Who would benefit from a dog gimmick in the WWE?

[CM Steel]

Over the years in the WWE we've seen wrestler's going by the character of a dog. Like the late Junkyard Dog in the 1980's, the British Bulldog Davy Boy Smith in the 90's, and Rodney Mack aka Redd Dogg in 2000. 10 years past that we haven't seen a dog gimmick being used ever since. Titus O'Neil of the Prime Time Players does his dog bark during his matches but that doesn't fully mean that he goes under a dog moniker.

Remember the days of the dog collar matches? We don't see them anymore. And the infamous "Kettle from Hell" was a one time only thing. But in this era of WWE. Who would benefit from a dog gimmick in the WWE?

 

[#hamler]

As far as I'm concerned, none of the guys you mentioned ever became anything in the WWE with the exception of Davey Boy Smith and I'm almost sure The British Bulldog was just a moniker, not really a gimmick. So I'm not sure I understand what this Dog gimmick is that you speak of here. Sure, Junkyard Dog had his dog mannerisms from time to time but other than that, who else can you honestly say had a dog gimmick? Why in the hell would you wish that on anyone currently on the active roster? Why would you want someone walking around acting like a dog? With all of the Bray Wyatt’s, Bo Dallas’, Kassius Ohno’s down in NXT, why waste that precious time for someone with a gimmick like that.

Honestly, how over would one get from that?

As far as the dog collar matches, they were pretty awesome. But why is a dog gimmick needed to pull that type of match off? Roddy Piper and Greg Valentine put on a phenomenal dog collar match in '83 – neither sporting this horrible dog gimmick.

 

[ThePrawnCurry]

Davey Boy or Rick Steiner are the only that come to mind.

Creative just being lost for ideas and expecting fans to be entertained by trivialities rather than wellbooked matches.

 

[The Butcher]

"Kennel" not "kettle." Although in some parts of the world dog kettles are just as prevalent as dog kennels. Also, let us not leave out the beloved Road Dogg and WCW's short-lived The Dog.

To answer your question, I think that Titus O'Neill would be the most well suited for this type of gimmick. Having said that, though, I don't think he or anyone needs a dog gimmick. I think WWE's rich history of dog characters was more coincidence than anything. By that I mean, I don't think Vince and co. went around back in the day looking for their next dog guy. It probably just sort of happened that way.

And to echo #hamler, dog collar matches don't need participants with dog gimmicks.

 

[Lburn]

By the way, what Titus O'Neil does is NOT a dog bark, as similar is it may seem. It's a Gator Bark, a monicker/call you'll hear at UF (University of Florida, also known as The Gators) football games and other sporting events.

 

[Mustang Sally]

... the British Bulldog Davy Boy Smith in the 90's...

Of course, Davey Boy's gimmick was the only one I remember that featured an actual dog in the ring; Mathilda, the English bulldog that Davey Boy would sic on opponents before the match started. Talk about taking a bite out of your enemy.

A variation of the dog gimmick might be to re-hire Duke "The Dumpster" Droese. He used to load garbage trucks.....maybe now he could chase them.

 

[GodCompleX]

By the way, what Titus O'Neil does is NOT a dog bark, as similar is it may seem. It's a Gator Bark, a monicker/call you'll hear at UF (University of Florida, also known as The Gators) football games and other sporting events.

CORRECTION: What Titus O'Neil does is indeed a dog bark. It's the call associated with the members of his college fraternity Omega Psi Phi who are commonly reffered to as "Q-Dogs".

 

[Dirk]

I think there's more potential for a rabid dog gimmick than a dog gimmick. Sometimes Orton foams at the mouth when he does that rope-hung DDT. That's quite intense.

I faintly remember a similar "rabid wolverine", I think, but I can't remember his name. #heel

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The time for that kind of thing has long gone,however there is an interesting movie gimmick that I think is crying out for wrestling use.

In the movie "Danny The Dog", Jet Li is basically trained as an attack dog, kept on a leash and ferociously attacks on command. Of course he rebels but the idea itself would be a great gimmick for a manager/wrestler combo.

Someone like Heyman has a new worker who is devastating but only attacks on command and is almost treated/behaves like a dog/animal. Of course the face wrestlers would eventually get to him and "turn him loose" but the stuff in between could be interesting.

 

[CM Steel]

I think there's more potential for a rabid dog gimmick than a dog gimmick. Sometimes Orton foams at the mouth when he does that rope-hung DDT. That's quite intense.

I faintly remember a similar "rabid wolverine", I think, but I can't remember his name. #heel

Naw not Orton he's the viper remember? He's apart of the snake family. Atlease he's the newsest member of it in this generation. Guys like the original Sheik & John Tolos "handled snakes" back in the 1970's, and so on with Jake "the Snake" Roberts in the 80's. And of course "the Rattlesnake" Stone Cold Steve Austin in the 90's.

So that ends that right there okay?

 

[6timehitta]

Just to solve the argument of the Titus O Neil Bark, it sounds more like a Hemorrhaging Seal who got hit in the head with a billy club.

But the "dog" gimmick, isn't really even a gimmick at all. It's more like a name and, with that it's actually more of moniker. TBH that gimmick isn't something you'd want in this WWE right now.