Which Gimmick could have worked? Had it been given the chance???

[Jozzy]

Here we go...This is my first post, and I am sure variations of this topic have come up before...But I'm new...so suck it and deal with it! lol

Anyways...I think there were several potentially GREAT gimmicks through the years that never really took off because they pulled the plug far too early...I'll list sevral here...Then let the discussions begin!!!

Kizarny
Mordecai
Mexicools
Umaga
etc. etc.

I personally really dug the Kizarny gimmick...he was kinda like a new age "Evil Doink", which I also think was an amazing gimmick that was flipped to the face version waaaaay too early...Let er rip!!!!

 

[Sasori]

Haha Jozzy welcome to Wrestle Zone I enjoyed your post on my thread "Vince and his fucked up logic! And the PG era." And awesome first thread!

I think Booker T's gimmick before making the MEM, the one about him being some kind of a hunter with the funny but cool African accent could have worked. I always loved it when Christian would make fun of it lol. And he would compare wrestlers to animals LOL. Like for example he compared Hernandez to an elephant.

 

[TSG]

Muhammed Hassan for sure.He was on his way to becoming the most over heel WWE has ever seen yet one little problem (7/7 bombings conflicting with the terroist thing) and everything was screwed up. Vince gave into the network (what was there problem anyway, do the not know it's fake?) and the Hassan character goes bye bye. It's sad to, he was a great wrestler with an awesome gimmick and, in my opinion, a future World Champion, which I think was actually scheduled to happen. Overall, Vince should have resisted the network, even found a new one if he had to (they eventually switched anyway) and they would have been fine, and had such a major heel they probably would get burned from result of the heat. But know, the network knows best, no bad publicity, let's get rid of him. It truly was a good gimmick that not could've, but would've worked, cut short.

 

[Father:_Polley]

Mordecai could have worked a treat had Kevin Fertig actually been given a chance to run with it. It's an easy angle to run with, as a wrestler answering to a higher power and working to do his business. Run roughshod over the mid-card before it being revealed that one of the top names was the 'higher power'.

Fertig would have been able to pull the gimmick off in my opinion, as he had an intimidating persona about him. He just didn't get the chance to work on the purging WWE of all it's 'sins', as a feud with Eddie hinted at just never materialised

 

[WWF Wrestling Fan]

I Think one of the best gimmicks that could have worked was Mordecai because when he 1st came on the sceen I thought to my self thats a great gimmick and he could probably work great with The Undertaker Undertaker Darkside Of Evil and Mordecai The Dark Side Of Evil but I think the reason why WWE gave up on it is because they already have The Undertaker and Kane I only saw Kevin Fertig as Mordecai for maybe 2 matches and then they made him as the Vampire on ECW ( sorry cant think of that gimmick name right now ) but you know they could have had Kane on Raw Taker still on Smackdown and Mordecai on ECW it would have worked but yet WWE didnt see it that way, But you know WWE likes to '' Brain Wash '' the viewers / audenence

 

[CraigThe13th]

I think Burchill's pirate gimmick deserves a mention, ok it couldn't have last forever but at the time it was over and killed off far too early. From the garb to the swinging by a rope entrance to the ludicrous but cool finisher I loved it personally. His current heel persona could even have gotten over more in my opinion if he was given the right storyline to turn him back from being a pirate to a deadly, no nonsense heel.

If only Vince had watched Pirates of the Carribean

 

[Joepjr92]

Waylon Mercy was awesome! He was a psycopath who would act like a calm gentleman before the match, shaking hands with the ref and even his opponent. But, as soon as the match started, he would decimate his opponent. It was a pretty cool gimmick that could have done well in the 90's if it wasn't for a botched powerbomb by Kevin Nash that ended Mercy's career.

 

[2rowdy4u]

eugene wow this guy was so over. he had a great feud with the game and sadly that was it. the man behind the eugene gimmick is a great wrestler and could have been world champion if he wasent let go

 

[bxbigshow]

Muhammad Hassan- I've said it before, Vince could've easily pulled the footage off of SD!, had someone from Stamford, CT tape a statement saying that Hassan did something "so horendous that WWE's Board of Directors decided not to air it on public television in respect to the lives lost in London. But it will be posted on WWE.com!" It would've flooded the website, draw more heat towards Hassan. UPN wouldv'e been off the hook from any backlash and Hassan would still be employed. But Vince knew the reaction he'd draw if he let it air that night. He scapegoated Hassan for one day of semi-mainstream publicity.

Eugene- I know they milked the 'special' route as far as they could've. But before they release him they should've turned him heel. I know they tried but it made him look more unstable than before. Almost making the character hard to watch, it was disturbing...not evil. What they shouldv'e done was have him drop the entire special gimmick in-ring, grab the mic and state that it was all an act to get on tv because the fans these days can't appreciate real wrestling. Almost what Jericho is doing now. Imagine if Eugene attacked Benoit (champ at the time I wanted this turn done) and used him as the example of a great wrestler who can't get over because of his bland personality. Have him say that Benoit was the reason NICK DINSMORE has been held back all these years. Just picture the facial expression change from mentally challenged to cold and calculating.

Spirit Squad- Broke up too early. I loved their gimmick. Defending the title under the 'Freebird Rule', annoying the piss outta everyone. The stunt with the trampoline. I know they wanted to push Kenny, but everyone knew it was too soon. Nicky (Dolph Ziggler) is getting some airtime now. But if they(all) had more time to develop as the SSquad. Vince would've had 5 prospects in his system instead of just Ziggler.

 

[Father:_Polley]

The thing was the Eugene's gimmick was given a chance. It was given a year and it wasn't a gimmick that you could take seriously as a title contender. No slight on Nick Dinsmore, but the ******ed gimmick held him back. He pulled it off better than most and was funny doing it, but he was never going to be that guy who could carry the company

 

[bxbigshow]

The thing was the Eugene's gimmick was given a chance. It was given a year and it wasn't a gimmick that you could take seriously as a title contender. No slight on Nick Dinsmore, but the ******ed gimmick held him back. He pulled it off better than most and was funny doing it, but he was never going to be that guy who could carry the company

Which is why he should've dropped the gimmick completely in a heel turn, go full 180. So maybe I'm a bigger fan of the man than the character. But I think that would've been the move to try before the eventual release.

And also it depends on your definition of sucessful. Maybe Nick Dinsmore couldn't 'carry the company'. But as a mid-card heel he could've held the IC Title and build up those stars than can. Just an opinion.

 

[Raw Power]

err Kizarny's gimmick was some stupid crap, it was like beyond dumb and didn't fit in a wrestling atmosphere at all. Definitely gonna have to say Mohammed Hassan, it was an awesome, relevant gimmick that was ruined by the WWE taking it too far and essentially changing his character from an understandably disgruntled Arab American to a flat out terrorist.

 

[Southwind]

Oh yeah it's Hassan that gimmick was gold he had the fans in the palm of his hands it's a shame they lost him because he would be main eventing right now.

 

[Saeros]

Im not going to say Muhammed Hassan, because he WAS given a chance and it DID work.

It just ended badly, thats all. Looking at the title of this topic he doesnt fit with it.

Mordecai is one - Fertig was NEVER given the chance he deserved with this. Hes a very good big guy, very intense but was given poor opponents. Scotty 2 Hotty was decimated and yes did a good job at selling, same as akio and Kidman. But his 1st feud was with...Hardcore Holly....

Yes clever thinking there, putting a guy with -22 psychology in the ring with an up and coming rookie that had confidence problems. Nice thinking there WWE (Y)

Sean O Haire - His gimmick when he 1st debuted was amazing. His promos were perfect, and he was another good solid worker that given the chance could of run with this gimmick

Rhyno - Never given the chance to be what he was before he got injured. A no nonsense manbeast that stopped and nothing and gored the hell out of everyone in sight

Raven (in WWE) - In ECW this fellas promos were second to none, he matched the attitude era of the WWE...WHY oh WHY wasnt he used more than just a undercard talent and commentator with his skills in ring and on the mic.

 

[wrestlemania26]

i loved umaga's gimminck
a huge samoan destruction machine
he was involved in some great feuds.

 

[TheGreatSPAMbino]

I will start off with the obvious one, that being Sean O'Haire's Devil's Advocate gimmick, one of the most ingenious characters and subsequently most wasted talent of all time. Honestly, O'Haire could have main evented and been one of the best heels of all time, he was the total package and that gimmick put him wayyy over the top. O'Haire vs. Lesnar would have been awesome, two of the most athletic big men in the history of the business. The Devil's Advocate against the devil himself the undertaker would have been a money feud as well. If he were still around and on top, as he could be without a doubt, we could have seen O'Haire against the straightedge superstar CM Punk which has a shitload of storyline potential. Perhaps the devil's advocate tries to temp CM Punk into drugs and alcohol creating an inner struggle within CM Punk in terms of his beliefs. In the same way we could have seen O'Haire tempting the born again christian Shawn Michaels into sin, with Michaels trying to reject his old sinful ways and stay in the light. A match between those two would tear the house down as well. O'Haire vs. Cena would be a great feud with O'Haire trying to persuade Cena to turn against the "WWE Universe", telling him that sooner or later they will turn on him for good, as is the fate of all heroes. With that character Sean O'Haire could have broken the ground in terms of wrestling storytelling and really given us a new, unexplored layer of complexity which could have created much more compelling television.

Another gimmick i loved was the Spirit Squad, i will go so far as to say i was a spirit squad mark. What can i say, I like male cheerleaders (no homo). That gimmick drew so much heat it was ridiculous. The Spirit Squad were a better faction than Legacy.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I think the Mordecai gimmick had a lot of places to go. They could have had him feud against the Undertaker, as Mordecai is the antithesis of all the Undertaker stands for (Mordecai would say that he is the light, and he must beat the darkness (the Undertaker).

Also, he could have had a feud with Eddie Guerrero, who was then doing the "lie, cheat, steal" gimmick. Mordecai's issue with Eddie could be that Eddie is a sinner because he "Lies, cheats and steal" and so vows to pour out "God's judgement on him".

Also, John Cena was doing the rap gimmick at that time, so Mordecai could have feuded with him about how "rap creates an underculture of rebellion, and leads to sin (according to Mordecai). He could then threaten to punish Cena for his "sins" as well.

A fourth feud could have been with "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels, over how Shawn claims to be religious, but Mordecai claims that Shawn is just a "hypocrite" and not living up to God's (or more accurately, Mordecai's standards). This could then lead to HBK giving Mordecai the "Sweet-Chin Music".

 

[d_henderson1810]

Which is why he should've dropped the gimmick completely in a heel turn, go full 180. So maybe I'm a bigger fan of the man than the character. But I think that would've been the move to try before the eventual release.

And also it depends on your definition of sucessful. Maybe Nick Dinsmore couldn't 'carry the company'. But as a mid-card heel he could've held the IC Title and build up those stars than can. Just an opinion.

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I remember Eugene cutting an in-ring promo at ECW ONS 2006, where I actually thought that mid-way through his speech (where he is actiung like normal, old, Eugene), he could suddenly start talking properly, and then claim that it was a gimmick the WWE laboured him with. He could claim that he was given this gimmick because other superstars are jealous of him. At this time, it was a few weeks after Joey Styles cut that awesome promo on Raw, criticising the direction of WWE. So Eugene could have said that Styles was right about being true to yourself, and then proceed to run down WWE. At ECW ONS, where there are a lot of rabid extremists, hearing someone run down WWE would put him hugely over, and they would have embraced him. They then could have had him on the starting ECW roster, as one of their main guys. If they wanted him to be a heel, just have him feud with Tommy Dreamer, RVD or Sandman. They could have made Dinsmore "ECW's" variation of Mankind or Abyss.

But alas, Eugene on this night didn't do any of what I hoped, but cut some lame comedy promo. Oh well, what could have been.

 

[stillboy21]

I'm actually thinking of The Highlanders, they were the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this forum and I'm glad no one has said anything about them yet. They should have gotten gold. What I believe great tag teams should have in common is that they have similiar looks. Both Robbie and Rory were idiot scotsmen. The only exception I can think of is Miz and Morrison. But they had a great gimmick that should have included Drew McIntyre. I don't know why they got fired but it wasn't their time yet.

 

[KillBill]

I will start off with the obvious one, that being Sean O'Haire's Devil's Advocate gimmick, one of the most ingenious characters and subsequently most wasted talent of all time. Honestly, O'Haire could have main evented and been one of the best heels of all time, he was the total package and that gimmick put him wayyy over the top. O'Haire vs. Lesnar would have been awesome, two of the most athletic big men in the history of the business. The Devil's Advocate against the devil himself the undertaker would have been a money feud as well. If he were still around and on top, as he could be without a doubt, we could have seen O'Haire against the straightedge superstar CM Punk which has a shitload of storyline potential. Perhaps the devil's advocate tries to temp CM Punk into drugs and alcohol creating an inner struggle within CM Punk in terms of his beliefs. In the same way we could have seen O'Haire tempting the born again christian Shawn Michaels into sin, with Michaels trying to reject his old sinful ways and stay in the light. A match between those two would tear the house down as well. O'Haire vs. Cena would be a great feud with O'Haire trying to persuade Cena to turn against the "WWE Universe", telling him that sooner or later they will turn on him for good, as is the fate of all heroes. With that character Sean O'Haire could have broken the ground in terms of wrestling storytelling and really given us a new, unexplored layer of complexity which could have created much more compelling television.

Yesss!!! This guy was the shit, his promos prior to his debut still kick ass to this day. This guy had it all. The weird thing was that his character was killed off before he was, unlike some of these other guys.

 

[RicSpade]

Honestly I think that Mordecai wasn't all that great, I grant that him being all about the light and wearing white kind of like an old school light Undertaker was a great idea and the sword in the stone thing he did as an entrance was cool, but his skills being green was the reason the gimmick failed, that's why he had more pull as a vampire in ECW he didn't really have to say anything cause he had his vampire chick calling the shots like most skilled wrestlers back in the day had when Bobby Heenan managed.

Eugene had his moments too and they tried hard pushing him to be a superstar, but with the special gimmick he was held down however we had a gimmick pushed in our wrestling shows that would've helped Eugene out of it, if the WWE would've thought about it. Picture this Eugene wrestles a match and at the end he is getting beat down by a bunch of wrestlers finally taking advantage of him and slamming him with a huge chair shot. When Eugene finally recovers he has no knowledge of himself being ******ed, he doesn't remember the friends he had nor does he remember the past of the WWE it could be huge he could have feuded with any of his friends and had used the new found attitude to develop his own style and if something happened to where he flopped as a heel he could be reshot with a chair and end up ******ed again.

I think Muhammed Hassan was the best heel they could've done something with, but they would've needed to do something to take the full heat of the whole terrorist thing off of him and make him neutral before making it happen again. Maybe saving a guy like Hacksaw and saying if it wasn't for America I wouldn't have had my freedom, I wouldn't be a wrestler and a superstar, and then later screw americans and become a heel again.

 

[Hacksaw Highway]

Gotta say Spirit Squad. If it hadn't been for two 40 year old men beating the piss out of them day in and day out, they could've been over. All 5 were so obnoxious and stupid, they got good heat because we all know people like that (not neccisarily male cheerleaders, but preppy douchebags). The way they'd let any 2 guys defend the belts was cool as well, I know it's been done before but I enjoyed it still. Eventually it had to end, obviously, but it shoul've lasted at least a year or so longer (and been booked stronger) because honestly, none of them did dick all in the year fallowing the breakup, save for Kenny, who did dick all after that year.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I'm actually thinking of The Highlanders, they were the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this forum and I'm glad no one has said anything about them yet. They should have gotten gold. What I believe great tag teams should have in common is that they have similiar looks. Both Robbie and Rory were idiot scotsmen. The only exception I can think of is Miz and Morrison. But they had a great gimmick that should have included Drew McIntyre. I don't know why they got fired but it wasn't their time yet.

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I actually think that the Highlanders would have been more over if they had a manager and spokesman, and if that person was none other than everyone's favourite Scotsman, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Imagine how big Robbie and Rory would have been, and how it would have fast-tracked their development, if they had one of the all-time WWE personalities in their corner!

 

[The Doctor]

Kizarny, easily. I was hoping this guy would come out and be a creepy heel. A crazy heel. One who seems impervious to pain. Unfortunately, the WWE did quite a few things to kill him:

1. Debuted against MVP. MVP was in the middle of a face turn, and the crowd didn't kow whether he was supposed to be a heel or a face. No reaction.

2. Terrible pre-debut promos. If only they had let him talk in a normal voice and used the "iz" from time to time. He could have talked more about himself and not the carnival. They had a good thing going with showing him in various painful situations, and his freakshow friends.

3. Pulled after one match. I mean, really. One match on tV, and you chuck the guy out. Were the bosses in a bad mood that day or something? Let him have another match and maybe some promos where he doesn't speak in carny-tongue so much, and see what happens.

Kizarny had the potential to be a creepy heel. He had a fantastic unique look, and his skills weren't that bad.

 

[bxbigshow]

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I remember Eugene cutting an in-ring promo at ECW ONS 2006, where I actually thought that mid-way through his speech (where he is actiung like normal, old, Eugene), he could suddenly start talking properly, and then claim that it was a gimmick the WWE laboured him with. He could claim that he was given this gimmick because other superstars are jealous of him. At this time, it was a few weeks after Joey Styles cut that awesome promo on Raw, criticising the direction of WWE. So Eugene could have said that Styles was right about being true to yourself, and then proceed to run down WWE. At ECW ONS, where there are a lot of rabid extremists, hearing someone run down WWE would put him hugely over, and they would have embraced him. They then could have had him on the starting ECW roster, as one of their main guys. If they wanted him to be a heel, just have him feud with Tommy Dreamer, RVD or Sandman. They could have made Dinsmore "ECW's" variation of Mankind or Abyss.

But alas, Eugene on this night didn't do any of what I hoped, but cut some lame comedy promo. Oh well, what could have been.

I was at that One Night Stand and had a conversation with Big John (from Tough Enough). I actually made the joke, "before you release Eugene, make him a heel". He asked why did I think Eugene was going to be released. I just gave him a look and was like "c'mon..."

On Sean O'Haire, why did they pair him up with Piper? It killed any momentum he had before hand. I was at a house show in MSG before then and he got huge pops.

Separately on Piper, the night he came out in the Garden with the Highlanders and the bagpipes was the biggest reaction the Highlanders ever recieved. WWE missed an huge oppurtunity.

Watching Jesse play 'wanksta' right now on SD! and I realize now they missed the mark on Festus.