- 7 weeks ago
WWE stars like Mark Henry, Chris Jericho, The Miz and more who lived their gimmicks.
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00:00I don't mean to alarm anybody, so calm down with this revelation, but if you saw me in the real world and you saw me in real life, I would still be bored.
00:10Because even though I have made this my gimmick, I am also living it, which very handily ties into today's list.
00:16Because hello, my name is Simon from WhatCulture. Please hit that subscribe button, otherwise somewhere a puppy dies.
00:22That's not true at all. I massively regret saying it. I am so, so sorry.
00:25This is 10 ways wrestlers prove their gimmicks outside of WWE.
00:30Number 10, Ric Flair literally lives his gimmick.
00:33I mean, go and read his book, listen to any of his friends, or just go and hear any interview Ric Flair has ever done.
00:38This whole jet flying, limousine riding thingamajig that he's been doing for the past, I don't know, 78 million years.
00:45That's just Ric Flair. He flubbing loves to pie.
00:48That means all the money and all the traveling and all the booze directly ties into what he was showing you when he was being a professional wrestler.
00:56And he's still doing it today, even though he is past 70.
01:00And look, each to their own. It's his life, and he should be able to do whatever the hell he wants.
01:05My word, it can be a little bit scary.
01:07His peers definitely confirmed this too, because some people were like,
01:10Look, I can't go out with the nature boy, because the next day I'll be lying in my bed going,
01:14Oh, I'll never be able to move again.
01:16Whereas Ric Flair would get up at the crack of dawn, and he'd be on round 98.
01:21And this definitely did cross a line. We've made that more than aware recently.
01:25But when we are talking about gimmicks, there is no difference between Ric Flair the performer, Ric Flair the human being.
01:32Number 9, TDP is really positive.
01:34So this is kind of the same as Ric Flair, but going off in a totally different direction.
01:38Because I have had the pleasure of interviewing Diamond Dallas Page,
01:41and go and talk to anybody else that has also sat down and done this.
01:45You can schedule in 20 minutes, and one hour later, you'll still be having a chat.
01:50Because DDP is just the best.
01:52Dallas is just ridiculously positive about everything, which also ties into his DDP-wide business.
01:57Which, of course, is also reflective of the gimmick that WWE gave him,
02:01where he would smile, and basically became a motivational speaker.
02:05What does he do outside of the ring?
02:08He gives motivational speeches.
02:10It's kind of wonderful, really, because he does practice exactly what he preaches,
02:14and think of the amount of people he has gone out of his way to help.
02:18I don't care, man.
02:19We don't love DDP enough.
02:21Everybody take your hearts and send it his way.
02:24Number 8, JBL is a financial expert.
02:26Mostly because John Bradshaw-Layfield is really good with money.
02:31Amazingly, this happened before WWE did anything with JBL, too.
02:36Because in 2003, Bradshaw bought out a book that was like,
02:39Oh, man, you want to get rich?
02:40Well, I know how to do it.
02:41Had a better title than that.
02:42You can look it up on Google right now.
02:44And obviously, this made its way onto the desk of Vincent Kennedy,
02:47a man who said,
02:47Ha-ha, I've got an idea.
02:50This is why, all of a sudden, the beer-swilling APA beating-up warrior
02:54became the smart-dressed John Bradshaw-Layfield
02:57and looked fair play to him.
02:58He did turn heel and just go watch anything from the mid-2000s.
03:02He got some serious heat.
03:03We got some million-dollar man thrown in there for good measure,
03:06but the real genius here
03:07is that Bradshaw was still going on financial programs on Fox during this,
03:12so you could tune into SmackDown and go,
03:13Oh, yeah, what does he know?
03:15And then go over there and say,
03:16Oh, well, he actually knows quite a lot.
03:18This made the character even easier to hate as well
03:21because you knew he was loaded,
03:22and that's just what we do as human beings.
03:25It's like, I would like your money,
03:27and as I don't have it, boo.
03:29Number seven, the ultimate warrior is just the ultimate warrior.
03:31Who knows which way around this went,
03:33but Jim Helwig definitely became the warrior,
03:35and the warrior definitely became Jim Helwig.
03:38I mean, after a while,
03:39he even legally changed his name to warrior,
03:42which meant if he ever became like a HR assistant,
03:46you'd have to walk into the office in the morning and go,
03:48Hi, warrior.
03:48He'd go, hello, and it'd be weird.
03:50It also led him to do a bunch of speeches about destructicity
03:54and the power of the spirit,
03:56and if you've ever seen an ultimate warrior promo,
03:58you know this is the kind of flubbins he used to come out with.
04:00I mean, there was something captivating about it,
04:02which is why he did become the WWE champion,
04:05and as we do know now,
04:06a lot of the things he did say were way too controversial
04:09and should never come out of anybody's mouth.
04:11I do think that one of the reasons he was able to climb the mountain,
04:14though, is because he was essentially one of the same.
04:17I mean, when he was saying Hulk Hogan aliens are going to come and get you,
04:20nobody really knew what was happening,
04:22but he just believed it so damn much,
04:25you kind of did too.
04:26So really, we started to blur the lines between what was real and what was not real,
04:30and that included his own death,
04:32which he somehow predicted 24 hours before the fact.
04:36He was a very interesting guy, was warrior,
04:40but once again, it's probably why it clicked.
04:42Number six, The Miz returns to reality TV.
04:44So this must have been somewhat satisfying,
04:47because after conquering the world of reality TV
04:49in order to become a professional wrestler and a WWE superstar,
04:53which he did very well,
04:54The Miz then went back to reality TV
04:56as the massive famous person he always wanted to be.
05:00That sounds like success to me,
05:02especially because when he did first walk into a WWE locker room,
05:05a lot of the roster was like,
05:07I don't want to work with that guy.
05:09He shouldn't be here,
05:10because they didn't like his way in.
05:11And what did The Miz do?
05:12He took this all on the chin.
05:14He overcame it,
05:15had an incredible WWE career,
05:18to the point people at the USA Network,
05:20the airs Raw,
05:21went,
05:21hey, Miz and your wife,
05:23Maryse,
05:24would you like a reality TV show?
05:26And of course he said yes.
05:28It's not like he's part of some ensemble cast.
05:29The title is literally Miz and Mrs.
05:32But again,
05:33all you've got to do
05:34is go listen to anybody else
05:36that has worked with The Miz,
05:37and Mike Mizanin,
05:39he's basically the exact same person
05:41you've seen on TV.
05:42You cannot fault him though,
05:44because he worked his ass off,
05:46and you love to see it.
05:47Number five,
05:48Ken Shamrock wants MMA competition.
05:50When Ken Shamrock joined the then WWF in 1997,
05:53the UFC wasn't the entity it is today.
05:56In fact,
05:57that's one of the reasons Kenny did come across.
05:59He wanted to get paid.
06:00Everyone knew how best to present him though,
06:02hence why he was dubbed the world's dangerous man,
06:04because he had literally fought people in a cage,
06:07and beaten them to a bloody pulp.
06:09When he came out all like,
06:10duh, duh, duh, duh.
06:11You were like,
06:12ha ha,
06:12the guy's crazy.
06:13Problem was,
06:14this itch never left.
06:15And when Ken Shamrock did leave the WWE in 1999,
06:18after a very underrated run,
06:20he decided to prepare to return to MMA,
06:24which he did in 2000.
06:25He and Shorty got himself booked in a pride fight,
06:27as critics told him,
06:28well,
06:28you're too old to do this.
06:30And afterwards,
06:31he went on to have a pretty good second run.
06:33Now look,
06:34did he win every single one of his fights?
06:36Of course he did not.
06:38But this completely backed up the Ken Shamrock we had seen in World Wrestling Federation.
06:42He wanted some competition,
06:44and to tap people out with ankle locks,
06:46and he was going to do it no matter what.
06:48He soon returned to TNA as well,
06:50and all of this helped even more,
06:52because it was like,
06:53oh my gosh,
06:54that guy may actually kill someone.
06:57I still kind of feel that way now.
06:59And before CM Punk takes aim at WWE,
07:02obviously,
07:02I mean,
07:02just go and listen to any of the stories that CM Punk wants to tell about the WWE.
07:07And really,
07:08the big takeaway is,
07:09thank goodness he got out of there when he did,
07:11because it was the best for his mental and the best for his physical health.
07:14We all know that his persona before he left,
07:16though,
07:16was that he was anti the company,
07:18and this is basically carried on in his real life,
07:21and for good reason.
07:22I mean,
07:22never forget,
07:23he was given his walking papers on the same day as his wedding.
07:28While WWE has said this was a coincidence,
07:31well,
07:32I'll just leave the information with you.
07:34This is why when he did pop up on WWE backstage,
07:37everyone was like,
07:37well,
07:37how the flub is this happening?
07:39Although Punk was very quick to tell us,
07:41that one,
07:42the tab was being picked up by Fox,
07:45and also two,
07:46that he wasn't going to go hold back.
07:48And actually,
07:48to be fair to him,
07:49he was very balanced on the show.
07:51But I tell you,
07:52when he didn't like something,
07:53shot was fired.
07:55Number three,
07:55Brock Lesnar dominates the UFC.
07:57From day one,
07:58WWE has told us that Brock Lesnar is a prime athlete,
08:01and whatever sport Brock Lesnar wants to go into,
08:04he would absolutely destroy.
08:06So after a few years of being on the top of the card,
08:08he did decide to leave pro wrestling.
08:11And what did he do?
08:11He went to UFC,
08:12and he became the flipping world heavyweight champion.
08:14As soon as he had defeated Randy Couture,
08:16you kind of knew eventually,
08:17he would go back to sports entertainment.
08:19And when he did,
08:20good grief,
08:21this character was already written way back in 2002.
08:25It's just like,
08:25do you remember Brock Lesnar?
08:27Well,
08:27he went out and he beat some people up to real.
08:30So now,
08:31he is basically our end of level boss.
08:33I mean,
08:33there is a reason he was chosen as the dude to end the Undertaker streak,
08:36because everybody can look at him and say,
08:38well,
08:38I totally believe that dude is real.
08:40I mean,
08:40he has just been such a successful gimmick,
08:42and I've said it before,
08:43and I'll say it again,
08:44to the point,
08:45I truly believe Brock Lesnar to be one of the best wrestlers ever.
08:49That's right.
08:50You can go get mad in the comments.
08:52Number two,
08:52Mark Henry is a strong man.
08:54When Mark Henry signed a lucrative developmental deal in 1996,
08:58he was pegged for good things,
09:00because of course he was.
09:01Look at the man.
09:02He is absolutely ginormous.
09:04As we know,
09:04that didn't click as soon as some people had hoped,
09:06although to be fair,
09:07his tag team with D'Lo Brown is vastly underrated.
09:10And there were rumors in 2002 that Vince McMahon had enough,
09:14and was actually thinking of letting Mark Henry go,
09:17until reality stepped into play.
09:19That same year though,
09:19Henry entered the Arnold Strongman classic,
09:22and good grief,
09:23he was absolutely ridiculous.
09:25Especially if you were a wrestling fan,
09:26and you tuned into this,
09:28you'd be like,
09:28oh my gosh,
09:29that's Mark Henry,
09:30and he is throwing around a log,
09:31like it's a flipping pillow.
09:33I mean,
09:33you can see this kind of stuff on YouTube,
09:34and it will blow your mind,
09:36that when this information has ever got back to Vince McMahon,
09:38it was like,
09:39oh man,
09:39well we better hold on to Mark for a while,
09:41and see what we can do.
09:43And of course,
09:43a few years after this,
09:45we got the legendary Hall of Pain run,
09:48so this was absolutely the right decision.
09:50It also goes to show too,
09:51that you don't have to be a wrestling savant,
09:53right out the blocks.
09:55Sometimes we just have to be patient,
09:57because goodness is around the corner.
09:59Number one,
09:59Chris Jericho is a rock star.
10:01When Chris Jericho started calling himself a rock star,
10:03in the late 90s,
10:04it made perfect sense.
10:05I mean,
10:05not only did he wear his inspirations on his sleeve,
10:08but go and look at that haircut.
10:10I mean,
10:10I don't care what you say,
10:11that is pure 80s metal.
10:12This then continued,
10:13when he decided to start a cover band called Fozzy,
10:16that originally was kind of a comedy group,
10:18when all of a sudden,
10:19one day he woke up and said,
10:21well we do have a fivesome here,
10:23I like music,
10:24why don't we write our own?
10:25This is when they became a real band,
10:27to use a terrible,
10:28terrible term,
10:29and look where they are today.
10:31Not only does Chris Jericho tour the world,
10:33playing his own songs,
10:35but he even walks to the ring,
10:37to his own theme music.
10:39I mean,
10:39I don't care who you are,
10:40that is living the dream.
10:41This crossover is well known now,
10:42no matter what gimmick,
10:43Chris Jericho has portraying,
10:45this has always been at the core,
10:46of all of them,
10:47which could be why,
10:48he's had the crazy longevity,
10:50that he continues to have.
10:52Not many other wrestlers,
10:53that prove their gimmicks,
10:54outside of WWE,
10:55make sure you let us know,
10:56in the comments below,
10:57and don't forget to like the video,
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11:10My name is Simon for WhatCulture,
11:11thank you for joining me as always,
11:12I appreciate you,
11:13and I appreciate your time,
11:15and I will see you soon.
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