TNA Gimmicks

[Y 2 Jake]

How many comedy characters are there in TNA? I've got Black Machismo, Sonjay Dutt, Eric Young, A.J. Styles, Petey Williams, Curry Man, ODB, Kurt Angle & Shark Boy. That's a lot if you ask me.

I'm all for helping bland wrestlers develope a little personality. Jay Lethal was nothing before the gimmick. But the thing is that it's run it's course, and it shows no signs of ending. If he's so talented he'll be able to get just as over without using another wrestlers mannerisms. Same with Petey Williams & Shark Boy.

A.J. Styles is another wrestler who benefited from a bit of light comedy. But can anybody honestly say they take him seriously with that stupid crown on.

It's fine with Kurt Angle because he mixes it up. He serious when he needs to be. But he still does more than he has to.

And Eric Young. WTF.

Are you happy with the ammount of comedy that appears in TNA? If you can call it comedy. These aren't wrestlers who appear occasionaly. These wrestlers appear week in and out in very prominet position on the card.

 

[Slim Pickns]

TNA not only has too many comedy characters, but they push them too hard. Eric Young has pinned a few good superstars lately as Super Eric and has been getting plenty of air time. Petey Williams was nowhere but Maple Leaf Muscle get the X Title. It seems TNA only uses a joke to push a superstar. In Petey's case, at least he's good, Eric Young is terrible yet consistanly finds himself in high profile Impact Matches. Anytime it looks like he is going to be buried, he's right back up there again.

Another problem with Black Machismo and Petey Williams is that they gimmicks are just stupid rip offs. They get nowhere until they blatantly rip off another gimmick, then on top of that, they feud together.

Comedy characters like AJ Style work because he is currently playing second fiddle,but Eric Young and other stupid characters (Sharkboy?) picking up wins every week is stupid. I would get mad, but TNA's booking is so inconsistent that it doesn't effect me anymore.

 

[misskim]

All I know is that I am enjoying TNA more now than ever before, infact I can't wait to see the next iMPACT, and I haven't felt like I can't wait to see a show for maybe 8 years so TNA are doing something right.

Comedic characters are better than no character at all and until they can find themselves it will atleast give them valuable experience because flip flopping around having no character only works for indy feds like ROH, not national TV based companies.

Before Shark Boy became Stone Cold Shark Boy I used to say that he is the best jobber ever, now he's suddenly a wrestler. I didn't care the least about Petey Williams, now I think he's great. Same with Lethal and Young.

Sonjay Dutt still needs a character but atleast he is trying. The MCMG guys have no characters at all and I think it's really hurting them because I don't care about them and my friends can't even tell them apart

 

[justinsayne]

The overkill of comedy characters is the biggest reason why I don't watch TNA anymore, I'm tired of tuning in to see the same stupid shit gimmicks every week, when guys like AJ, Lethal, and Daniels could easily have success with out the stupid comedy gimmicks, TNA's biggest problem is that if they see one of there stupid ideas for a gimmick work, they go and do it to everybody, and now you have an X Division that is full if ******ed cartoon characters, seriously how the hell can people above the age of 5 enjoy this crap?!

 

[Slim Pickns]

All I know is that I am enjoying TNA more now than ever before, infact I can't wait to see the next iMPACT, and I haven't felt like I can't wait to see a show for maybe 8 years so TNA are doing something right.

Comedic characters are better than no character at all and until they can find themselves it will atleast give them valuable experience because flip flopping around having no character only works for indy feds like ROH, not national TV based companies.

Before Shark Boy became Stone Cold Shark Boy I used to say that he is the best jobber ever, now he's suddenly a wrestler. I didn't care the least about Petey Williams, now I think he's great. Same with Lethal and Young.

Sonjay Dutt still needs a character but atleast he is trying. The MCMG guys have no characters at all and I think it's really hurting them because I don't care about them and my friends can't even tell them apart

But don't you think its getting a little old? Its not that all of the characters are bad, its that they are unoriginal and repetitive. Sure Shark Boy, Lethal, and Williams have more character now, but a real creative team would find a better way to add character to someone other than do another legend gimmick rip off.

 

[Ryukuma]

Problem with Tna is they Shun one type of fan aka jake, and they pull in another aka misskim. All Tna does is replace there fans, because clearly people who don't like the show arn't going to tell people about it, and people who like are going to tell people, and have it up to them to care.

I am a fan of Old Tna because that is what made me watch, and first match ever that I saw was an ultimate X match with Petey William, Matt Bentley, and Chris Sabin. I was wowed when I saw it, I was beyond amazed with the canadian destroyer, and I still am.

Nowadays I don't really watch the show because nothing overly entertains me. I like some of the comedy gimmicks, but others are just garbage. If Tna ever wants to get near the best then they have to figure when to use comedy, and when to be serious. I really would like someone to name the last X division match that wowed you this year.

 

["THE FIERCE ONE" MIKE W]

While I do personally enjoy some of the characters (Maple Leaf Muscle(more or less without the Steiner influence), Black Machismo(without the Miss Liz storyline ripoff), and i actually like Curryman) I think they are going into overkill mode.

Super Eric, Shark boy 24:7, and Prince AJ are just ridiculous.

I mean AJ Styles is a former NWA champion for god sakes. Who is going to take AJ Styles seriously now when he is always the butt of jokes and has that stupid crown on his head?

 

[BradXXX]

I don't see AJ as a purely comedic character. Plus it's very obvious they are slowly building up to a really big feud between him and Kurt Angle which I think will be very good to watch.

The characters I don't really like are Curry Man and Super Eric. All of the others entertain me.

And while Kurt Angle used to be a comedy character on WWE, he really doesn't play a funny guy in TNA at all. He's always serious so I don't know where you are getting that.

 

[klunderbunker]

TNA I think does indeed need a few less comedic characters, or at least demote some of them. TNA is rapidly turning into what WWF was in 1993-95. A place with a ton of just flat out stupid gimmicks and then the upper card that is serious. The main problem is that TNA is allowing the comedic characters to get into the main spots. The main problem is, the guys they're putting into these gimmicks car work, and work at a very high level. There has to be a balance though. A guy like Jay Lethal or Eric Young, on their own aren't incredibly marketable. If you put them with a comedy gimmick, then you can market them more effectively. The problem is, when you need gimmicks like that for this many people, the problem lies in your roster, not your creative team.

 

[jmt225]

AJ Styles is the only real comedic character who is consistently in the main event scene. And if you ask me, AJ shouldn’t be a fucking clown at the moment. He should be a Randy Orton type of heel, in my opinion. AJ Styles is no chicken shit. Plus, we all know he’s a Christian and married, so having him fool around with another woman on the show doesn’t make any sense. And to be blunt, he’s just not fucking funny, nor do I want him to be. When I watch AJ Styles, I want to watch the one I became a fan of all those years ago, not him acting like some nine-year-old. I wouldn’t mind it so much if AJ was good at the comedy stuff, but he’s just terrible at it and TNA is shoving that shit down our throats. It makes me sick and not want watch the program.

Super Eric is the worst though. The dude is burying people left and right, and that pisses me off. Eric Young fucking sucks. Always has, and always will. I don’t mind him having a small role on the show, but this is ridiculous. I was already tired of the bastard when the ‘Don’t fire Eric!’ nonsense started, and this takes it to a whole new level.

Petey Williams is one, however, who I feel has benefited heavily from his storyline. I hated Petey before this shit with Steiner started, and now I can tolerate him. TNA actually did a good job in building up to his X Division Title run. Sucks he got hurt.

Shark Boy has always been a ******ed character in my mind, and the Stone Cold shit just makes it worse. But I can at least understand why TNA does it. The douche does get a reaction by the ‘tards in the Impact Zone.

And Curry Man, I feel, is awesome. No complaints there.

 

[blackhart07]

They have already made Aj a joke. Honestly who here on this forum when hes wearing that crown. He has the most potential in TNA way more than Samoa joe. But TNA dosnt seem to use the charisma he has they would rather put a crown on him. I personally hate all the stupid funny gimicks. There all getting into a huge joke super eric, curry man, shark boy. I feel like were back in the early 1990's. If TNA wants to make themselves up to par with the WWE they should start making there wrestlers more serious.

 

[BradXXX]

I guess I don't really understand why you guys care so much if he wears a crown. I've always found his gimmick to be really entertaining and I don't see a problem with it. Before he had zero character, and he pulls this character off well.

You mean to tell me you hated it when he busted into Booker T.'s locker room last week with the "whats up SUCKKKKKKKA?!" bit? I thought that was funny as shit.

I don't think his character is like any of the other joke characters and I think he pulls it off well.

There's a lot more to wrestling than fancy flips and big bumps. Having a good character is equally if not more important. Then when you add in his wrestling ability, he's starting to become more of a total package. Once the Karen Angle thing boils over, I think you'll see a more serious, pissed off AJ when he squares off against Kurt. And that will make for some good TV.

 

[SpiralHands]

I dont see a problem within the comedic AJ Styles nor the crown. Its helped him to develop as a character which is needed as we all know, and I think that all though I geuss you would class it as a peice of TNA comdey its better pulled of than the others, hes just like Eric Young, who play their characters very well. I can understand why people dont like the stupid AJ considering what he has acomplished in TNA and how good his ring skills are, but thats the point great rings skills, but thick as pie. Thats the character and before that he didnt have one. Kudos to AJ for it. As for EY I think EY himself is great he just doesnt need the Super Eric gimmick. Curry Man as much as you hate him is over so thats what matters. And Shark Boy I couldnt care less about because I know he wont be on TNA doing what he is now for very much longer!

 

[africonda]

They need to get serious with AJ, when Super Eric beat AJ, TERRIBLE. I personally dont think AJ needs a character at all, maybe as some said more of a cocky Orton character. I can remember watching TNA way back when he was fueding with Amazing Red for the X title and that was the cocky AJ that he needs to be now. I cant even take his moves seriously anymore cause i cant take him seriously. If TNA i s not gonna use him with the TNA heavyweight title dont even waste him in the stupid role he is now, put him back in the X division where he can be the top heel of the divisoin. That would require TNA actually makes the X division important again.

HMMM as for the rest of the comedy, shark boy 24/7 , come on...... come on......enough said. Curryman, who would you rather see, fallen angel or curry man, enough said. Super Eric, im jus waiting for TNA to let him pin Kurt Angle..... The gimmick is done, we arent 5 years old, he has buried everyone, Eric Young isnt even a good wrestler and his is not stupid, he reminds me of a mentally ******ed person. The Jay Lethal thing for some reason i do not mind as much, me and my friends find it funny, as for the socal val part however, that is just copying and its actually not annoying, makes you wonder why they cant think of their own storylines.

Overall , all these gimmicks are on x division guys, back when TNA started, there were no gimmicks in the x division, you had low ki, aj, jerry lynn, amazing red, kid kash, sunny siaki, chris sabin.......... none of which had real heavy gimmicks, and you know what, the X DIVISION WAS GREAT. Im out here in Los Angeles and I couldnt even order the TNA ppvs back in the day but i found a way to get them on the interent and it was worth it, cause the wrestling was that good. NO NEED FOR THESE GIMMICKS

 

[FromTheSouth]

First of all, Kurt Angle is not a comedy character. He is perhaps the only character in wrestler to have been COMPLETELY humanized. He is funny sometimes, dramatic, and intense, his real-world problems affect his work and his work affects his family life. He has someone scamming on his wife, yet he holds it all together because he has to.

Next, everything AJ does is awesome. His skits with Karen show tenderness and his skits with Kurt show the bubbling underbelly of what will be a great "pass the torch" style feud. Plus, all the undertones of Oedipus make it wonderful to watch. Hopefully, AJ takes the belt from Joe in a few months and he denies Kurt's orders, and while he slmost gives in to Karen's charms, he maintains, beats Kurt, and goes on to long face title run.

Lethal sucks

Sharkboy is kinda funny, and he's superover.

Curryman is great. Those two are superover with the smarky Impact! zone crowd, so they need to stick around.

SuperEric is ok. Atleast it has led to something. The Deuces Wild is interesting, and we can thank SuperEric for that.

All the comedy leads to something, even Lethal, he leads to me peeing, refilling my drink, and watching a few minutes of news.

 

[RVDgurl]

I'm a huge fan of comedy characters so I can probably stand a little more than your average fan. But TNA is in complete overkill mode right now with the comedy. I could really do with the "comedy" from Sharkboy, Super Eric and Petey Williams. I feel that the additions of these gimmicks has just made the whole scene messy.
It's almost as though TNA is trying to give every X Division guy a complete overhaul which is really not necessary. The main event scene already has comedy gimmicks in AJ Styles and Christian Cage and to a lesser degree Kurt Angle and Kevin Nash. If TNA isn't careful, there will be no one to offset the comedy and that whole company will turn into one big circus.

 

[BRandonkin]

Sharkboy is kinda funny, and he's superover.

news.

No Stone COld is over, not sharkboy. TNA creative department is weak in gimmicks and using other promotion who are a bit bigger leads to me to watch those other promotion to see some new characters, whether they go over or not.

 

[JoesGonnaKillYou]

I'm hoping this Angle AJ fued finally puts AJ on top where he belongs. The comedy thing with AJ hurts to watch, the guy is so damn good and un-utilized.

I bet you half of TNA's audience doesn't even know what AJ is capable of. . .

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

The overkill of comedy characters is the biggest reason why I don't watch TNA anymore, I'm tired of tuning in to see the same stupid shit gimmicks every week, when guys like AJ, Lethal, and Daniels could easily have success with out the stupid comedy gimmicks, TNA's biggest problem is that if they see one of there stupid ideas for a gimmick work, they go and do it to everybody, and now you have an X Division that is full if ******ed cartoon characters, seriously how the hell can people above the age of 5 enjoy this crap?!

I hear alot of people say the reason why they don't watch TNA anymore. But amazingly, they always have the most up to date information for their opinions. I mean what else is there to watch? WWE? At one time comedy was the big thing in the WWE. And the ratings sored. Now that WWE is more serious, their ratings are falling all over the place. RAW is down, Smackdown is down, and ECW is down so much that TNA could easily beat them if they were on a bigger network.

The comedy is giving these wrestlers a certain amount of credibility. I know it sounds weird to say but when these wrestlers actually step into the ring, they go full blown serious. The comedy gets them the attention and gets them into the ring. After that, they actually put on some good matches. Hell, it's better than watching half of the horseshit going on in the indies. I mean all of those guys work for spots. Just look at the Human Tornado. This is one guys who I think would be an instant hit in the big feds. But how much of his character spots does he have to work into a match for people to sell?

Ever since the People's Elbow became popular, you see way too many guys doing "stop moves". Moves where the opponent is down in some fashion and you put on some big assed show before delivering a basic move. About all I can stand watching is the brief moment where Curry Man dances on someone's back. And look at the more serious wrestlers in TNA. Consequences Creed had a serious build up. Has a serious ring presence. Has a serious finisher. And where is he? Nowhere. Cuz nobody gives a shit. It was the same thing with Senshi. He got pushed and nobody really cared. The serious spots failed. Now it's time to roll with the comedy mix. At least it makes a product that's watchable for all age brackets.

 

[chrisgod]

Lethal sucks

Agreed... He seems to be TNA's Jeff Hardy, the only difference is he needed an 80's megaover star gimmick to get over...

Sharkboy is kinda funny, and he's superover.

Shark Boy is not (and he might never be) over... Stone Cold gimmick is superover... try to put the same gimmick on Colin Delaney and he will get the same reaction... People is cheering the gimmick... not him...
It's like watching a two year old kid who puts on the tie and shoes of his dad... it's funny at first... you laugh at him a bit... but you don't expect him to do it every day...

Curryman is great. Those two are superover with the smarky Impact! zone crowd, so they need to stick around.

Christopher Daniels is good... Curryman is odd... people who cheer for curry man were cheering for Daniels anyways... besides the "smarky Impact! zone" crowd is just like 20 people wearing MCMG shirts and chanting "holy sh*t-holy sh*t" to any flying move...

SuperEric is ok. Atleast it has led to something. The Deuces Wild is interesting, and we can thank SuperEric for that.

First we got Randy Savage Jr. then Stuna Cold, then mini Scott Steiner, then TNA creative ran out of stolen famous gimmicks and decided to recycle the Hurricane...

Comedy wrestlers are good... but enough is enough... in some weeks we will get something similar to the Finlay/hornswoggle vs Boogeyman/little boogeyman feud... wait... X division championship match... or in lockdown PPV... was it a gimmick battle royal???

 

[HBK-aholic]

I think TNA are unconfident with the amount of talent they have on the roster. For some reason, they seem to think they need a high amount of comedy characters to get them noticed, and to make people stay tuned. This works to a certain extent, I mean, who hasn't laughed at Shark boy at last once?

BUT soon this just means we see TNA as a joke. And I can see it happening, threads being made about it are a step towards that. TNA is a good promotion. They aren't awful, but I aren't don't watch it religiously either. They need to focus on entertainment in a different way. WWE are the top promotion for a reason; they stay away from gimmicks such as these. One is okay. Countless comedy gimmicks spoils wrestling.

 

[Skullz Crack'Em]

I absolutely hate the over-abundance of comedy characters TNA has right now. I was thinking about starting the exact same thread right after seeing "Little Petey Pump" a few weeks ago. I rarely watch TNA, but every time I decide to watch it, there is yet another rip-off gimmick and I am sick of it. It is pathetic for TNA to not trust their own wrestlers, Jay Lethal adapting Savage's gimmick was pretty cool and it did benefit him a lot, but they didn't stop there obviously, there is Super Eric(Eugene rip-off), Petey Pump(Steiner), and Stone Cold Shark Boy(Steve Austin), when is it going to end? AJ Styles is completely ruined, he is nothing more than a Mini-Christian from his WWE days, which makes him look inferior to all the Main Eventers, even though he is one of the best wrestlers TNA has right now and was actually a former NWA-TNA World Champion, but it is hard to know that by watching him now. The thing I find funny about all of this is that TNA wants to be different than WWE, but yet they need WWE's creations to get certain wrestlers over.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

Agreed... He(Chisgod ia speaking of Jay Lethal) seems to be TNA's Jeff Hardy, the only difference is he needed an 80's megaover star gimmick to get over...

But the simple fact is that he is over. He does the gimmick, he does it well. He does alot of homework for the gimmick and you can tell by the references that he spouts off concerning angles that Macho Man was involved in. Alot of young stars need to learn from him and watch old tapes. You need to know your history to succeed in the future.

Shark Boy is not (and he might never be) over... Stone Cold gimmick is superover... try to put the same gimmick on Colin Delaney and he will get the same reaction... People is cheering the gimmick... not him...
It's like watching a two year old kid who puts on the tie and shoes of his dad... it's funny at first... you laugh at him a bit... but you don't expect him to do it every day...

Actually, nah, I doubt that Colin Delaney could pull off the gimmick. The thing is that people are cheering Sharkboy's EXECUTION of the gimmick. If he did it badly then they would just boo him off of tv like they do when others do it as parody.

Christopher Daniels is good... Curryman is odd... people who cheer for curry man were cheering for Daniels anyways... besides the "smarky Impact! zone" crowd is just like 20 people wearing MCMG shirts and chanting "holy sh*t-holy sh*t" to any flying move...

Actually Curry Man is Daniels' own gimmick. He came up with it and used it in Japan. It gives him something to do until The Fallen Angel gimmick comes back. 90% of the people in the Impact Zone don't even know it's him. Now that's good (s)marketing if you ask me. lol

First we got Randy Savage Jr. then Stuna Cold, then mini Scott Steiner, then TNA creative ran out of stolen famous gimmicks and decided to recycle the Hurricane...

Nope. Not a recycled Hurricane. It's something to give Eric some time to develop a bit while capturing the age appropriate demographic. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that kids don't.

Comedy wrestlers are good... but enough is enough... in some weeks we will get something similar to the Finlay/hornswoggle vs Boogeyman/little boogeyman feud... wait... X division championship match... or in lockdown PPV... was it a gimmick battle royal???

I truly doubt that. You seem to be stuck on the simplistic points rather than seeing the metaphorical outlook. TNA is showing that these gimmicks can be created very easily as many people hang on to the now lack luster WWE product simply because of these characters. Why pay for these guys to come in and flop around the ring when you can make a farce of them. They are showing that they are not going to go the same route as WCW and just simply sign big named guys who have nothing to offer. Besides, Macho Man has given his blessing and I'm sure that Steiner has as well. So just sit back and enjoy rather than picking ever effort they make apart. I mean hell, at least they still HAVE a lightweight division. Look at what WWE did to theirs.

 

[HellBoundPower]

While I think some comedy characters are okay, TNA just has WAY too many of them. Watching Impact is almost like watching a bad comedy skit. TNA needs to get a little more serious to attract more people in the 18-34 demographic. People that want to see some scripted violence with intense feuds. They really need to learn to balance their comedy and their seriousness, so TNA doesn't resemble The Looney Toons. I think they have so much talent and potential, and it seems that most of them are taking a backseat to the comedy acts like Super Eric and Sharkboy. They just need to find that balance and I think it would be a much better show than it is.

 

[FOTH 3:16]

What do you guys think is the best and worst gimmick in TNA.In my own opinion,I think Black Machismo is the best gimmick.Jay Lethal can wrestle and always could.He just never got anywhere cause he didn't have a good gimmick.And this one is perfect.It is a classic parody that is way over with the fans.They were able to use the original theme and everything.And Lethal nails that voice perfectly.

I also like Shark Boy's gimmick because he hits that voice perfectly and it shocks me TNA would do something like that.But the bad thing is it gets stale quickly,unlike Lethal's.

The worst,to me at least,is Robert Roode's gimmick.He is a guy who beats up faces and women and is a bully and has a lotta money.How original(JBL anyone?).Plus I don't like the gimmick much.I don't think it works that great with JBL and personally I liked JBL with his APA persona and Roode with hi Team Canada persona better.It gets stale to see him come out and cut promos every week about how he has a lot of money and how he is so great.But he has great mic skills though.And I like his catchphrase.But the gimmick is boring to me and they should have given this gimmick to an indy talent they could've brought in.It is stupid to waste great wrestling ability on a gimmick somebody with less in-ring ability could do.But it draws major heel heat and I guess that is what matters.

So what do you guys think.What's the best and worst gimmick in TNA.