10 Absolute Worst Gimmicks In Wrestling Today
6. Dexter Lumis
The creep from the creep farm. There are a lot of unwritten rules in both professional wrestling and television, but one is almost certainly universal; silent pseudo-serial killers should not be portrayed as babyface heroes on television.
Okay, so that might not exactly be an unwritten rule, and Dexter Lumis hasn't actually killed a bunch of people, but the point stands. There are a lot of reasons to throw shade at NXT in 2020, but the fact that there was a moment when Dexter Lumis was arguably the brand's biggest babyface may just be the biggest of them all.
Lumis has a unique look, that much is undeniable, but the rest of the gimmick stinks. The Tortured Artist doesn't speak and barely sells, yet people will still crow that far more talented performers don't get the push they deserve because they 'can't cut promos'. If your boy doesn't speak and can't sell, what hope is there? The gimmick may have brought Lumis to television, but it has almost immediately left him in a creative straightjacket.
Yes, there is a pun in there.
Modern television's desperation with having edgy good guys and blurring the lines between good and bad has a lot to answer for. Dexter Lumis is just the latest dud character to come out of that jarring trend.