New Trend of 'Foreign' Gimmicks?

[mrfantastic111]

Recently alot of people on these threads have been complaining that the lack of gimmicks is the reason why the WWE product is so bland. Personally I enjoy the product and watch it every week, but I do understand the point alot of people are making.

I watched SD and we saw guys like Santino, Sheamus, Hunico, Barrett etc, and realised just how many gimmicks we have. When I came to think about it more, it seems that the WWE are re-boosting the roster with 'foreign' gimmicks - which is great. Although WWE is officially no longer 'World Wrestling Entertainment', I think that they're starting the really live up to their name of 'World Wrestling'.

For example:

Sheamus - The Celtic Warrior. Everything about his look/entrance/in-ring work says that he lives up to his name.

Hunico and Camacho (If I've spelt that correctly) - I love these guys, the new age of Latino heat! Their look is so fresh, they appear more badass and dangerous then alot of the upper-card competitors. They still need a big push, but for now they're doing fine.

The Uso's - Probably the best tag team on the roster today. Their entrance is great and I wish that they'd appear more often on the main shows.

Primo and Epico - These guys are fun to watch, and along with Rosa (SHUCKY DUCKY!) really bring interesting flavour to the roster.

Wade Barrett - This guy is going back to basics. He's wearing his overcoat with the rose again, and this past week on SD he talked about his classiness and finisihed with "May God save the Queen". I thought this was interesting, as they're re-amping the British perspective of his character.

WWE have always had characters who represent different nationalities, but it seems that they have really encouraged this recently, probably not just to increase variety of entertainment, but to throughly reach out to different markets.

Other then these gimmicks, there's CM Punk's rebel gimmick, Brodus Clay's 'Funkasaurus' gimmick, Dolph Ziggler's 'Show Off' gimmick, Zack Ryder's broskii gimmick, which all bring's me to ask you - Do you like the direction of WWE's characters? Do you think that we don't see enough gimmicks? If you think that we do see enough gimmicks, is the real problem that the gimmicks we see aren't played very well? For example, you could argue that Sheamus' gimmick is great because he is believable as an Irish Brawler and he seems like a warrior, but the execution of Jack Swagger's persona is weak because he doesn't really do anything that makes him the stand out 'All-American, American'.

How would you develop these gimmicks? Who's gimmicks do you like? Who's gimmicks do you dislike? Do you like the direction that the WWE is taking?

Your thoughts?

One last note: Not everyone likes the gimmicks that represent their nationality. For example, I'm Australian, but I HATED Nathan Jones. So who knows, maybe the Italians don't enjoy watching Santino Marella (Although we all know that he is really Canadian-born).

 

[theBec2101]

Primo and Epico is the newer but lesser version of the LWO

the Uso's- I like the samoan decent but the tag divison is killin them look at crime time. they should either seperate or form a bigger stable tag teams dont last. sorry

Barret, Mason, Sheamus, Jindar Mahul,Ezekiel Jackson - form a stable like the the united nations or something and there tired of being looked over and ignored.
VS
CM Punk, Cena, Swagger, Ziggler, Big Show
we havent had any good stable fueds

 

[TheIndianMessiah]

The foreign gimmicks for me ended with the departure of Muhammad Hassan. I honestly don't remember any other performer doing justice to the foreign gimmick ever since that.
Yes people hated him. But that's just a reflection of how well he was doing his job of drawing heat. And what helped his character was the then situations involving the US and Iraq/Afghanistan...... It's all about timing.
I say if they want to really bring back the foreign gimmick, they need to establish a character which can draw reaction from people. Offcourse santino, sheamus, barett,jinder and all get reactions from the audience but it has nothing to do with their nationality. They get those reactions based on their characters.
Let's face it, the anti USA foreign gimmicks are dead for now.

 

[The_Southern_Star610]

I personally love the fact that the WWE has so much foreign talent right now. They might under utilise some of it at times (Drew McIntyre) but all in all its heading in a solid direction and more importantly I think it really helps some international fans to connect that little bit more.

Furthermore, I think an Australian in the WWE right now would capitalise big time if for nothing else, than for feuds with the other foreign wrestlers. The WWE has tapped every international market there is and nearly all of the major ones are represented by a superstar, except for Australia. There's a massive backstory between Australia and the UK as well as Australia and Ireland and with the right storyline (and enough insight for americans that might not know about that kind of stuff) those feuds could be solid. And the fact is, an Australian is something new for the WWE audience (bar nathan jones but he was crap and nobody really remembers him). This is the time for an Australian to go in there and be more then just a beery "shrimp on the barbie" stereotype because if the right guy comes along, with the right mic skills and in ring talent, he would at the very very least have some decent mid card feuds with the likes of Sheamus, Barrett, even a few yanks if they decide to do a bland anti usa heel campaign.

 

[bk555]

The foreign gimmick is an automatic heat magnet. Guys like Del Rio, Mahal, and Barrett all get heat for being different or speaking a different way. Granted most of these guys dont get much real heat (besides barrett), but it has been increasingly popular in WWE lately.

I find it really interesting when a foreign gimmick works out for a face. Case in point, Sheamus. Sheamus's irish accent and brawling attitude makes for a very successful character and he is receiving popularity as a result.

 

[Straightedge Jericoholic]

Recently with the Funkasaurus coming to the WWE, i think maybe WWE can see the reactions he gets and come to the conclusion that gimmicks make a guy interesting. If The Rock didn't have that charismatic bully/jock gimmick he wouldn't have been interesting to the degree he actually was. And all the the guys the OP mentioned need to be on the show. They make WWE entertaining. Or else WWE will be just like UFC. Fighting with no entertainment whatsoever. I think the guys that need a gimmick desperately are Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne(Air-boom). Going by what Michael Cole tells us Evan Bourne is an aviation nut and kofi kingston knows controlled frenzy. Nothing else. They are exciting, they just need a gimmick. Maybe a gimmick that is contrasting to Primo and Epico. And coming to the original point, yeah there is a lot of foreign talent in the WWE. Not everyone can be a heel though. And WWE did a great job with how they handled Sheamus' turn. Some of the guys in your list are natural heels. Guys like Barrett and Jinder Mahal. Gimmicks are good and Foreign gimmicks are great.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

New Trend? ummmmm the Mexicools, the Un-Americans, the The Iron Sheik, the LWO, Berlyn and the Wall....

I mean there's currently a focus on Superstars from other countries, Sheamus, Santino, Barrett, Gabriel, Mahal, and Kingston. More so on Sheamus and Barrett...

The WWE tours World Wide, and having stars from other countries only helps boost the WWE's buy rates and viewership in those countries. Its a smart business move for them to push these superstars and give them air time.

The Great Khali was pushed and featured heavily on Smackdown because the people of India love him, last time I check India held almost 20% of the entire worlds population. If Khali can get people in that country to watch the WWE and buy into the WWE to see him (or now Mahal) then I'm all for it.

Vince is smart and will make money when and where ever he can.

 

[Cats Pajamas]

Hmmm... not so sure if this would actually be considered a "new trend".

Foreign gimmicks have been around for years and years. As has already been stated, the Iron Sheik is a great example of this. WWE is also a worldwide organization; why not have international superstars? If they're going to promote the Funkasaurus as some sort of emcee, why not bring a little culture in?

 

[akathelaw]

It's good, after all it's supposed to be "World Wrestling" and the representation of international talent makes the shows more valuable overseas.