean, let's be honest, heels don't sell merchandise.

 

[MCMG]

Looking back in history we generally see that the top guys use their own names or realistic names: Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Randy Orton, Ric Flair. Someone like Triple H is hardly a gimmicky name.

I think there needs to be more gimmicks in the WWE. It helps diverse the product. It helps TV become more interesting. That being said, I think the current product is very good and the roster is absolutely packed with talent. However, it wouldn't hurt to make some of the lesser superstars into something interesting.