What Gimmick Would Not Fit Today's Society

[TJWWE]

Since the start of professional wrestling, we have seen many, many, many, many and many more gimmicks come and go through history.

My question to you is that with the WWE being PG still (DAM YOU!) What gimmick do you think would not fit within the PG era?

My would have to be Rico's 'Fashionista' gimmick where he was all prancy in the ring and kissing the boys. Now i'm only saying this one because we know what the WWE are like by now, just saying. They don't want to put that image out there to the crowd knowing that most of them men.

What would yours be?

 

[BASSER911414]

Would the entire Divas roster of 1998-2007 be considered.

Stripteases, lingerie matches, mud matches, fashion shows, bikini shows, bra and panties matches, extreme exposes and what not.

They obviously wouldnt fit in todays era. And I sure as hell miss them a lot.

And please no one say if u want that look at porn. There is a different satisfaction watching wwe divas do all the stuff frankly speaking they were hired to do and theres a difference in watching porn. Kelly Kelly sure as hell wasnt hired for her wrestling ability and neither were several other divas.

Segments like that were entertaining, had the guys drooling and gave us several entertaining moments. Anyone remember Torrie vs Sable Judgement Day. If u say that wasnt a moment of moments, I keel u.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Val Venis is the first one that comes to mind. Former porn star would never fly in PG. He would have to tone the sex down to something like former Soap Opera actor or former contestant on The Bachelorette or even worse be Dolph Ziggler. These gimmicks don't hold your audience.

Then again former Soap Opera actor is right up professional wrestling's alley. Book It!

 

[Paralyzer Z]

Well my choice isn't something that was in WWE in the past, however it was in "NWA Total Nonstop action" (present day TNA) in 2002. Even back then in WWE it wouldn't have fit, in today's era it wouldn't even be considered. I'm talking about The Johnsons.

These guys wore latex suits and were the bearers the ring names: Richard "Dick" Johnson and "Rod" Johnson. In other words they were intentionally made to resemble penises. While that was short lived they eventually were signed onto the WWE roster and debuted as Simon Dean's lackeys the Gyminis. It's obvious... really obvious why walking penises wouldn't fit in WWE new direction (PG ERA), well unless they wanted some sexual education in their programming. Need I say more?

Then again this video speaks for itself:

[YOUTUBE]ZquZX8zWd0o[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Jerichoholic8894]

Because most have already been said, i'll say Muhammad Hassan probably would still not fly today

With people still not over 9/11, Muhammad Hussan wouldn't be taken very lightly as a gimmick. Just bad timing for that character

 

[Hurricanrana Radio]

Virgil! No way in hell would a rich WHITE character be able to get away with having a "man servant" or "slave" character escorting him to the ring. Not a chance! I'm not sure how they got away with it then, but it shows you how times have changed.

 

[JJ15776]

With people still not over 9/11, Muhammad Hussan wouldn't be taken very lightly as a gimmick. Just bad timing for that character

They brought in Muhammad Hassan specifically in response to 9/11. That was the central point of his entire gimmick - ripping Americans for their prejudice against Arabs, even Arab Americans like himself that have nothing to do with terrorism. It was great timing and he may well have been on the verge of being a World Champion. He didn't work because of the terrorist attack on Undertaker that aired a few hours after the London bombing.

Anyway, my answer to the OP would be The Godfather. A pimp. The whole Ho Train thing would never work in PG.

EDIT: Virgil is a great answer too. I have a hard time imagining that would ever work again, not just in the PG era.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Goldust's gimmick when he became "The Artist Formerly known as Goldust".

[YOUTUBE]YqcSKs-2OGc[/YOUTUBE]

It probably won't fit in today's PG Era.

And other will be Beaver Cleavage :

[YOUTUBE]UBa6TD6kSoo[/YOUTUBE]

These gimmicks were pretty Rated "R".

 

[crippler]

If you mean any gimmick then I would say Abdullah the Butcher his matches were always blood matches. If you mean WWE gimmick I would have to go with the Val Venius gimmick.

 

[harrythem]

New Jack. Not just the character but the actual person. Crazy ass mo'fo just about got away with it in ECW (even though he cost them more money then he ever could've made them). I still don't understand how such an unprofessional, useless, violent shitbag kept a job for so long.

 

[Bdubbs]

My pick would be the Ministry of Darkness. Although I'm a huge Undertaker fan, some of their segments would be too risky by PG standards. A prime example would be when 'Taker tied Stephanie to a cross for a crucifixion in the middle of the ring. The crucifixion attempt along with some of their other promos/actions just wouldn't fly in PG era.

 

[SixMovesOfDoom]

Ministry of Darkness is a good pick. The original DX (HHH, Shawn Michaels, Chyna, X-Pac, New Ages Outlaws) would have to be mine. Bad Ass Billy Gunn, the Suck It, urinating on the DoA's motorcycles, other sex jokes, nudity, profanity, all that good stuff.

 

[xxxdaniel_ariesxxx]

The original DX (HHH, Shawn Michaels, Chyna, X-Pac, New Ages Outlaws) would have to be mine.

The Original DGeneration X was Shawn Michaels w/ Rick Rude and Triple H w/ Chyna. X-Pac and The Outlaws weren't added until after both Rude and Michaels had left.

but I do think that some of the things that the Original DX did would be considered "too far" by today's standards, such as spray painting racist stuff in the Nation of Domination's locker room and blaming it on the Harts, The "Special Address" where they read the memo that USA Network had sent WWE and then mocked it. Shawn mooning the camera (full moon too, none of that thong stuff the the Divas do) and Hunter's "Suck the Cook" apron from the first DX BBQ.

 

[James]

Goldust's gimmick when he became "The Artist Formerly known as Goldust".

[YOUTUBE]YqcSKs-2OGc[/YOUTUBE]

It probably won't fit in today's PG Era.

And other will be Beaver Cleavage :

[YOUTUBE]UBa6TD6kSoo[/YOUTUBE]

These gimmicks were pretty Rated "R".

There's nothing I miss more than The Artist Formely Known as Goldust. I'd love to see him come back with that whole persona. Or just going back to where he was with Terri, because the feud he had with Val Venis was just so awesome. And the character was ruthless and scary. I really wish he would have become WWF champion because he truly had the gimmick and the mic skills to carry the torch. If they gave me the Artist gimmick I would run laps around the company with it because I have so many ideas.

 

[SixMovesOfDoom]

The Original DGeneration X was Shawn Michaels w/ Rick Rude and Triple H w/ Chyna. X-Pac and The Outlaws weren't added until after both Rude and Michaels had left.

but I do think that some of the things that the Original DX did would be considered "too far" by today's standards, such as spray painting racist stuff in the Nation of Domination's locker room and blaming it on the Harts, The "Special Address" where they read the memo that USA Network had sent WWE and then mocked it. Shawn mooning the camera (full moon too, none of that thong stuff the the Divas do) and Hunter's "Suck the Cook" apron from the first DX BBQ.

To quote the Funkasaurus, my bad. Thanks for the correction I had almost forgotten when Rick Rude was there. Let's also not forget the blackface X-Pac in one of the parodies of the Nation of Domination. Not happening again anytime soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b20OBTuXjRk

 

[Peoples_Champ]

Virgil and Goldust were my original choice, but since those have already been named, I'll go with Brutus The Barber Beefcake. That fucking hairstylist was ridiculously over in the 90s, I would argue as much as Sheamus is today. I really can't see another barber gimmick getting over with the modern-day crowd.

 

[gurvinder372]

A lot of stuff that happened in attitude era, especially in which HHH Rock Austin were involved, won't be allowed in PG era. I remember WWE used to have a bra-pantie matches, Egde/Lita stuff, Trish Stratus stuff, most in-ring promos having naughty words and naughty scenes in them, etc would not be acceptable on WWE TV now when WWE is supposed to be viewable by family. Apart from this, I guess any gimmick not made believable and dramatic enough will fail in any era.

 

[DirtyD79]

Portraying Africans or Samoans as uneducated savages. Not so much because it's not politically correct but because nowadays even the little kids who still think it's real can go on the internet and find out out that wherever this supposed savage comes from is nothing at all like the talking heads on RAW and Smackdown would have you believe.

 

[smithy93]

viscera the worlds largest love machine, hes was brilliant and he made the big show look small, but i imagine the PG era wouldnt let him back.

also the boogeyman would be awesome because not only was he sick and twisted he was also a brilliant wrestler at the same time.

 

[Twocenter]

When I thought about some interesting gimmicks I remembered a few which were totally different and wouldn't stand a chance in this PG-Era. One of them is Gobbledy Gooker. A chicken or whatever it was hatching from an egg in the survivor series. What would happen if this happened this year? LOL. Highly Unlikely.

Next gimmick is of an animal like human. I cannot find a word to describe the gimmick much but I think savage would be nearer to its meaning. How can we believe a wrestler eating a live chicken like Kamala or the Wild Samoans?

Similarly, Nation of Domination would not have any chances in this era. Can you believe a few black guys complaining about "Racism" which never happened? No.

I don't think barbarian gimmicks like The Berserker, Warlord, The Barbarian would work as well.

Similarly, do not think any of the ridiculous "job" based gimmicks such as Duke "The Dumpster" Drose, The Goon, Repo Man, Brutus The Barber Beefcake or The Godwinns would get over today.

The characters today are much more cookie-cutter, all just playing the part of wrestlers, not workers who happen to find themselves in the ring one day and keep dressing in their work attire?! The older fans want more realistic characters, not over-the-top gimmicks like them. While these may be popular with some younger fans, there has to be a balance and introducing gimmicks like these would not be a good idea right now.

 

[Larry]

I don't know why, I just have a hunch that for some reason Akeem The African Dream wouldn't go over well today. The WWE gets away with a lot, but in todays society I think there would be a problem with content such as is displayed in the video below.


[YOUTUBE]NXVv5ksIVws[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Mustang Sally]

The gay Adrian Adonis gimmick, circa 1986. I was about 7, but I remember this. Adonis had spent his early career as a leather-jacket biker type, but in the mid-80's his weight ballooned to over 300 pounds and he started swishing and lisping around the ring, announcing he was gay and even wrestling matches while wearing a pink dress on his bloated body. He hosted a backstage segment entitled "The Flower Shop" and generally played a stereotypical gay character.....more of a parody than a depiction.

Can you imagine how this would go over in the politically correct generation we now live? Back then, the characterization was meant to be humorous....and it was. Today, people would be sent into spasms of outrage at the sight of Adonis holding a dazed Razor Ramon from behind, grinding his pelvis into Razor's butt and cupping the Bad Guy's breasts with his hands. (Come to think of it, folks didn't like that particular segment back then, either).

Today, you can't say anything remotely controversial to anyone without someone going insane with anger; but the Adrian Adonis gimmick would have topped 'em all.

 

[streicher187]

Mick Foley as anyone but Foley

Cactus Jack or Mankind where pretty violent and they wouldn't have worked w/ out the blood and violence. The "Hardcore Legend" wouldn't have ever been born and I don't think he has the wrestling ability to just get over a as one of todays wrestlers

That could be said for a LOT of the other guys also

D-X = Could you imagine HHH on the top rope trying to get women in the stands to show their breasts or some of the obscene things they did

Austin/Rock - With WWE as scripted as they are today I don't know if their character would have been given the freedom to develop and run wild like they did. And Goldberg would have never gotten over today he was horrible on the mic and people would have tired of his constant winning and no personality..

That can be said for every "era" of wrestling, I don't think Cena/Orton would have gotten over in the 90's and probably would have been jobbers. The older guys are great for a short return but I don't think most of them would play in todays WWE over the long haul.

 

[HailTheGillberg]

Naked Mideon. Does this really need an explanation?

To fill those in who might have missed seeing the gimmick in action, Mideon came out to the ring wearing a thong, boots, and a fanny pack. I'm not quite sure that would fit in the PG era.

 

[PlayTheGameHHH]

The Boogeyman. That guy scared the living shit outta me! I really don't see him making a return anytime soon...

The little kids would never recover if they saw him in action...