Gimmicks-- Are they needed? Are they overdone?

[MikeKillam]

Gimmicks have been a part of professional wrestling as long as the industry has been around. They either help wrestlers to stand out, or they fail and are (hopefully) quickly extinguished. The Undertaker made his debut and is still, almost two decades later, playing a very similar part. Not all gimmicks are as obvious as the Undertaker's. You have guys like Ric Flair, who's only gimmick is that he's a filthy rich playa'.
My question is this: Are gimmicks today overdone? Are gimmicks today just completely ridiculous? And are they really needed to get guys over?

 

[MikeKillam]

I think that gimmicks today can be just as lame and ridiculous as they were ten years ago, twenty years ago, and probably further... The Boogeyman... The character makes no sense, and having a spooky man with a smoking staff that does magic and eats worms has no point or place in a wrestling ring. However, having a man who rises from the dead, steals people's souls and has a power that comes from a mysterious urn, doesn't really have a place in the ring. But yet, Taker is one of the greatest of all time!
Gimmicks can be important, and I don't think there's really a limit to how ridiculous you can get with them. The important thing is booking and creative. The Undertaker could have fallen flat on his face, but he was booked well over two decades.
With the right booking you can make even the Shockmaster look like a good idea. I think the problem is that we're so used to everything now, we've seen it all.
I can't stand Shemus, the red headed warrior. I look at him and think, "this guy is a joke, and he's burying jobbers and nothings. He looks ridiculous and he'll never make it." But who knows... Maybe he'll be booked well. For now he's just an example on how subtle gimmicks dont necessarily mean they'll be any better.
But than again, a random punk dressed like Vanilla Ice who raps and makes himself look like an idiot became the face of the industry... So again, it's all about the booking.

 

[Leafy]

With the gimmicks WWE is creating I think they are deliberately trying to kill any gimmicks. The last successful man who debuted on ECW was Swagger and he had a simple cocky gimmick. We have then seen a surfer, Irish, and Asian. None have reached the level Swagger has.

I think gimmicks should be less overdone and more realistic. You can't succeed with a no gimmick persona such as Hoyt. You need a gimmick such as cocky, or hardcore to build you character around. It gives you a unique image that lets you stand out and succeed.

 

[CrunKSinatrA]

Gimmicks are a huge part of sports entertainment, and not just professional wrestling but the way sports like Boxing, MMA, NFL, etc. are presented. Professional wrestling brought flamboyant personalities and cheating thugs which eventually influenced how sports are reported on ESPN. Now there are lots of parallels from the dramatic story lines with larger than life characters from the WWE and professional sports like the NBA, NFL, or MLB.
In the WWE, we have the Million Dollar Man, Vince McMahon, and Eric Bischoff/Ted Turner using there vast bank account to cheat and stack the odds against heroes like Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and Sting. On ESPN, we have the Yankees, Lakers, and the Patriots Spygate buying the most talented teams possible and still having the audacity to cheat to win. Wrestling gives us controversial bad boys like DX, Stone Cold, and Val Venis; ESPN has John McEnroe, Michigan's Fab Five, and Dennis Rodman.
The gimmicks don't necessarily need to be as off the wall as the Undertaker, Mankind, or Goldust. But are imperative for keeping the fans interested and the money flowing.

 

[Trill Co$by]

YES! Every wrestler in this entire world has a gimmick. Without one, they wouldn't be wrestling.

And yeah, gimmicks aren't always as easy to believe as others, but oh well. Sometimes, it takes a little imagination to believe the gimmick. And kid, who ever you cheer for, you believe the gimmick.

And I know, people are going to say "Oh that's how they are in real life." Well... actually it's not. Like CM Punk, for example. Sure, he lives by the straightedge lifestyle, but do you really think he bashes people? John Cena, do you really think he's an all around good boy? Do you really think that Randy Orton is a sadistic human being?

Most of the time, great gimmicks are how a person acts in reality... just... exaggerated to the max.

 

[absent]

Personally I think it seems like even the WWE don't know what makes a good gimmick. You've got gimmicks like the Undertaker, which really has short-term written all over it yet has become one of the longest running successful gimmicks ever. Then you've got Steve Austin, who they in effect removed the gimmick from yet went on to become one of the biggest gimmicks ever.

Every wrestler needs a gimmick as such to differentiate him from the next guy, otherwise it's just A against B. But I doubt even the WWE knows the formula to a good gimmick or personality. If they did, they wouldn't have so many misses and false starts.

 

[Art Offical]

Gimmicks are completely underutilized in todays WWE.

Everyone is just "John Cena, Randy Orton" etc. Wrestling is supposed to be a spectacle and larger than life. Not just some dudes real name.

Laaaaaaaaaaame.

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[Kanye South]

Gimmicks are completely underutilized in todays WWE.

Yeah, because a guy who walks around like he's the living dead, or a guy who acts as if anyone who's even thought about doing drugs is below him, or even that "All-American American guy...

Yeah, those aren't gimmicks at all.

Everyone is just "John Cena, Randy Orton" etc.

While this is the farthest thing from the truth, what's so bad about Cena and Orton? Orton's a psycopathic maniac and Cena's a goody-too shoes.

Yeah those aren't gimmicks at all.

Wrestling is supposed to be a spectacle and larger than life. Not just some dudes real name.

Because Ric Flair and Eddie Guerrero were such cookie cutter lame-ass wrestlers.

Laaaaaaaaaaame.

Go back in your corner, stupid wanker.