Gimmick (professional wrestling)

Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s In professional wrestling, a gimmick generally refers to a wrestler's in-ring persona, character, behaviour, attire, and/or other distinguishing traits while performing which are usually artificially created in order to draw fan interest.

Promotions will use gimmicks on more than one person, albeit at different times, occasionally taking advantage of a masked character which allows for the identity of the wrestler in question to be concealed.

From its circus origins in the 1830s, showmen presented wrestlers under names such as "Edward, the steel eater", "Gustave d’Avignon, the bone wrecker", or "Bonnet, the ox of the low Alps" and challenged the public to knock them down for 500 francs.

[2] Gorgeous George's impact and legacy on wrestling gimmicks was enormous, demonstrating how fast television changed the product from athletics to performance.

Heels made up a minority of the roster, with most shows containing an abnormally high proportion of clean sportsmanly matches between two "blue-eyes" (as faces were known backstage in the UK).

The WWF contributed to the explosion of gimmicks by becoming the most colorful and well-known wrestling brand because of its child-oriented characters, soap opera dramatics and cartoon-like personas.

Other wrestlers from this era with similarly vivid and outlandish characterization include The Iron Sheik, The Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage, The Undertaker, Sting, Goldust, Roddy Piper, Ric Flair, "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels, "Big Daddy Cool" Diesel, Kwang, The Bushwhackers, Big Boss Man, Tatanka, Razor Ramon, Sgt.

Although rare, colorful and cartoon-like characters remain in the WWE, such as Shinsuke Nakamura (a wildly random, erratic mixed martial arts enigma, emotionally charged by the sound of violins) and Matt Riddle (a stereotypical carefree, barefoot surfer Valley boy).

[5] Outside WWE, some wrestlers have made names for themselves on the crowded independent circuit by adopting absurdist comedy gimmicks intended to be understood by post-kayfabe fans as purely fictional characters.

Two such wrestlers whose independent-scene popularity got them noticed and eventually signed by the internationally televised promotion All Elite Wrestling are Orange Cassidy, an emotionless slacker who puts as little effort as possible into his matches and frequently wrestles with his hands in his pockets; and Danhausen, a demonic but somewhat-bumbling figure in horror face paint who claims to be "very nice, very evil" and attempts to put curses on his opponents.

A long list of wrestlers in this category includes: Arab (The Sheik, The Sultan, Muhammad Hassan), African (Kamala, Abdullah The Butcher, Akeem), American (The Patriot, Hulk Hogan, 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan, Jack Swagger), Australian (Outback Jack, Nathan Jones), Austrian (Walter), Bulgarian (Rusev), Canadian (Team Canada (TNA), Team Canada (WCW)), Chinese (Xia Li, Boa), Cuban (Razor Ramon), English (William Regal, Lord Alfred Hayes, Gentleman Jack Gallagher), French/Québécois (La Résistance), German (Fritz Von Erich, Baron von Raschke), Hawaiian (Crush, Leilani Kai), Indian (The Great Khali, Jinder Mahal), Iranian (The Iron Sheik, Ariya Daivari), Irish (Finlay, Sheamus), Italian (Full Blooded Italians, Santino Marella), Jamaican (Kofi Kingston), Japanese (Yokozuna, The Orient Express, Mr. Fuji), Mexican (The Mexicools), Native American (Chief Jay Strongbow, Tatanka), New Zealander (The Sheepherders), Nigerian (Apollo Crews), Pacific Islander (Jimmy Snuka, The Wild Samoans, The Headshrinkers), Puerto Rican (Carlito Colón, Primo and Epico), Polish (Ivan Putski), Russian (Ivan Koloff, Nikolai Volkoff, Lana), Scottish (Drew McIntyre, Roddy Piper) and Swiss (Claudio Castagnoli).

Other wrestlers with superhero and supervillain gimmicks include late WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes' sons Gold and Stardust, Big Van Vader, Bam Bam Bigelow, Pierre Carl Ouellet, Dr. Luther, the magician Phantasio, Icarus, Super Eric, Dexter Lumis, Samoan Rosey during his "the Super Hero in Training" (the S.H.I.T.)

Most famously in this category is The Undertaker, considered one of the most respected wrestlers in the business, whose gimmick is a horror-themed character of an undead, macabre and paranormal dark presence prone to scare tactics.

Other wrestlers displaying supposed supernatural powers include Matt Hardy (as his Broken/Woken persona), and his younger brother Jeff Hardy (as his Brother Nero/Willow character), Mordecai, Waylon Mercy, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Papa Shango, The Boogeyman, Abyss, and most recently Asuka, Aleister Black, and Bray Wyatt's The Fiend, and stables The Three Faces of Fear, and The Dungeon of Doom.

Education is a rare gimmick in wrestling due to the fact that, most times, the wrestler is a former real-life student or scholar of a school, a college, a university, or a TAFE, who also worked as a cheerleader, a coach, a dean, a librarian, a teacher, or even a principal.

Wrestlers who used this gimmick include Friar Ferguson, and most recently, "Bolieve" Bo Dallas, and "The Monday Night Messiah" Seth "Freakin'" Rollins.

The Blade and The Butcher, etc., Japanese Wrestlers Atsushi Onita, Toshiaki Kawada, and Jun Kasai, and tag-teams The Motor City Machine Guns, and most recently, The Mechanics, and Heavy Machinery.

Other music genre types were demonstrated by CM Punk's straight edge iconoclast hardcore punk, party boys No Way Jose and Adam Rose, Cameron Grimes, Rick Boogs, Rockstar Spud, Heath Slater, Lance Archer, Chris Jericho, Jeff Jarrett, Marty Jannetty, The Honky Tonk Man, Disco Inferno, One Man Gang, Buck Zumhofe, WWE's Brodus Clay and his fun-loving, funk dancing gimmick "The Funkasaurus" and Fandango who includes salsa dancing in his routine, and AEW's Jack Evans who usually does breakdancing in the ring during entrances or when he's won a match, and tag-teams The Public Enemy, Badd Company, The Rockers, The Rock 'n' Roll Express, The Rhythm and Blues, and most recently, The Vaudevillains.

Whilst humor has long been present in professional wrestling matches and many wrestlers incorporate elements of comedy in their act, full-on comedic gimmicks are not commonly seen.

Initiated by English wrestler Les Kellett, wrestlers who fall under this category are Doink The Clown which was majorly portrayed by Matt Osborne until his death in 2013, which inspired others like Scottish comedian and actor Grado, Ring of Honor's Colt Cabana, Santino Marella, James Ellsworth, and Eugene's "mentally disabled boy" character, Japanese Wrestlers Stalker Ichikawa, Gran Naniwa, Kuishinbo Kamen and Toru Yano, Charlie Haas during his impersonations run, and WWE's 1990s turkey character Gobbledy Gooker, and rooster character Red Rooster, WCW's Brian Pillman, and Al Snow along with his mannequin prop called "Head" which he used as a sidekick companion during segments while addressing the fans.

Wrestlers that followed on with this trend include Sonny Kiss, Angel Garza, "The Untouchable" Carmella, Lana with her catchphrase, "I am the best in the world", "Dashing" Cody Rhodes, "The Black Machismo" Jay Lethal, "The Artist Collective" Sami Zayn, "The Masterpiece" Chris Masters, Byron Saxton, "The Swiss Superman" Antonio Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler with his "perfection" gimmick, The Miz with his catchphrase, "AWESOME", Randy Orton, "The Glamazon" Beth Phoenix, Carlito Caribbean Cool, "The Phenominal" AJ Styles, "Glorious" Bobby Roode, "The Almighty" Bobby Lashley, "The Golden Standard" Shelton Benjamin, Scotty 2 Hotty, "The Rated R Superstar" Edge, The "Great One" Rock, "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry, Val Venis, "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels, "Big Sexy" Kevin Nash, Lex Luger's "The Narcissist" character, "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton, Ravishing Rick Rude, "The Model" Rick Martel, "Adorable" Adrian Adonis, Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair and his daughter, "Handsome" Harley Race, "Classy" Freddie Blassie, AEW's "Pretty" Peter Avalon, and Powerhouse Hobbs, TNA's Mr Pec-tacular, Brian Christopher's Grand Master Sexay, Billy Gunn's Mr Ass, Curt Hennig's Mr Perfect, Paul Orndorff's Mr Wonderful, NXT's Tyler Breeze, Lacey Evans, and "The Finest" Kona Reeves, and tag-teams The Mexicools, and Too Cool, as well as women's tag-teams The Beautiful People, LayCool, Fire and Desire, and The IIconics.

These include non-wrestlers like managers, and wrestlers like The Mountie, Big Boss Man, "The Alpha Male" Marcus Cor Von, Consequences Creed, "The Man" Becky Lynch, "The Boss" Sasha Banks, Sean O'Haire's devil advocate gimmick, and David Otunga's legal adviser character, ECW's 911, and stables New World Order, Right to Censor, The Truth Commission, The Acolytes Protection Agency, 3-Minute Warning, and most recently, The Authors of Pain, The Shield, and The Authority.

The original gimmick of this type was created by "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, which consequently inspired wrestlers like his son, which includes being owners of the promotion, like Mr. McMahon and his family (including his son and daughter (since they are the real owners of WWE)), and most recently, "The Dream" Velveteen Dream, and stables The Diamond Exchange, The Beverly Brothers, The Million Dollar Corporation, Money Inc., Beer Money, Inc., and most recently, The Prime Time Players, The Street Profits, and The Hurt Business.

Wrestlers who originally used this gimmick include Lord Alfred Hayes, which inspired others like Baron von Raschke, "King" James Valiant, The Duke of Dorchester, Jerry "The King" Lawler, The Sultan, King Booker, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Prince Nana, Tiger Ali Singh's rich and arrogant Asiatic heir character and his manservant Babu, William Regal's arrogant royal noble English ambassador character and his manager Sir William, and most recently, Dalton Castle, Gentleman Jack Gallagher, Baron Corbin who uses the gimmick of a villainous and an evil king, after winning the 2019 king of the ring tournament, but lost to Shinsuke Nakamura who is using the gimmick like that of the Japanese emperor after winning the "Battle For The Crown" against Corbin, Roman Reigns who is using the gimmick of the head of the table and the tribal chief, representing his tribe, upon his heel turn, Jinder Mahal as the Modern Maharaja, associating with his Indian ancestry, Apollo Crews as a proud representative of Nigeria, and Alberto Del Rio's arrogant rich Mexican aristocrat character and his personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez, and stables The Nation of Domination, The Kings of Wrestling, The British Invasion, The British Bulldogs, The Blue Bloods, Los Conquistadores, and most recently, The Kingdom, The Undisputed Era, and The Imperium.

These include Razor Ramon, The Brooklyn Brawler, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero with their catchphrase, "I lie, I cheat, I steal"/"We lie, We cheat, We steal", "Brutal" Bob Evans, Beer City Bruiser, Shannon Moore, John Cena's "thug nature" character, and most recently, Eddie Edwards, Sami Callihan, Darby Allin, Hikaru Shida (with her yakuza gimmick), and Bandido, and tag-teams Cryme Tyme, D-Generation X, The New Age Outlaws, The Disciples of Apocalypse, The Gangstas/The Gangstanators, FBI, LAX, Mexican America, La Familia, The Forever Hooligans, and most recently, Riott Squad, The Forgotten Sons, Social Outcasts, Enzo Amore and Big Cass, Sanity, Aces & Eights, The Bullet Club, and Retribution.