Which Mid-90s WWE Gimmick Did Shawn Michaels Come Up With?
More than just a pretty face.
On his 'Something To Wrestle With' podcast, current WWE creative mind Bruce Prichard recalled coming up with Jeff Jarrett's country singer gimmick back in the early-1990s.
The promotion were seeking ways to make Jarrett even easier for fans to hate, and that's when one Shawn Michaels piped up with a few ideas of his own. The first, and most important, was to give 'Double J' a heater who could help him cheat during matches.
Michaels suggested that Brian James get the gig. Literally.
When Prichard and others asked what kind of character James could play, ol' HBK reached into his bag of creative tricks yet again and said it'd be fun if he became 'The Roadie'. Shawn didn't stop there, and actually pitched that James crouch down during entrances and at ringside like a real concert roadie would to stay out of the spotlight.
The WWF thought this was genius, and 'The Roadie' was born.
Later, that gimmick would morph into the Road Dogg character, one that turned James into an Attitude era phenomenon with fans as part of D-Generation X. Michaels was looking out for his future pal as early as 1995.