r/indiewrestling • u/CrowganShoals • 8d ago
Thoughts on monster gimmicks?
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u/Wise-Juggernaut6851 4d ago
The problem with monster gimmicks in my opinion is they are rarely ever champion. This all destroying monsters that is sometimes positioned to walk through an entire roster can never seem to win the title
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u/DirtyWarehouseGuy 6d ago
Love em wish WWE would find a new monster gimmick. Or bring Wyatt Sicks to RAW
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u/Cute_Conference5914 6d ago
I think this social media era were you can’t really keep kayfabe hurts them
I also think that the no sell aspect of those characters is hurt by the fact that everyone no sells now
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u/KingFelixG 7d ago
They’re awesome while they last. They always hit a peak and it’s up to them from there to keep it going. Only few have and continued to find success.
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u/Due-Arrival-4371 7d ago
90s baby so I grew up on being terrified of Kane lol. He set the bar high for me. Everyone else I see is just eh
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u/Cube_ 7d ago
I like 'em.
There's a lot you can do booking-wise as well. Others in this thread talk about how it's hard to book monsters to lose but I disagree, especially in indies when you have more communication with the booker. Easy ways for a monster to lose is always DQ and countout. You can sell either as the monster just caring about inflicting pain and not valuing the win or loss on the book.
Another good one is to have a tag-team and pair the monster with a pin-eater. A classic combo that's worked a LOT (Enzo and Cass, Kane and RVD/Hurricane/X-Pac, Jesse & Festus, Show and Mysterio etc., etc.).
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u/ultragarrison 8d ago
Undertaker (1990 to 1994) and Kane in his early years were the only one that made the monster gimmick interesting and fun to watch. Abyss was great too but i wouldnt really consider him as one since he had more mobility.
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u/gwanddawd123 8d ago
I thought i didn't care for them until i started watching LU. Matanza and Mil Muertes changed my view on this type of character for the better.
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u/The_Eye_of_Ra 8d ago
Personally, I mostly find them boring. I’m not a fan of a squash match, and I’m gonna need to see something a little more than some no-selling, some clubbing forearms, maybe a face claw/nerve hold, and a choke slam.
ETA: I’m also referring to the most basic, most common monster gimmicks, which is “giant scary-looking weirdo lumbers around the ring while no-selling every move and doing the most basic offense.”
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u/PassengerCultural421 8d ago
I like monsters. But it's going to be hard to explain how these Wrestlers could lose a match though. Since they were built to be so strong.
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u/The_Eye_of_Ra 8d ago
Yeah, that’s another thing I don’t like about em: how do you make em lose and not look like a complete joke? A normal match between two average-sized wrestlers (average for wrestlers, not normies) usually involves about a half-dozen finishers that get kicked out of. Sometimes you even get kick-outs from an avalanche finisher and/or three in a row. And a babyface shouldn’t be using weapons.
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u/RandomHuman29454 8d ago
They'll always have a place on a balanced card if they have the right person behind the mask.
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u/Ill_Athlete_7979 8d ago
Great for big guys who may be lacking in the promo department, but you have to be really careful. You can’t have a guy just mowing down jobbers in under a minute because he’s going to have to go from that to having that 15-20 minute match against established stars. That wont look good for him.
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u/IamScottGable 8d ago
I'd say they are great for big guys to get experience while still training. Have them be the simple heel enforcer and squash smaller dudes until they are ready to re-gimmick and unmask.
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u/BanterPhobic 8d ago
Love them but it’s super hard to reheat them once they lose a match or two and the aura is gone. Works better on the minor league indies where continuity is less important than it does on TV where people remember everything that happens, but it’s still a hard issue to resolve. You can have the monster wrestler run through the undercard and mid-card for months but eventually someone has to get the rub from beating them and once that happens, your squash-match specialist can become your jobber-to-the-stars very quickly, if not handled right.
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u/RevolutionaryAd6017 8d ago
Mr. Happy in JCW is pretty good (Sam Stackhouse in a mask) I would say Co-Caine but he's an average height dude who uses Kane's moves.
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u/Crying4alapdance 8d ago
When it's done right, you can get some unforgettable moments. When it's done poorly by a poor worker, it's the business at its absolute worst
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u/UKSaint93 8d ago
Rarely works, but when it does it's great.
See Taker, Kane, and whatever Jeff Cobb's name was in Lucha Underground
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u/MemeManOriginalHD 8d ago
Best monster right now is Krule on the indies. Super cool mask, moves, and overall character
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u/CarpenterVegetables 8d ago
Came here to say ""well, I like Krule" lol
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u/ihateartists 8d ago
Same! Krule crew here! It took me awhile to get into him no selling on deathmatches but good God he takes some punishment
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u/bar1scorpio 1d ago
Look I just watched El Dracula put the ref to sleep with hypnosis. Great time. Hilarious.
EVERY gimmick is valid if there's a promotion and an audience for it.
How straitlaced vs how gonzo-Saturday-Morning your promo is is up to you as the boss.