5 gimmicks WWE should copy from elsewhere

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.