I was just rewatching RAW and I couldn't help but realize that my mind began to wander as Bray Wyatt cut his promo. The thing is, when he debuted in 2013 The Wyatt Family showed so much promise. I to this day believe that his feud with Daniel Bryan was the best and will be the best of his career. The promos he cut back then were enticing and you actually listened to what he said. It was something we hadn't seen in WWE for years. He was a real throwback to the styles of Jake Roberts and early Goldust. I feel they pulled the trigger on him facing Cena too early and same for the break up but don't give me that "it's creative's fault for shit booking" when HHH is in love with the Bray character. Meaning Bray should be able to have great influence on his character, he's not some undercard scrub who they'd laugh at with even a mention of a tweak like a Jack Swagger.
Some people say it's because overly gimmicky personas do not fair well with modern crowds which is complete crap. Why did The Undertaker fair so well over the years? I mean let's be honest, the concept of an undead wrestler has little to no depth for one and not to mention his character would have to be matched against certain wrestlers to mesh into good feuds. So why did he flourish? Three simple words. Evolution of Character. He debuted as the Western Mortician and his entire first year was an introduction to the people and used to build his credibility as it should have. What happened soon after that first year? He evolved and turned face. When he made his return in 1994 he had another tweak, he became "The Deadman" complete with a tweaked entrance and new attire, as well as showing an actual personality somewhat rather than just being a walking corpse. 2 years later he became this gothic biker which would later become the lord of darkness. He constantly changed his attire, and became more vocal. Another 2 years later in 1998 he began arguably his best year. 1998 was the most confusing but one of the most fun years of his career. Not one person watching that year could tell whether he was heel or face and would soon become full heel late that year forming the Ministry of Darkness.
I'll just leave The Undertaker's career at that. Point being, he had constant changes to his character. Other examples, look at Mankind. He was in a rut until they morphed him into what he was in the Attitude era. This is not just with overly gimmicky wrestlers, it's with everyone but the more theatrical they are the more necessary gimmick tweaks become. Gimmicks like Austin's don't need them. Bray's do, desperately and now that we have 4+ shows a week, they need to evolve at a faster pace. Bray is cutting the same promos he's been cutting for 3 years now. They're not interesting, they're not exciting, they're not terrifying. In the beginning they were somewhat "chilling" because this guy was starting a cult. Now it's just a chubby guy in a fedora and a Hawaiian shirt with no direction and an annoyingly unnecessary laugh. He used to be one of my favorites. Now I'm sick of him.
It seems all my favorites of 2013/2014, I'm sick and tired of seeing. Ambrose, Rollins, Bray, Neville, Rusev, Bad News Barrett. WWE has successfully managed to build up their next wave of stars to do a clean sweep and yank the rug out from each and every one of them. The only ones who seem to be doing well are Reigns and in my opinion Sheamus. Why may that be you suppose? Probably because their characters have evolved over the last year.
Some people say it's because overly gimmicky personas do not fair well with modern crowds which is complete crap. Why did The Undertaker fair so well over the years? I mean let's be honest, the concept of an undead wrestler has little to no depth for one and not to mention his character would have to be matched against certain wrestlers to mesh into good feuds. So why did he flourish? Three simple words. Evolution of Character. He debuted as the Western Mortician and his entire first year was an introduction to the people and used to build his credibility as it should have. What happened soon after that first year? He evolved and turned face. When he made his return in 1994 he had another tweak, he became "The Deadman" complete with a tweaked entrance and new attire, as well as showing an actual personality somewhat rather than just being a walking corpse. 2 years later he became this gothic biker which would later become the lord of darkness. He constantly changed his attire, and became more vocal. Another 2 years later in 1998 he began arguably his best year. 1998 was the most confusing but one of the most fun years of his career. Not one person watching that year could tell whether he was heel or face and would soon become full heel late that year forming the Ministry of Darkness.
I'll just leave The Undertaker's career at that. Point being, he had constant changes to his character. Other examples, look at Mankind. He was in a rut until they morphed him into what he was in the Attitude era. This is not just with overly gimmicky wrestlers, it's with everyone but the more theatrical they are the more necessary gimmick tweaks become. Gimmicks like Austin's don't need them. Bray's do, desperately and now that we have 4+ shows a week, they need to evolve at a faster pace. Bray is cutting the same promos he's been cutting for 3 years now. They're not interesting, they're not exciting, they're not terrifying. In the beginning they were somewhat "chilling" because this guy was starting a cult. Now it's just a chubby guy in a fedora and a Hawaiian shirt with no direction and an annoyingly unnecessary laugh. He used to be one of my favorites. Now I'm sick of him.
It seems all my favorites of 2013/2014, I'm sick and tired of seeing. Ambrose, Rollins, Bray, Neville, Rusev, Bad News Barrett. WWE has successfully managed to build up their next wave of stars to do a clean sweep and yank the rug out from each and every one of them. The only ones who seem to be doing well are Reigns and in my opinion Sheamus. Why may that be you suppose? Probably because their characters have evolved over the last year.