One of the most important aspects of a professional wrestlers career is his gimmick. Unlike athletes in other sports, wrestlers are not allowed to just be themselves. When they come out to perform, it is not enough to just have a match. They also have to embody a specific persona. In the world of wrestling today, a performers personality and the character he portrays is just as important, if not more important, than his actual in-ring abilities.
In the early days of televised wrestling and on into the early 1990s, wrestling gimmicks were extremely simple and down right cartoonish. Most wrestlers were merely two dimensional characters who lived in a black and white world: either they were all good or all bad, with no shades of grey. They had clearly defined morals and ethics and they did not waver in those attitudes, unless it was to completely flip and turn from one side to the other.
As the 1980s approached, gimmicks became more and more outlandish and cartoonish, especially in the World Wrestling Federation. It was not enough for somebody to just be a professional wrestler. Many of them also had other careers as part of their character. They were a wrestler, yes. But they were also a plumber, a garbage man, a circus clown, a race car driver, or even an undead zombie who drew power from an enchanted urn. In these simpler times, fans accepted these bizarre gimmicks and attended wrestling events in huge numbers.
As the 1990s dawned, fans grew tired of these cartoonish characters. No longer willing to get behind such unrealistic characters, professional wrestling was forced to make a change. Most of the outlandish characters vanished, replaced by far more realistic personalities. The wrestler of the 90s was much more sophisticated, and didn’t fall into clearly defined “hero” or “villain” roles. They were much more developed personalities, more adult, more willing to push the envelope and most importantly, more realistic. Wrestlers were no longer wacky cartoon characters. The most successful gimmicks weren’t really gimmicks at all. They were just exaggerated and amplified versions of an aspect of a wrestler’s actual personality. Steve Austin was a beer drinking redneck who hated authority. The Rock was a charismatic and energetic guy with a massive ego and a razor sharp tongue. Undertaker even stopped being portrayed as an undead monster and became a Harley riding bad ass biker.
Fans loved this new direction and the wrestling business saw a boom the likes of which it had never experienced before or since. This new spin on gimmicks was a huge success and a lot of people made a lot of money with it.
Today, wrestling seems stuck in a rut again. What was once hip and cutting edge in the 90s is now old and cliche. However, wrestling, more so than any other industry, constantly looks to the past rather than the future when trying to put out their product. Promoters always assume whatever worked in the past will work again in the present day. They never realize that tastes change over a time, a new audience comes around looking for fresh ideas, or people just get tired of the same thing over and over. Yet bookers constantly offer a parade of wrestlers with old gimmicks given to new performers. What is John Cena, other than a watered down version of the Rock? The Rock Bottom was replaced with the Attitude Adjustment, the People’s Elbow substituted with a Five Knuckle Shuffle, and the interviews are full of weak jokes that come across like 3rd rate Rock lines, but not nearly as creative and delivered with less skill by a man with far less charisma. Kurt Angle left your promotion? Just give his finisher and personality, with slight variations, to Jack Swagger and try to recapture the magic.
The problem is, this never works. Fans are not stupid, although they are often treated as so. They know when what they are seeing is not the genuine article. A rehash of past ideas is glaringly obvious. The main problem is, wrestling is written and produced by old men who are not in touch with what is actually going on in pop culture today. They know what worked when they were in their prime and give the fans that and nothing else. When somebody comes around with a new idea that people can get behind, he is usually ignored and under-utilized.
Exhibit A: Zack Ryder.
On the entire WWE roster, both Raw and Smackdown, there is not a single wrestler with a more current and modern gimmick than Zack Ryder. What Ryder is doing is so far above the tired routines of his contemporaries, it is almost mind boggling. While every other wrestler is giving us either their spin on an old gimmick, or just something bland and unoriginal, Zack Ryder is giving the world a character that is ripped right out of todays tabloids.
Is there a single person today in between the ages of fourteen and forty who doesn’t have an opinion on Jersey Shore and it’s trash TV clones? Never before has the “sleazy Italian-American” stereotype been more a part of our pop culture gestalt than now. Zack Ryder’s gimmick as a trashy Long Island douchebag is performed with such absolute perfection it is almost a work of genius. He stands out so much with his persona, it is completely shocking that he is so vastly underused by management.
Zack Ryder is the most hip, modern wrestler on the WWE roster, bar none. He perfectly captures what is going on in pop culture today with a flawless performance. He is the one wrestler today, more so than any other, that the younger generation of wrestling fans can truly relate to and either love or loathe, according to their own opinion. No matter who you are today, there is a very good chance that you know somebody who looks, talks and acts almost exactly like Zack Ryder. If the person you know is a friend of yours, you are going to cheer for Ryder. If it’s somebody you can’t stand, you are going to boo Ryder until your throat is sore. But make no mistake about it, one way or another, Zack Ryder will elicit some type of emotional response from you.
Zack Ryder is a perfect example of how out of touch WWE management is with what is going on in the world around them outside of the wrestling industry. If they had any kind of connection to what is mainstream and current in today’s climate, Ryder would be a major player on Monday Night Raw, instead of being used as a bit comedy player, or cannon fodder for somebody else getting a push. WWE needs to take a long, hard look at their current roster and realize there is a performer under contract with them who has a vast amount of potential. Potential they are squandering.
Instead of giving fans an Undertaker vs HHH feud that nobody cares about, or spending half of their show promoting an upcoming match between a wrestler in his 60s and his non-athlete announce partner, they should be building up and promoting the wrestler on their roster who has the best chance of hooking new viewers and getting a genuine emotional response from them.
Zack Ryder is young, he is fresh, he is modern, he is a solid performer, he has a good look and he has charisma. Most importantly, he is somebody that can connect with the current world and be relevant today in an industry that is obsessed with the past. Should Zack Ryder be WWE Champion? At this stage of his career, the answer is obviously no. Should Zack Ryder at least be in the vicinity of the top of the card? As he himsef would say “woo woo woo you know it!”
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that would be nice column if not this line
“an Undertaker vs HHH feud that nobody cares about”
personally I don’t. but it’s pretty lame to speak for everybody. no-one cares about oldies? watch the ratings please.
ps: Zack is great. but he’ll be fired in 3-4 months. I will be glad if i’m wrong.
WWWYKI
You have ensured yourself as a lifetime spot at this website. I owe you a beer shall our paths cross one day.
Great. There’s two of you. Just what we need.
I’m not saying Zack Ryder is the greatest wrestler in the world or anything. He’s not Davey Richards in the ring. However, in a promotion where gimmicks and personalities are far more important than in-ring work, Zack Ryder is criminally underused. Who has a gimmick that’s more relevant to what’s going on in the world than Zack Ryder? Nobody.
Also, the fact you two have opposite reactions to the column is proving my point =D
@Alex
“Nobody” cares about Taker vs HHH was obviously a general statement. Of course there are people who want to see this match. But based on the reactions in my personal experience, nobody I know wants to see it. Also, when I get to watch Raw live as it happens, as opposed to the next day on DVR, I am usually on Twitter while it’s going on to see the reactions. I follow a lot of wrestling related Tweeters, none of whom were happy with this development. Also, I was keeping an eye on the Trending Topics list. A lot of them were wrestling related, as is often the case during Raw. “Michael Cole,” “Mark Henry,” “Sheamus,” and “Hacksaw Jim Duggan” were all trending. HHH and Undertaker were not. If there was a huge surge of interest for this match, people would have been talking about it. they weren’t.
I am sorry – but I have to disagree with you. Now many of the things I do agree with – WWE needs something exciting and original, however, Zack Ryder is not “it”. He is NOT original. He steals his gimmicks from people on twitter. Everything that he says in his videos has been taking/stolen from someone else. It is not fair to the people that he does it to – and frankly – he is NOT entertaining, more like annoying. I am sick of seeing this Jersey Shore crap – who really cares? Not me, that’s for sure.
Nice post anyway – just thought I would be a tattletale…no one knew – and now you have been informed.
I can’t agree with you about nobody caring about Undertaker or Triple H. Much of the entire Internet wrestling community was excited for Hunter’s return, mostly because it took forever, but also because he’s well-respected among even the more casual fans. You want to talk about drawing outside interest? A match between those two would do it. People who don’t even watch wrestling know who Undertaker and Triple H are. Conversely, I’m not certain people will drop $50-plus on a pay-per-view because of an individual worker’s gimmick. As much as any one person loves “Jersey Shore” or the Guido culture, will Zack Ryder appearing on the card really make that person want to purchase the event? You seem to be overselling the importance of social relevance. Alberto Del Rio’s gimmick is a blatant rehash, but he’s pulling it off a lot better than Ryder is his. The obvious difference is WWE is pushing one and not the other, but there’s even a reason behind that (Del Rio is in his mid-30s, Ryder is 25).
Also, age. Look at the ages most WWE guys won their first major championship. Barring the occasional Brock Lesnar or Randy Orton, who won their first title at a young age as part of a story, most guys win the one of the main straps when they near or exceed the age of 30. Edge was 32. Shawn Michaels was 31. Hulk Hogan was 31. Kurt Angle was 31. Triple H was 30. The Miz was 30. This list isn’t comprehensive, but a median can be established. Ryder is still young and has a lot to earn before even achieving upper-midcard status, much less another WWE title match.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the guy. He’s doing everything WWE wants its workers to do: self-promote, be fan- and media-friendly, utilize social media, use his own ideas rather than somebody else’s, etc. But it’s rare for a guy to be thrust to the top like a Lesnar or an Orton. I don’t even count Del Rio or Sheamus, because their windows for opportunity are far narrower than Ryder’s. Give Zack time and let him get his feet wet on Superstars. As much as people bag on WWE for not knowing how to run a wrestling company, Vince is not a fool. He knows how to make money, and he knows that there are other guys more deserving of a push than Ryder. There is obviously something lacking about Ryder if he’s not being used properly, and it’s probably his lack of reaction with the casual fan — which is somewhat ironic, as that is the exact demographic he channels with his gimmick.
Now, if Zack is part of the annual post-WrestleMania future endeavors club, then that is a different conversation. But as it stands, everyone is worrying way too much about the man and where he is going. Far be it for him to work his way up the ladder the right way, starting small, paying his dues, then going onto bigger and better things. The only thing lacking more in WWE right now than true gimmicks is guys working their way up the ladder the right way. The Miz earned his way; he wasn’t gifted the championship because of who he knew or who he was related to, and Ryder will be the same way.
Finally, and I do apologize for this running so long, I’m not so sure Zack’s gimmick will last. I know it won’t. The “Jersey Shore” character is going to be dated the second that show is canceled and stops buzzing, leaving Ryder with a gimmick that is straight out of yesterday’s news. Sure, Del Rio’s gimmick has been done before, but that’s because it’s worked before, and it will keep working because it’s timeless and easily modified for whatever the times call for. By the time Zack is championship age, nobody will even remember who Snooki or J-Woww are, and that awesome contemporary gimmick of his will no longer be relevant or worth writing about.
These are friendly disagreements. Your piece was still well-composed and thoughtful, and I am absolutely a fan of Zack’s. I just found some of the generalizations, and maybe one or two of your expectations, a little off-line. He’s young and very capable, and if he survives April’s roster cuts, he will be just fine.
zack is awesome.
Derek, you bring up a lot of valid points. I’m not saying that Ryder needs to be pushed to the top of the card immediately. My point is that WWE doesn’t even realize what they have on their hands. He shouldn’t be given a top spot. However, i DO think he should at least be given an opportunity to attempt to EARN that spot. He has been in WWE for a few years now. He has done everything that has been asked of him and done it the best that he could. No matter who you are, no matter how talented you are, you can’t get over with the crowd if you aren’t given a chance to get them interested in you.
I’m not saying Ryder needs a push towards the World title today. What i would really like to see happen is this: After Wrestlemania, involve Ryder in real story lines for the next 6 months. They don’t have to be main event spots or the focal point of the show. But think from now until Summerslam, he should be given legitimate feuds and angles and see how he does when given the chance to appear on Raw every week in actual segments, not just as comic relief or somebody to be squashed. Let him have a few real feuds, some matches that last more than 20 seconds, and some time on the microphone. I really think if he was given a solid position on Raw, over the course of a few months, he would really connect with fans. After that period of time, when he had some consistency and a chance to be involved in a story people could get interested in, I truly think he would be a wrestler that could draw money. Maybe not a top tier money guy, but I believe he could tip the scales towards buying a PPV for somebody that was on the fence. He is SO great at his character, that if he ever got to DO something with it, he is the exact kind of wrestler fans pay money to see (hopefully) get beat up. He can have a Tully Blanchard type spot: a slimy villain that fans love to hate and who can have an entertaining match with anyone.
I wouldn’t build my promotion around Zack Ryder, but i would absolutely have real roster spot for him. I think he has a lot to contribute to the WWE, he just needs a chance to do so.
I DO agree with your comment that his current gimmick has a limited shelf life. I actually think that is all the more reason to give him a bit of a push now, while it will have the maximum impact. I attended an independent wrestling show last year in which a female valet was doing a blatant “snooki” rip-off gimmick. She had INSTANT heat with the crowd. At one point during the match, Carlito, who was wrestling the man she was managing, spit his apple in her face. The crowd ERUPTED! Two years from now, that exact same spot would probably get an average pop.
However, I think that talented wrestlers (and I do think Ryder is a talented wrestler) can adapt their personas over time and change with the times. Look at the various incarnations HH has gone through over the years. From the spoiled aristocrat, to the cocky wiseass, to the cerebral politician, to the bad ass warrior, he has constantly changed to keep himself fresh. I see no reason why Ryder can’t use the current gimmick he has to get himself noticed, gain a following, and then evolve over time and grow as a performer.
That being said, thanks for the comments. They were much appreciated. I have no issue with people disagreeing with me when they can present their side of the argument with legitimate responses. Too often the internet is composed of comments along the lines of the “U suck PWNED!” variety. Thanks for reminding me why I look forward to writing these columns: actual discussions with fellow wrestling fans.