10 Gimmicks WWE Should Steal From Television (And Who Could Use Them)

WWE could do worse than taking gimmick inspiration from the wonderful world of television.

by John Bills
Fleabag Liv Morgan
BBC/WWE

WWE has a character problem. In its desperate attempts to move with the times, the biggest wrestling company on the planet has forgotten that it takes characters to attract fans, that the grit displayed in modern television needs to be amended before it is attempted on wrestling television. The majority of wrestling fans were first amazed by performers such as Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker and ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage after all, not ‘real’ characters.

WWE should leave the high drama to the supremely talented television writers, but it shouldn’t ignore the development. The depth of TV characters has improved immeasurably over the years, and pro wrestling could learn a thing or two. You aren’t finding much in the way of power and paint on Netflix, Amazon Prime and all the rest, but you will find plenty of nuances and characteristics that might translate well onto the pro wrestling stage.

These are tough times, strange times, difficult times for wrestling. Performing in empty arenas is sort of against the whole point of pro wrestling. It sucks mightily, but it also allows WWE to try out some new gimmicks, and it could do worse than looking to TV for inspiration.

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Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.