5 gimmicks WWE should copy from elsewhere

Nothing is truly original in pro wrestling anymore. Wrestlers might come up with new moves once in a while, but characters and gimmicks themselves all come from somewhere else. The most recent gimmicks to take the world by storm are either direct rip-offs of something older (i.e. The Bullet Club being a tongue-in-cheek parody of the New World Order) or are slight modifications to something existing (Matt Hardy being ‘Woken’ in WWE while being ‘Broken’ in TNA).

But there are times when a gimmick becomes so good and so entertaining that it just begs to be replicated by other promotions.

Here are five gimmicks or creative concepts that WWE should adopt for some of its performers.

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5. A Great Muta-type character

Muta is one of the most timeless characters of all time

The Great Muta is one of the most iconic and memorable characters in wrestling history. His mastery of ring psychology, unpredictable movements and monster-like behavior has served as the inspiration for many wrestlers – gimmicked or not – for decades after he reached his prime.

Vince McMahon in particular is said to favor a character-centric booking approach as opposed to an athleticism-based one, so it would stand to reason that he’d want to incorporate as many ‘wacky’ characters as possible. And few characters top the wacky meter more than the Great Muta.

Such a character could work in WWE, if booked properly. Having someone wear a bizarre-looking mask or face paint and have them act like a supernatural creature would be right up Vince’s alley. Moreover, Muta became world-famous for his use of Asian mist, which is a concept that could create entire stories of its own.

Imagine of the WWE’s version of Muta were to use underhanded tactics (like spraying mist) to win his matches. He would become a despicable heel in short order as many fans want to see clean matches these days.

Furthermore, it would be very easy to craft a storyline centered on this mist being used and ‘blinding’ a fan favorite, thus preventing them from wrestling in front of the fans they love. It would for an easy story that would be both believable and interesting to see develop.

4. The Bullet Club

This gimmick/stable has taken the world by storm

It should go without saying that the Bullet Club is the most popular and well-known stable in the English-speaking professional wrestling world. The stable, created by the man now known as Finn Balor, has become so popular that anytime the ‘too sweet’ gesture is done, people associate it with the Bullet Club and not with the New World Order who popularized that same gesture some twenty years ago.

In fact, WWE has several of the Bullet Club’s most important members performing for it already, including both Balor and A.J. Styles. There have also been numerous teases that the Club would be launched in WWE, yet so far these have only been teases.

Given that WWE likes to be a merchandise-heavy promotion, it’s bizarre that they haven’t pulled the trigger on a ‘Balor Club’ or some other kind of Bullet Club offshoot already. The majority of fans know who and what the Bullet Club is, and would likely get behind a WWE version all the same.

If WWE were to continue ignoring fans’ desire to see a WWE version of the Bullet Club, then all they’re doing is leaving money off the table.

3. A new incarnation of a masked character

If different people can wrestle under the same gimmick in Japan and in Mexico, why can't the same work in WWE?

Several of the most famous masked wrestlers in history aren’t actually from Mexico – where lucha libre and the importance of masked is central to booking – but from Japan. From Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, to Tiger Mask to Black Tiger, these masked wrestlers made bigger names for themselves in Japan than in Mexico.

Moreover, some of these masked characters were so popular that multiple people played ‘incarnations’ of the same gimmick. There have been at least five different Tiger Mask characters, seven Black Tiger characters, and in Mexico, several characters have been presented as ‘the son of’ a famous masked wrestler to continue the tradition and image of that same wrestler.

With WWE still searching for another wrestler to fill the void left by Rey Mysterio, it would make sense for them to take one of their current stars and put them under a mask. If they were to then push that character, not only would they have a new star made, but they could also greatly increase their merchandise revenue by selling more masks.

Picture the following scenario: Paul Heyman comes down and announces that he has a new charge: a new masked wrestler that he promises will be the new ace of the cruiserweight division. For this example, let’s use the name and gimmick of Japanese wrestling legend Hayabusa.

Heyman introduces this new incarnation of Hayabusa, who then proceeds to dazzle the audience with his in-ring abilities. By booking that wrestler in this way, he gets over with the audience through his wrestling skills, and his weaknesses are concealed under a mask and by having Heyman speak on his behalf.

This way, a new star can be created without every single top guy (and girl) having to go through the exact same process as they do with their current set of top stars.

2. Roman Reigns as the Naito-like smug antihero

The parallels between these two men are astonishing

Roman Reigns has been a lightning rod for controversy for several years now, and this is due to the extent to which WWE are trying to convert him into a John-Cena like white meat superhero. This is even though large swaths of the audience continue to show either apathy or hostility towards him and cheer for anyone else besides him (including supposed heel Braun Strowman).

To fix this problem, WWE should look at what NJPW did with Naito, who was in Reigns’ exact position four years ago.

At that time, he was being pushed as the next top ultra-babyface to replace Tanahashi as the ace of NJPW. However, the NJPW audience rejected the good guy Naito outright, as seen with them voting him out of the main event of Wrestle Kingdom VIII. After an excursion to Mexico, Naito returned as a heel and became the head of his own stable, Los Ignobernables de Japon.

With this new stable, Naito became a cocky, apathetic jerk that doesn’t give a damn about the fans or about NJPW’s traditions, choosing instead to do things on his own time. His continued mockery of his opponents and detached and apathetic demeanor made him an easy target for boos at first.

But over the past year or so, Naito and LiJ have risen to the top of NJPW in terms of popularity and merchandise sales. It has reached the point that Naito and LiJ have become fan favorites, with crowds cheering for Naito more than ever before.

This is something that WWE should consider for Reigns. Reigns could easily play the role of that smug guy who thinks he’s better than you and doesn’t give care about what you think. If WWE were to perhaps give Reigns the opportunity to at least be more of an apathetic and neutral character, instead of shoe-horning him into the role of a generic babyface, maybe he’d get a better reaction out of the audience as a whole.

Hiromu Takahashi and Daryl the Cat

This inanimate object has gotten so over it's hysterical

For those that don’t watch NJPW, Hiromu Takahashi is basically a crazy person. When he was IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, he’d talk to the belt itself, calling it ‘Belto-san’ (Mr. Belt). When he lost the belt, he filled that void with a plushie therapy cat that he named Daryl.

Daryl the Cat became an overnight sensation, with audiences everywhere cheering whenever there was a close-up of the beloved plushie. In one segment, the audience roared in joy when Tetsuya Naito, the leader of LiJ, fistbumped with Daryl, making him the unofficial sixth member of Los Ignobernables de Japon.

This character became so popular that when Bad Luck Fale ripped Daryl apart, sending Hiromu into an emotional downward spiral, people reacted to this with horror. Not because they thought it was real, but because they had bought the idea that Hiromu had developed a bond with Daryl and wanted to see Hiromu get revenge for Fale destroying his friend.

WWE tried something a gimmick like this a few years with Dean Ambrose when Ambrose introduced ‘Mitch the Plant’ in one of Ambrose’s promo segments. There was potential behind this gimmick; Ambrose could bring Mitch down for each segment or match and win whenever Mitch was at his side. Then, one of Ambrose’s opponents would destroy Mitch, setting up a big blow-off while also giving Ambrose’s character something to fight for.

Instead, the plant was destroyed less than two hours later, ruining the potential for a long-term angle that could’ve actually made WWE some money.

If they were to go in a creative direction similar to that of Hiromu Takahashi and Daryl the Cat, WWE could benefit from this immensely. Not only would they have the possibility of creating a new and interesting character out of one of their current ones (most of which are bland and lack distinct personalities anyway), but they could also make a lot of money by trademarking a Daryl-like character and then selling merchandise centered around it.

It really is a win-win situation for WWE, which makes it even more baffling why they haven’t done something like this already.