WWE Superstar Comparisons

[ASKane]

This is a thread which will compare current WWE superstars to ones who have appear in the WWE before.

Ryback & Goldberg - This is one almost entirely based on physique. They are both hugely muscular men who can be dominant and both had this dominance showed with a winning streak (we wont take about the opponents on the streak cause that ruins the comparison). But apart from physique and streak they are very different their moves set and finishers aren't similar at all

Reigns & Batista - This is one that has become more noticeable recently. The spear and powerbomb makes the comparison easy but its they are also about the same size, lack mic skills and got their break in a stable.

Clay & Rikishi - Dancing big man

Bryan & Benoit - This is one that I have not really heard mentioned at all but there are lots of comparisons between these 2. Crippler Crossface = Yes Lock. Head Butt, Kicks and Suicide Dive as signature moves. Animal Nicknames Rabid Wolverine and Goat. Incredible technically gifted.

That's what I've got. Comment on those and who have you got to add

 

[The Eighties]

Billy Gunn & Dolph Ziggler - The flashy trunks and colourful t-shirts, pelvis wiggling, the bleached blond hair in the same style, uses the fameasser, same athletic in ring style.

Daniel Bryan & Foley/Benoit - He's a hybrid of the two, in the ring he's more Benoit, but as a likable everyman character with hobo looks he's very Foley.

Bray Wyatt & Jake Roberts - The cadence of the speech, the little sinister laughs between sentences and the fact everything is cryptic and psychological.

Cena & Sting - I know people always make the Hogan comparison but Cena has always reminded me of Sting (Surfer version) in his honest good guy personality, loud mic style, big grinning and overly trusting nature.

Roman Reigns & Diesel - This one may seem odd to some, but with the jet black long hair and goatee, the little smirks and the swaggering, laid back presence he reminds me of Bid Daddy Cool.

 

[#heel420]

When Daniel Bryan was heel he reminded me a lot of Owen Hart.
Bray Wyatt & Jake The Snake Roberts- The way they speak & deliver promos.
Dolph Ziggler & Billy Gunn/HBK- Just how Ziggler works in the ring, you can see he learned a lot from watching those two.

 

[Borck Lesnar]

To me Ryback and Goldberg they have been brought up way to many times, and i also see mark henry and big e cause their both great and huge!

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Randy Orton & Psycho Sid- This is something I probably only notice, but to me they both have this dangerous demeanor that blends well with their theme music. One called himself The Man, and The Ruler of The World while the other is a shining example of what that is, at least in HHH's eyes.

AJ Lee & Lita- both very anti-diva and do pretty well inside the ring. Garner more interest than most and even share slightly similar punkish apparel.

Fandango & Disco Inferno- You see where this is headed. The overuse of dance moves, the flashy ensemble, catchy music, the chants from fans generally negative and pointing out that they may be "over-rated", etc.

The Usos & The Wild Samoans- both share heritage and probably ancestry, go for a tribal gimmick and are often overlooked for how well they work together in the ring.

 

[Mongoose McQueen]

Roman Reigns and Batista have the same look I believe Batista is Philippines and Reigns is Samoan but whatever...both are HUGE and both are beasts. Reigns is a force to be reckoned with and no doubt future World champion in WWE.

John Cena and The Rock-
I know but hear me out. Both have a limited move set yet both are great on the mic, have huge amounts of charisma and both were collegiate athletes in Football. It is also no coincidence that both have their share of haters within the WWE, The Rock more so towards the end of his career as a wrestler and John Cena right now. They are also both huge bodybuilding types and multiple time World champions.

Ryback and Goldberg-
Same look, same size, same attire but different style in many ways.

 

[SkyCommanderWinky]

Dean Ambrose reminds me of Brian Pillman, just in the way they both act.

Fandango and John Morrison. Fandango wears the same bell bottoms John Morrison used to wear.

The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Tyler Breeze all have all have gimmicks similar to Rick Martel, Rick Rude and Lex Luger's "Narcissist" gimmick.

Damien Sandow and Lanny "The Genius" Poffo have similar gimmicks.

Khali and Giant Gonzalez (sp?). Shit wrestlers who are employed only for their height.

Chyna, Beth Phoenix and Kaitlyn kind off. Strong "amazons".

AJ Lee and Mickie James. Crazy Chick Gimmick.

The Ascension and the Brood. Both are Gothic themed Teams.

 

[Slash-LN]

Ryback and Goldberg-
Same look, same size, same attire but different style in many ways.

Black trunks (or black and white in WWE) and airbrushed singlets are not the same attire.

Are we counting Mason Ryan even though he's in NXT? He and Batista obviously look very similar and were/are both big powerhouse wrestlers.

Jack Swagger/Kurt Angle- Both have impressive amateur wrestling backgrounds, both use the ankle lock, when Swagger was the All American American he had the red, white and blue singlet. Similar cockiness as heels.

Bray Wyatt and Waylon Mercy. Both are weirdos with a Hawaiian shirt fetish, white paints and a tank top shirt. Both are/were creepy talkers.

Even though it was just one night ADR reminded me of a heel Bob Backlund around 1994. When ADR put the cross armbreaker on Josh Matthews it was like when Backlund would snap and put the Crossface Chicken Wing on random people like WWF Magazine writer Lou Gianfriddo.

 

[shalliin]

Roman Reigns and Batista have the same look I believe Batista is Philippines and Reigns is Samoan but whatever...both are HUGE and both are beasts. Reigns is a force to be reckoned with and no doubt future World champion in WWE.

John Cena and The Rock-
I know but hear me out. Both have a limited move set yet both are great on the mic, have huge amounts of charisma and both were collegiate athletes in Football. It is also no coincidence that both have their share of haters within the WWE, The Rock more so towards the end of his career as a wrestler and John Cena right now. They are also both huge bodybuilding types and multiple time World champions.

Ryback and Goldberg-
Same look, same size, same attire but different style in many ways.

I disagree about ryback/goldie. I've always felt Ryback was some kind of cross between RVD and Rhyno. Rhyno's kind of built with RVD's trunks, but only half as skilled in the ring as either.

For comparisons: bray wyatt and akeem/oneman gang. both big fat guys with limited in ring ability and no charisma or mic skills. could also be compared to tugboat/typhoon.

hogan/superstar bill graham-another obvious one, as it's been documented often over the years.

i'm sure there are a lot i could bring up if i wanted to take the time to look up some names, but i'm too lazy right now to do the work. so i'll throw three extremely obvious ones up.

kevin hall/fake diesel(glenn jacobs)
scott hall/fake razor(tom brandi)
undertaker/underFaker(brianlee)

One last one that is a bit out there in some ways.

The attitude era and later goldust during those serious moments always reminded me a little of the late 80's early 90's pre crushed snake version of jake roberts. They were physically similar in size and skill and had a mastery of in ring psychology that is lacking in many of today's stars. Without the weird mannerisms, in those moments when he was sizing up opponents or working the opponent and not the crowd, I always saw a bit of the way Jake Roberts would work with his opponents. Jake had the Snake in the bag to toy with the mind of his opponent, and Goldust had the whole weird sexual/androgynous behaviour. Different mechanisms, but similar results and work ethics before Jake went over the bend on the drugs and alcohol.

 

[shalliin]

Dean Ambrose reminds me of Brian Pillman, just in the way they both act.

Fandango and John Morrison. Fandango wears the same bell bottoms John Morrison used to wear.

The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Tyler Breeze all have all have gimmicks similar to Rick Martel, Rick Rude and Lex Luger's "Narcissist" gimmick.

Damien Sandow and Lanny "The Genius" Poffo have similar gimmicks.

Khali and Giant Gonzalez (sp?). Shit wrestlers who are employed only for their height.

Chyna, Beth Phoenix and Kaitlyn kind off. Strong "amazons".

AJ Lee and Mickie James. Crazy Chick Gimmick.

The Ascension and the Brood. Both are Gothic themed Teams.

Kaitlyn no, not really. More Nicole Bass/Asia blatant Chyna ripoff by wcw.

Brood's gimmick wasn't goth so much as vampiric. in this way it was more like Kevin Thorn, but only in style, not ring work or appearance.

For Crazy Chic gimmick, let's not forget Tara/Victoria. and Luna Vachon. Even Mae Young and Moolah had their moments back in their prime.

Another woman's comparison is Bull Nakano and Kharma. Both massive woman who completely outmatched their opponents physically, if not in technical skill.

Mickie James debut as a kind of cheerleader stalker of Trish was kind of the way Madison Rayne came into tna for the beautiful people.

mention of lex luger as narcissist but didn't bring up chris masters. or before him wasn't it mark jindrak or sean stasiak who did the same gimmick?

 

[enviousdominous]

To the OP, I think that you're wrong in every comparison. Here are some corrections:

Ryback and Vader are a better comparison than Ryback and Goldberg. If we're talking physique here, Ryback and Goldberg DO NOT have similar physiques. Ryback is an Endomorph, Goldberg is a Mesomorph. Look it up. Ryback and Vader are both characters that exact sadistic rage onto their opponents and taunt the crowd. Ryback's "FEED ME MORE" is akin to Vader's "WHO IS THIS MAN?!".

Reigns and Rhyno are a better comparison than Reigns and Batista. Batista is a level of sloppy that actually makes Rhyno seem like an olympic gymnast by comparison. Reigns and Rhyno present the appearence of slow muscle that would be expected to act as a meat shield for their allies, only to shock the audience with a sudden spear bursting out of nowhere. Batista would tear a knee if he tried to run five miles an hour.

Rikishi can dance, Clay couldn't dance if you put static charged tarantulas down his shorts. Clay has all the rhythm and style of a drunk Ashlee Simpson, comparing him to anybody in terms of dance is unfair to that person. Let's not forget that his Funkasaurus gimmick is a punishment. I would compare Brodus Clay to Stan Fraizer, a guy who once managed to knock himself out cold walking into a low metal beam and thereby blocked the only exit in the entire arena with his bulbous mass.

Bryan and Benoit. Now, Daniel Bryan has made use of the crossface and the diving head butt. These are moves, this is like comparing HHH to Sick Boy from Raven's Flock back in 1997. I would make my comparison more about in-ring psychology, which in my opinion Daniel Bryan more shares with a man known as The Great Sasuke. Daniel Bryan and Sasuke have a method of using big set-ups that more often fail than succeed to keep the audience on their toes. They each have a knack for making an incredibly stiff looking move actually do minimal damage to their opponent, and they typically grant spots to anybody that steps in the ring with them no matter how low on the card their opponent usually is. This may sound like I'm grasping at straws to maintain a role as a contrarian, but I assure you that I've always been preaching that Daniel Bryan is the second coming of Sasuke.

 

[enviousdominous]

A few more while I'm brainstorming.

I would not compare Bray Wyatt to Jake the Snake. There's a huge difference when it comes to their promos, that difference is cleverness. Jake was clever, Bray is not.

Jake would deliver promos fluidly without letting his mind wander too far off course or become muddled by a lack of anything to say (except the heroes of wrestling disaster, though then he wasn't in character). He would be direct in his criticisms and poetic in his delivery.

Bray babbles random garbage that was clever enough to make it past the WWE's version of Sarah Palin known as Stephanie McMahon. "Follow the buzzards" is about as clever as Raven's "You will feel the evenflow" because buzzards and evenflows are supposed to be valid references for being dropped on your head. Everything that falls out of his sewer has no symbolic reference, it's like David Lynch decided to direct a Wrong Turn sequel while going through heroin withdrawals. There's NOTHING interesting about the Bray Wyatt character, he's a smashed together pile of worthless ideas. He's only on tv because he's a Rotundo for fucks sake.

I would compare Bray to Waylon Mercy, and it bugs the hell out of me that NONE of you seem to have recognized their similarities. They both give a vibe of being more stupid than crazy, and they both fail miserably at making philisophical metaphors for their ring work.

I would compare Dean Ambrose to Jake the Snake.

The main reason I compare them, is demeanor. They're neary identical and you're damn near-sighted if you don't see it too. Few performers can be, not just calm cool and collected, but casual with style when it comes to promos and in ring work. Where Jake would slowly slide into the corner and look confused at his opponents desire to fight him, Dean Ambrose gives a look of "Great, another loser to squash" and "Just another day" to help set-up his matches. These two men don't just play the part of characters who use psychology as much on their opponent as they do on the crowd, they do it better than anyone else that steps into the ring with them. Dean's promos, for when he's allowed to make them, are the gold standard for which Jake the Snake established in the late eighties and early nineties.

 

[enviousdominous]

Here's a history lesson for you all.

Goldust isn't the first overtly homosexual character to perform in pro-wrestling. Most of you already know this, but hear me out.

I'm honestly shocked at how few people recognize one particular name from the British side of pro-wresting, that name is Adrian Street. Observe:

[youtube]bKmbPYlRx2g[/youtube]

 

[SkyCommanderWinky]

Kaitlyn no, not really. More Nicole Bass/Asia blatant Chyna ripoff by wcw.

Brood's gimmick wasn't goth so much as vampiric. in this way it was more like Kevin Thorn, but only in style, not ring work or appearance.

For Crazy Chic gimmick, let's not forget Tara/Victoria. and Luna Vachon. Even Mae Young and Moolah had their moments back in their prime.

Another woman's comparison is Bull Nakano and Kharma. Both massive woman who completely outmatched their opponents physically, if not in technical skill.

Mickie James debut as a kind of cheerleader stalker of Trish was kind of the way Madison Rayne came into tna for the beautiful people.

mention of lex luger as narcissist but didn't bring up chris masters. or before him wasn't it mark jindrak or sean stasiak who did the same gimmick?

- TBO I only listed Kaitlyn because I wanted to compare Beth to Chyna and I had to have someone who is currently employed by WWE. Kaitlyn has the same built like a brick house, strong girl gimmick as them but she's never been booked to be as strong as some of the guys like Chyna and Beth were.

- As far as I'm concerned vampires are tied into the gothic subculture and are comparable? I chose the brood because they were a team. Neither Edge nor Christian were vampires as far as I can recall. I could of choose the Acolytes too but I think the APA gimmick ruined any ties they had to being gothic. Also, Kevin Thorn's valet Ariel (shelly martinez) was a vampire so...

- Like Mickie James, AJ Lee was also a crazy fan. The only difference was Mickie was a fan of a female wrestler and AJ was a fan of several male wrestlers. Victoria is another good example but I think Luna's gimmick was far more than just her being crazy.

- I didn't want to mention people who were full of themselves just because they were bodybuilders like Chris Masters because then I could have just listed the majority of the WWE roster. I choose Luger because it was about his overall appearance, his face and hair (which looked like he stole David Bowie's wig from Labyrinth) were as much a part of it as his physique. I don't know much about Jindrak but while he was in WWE he was in a tag team with Sean O'Haire. They didn't really have a gimmick. Sean Stasiak was "Meat", a guy who was sexually objectified by his three valets the "PMS" (Pretty Mean Sisters). When he returned to WWE he had a short lived gimmick called "Planet Stasiak" where he believed he was from another planet or something.