A lot of WWE talent is in dire need of repackaging. This has nothing to do with the wrestler becoming stale and everything to do with a problem that has ALWAYS blighted WWE, namely, that a large percentage of otherwise great wrestlers get straddled with crappy gimmicks and usually arent resuscitated in time to preserve any main event mystique. Sadly, many of us wont be at all surprised if Kevin Steen/Owens debuts on the main roster as Jackie The Flower Arranger and creative blames him for not getting over. Having said that, a lot of characters simply need some basic tweaking before they start to stagnate. Some of you will remember the way that Connecticut Blueblood Hunter Hearst Helmsley slowly morphed into the Cerebral Assassin Triple H over time, retaining his heel heat, but adding dangerous and controversial new elements to his character as he evolved. The same goes for the weenie version of Kurt Angle, the original model of Kanes character and yes, even The Undertaker. To cite just one example from the many available, the same approach could work wonders for Fandango, who is a very good wrestler and has done amazingly well with a really sh*tty gimmick. Youve got to wonder what that guy would be capable of if he were given a Shawn Michaels-esque narcissist character and told to run with it... This logic also applies to Damian Sandow, who is a hugely entertaining personality that has effortlessly outgrown his one note gimmick, also Dolph Zigger, who is rapidly losing momentum though absolutely no fault of his own. Add to the list Cesaro, Jack Swagger, Sheamus and Bray Wyatt, who, with just a little extra menace (and a few significant wins) could easily become the greatest villain of the PG Era. Look at the success that Dean Ambrose has enjoyed since his split from The Shield. Hes done some great character work all around and all that was needed was to relax the limits of his gimmick a little. This is an approach that almost always works. It worked before and it will work again. Now, onto the elephant in the room...
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
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