GOATsso was talking about this on his podcast, and got me thinking; there just ain't many gimmicks or cool names anymore.
Look at the AE, you had Kane, The Undertaker, The Rock, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Triple H, Mick Foley (and his aliases), Rikishi, The Godfather, Gangrel, Goldust, Val Venis, Hardcore Holly, Big Boss Man, The Big Show, Viscera, Bradshaw and the list goes on. Lots of cool gimmicks, with cool names.
Look at the 80's, "The Model" Rick Martel, Hercules, Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Junkyard Dog, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Koko B Ware, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, "The Hitman" Bret Hart, Ricky "The Dragon Steamboat, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, The Honky Tonk Man, The Iron Shiek, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels and the list goes on. Again all memorable gimmicks with memorable nicknames.
Now look at the modern era, where are the memorable nicknames? Cool names? Awesome gimmicks? It seems like everyone has a two barreled name, like Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, Cody Rhodes, Darren Young, Jack Swagger etc etc.
Would Gangrel be as memorable is his name was Gary Smith? Or The Godfather if it was Jim Grant? I mean who do you remember more, Gangrel or Billy Kidman? Characters and names like The Undertaker, Kane, Andre the Giant, The Big Show, all recognizable. How is Big Cass, Big E (just another big name) or Braun Strowman good? Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, Bray Wyatt; all generic two barreled names considering their gimmicks; Baron Corbin another. Finn Balor is supposed to be some demon or some shyt, and his name is "Finn Balor"? Wft?
Forget about generic names, what about nicknames? "The Show off" Dolph Ziggler, "The Eater of Worlds" Bray Wyatt, "The Real American" Jack Swagger. Are any of these as memorable as Macho Man, The Deadman, Nature Boy, The Beast, The Viper, The Animal, The Hitman etc etc. And gimmicks, where are they? What is Sami Zayn's gimmick, or Curtis Axel, or Heath Slater, or (dare I say it) Roman Reigns, or Del Rio, or Zack Ryder, or Apollo Crews, Titus O' Neil I could go on.
Don't get me wrong, there are a few cool names/nicknames/gimmicks nowadays, but they are too few and far between. They need to address this because it's the main reason I find myself not giving a shyt about most of the roster and thus their matches, just my two cents. (got thread idea from GOATsso)
Thanks if you read it all lol
Look at the AE, you had Kane, The Undertaker, The Rock, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Triple H, Mick Foley (and his aliases), Rikishi, The Godfather, Gangrel, Goldust, Val Venis, Hardcore Holly, Big Boss Man, The Big Show, Viscera, Bradshaw and the list goes on. Lots of cool gimmicks, with cool names.
Look at the 80's, "The Model" Rick Martel, Hercules, Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Junkyard Dog, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Koko B Ware, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, "The Hitman" Bret Hart, Ricky "The Dragon Steamboat, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, The Honky Tonk Man, The Iron Shiek, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels and the list goes on. Again all memorable gimmicks with memorable nicknames.
Now look at the modern era, where are the memorable nicknames? Cool names? Awesome gimmicks? It seems like everyone has a two barreled name, like Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, Cody Rhodes, Darren Young, Jack Swagger etc etc.
Would Gangrel be as memorable is his name was Gary Smith? Or The Godfather if it was Jim Grant? I mean who do you remember more, Gangrel or Billy Kidman? Characters and names like The Undertaker, Kane, Andre the Giant, The Big Show, all recognizable. How is Big Cass, Big E (just another big name) or Braun Strowman good? Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, Bray Wyatt; all generic two barreled names considering their gimmicks; Baron Corbin another. Finn Balor is supposed to be some demon or some shyt, and his name is "Finn Balor"? Wft?
Forget about generic names, what about nicknames? "The Show off" Dolph Ziggler, "The Eater of Worlds" Bray Wyatt, "The Real American" Jack Swagger. Are any of these as memorable as Macho Man, The Deadman, Nature Boy, The Beast, The Viper, The Animal, The Hitman etc etc. And gimmicks, where are they? What is Sami Zayn's gimmick, or Curtis Axel, or Heath Slater, or (dare I say it) Roman Reigns, or Del Rio, or Zack Ryder, or Apollo Crews, Titus O' Neil I could go on.
Don't get me wrong, there are a few cool names/nicknames/gimmicks nowadays, but they are too few and far between. They need to address this because it's the main reason I find myself not giving a shyt about most of the roster and thus their matches, just my two cents. (got thread idea from GOATsso)
Thanks if you read it all lol

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