7 Wrestling Gimmicks WWE Should Recycle
1% of the time, it works every time.
Very little in wrestling is novel.
Take James Ellsworth. The elevated jobber trope is a classic wrestling staple, which WWE has previously used to stellar effect with the improbable rise of Barry Horowitz in the mid-nineties. Tyler Breeze is currently channelling Rick Martel and the Narcissist (albeit with zero support from the creative team). Braun Strowman is the latest towering monster to emerge from the production line of WWE's patented monster factory.
More glorious wrestling templates are ripe for reissue. On this week's RAW, Seth Rollins referred to Chris Jericho as "Sparklecrotch", positioning him as the umpteenth talent to adopt John Cena's unfunny diss merchant shtick. It is a derivative, counterproductive and illogical development. Shockingly, given that the same RAW staffer probably penned that line, he is now tonally identical to Dean Ambrose - the man who just months ago was his diametric opposite.
To put an end to the monotony, WWE should, as my man Jim Cornette via Kenny Bolin puts it, "fire the f*ckin' writers!" But, since that it is never going to happen, let's instead daydream over the glorious traditions WWE would be well advised to exhume...
7. The Maniac With No Regard For His Own Safety
The PG era makes such a resuscitation difficult, but if part-time non-wrestler Shane McMahon is allowed to launch himself from the top of the Cell to get himself over, so too should a willing full-time roster member. Though, perhaps not Charlotte...
50/50 booking remains a critical problem for WWE. The Clash of Champions Chris Jericho Vs. Sami Zayn match, good as it was, may as well not have happened. Both men are, more or less, in the same position. Why should we care about their progression, when the creative team doesn't?
Implementing a Tommy Dreamer-esque character - one who is as equally willing to lose as they are to maim themselves in the process of doing so - would provide an emerging WWE talent with a leaving, breathing, sympathetic barrier through which to smash en route to the top of the card.
This man (or woman - that division, too, needs a hierarchy) wouldn't have to go to lunatic lengths to make the character work. The essence, not the extent, is all that would be required - think more Spike Dudley than Mick Foley (5:49).
More long-term, their status as pitiable punching bag would lend itself well to a push based on audience sentiment months - or even years - down the line.