10 Lessons WWE Could Learn From Their Own History
7. Gimmicks Don't Have To Be Silly
Fandango, Tyler Breeze, and Adam Rose: All examples of modern WWE stars who were given a gimmick. Dancer, male model, and party boy - pretty standard stuff in the world of wrestling. However, each one took the man straddled with it down the same path - to comedic lower card obscurity.
It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Dive into history, and you will find plenty of silly gimmicks. From Razor Ramon aping Scarface to Mr Perfect being, well, perfect. Both of those things could have been as cheesy as a week-old brie and yet they weren’t. Because despite how silly they could be, they were treated like genuine threats rather than jokes. Their strange ticks were character flourishes rather than the whole story.
Which isn’t to say that every gimmick needs to be serious, there is room for comedy in wrestling. But having a slightly out there character shouldn’t instantly confine you to that world. The Million Dollar Man was an arrogant millionaire, and Edge and Christian were once mates with a vampire, but it never held them back. The gimmicks were part of the characters, but they were never the full deal.