10 WWE Gimmicks that should have been given more time
No matter how good your in-ring work is, to become a top WWE Superstar you need to have the right character gimmick to go with it. Today we are used to subtle personas as compared to the ones we got in the 1980s, but for the fans to care about how well you do in the ring, they need some idea of what makes you tick outside of it too.
While many Superstars failed to achieve success in the WWE due to poor mic skills, there are some that at one point in their career found themselves with a gimmick that had a lot of promise but had the rug pulled from them far too early. Here are 10 such examples of WWE gimmicks that should have been given more time.
#1 Dashing Cody Rhodes
In the WWE’s recent attempts to appeal to an audience that embraces reality over performative entertainment, Superstars rarely have monikers or nicknames like they used to back in the day.
The 1980’s saw talent such as ‘Nature Boy Ric Flair’, ‘Classy Freddy Blassie’, and ‘Rowdy Roddy Piper’. Perhaps I just come from a forgotten generation, but I always liked this about pro wrestling. It instantly made an individual stand out, and let the audience know what their character was all about.
Back in 2011 Cody Rhodes, went around calling himself ‘Dashing Cody Rhodes’. Cody has always been someone who liked to pay homage to the older generations of professional wrestling, not surprising given he is a second generation Superstar.
The ‘Dashing’ gimmick wasn’t just a simple add on to his name either, the whole thing was done with effort. You would get small vignettes of Cody backstage looking into the mirror and giving men a few grooming tips.
It was such an old-school heel persona that the audience used to genuinely boo the guy, as opposed to the ironic cheers heels usually receive today.
While the gimmick had a little bit of time, it could have been given so much more. Instead, Cody soon found himself becoming another yet another vanilla heel and was eventually future endeavoured. heel, and was eventually future endeavoured.