Going off the deep end character?

[truk24]

Something got going after watching Joaquin Phoenix on David Letterman the other day. Everyone keeps talking about his abrupt change in personality. He isn't the first "star struck" icon to do this. Personally I think it is unique.

This leads me to my next question. Why doesn't the WWE do this with one of their own stars. Have them fall off the scene for a bit, and come back with Long Hair and a beard acting all spiritual, and practical. Have that kind of evenflow about themselves.

After thinking on this even further I could only think of one star to do this with. The one and only John Cena. From the clean shaven, military crew cut to the complete opposite. Full head of hair with a full beard, and a new approach on things. Something of a nervous breakdown. Perhaps from all the fame, success, and atmosphere. It would turn the WWE up on its heads. Possibly a great way to keep things interesting for John, and a way to test his acting ability.

Everyone would want to know whether it was a work or something close to legit. Cena is a pop icon like Brittany Spears, and it wouldn't surprise me if something like would this would draw some attention. A complete breakdown of John Cena. Would be interesting to say the least. Could you imagine seeing John Cena after 6-8 months of not wrestling growing out his hair, not showering, and keeping himself from the media eye? That would be a nice direction for the WWE, and would probably draw ratings. With things like the first words from Cena since his departure from the WWE.

 

[That's Just Weird]

Having someone such as John Cena go from putting all their energy into their performance for the fans go to "spiritual and practical" sounds quite boring. It wouldn't make sense either, because nobody like that would even step foot near a wrestling ring.

The problem with the ideas that come out of a smark is that they forget that these are supposed to be a group of men that solve all their problems with fighting. That's what they do. There are only a handful of personalities you can create out of that, at least that fit the WWE's standards.

Someone basically turning into a hippie wouldn't be the type of person to solve their problems by fighting, and would thus be reduced to general manager, or something boring like that. I think Cena's character has solidified itself to being more or less the same for the rest of his career.

 

[truk24]

I don't know I think Raven did a decent job at doing this type of character that I mentioned. I never said anything about hippies. Maybe the spirtiual part could have thrown you off, but that wasn't the main point. The point was to go from Pop Icon to the opposite. Someone who opposes pop culture, and completely withdraws themselves from those views or personalities.

No one said anything about hippies. Joaquin Phoenix has done a complete 360 on Hollywood. Cena should do the same. Still wrestle, but not with the same gimmick. Come back completely changed, and a new man.

 

[seven3too]

john cena is too young toeven grow a beard and way too intense to ever have anything close to an even flow..if he's not trying his hadest to be funny he's not john cena...he wont. besides he wouldn't look right with a grizzly beard and all his own merchandise on

 

[Blade]

You can't compare to John Cena to other pop icons simply because he has to play a character, he's a pro wrestler with a gimmick.
And making him change to some long haired, spiritual blah blah guy would be repackaging. Which would be incredibly stupid. It would be like going back to 1998 and repackaging Stone Cold as a charity worker or something.

And having Cena repackaged as Cena after a nervous breakdown would not only be stupid since Cena is very over right now. And also, last time I checked mental breakdowns aren't so good... If they try to put Cena over as a guy who had a nervous breakdown, and people (i.e. media) take it too seriously (which they would since Cena is the biggest star) it would make the WWE look very bad.
Cena, the top guy in the company, who is in the top 5 in terms of how many matches he works per year, had a breakdown. Doesn't sound good does it, gimmick or not. And it might end up in comparisons to Chris Benoit.
Overall, it's just not a good idea....

 

[IamRage]

I'd actually love to see some flower pickin hippy, if they can make it funny. And as far as that not being a logical gimmick c'mon. We could all name shit loads of gimmicks that didnt fit in wrestling. But Cena lookin like Jesus...lets not.

 

[truk24]

Alright if we can't settle for Cena. How about someone like Zack Ryder? A no name star, and this could be something for him to use.

 

[Blade]

Maybe not Zack Ryder. Even Edge and a tag title reign couldn't get that guy over.

But maybe someone in the mid-card... Regal perhaps

 

[IamRage]

Got it. They ruined him, and buried his character under Rey Mysterio. But now they can fix him. Kane. Not a hippy, think about it, he gets tired of being a push over and snaps then vanishes, a year later comes back a bad motherfucker.

 

[Smart Mark]

its an interesting idea but your naming the worst guys for a job. and you said its supposed to be people who solve thier problems with fighting, no its not, take a real bad ass who always solves his problems with fighting and make him not any more, now he'll only fight when its compition, you have a real heel situation there because now the fans will see him as a pussy, its perfect, just pick some one better than cena...and kane...basicly any one you named.

 

[IamRage]

Well, Jamie Noble got carried out of Raw on a stretcher off camera. I re-watched it in slo mo and he COULD be out for a while. Assuming he is injured but does return, I think it could be a great midcard gimmick for him.

 

[DeadmanInc.]

I actually thought they were going to do something like this with Edge, especially with his appearance during his Survivor Series return.

Remember his sudden change in personality during the weeks up to the Taker/Edge Hell in a Cell match? He was no longer a cowardly heel but more like a psychotic man on a mission to take down Undertaker and Vickie regardless of what happened to him. His promos were awesome and really reflected the personality change. Edge was even smiling when Taker made his entrance into the cell. How many people have you seen do that?

But no, WWE played it safe and reunited Edge and Vickie while keeping the Ultimate Opportunist gimmick. While that gimmick is entertaining, I would have liked to see where that "psychotic" angle was heading after Edge returned.

 

[Criss Hardy]

Having Cena do that would be a joke and a waste of a main eventer, but it is a good idea but it would be best for a mid-carder at most.

 

[LiberalKiller]

I'm jumping on the Kane bandwagon. Think about it, he's gone for 4 months, then comes back with a mask. "Old" Kanes gimmick was sweet, he was owning everyone. Now, I think Mike Knox is more entertaining.....and that is saying alot. BTW, what the fuck happened to the Kane - Kelly Kelly storyline? So Kane had one match with RKO, and it's over....Personally, I think most of US have better creative ideas.....

 

[wwefan0405]

I just don't think it will work with todays set of stars in WWE plus WWE will not do it in the PG era anyway

 

[CKO]

isnt orton already doing this? his character is going off the deep end even though they're using is IED thing.

 

[AlexEqualsMoney]

Interesting topic.....it seems like it actually got my mind going a slightly different direction than everyone else's though.....

my idea is to take someone who has some potential already but has maybe been stuck with a gimmick that has a shelf life and use this notion to turn it around.....which got me thinking about santino morella....

what if after the comedic heel thing has run its course something happens that sends santino spiraling down, maybe it's just that nobody takes him seriously? maybe a betrayal or something deeper?

anyway, he has some crazy walk off from tv, or a big event happens to take him off tv for a while. later on we start seeing vignettes from him and he looks out of his mind......long hair, beard, whatever. but more of a psycho-uh-oh-this-dude-snapped kinda thing than a 'hippy' gimmick.

so he could start hyping his return by saying the fans or whoever did this to him, etc. and how he's a totally different person and everyone's gonna be sorry or something along those lines. he could suddenly appear at an event to interfere with a match and do something nuts - take out a random superstar with a weapon or just something crazy, maybe talking to himself and screaming at the person he's attacking.

he could build a whole loose cannon character around something like that, and it would be a good way to keep an awesome mic talent from going to waste, as well as keep his career from stagnating. who knows, maybe we could even get a glimpse of him doing something other than being an awesome seller in the ring?

anyway....just an idea. thoughts?

 

[Starchild]

I actually thought they were going to do something like this with Edge, especially with his appearance during his Survivor Series return.

Remember his sudden change in personality during the weeks up to the Taker/Edge Hell in a Cell match? He was no longer a cowardly heel but more like a psychotic man on a mission to take down Undertaker and Vickie regardless of what happened to him. His promos were awesome and really reflected the personality change. Edge was even smiling when Taker made his entrance into the cell. How many people have you seen do that?

But no, WWE played it safe and reunited Edge and Vickie while keeping the Ultimate Opportunist gimmick. While that gimmick is entertaining, I would have liked to see where that "psychotic" angle was heading after Edge returned.

I was wondering this myself. Now I thought Edge looked god-awful with that beard and I'm glad he shaved it. But Edge does have the look of someone that could get pushed off the...edge (no pun intended) and oftentimes he does. I wouldn't necessarily have his character completely change into the psychotic guy, but definitely incorporate, particularly in some of his more intense feuds and matches. I was also hoping that would end the thing with he and Vickie, but unfortunately not.

Another guy I think is kind of showing the slightly different side is Orton. I mean, this whole IED thing is exactly that...he can snap at any given moment, sort of like Shamrock back in the day. Now it's not the total character overhaul, but it's a small portion of the "over the edge" concept.

 

[JJYanks121]

First off, there is a "hippie" in the WWE already and it's John Morrison. If you listen to him and listen to the commentators, they talk constantly on how he recycles, is eco-friendly, etc. Keep in mind his gimmick is based on Jim Morrison (the 60's hippie with fame and fortune but weird world views). So even though he plays up his ego, there are still seeds there.

As for an "off the deep end guy".....with some of your explanations, does no one think Al Snow? The dude's gimmick was that he talked to a mannequin head for advice! He was always the oddball who never quite found the mind he lost and that gimmick kept him in the midcard if you could call it that.

A "going off the deep end" thing only works on a psychotic level as portrayed by Edge for a short period, HHH in his heel days, etc. It's a pretty common thing for a wrestler to "lose his mind" in his work and have 1 thing on the brain. I'm not sure a flippin weirdo like Joaqin Phoenix would work as a WWE character, maybe if you watch old footage of "the Genius" you'll get your fix of weirdo haha.

 

[hunterXhunter21]

Now I just started watching again alittle before the Rumble, I stopped watching before Summerslam 2008, so I may be wrong. But before I started up again mike knox was somewhat normal. Now long hair and a beard. Plus those ugly black tights, it makes my eyes hurt. So did he come back with that or did he grow on tv?

 

[chanfan304]

I get it. kind of a Victoria thing but in reverse. Instead of coming in the psychotic they turn into the psychotic. And if anybody remembers, they kind of did that with success when they had Jericho do it a couple of times. Remember back when he was Lion Heart Chris Jericho in WCW and he kept losing, and he eventually snapped? That gimmick was a great one for evolving Jericho into the performer he is now. As to who could do it? Why not Tommy Dreamer? Give him back his old ECW edge by snapping and just beating the living shit out of anybody and everybody, even going nuts at times and totally destroying somebody with a singapore cane beating. That angle could be the one to refresh the "Innovator of Violence" and give him the WWE run he most certainly deserves.