The Gomes Blog: January 2013

Is The WWE Still A ‘Big Man’s’ World?

With the recent addition of Big E. Langston to the WWE main roster, I got to thinking… does the current WWE product have one “body” guy too many?

For those of us whom have been life-long WWE fans, fans of the 80s, 90s and beyond; this question may seem almost laughable. For we can remember a time when almost EVERY WWE Superstar was a “jacked up”, “body” guy. From Ivan Putski, Nikita Koloff, Lex Luger, The Ultimate Warrior, The Road Warriors, Kerry Von Eric, Warlord, (not to mention Barry Horowitz), almost everyone was a ripped and chiseled mass of humanity.

It is only when you place the aforementioned question into the context of the more “natural” looking Superstars of today, such as CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler and The Brooklyn Brawler that the discussion begins to make sense. And lets not discredit the physiques of today’s stars, heck, I would argue that the training regimen and level of discipline required of today’s stars far surpasses that of their predecessors’.

The question remains however, using the stereotypical “big man” ring psychology, is there room in the WWE for all of these larger than life Hulks to co-exist? Lets get specific here; we currently have the most impressive list of body builder-like, 300+ pounders in recent memory with guys like: Mason Ryan (yes, he’s still employed), Ryback, Ezekiel Jackson, David Otunga and now Big E Langston. How are they all suppose to “get over” using their power and strength without looking stale and over-done?

Let’s face it; they can’t all be “monsters” that steam-roll through their competition…that would get old and fast. Not to mention the super-heavyweights like Brock Lesnar, The Big Show, Mark Henry, Tensai and Brodus Clay; in today’s WWE; unlike in years past, it is becoming somewhat of a limitation to be the ‘big guy’.

Big guys of today have far more considerations and parameters to keep in mind than did the Superstars of years past. Not only must they appear big and strong, even larger than life, but in today’s fickle, fast-paced market, they also need to keep the audience captivated and enthralled. And with such an unprecedented (modern era) number of heavyweights and super heavyweights; they also must be careful not to scoop each other’s heat by using the same move-set and mannerisms. Now therein lies a bit of a conundrum.

In the 80s and 90s the solution was simple: gimmicks! Everyone had a gimmick. They were quite useful in fact. They could be used as somewhat of a crutch for the larger dudes that were….lets say, not as ‘gifted’ as some of the others (cough, cough, Ultimate Warrior, cough, cough). Others used their gimmicks as a means to enhance or supplement their ring work. One of my mentors and dear friends Nikita Koloff was one such star. The “Russian Nightmare” as he was smartly dubbed, moved like a cat in the ring. The dude was a true workhorse. But he also had a very well defined gimmick. He will even tell ya though; his Russian gimmick was somewhat of a saving grace that helped mask his inexperience and technical inadequacies in his formative ring years.

Through a combination of his almost herculean strength, awe-inspiring ring presence and his very well developed Russian Nightmare persona, he was able to get ‘over’ very early in his career, despite not having fully mastered the technical aspect of his newfound vocation. Later, rather than merely supplement his persona, he was later able to fully integrate and augment his technical skills with his gimmick rather than the reverse.

The problem today’s stars face is that they don’t really have the luxury of, nor does the audience really have the stomach for very many gimmicked caricatures. No longer is the mawkish ‘warrior’, ‘barbarian’, ‘zombie’, ‘ninja’ or ‘assassin’ from ‘parts unknown’ considered acceptable (nor should they).

However good, bad or indifferent these gimmicks were, over the past 10-15 years however, we have witnessed the gradual retirement of these passé gimmicks. The archaic and even racist restrictions – (i.e. all African Americans & Samoans have ‘hard heads’ that are impervious to pain) are now all but forgotten.

So that leads back to the question at hand; how do the ‘big guys’ cope in today’s professional wrestling marketplace? The solution is simple. In today’s modern era, we have ‘hybrid’ stars. That’s the key. No longer are Superstars restricted to the outmoded moulds and rules of years past. They’re now almost limitless in what they can accomplish. Heck, a couple of weeks ago I saw a near 500 lb Big Show throw a DROPKICK! And a damned decent one at that.

The question becomes, as the pro wrestling playing field becomes more homogenized, where will this discussion be in the next 10-20 years?