Good gimmicks, Bad choices?

[go_patriots11]

while watching RAW this past week, most notably during the Tensai match I got to thinking. Had the Tensai gimmick been given to someone else other than Albert, could they have been a force in the Main event in today's WWE? I want to say that every time i see Tensai i instantly think of gimmicks like Hakushi and The Sultan from 90's PG WWF so it is kind of hard to take seriously. Adding Albert into the equation, most known to me as a jobber during the Attitude era does not help either. Had this gimmick been given to a new up and coming talent we've never heard of, could Tensai work today? or is it just a dumb idea all together?
Other names come to mind as well...Mark Henry. During his Title run he was seen as an unstoppable force running through the whole locker room until they eventually put the title on him. While this isn't necessarily a new tactic it has been proven to be effective. Thats all cool and all but at the end of the day it is well..Mark Henry. Like Tensai known to me as a ...Attitude jobber. I know someone who hasnt been watching as long as I have might disagree with me, but I know there are lots of people who know what I am talking about. Had they given this rub to a new up and comer, or someone like Ezekial Jackson (bad example) we could be looking at a new top tier main eventer.
The list goes on and on. Abraham Washington. To this day I think WWE stole my idea for this guy. Just not executing to the in-depthness I would like. Not to mention AW has very little charisma. The heel talent agent is definitely a gimmick I could see working very well but you have to play it up to it's full potential. I see someone like Michael Cole in this role to a tee. You'd have to bring in someone new though for obvious reasons. The whole talking on the headset is a cool idea, but I would take it even a step further. Have him habd out business cards to the audience saying "Looking For Talent, So This Doesn't Mean You!" even run vignettes of him talking to a superstar so you can't see his face in a ritzy poolside hotel, office etc promising him fame and fortune if he signs with him. Please WWE RUN WITH THIS IDEA!!
Ok, I could go on and on and turn into an armchair booking session but I will stop here. Theres a very controversial line when it comes to making threads like this because it really only comes to matter of opinion. There are lots of factors that determine if a gimmick is successful or not. I don't really want to get into all that right now. Here's where I ask YOU what do you think?

 

[xavyer]

I think that the Tensai character could of worked if it was played by someone else, a japanese for starters, i agree with you on the fact that during the attitude era he was a jobber with the ocational IC title run, but that was it for him, if not a japanese person,at least someone new and unknown, that way it would give the character more mistery and credibility, or at least someone who wasn't a jobber, or a known character.......

 

[SuperKick36]

So let me get this straight... you think AW is not charismatic, and would rather see MICHAEL COLE in his position??

Anyway, yes Tensai was a terrible gimmick for Albert. They could have had Albert just return as Albert, with a different feel to his character, and claim that he has grown with time and has learned much from Japan, where he was crushing people... the Tensai gimmick is stupid.

I think Albert could have come in, with some of the old Attitude guys visiting or something, and Albert beats them down, to show that he is not longer the weak jobber to the people that are not 7 years old and remember the attitude era, establish his legitimacy.

With Mark Henry, they really built him up from where he was, he gradually got better and got more wins, and deservedly so. The guy has been with the company for ages, and has eaten so much of other peoples shit (pun intended), that he deserved a push for his loyalty.

A gimmick that I thought was rediculous was the Drew McIntire "Chosen One" thing... he sucks anyway, so why did they give him such a heavy gimmick, that depends on charisma, in-ring ability, and a BIG push and BIG wins (like the Legend Killer gimmick)... they should not give that kind of personality to someone like Drew.

 

[barclayteo]

i would have to say sin cara. while there are many great high fliers out there the masked wrestler who can pull off big moves is fun to watch. However i was thoroughly disapointed by who plays him, if i remember correctly there has been more than 1 wrestler to wear the sin cara mask in wwe and none of them have worked out.


i read multiple times how sin cara botched his entrance, and multiple moves in a single match. Plus he hasnt been given fued to make his gimmick rememberal.

 

[Beyond Pro Wrestling]

The idea of people not getting over the fact that he was Albert/A-Train is stupid. This guy was a force in Japan as Giant Bernard and people SHOULD respect that... He went overseas and improved. He should be booked as Umaga was. I didn't see people calling Dolph Ziggler that guy from the Spirit Squad when he debuted. Nor I don't see no one saying that Damian Sandow was Idol Stevens of the Teacher's pets at Smackdown tag team division. I think that was selfish of the fans not letting him get past that when he worked through it. Tensai is not Albert... He is Giant Bernard and a good talent and signing. Thanks for ruining it!

 

[Unknown]

The best gimmick is problly CM Punks.... even though i want to see him turn heel... but the worst gimmick is obviously Tensai's. If you listlen to the crown when hes wrestleling you can hear the adaults chanting ALBERT!!! i think its stupid that wwe thinks that just because they changed it to PG, that the attitude era fans dont watch wrestling and wont reconize the fact that a fat ass white guy is trying to be a chinese LORD.... To be honest, the gimmick would be entertaning if it was with some one who was actually chinese and not a racist hillbilly who eats cake for Breakfest,Lunch and Supper LOL.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I think your point is very valid.

I liked the Tensai gimmick and I think Tensai could have worked for someone else.

I think several gimmicks are exactly the same and WWE rarely likes to take risks and try something different on a guy, that may be different.

Kinda like how everyone expected Brodus Clay to be all mean and tough and now he is some funny, dancing, dinosaur but HE GOT OVER!

While on the other hand, a "veteran" like Albert is also given a new, fresh gimmick that seems to fit him alot more than Clay's and is given more of a push, AND CAN'T EVEN GET BASIC HEAT! (Without being a racist)

I think it's a gamble and WWE needs to be less conservative in the risks they take and take more!

Because even the stupidest ideas seems to have a 50/50 shot with Vinny Mac!

I would have LOVED to be in that board meeting.....

-"Brodus Clay is going to look like a pimp with his "girls" gigglin all around and the gimmick is Clay playing a BIG, DANCING, WHAT?!?!?!"

VINCE: A DINOSAUR! (Raspy Grumbles)

-"Oh, Okay you said Dinosaur. And I thought you said something stupid for a second."

 

[Mustang Sally]

Keep in mind that pro wrestlers are actually actors in a touring troupe. Regular stage and screen actors play a role in front of many people, then return a few months later to play an entirely different character.

Take Clint Eastwood. We watch him in a movie in which he plays a cowboy....a few months later he comes back as an astronaut, followed by a turn as a retired auto parts worker, followed by several stints as a San Francisco policeman.

We aren't bothered by any of that, right? We need to understand that wrestlers are just doing the same thing as stage actors, asking us to suspend our beliefs for the duration of the show. No harm, no foul.

Yes, I thought it was sort of ridiculous seeing Matt Bloom walking to the ring as Lord Tensai, after having watched him ply his trade as Prince Albert in the past. The same applies to other wrestlers who have taken on brand new characters with personalities and traits completely different from previously incarnations in which we knew them.

Still......so what? In my view, pro wrestling has been reality show fare ......long before anyone thought of the reality show concept for TV. If that means we occasionally have to say: Hey, look at that guy playing Superman. Didn't he used to be a Doctor of Thug-a-nomics or somethin' like that? What the shit? What the fuck?.......then, so be it.

It's all part of the show.

 

[lazeric]

The problem with Tensai isn't just his character its the way that character has been booked. He is built as a monster heel but WWE has never given u a reason to hate him thus the reason he doesn't generate heat. He started off in squash matches like Brodus Clay and Ryback but where his character was supposed to differ from those 2 was we were supposed to boo him instead of cheer but the lack of direction with his character leaves fun confused and ultimately unimpressed. Instead of him losing to Cena a few months ago WWE should have allowed him to dominate like they're currently doing with Ryback then build to a showdown between the 2 at a PPV. This could've been a hard hitting feud that could've bought the 2 of them up to near main event level.

Now my picks for good gimmick bad timing are Muhammad Hassian and studdering Matt Morgan. Matt Morgan could have been a huge star in the WWE the guy had the look, he wasn't great but with some work he would've gotten better in the ring, and with the right manager he would've been a perfect monster heel. I mean look at the guy and now imagine if he got the push of say Batista in the Evolution days this guy would've been huge. The guy was even on Team Lesnar which was probably one of the most impressive collections of talent (at least on paper) ever but instead they reduce him to a comedy act and make him studder... #HowStupid

Then we have Muhammad Hassian. Another guy with a great look and decent ring work but unlike Matt Morgan, Hassian was great on the mic. This guy drew major heat from the beginning and if im not mistaken he had a feud with both Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. This guy could've been huge had the London bombings not happened during his push. His feud with Taker was interesting but the kidnapping angle with the guys in ski mask completely killed the character. His gimmick failing was no ones fault its was just bad timing due to an unforeseen event but if done during a different time his character could've been a major heel.

 

[kokoBawesome]

I'm going to over exaggerate to prove my point, but there are really only maybe 7 characters in the WWE right now. Everyone else falls under the "cowardly heel" or "cocky guy" gimmick. Tensai is an attempt to have a unique gimmick in an era where we see so few characters. Maybe we just aren't used to gimmicks anymore so one that doesn't make sense (white Japanese lord that doesn't talk... and used to work here?), just isn't going to click.

Fuck I so badly wanna list everyone who's gimmick is just "cocky guy"..... Ziggler, Sandow, the Miz, Jericho, Christian, Del Rio (the destiny thing is dead right?), Rhodes (almost had a character, lost it), Orton (crazy and cocky), Swagger, MacIntyre, the Prime Time players.... sorry, ill stop now.

Also, its nice of all of you to pretend that people are smart enough to know wrestling is fake and that we can all accept Matt Bloom turning from a guy with a dick ring to a japanese lord... but we can't. The matches arent good. Maybe if Matt Bloom had come back to wow us this would be acceptable, but hes still a mid card guy, only now he has more tattoos, less body hair, and suddenly can't speak english. Cena slowly transitioned from thuganomics to superman, he didn't go away for eight years and come back with a different fucking name. And who the fuck even remembers the spirit squad or the Nexus? these gimmicks lasted a year at most, Matt Bloom was Albert for 4 years?

 

[whoopin' ass]

part of Tensai's problem is his look - he still looks like Albert did a decade ago so people still think back to the old gimmick. plus it doesn't help when wwe keeps referring to him as a former talent who returned but doesn't mention who. anyone who is interested will look and it isn't hard to find A-Train video clips. if they didn't mention that he worked there before, if he had a partial mask or something so you didn't see his whole face, the gimmick might have worked better. look at tna with Daniels and Curry Man - they promoted Curry Man as a wrestler from Japan, never mentioned it was Daniels and a majority of casual fans never knew that Daniels was just using a different gimmick that he used outside of North America. i think if wwe tried something similar with Tensai, it might have gone over better.

the gimmicks always make me scratch my head. look at Michelle McCool - they tried a bunch of gimmicks on her(school teacher, naughty school teacher, most athletic, ...) and nothing worked. eventually they just pushed her without a real gimmick(unless you count acting like a 15 year old school girl a gimmick) so obviously if wwe likes you, they will push you no matter what.

 

[HereComesThePain87]

my first post! Maybe WWE will make a good choice and end the horrible gimmick Brodus Clay is using. The funkasaurus got mauled on Raw. Maybe he will be given a month or so off and then come back as the monster he can be. ( I know with Mark Henry coming back in the near future, there may not be a spot for this gimmick, but if.clay can be mentored or.something by a returning Henry, it could help launch his monster heel run that couldt put Henrys from last year to shame)

 

[DirtyD79]

Keep in mind that pro wrestlers are actually actors in a touring troupe. Regular stage and screen actors play a role in front of many people, then return a few months later to play an entirely different character.

Take Clint Eastwood. We watch him in a movie in which he plays a cowboy....a few months later he comes back as an astronaut, followed by a turn as a retired auto parts worker, followed by several stints as a San Francisco policeman.

We aren't bothered by any of that, right? We need to understand that wrestlers are just doing the same thing as stage actors, asking us to suspend our beliefs for the duration of the show. No harm, no foul.

Yes, I thought it was sort of ridiculous seeing Matt Bloom walking to the ring as Lord Tensai, after having watched him ply his trade as Prince Albert in the past. The same applies to other wrestlers who have taken on brand new characters with personalities and traits completely different from previously incarnations in which we knew them.

Still......so what? In my view, pro wrestling has been reality show fare ......long before anyone thought of the reality show concept for TV. If that means we occasionally have to say: Hey, look at that guy playing Superman. Didn't he used to be a Doctor of Thug-a-nomics or somethin' like that? What the shit? What the fuck?.......then, so be it.

It's all part of the show.

So true. To me the ones chanting Albert when Tensai shows up are dipshits who want to say "Hurr hurr, look at me. I remember stupid crap from 10 years ago that nobody cares about anymore." Yes we get it, you watched wrestling years ago. Nobody cares.

 

[Da Solo]

Good thread.

I believe Tensai, as a character, is just too played out. That might (key word: MIGHT) have worked in the Ruthless Aggression stage back in the early aughts, but it wasn't going to work now. Albert, imo, is doing the best he can with the gimmick, but it could be pulled off better by someone else, I agree.

As for Mark Henry, he did deserve that push, and he worked the shit out of it, by the way. I'm actually hoping he gets another monster run when he comes back, because he was THE GUY to watch on Smackdown last year.

OP, you're totally off about AW, though. The man has tons of charisma, and if it wasn't for him, the PrimeTime Playas wouldn't be as interesting as they are.

 

[Vinnie Ru]

Keep in mind that pro wrestlers are actually actors in a touring troupe. Regular stage and screen actors play a role in front of many people, then return a few months later to play an entirely different character.

Take Clint Eastwood. We watch him in a movie in which he plays a cowboy....a few months later he comes back as an astronaut, followed by a turn as a retired auto parts worker, followed by several stints as a San Francisco policeman.

We aren't bothered by any of that, right? We need to understand that wrestlers are just doing the same thing as stage actors, asking us to suspend our beliefs for the duration of the show. No harm, no foul.

Wrong.
Clint Eastwood played different roles in different movies. He was never an astronaut and a cowboy in the same movie, but Matt Bloom was Albert and Tensai in the same company.
If Matt Bloom played the Prince Albert gimmick in TNA, ROH or CZW and debuted in WWE as Lord Tensai, nobody would say anything, just like when Big Bubba Rogers debuted as Big Boss Man in WWE.
But still, the biggest problem was not his return with the new gimmick. The biggest problem was that he was known as a midcarder and now he is supposed to be a threat to John Cena and CM Punk.
Who knows, if WWE would take more time to show his accomplishments and development in Japan people would maybe appreciate him more but WWE almost never acknowledge the career of a worker before or after his WWE run so it's no surprise that the Lord Tensai project failed