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Through the ages the WWE has, at different points in time, been dominated by different wrestlers of varying persona-types or character prototypes. The in-ring skill set of these wrestlers serve an important underlying function in aiding the choosing of the type of persona he is most cut-out to enact; the success of the attempt though, is wholly determined by how well the wrestler is able to convey his character prototype to the audience through his actions and words.What follows is a list of such successful character prototypes that have been adopted by wrestlers and embellished upon, thus creating the WWE Superstars who have held our fancy over the years, and continue to do so even now.
#1 Smart Technician / Submission Specialist
Regardless of the downward change in age demographic of viewing audience that the PG era heralded, the hardcore WWE fans that have followed the product through its earlier avatars will always hold an affinity towards unadulterated pro wrestling.
Indeed, who can forget the in-ring technical excellence that Bret Hart so often showcased? Or the rabid unyielding grappling that used to characterize Benoit’s style? Kurt Angle won a gold medal in the Olympics while wrestling with a fractured neck. He certainly won our hearts when he wrestled in the WWE. If what these wrestlers left behind can be considered to be a legacy, even if it highly unofficial in Benoit’s case, then surely Daniel Bryan is the heir apparent to prolong it, with Tyson Kidd also promising much for the future.
#2 Giants
Now this is likely the least cultivatable, and by virtue of which surely the least accessible character prototype for wrestlers. Giants have always been awe-inspiring for they sharply remind a normal person of his own mortality and relative insignificance. Vince McMahon’s genius in recognizing this fact led to the trail-blazing success of Andre the Giant, and through him, the WWE.
Ever since Andre, the Giant prototype has existed as a novelty in the WWE, with wrestlers like Viscera, Big Show and The Great Khali coming to mind, that fit the mould. However, it is arguable that only Big Show has truly risen to the mantle of importance that was afforded to Andre, with his consistent and loyal service to the WWE for the better part of 2 decades.
#3 Power-based Wrestlers
Power-based wrestlers have always been an integral part of WWE programming, with displays of inhuman strength still eliciting the same vociferous reaction from the audience as perhaps a hi-flying spot would. Whatever type of wrestler the WWE may or may not possess in its employ at any point of time, a power-based character prototype would likely always be present in the locker-room.
Today’s roster also includes a good number of power-based wrestlers, with Brock Lesnar, Cesaro, Roman Reigns, Mark Henry and Ryback all being “over” with the fans purely based on their awe-inspiring feats of strength in the ring.
Power based wrestlers have constantly featured in the WWE landscape, and there seems to be no reason to suggest that this situation is about to change. Ironically almost, this manifests itself as subtle proof to the stereotypical wrestler; all brawn and no brain. But in the WWE universe though, stereotypes sell!
#4 Trash Talking Brawler
“Give me a hell yeah!” is what everyone will realize Stone Cold Steve Austin would have said, had his sentence not been prematurely met by the onrushing torrents of beer that he guzzled down at the same time. Perhaps all this would also be augmented by a Stone Cold Stunner, duly delivered to the unsuspecting victim.
We lapped up every second of it as audience, irrespective of who actually got stunned. That excitement and unpredictability that Stone Cold epitomized, also filtered through from his trash-talking brawler character. The same character prototype that Dean Ambrose has adopted, absent the alcohol of course, that has established him as a fan-favourite in recent times.
“Raising Hell” is what these characters do best, and the WWE Universe is happy to cheer them on for it. Even perhaps to the extent that sometimes overshadows the fact that these wrestlers are actually not baby-faces, but rather anti-heroes or sometimes even full-blown heels. Now, explain that!
#5 Mysterious Characters
Mysterious Characters attempt to sell their imagination, rather than a persona rooted in realism, to the audience and this can have a make-or-break effect on them. The Undertaker and Sting are such wrestlers whose names have been iconized, if not for the novelty of their respective gimmicks, then purely owing to the spell-bounding mysticism they induce.
Then there are other wrestlers, whose attempt at mysticism was way too outlandish for the audience to ever embrace. The Boogeyman, if one recalls, inspired rather more disgust than he ever did mysticism and serves as a classic example of how there is a very fine line to tread in the execution of a mysterious character prototype.
Bray Wyatt has been building up quite a head of steam recently with his promo cutting skills at the forefront of his advancement. While he might have lost to the returning Undertaker at Wrestlemania 31, we can agree that Wyatt is surely doing something right with respect to the execution of his persona to garner the opportunity of facing the Deadman in the first place.
#6 High Flyers
Wrestlers who go up to the top rope are inevitably exciting to the WWE universe. High risk moves always elicit loud crowd responses from the audience and wrestlers oblige, often times placing their bodies at risk. Some superstars, however, have mastered the art of high flying wrestling, and we see that many of their spots involve being airborne.
Rey Mysterio, Shane McMahon, Evan Bourne, Jeff Hardy and John Morrison are all examples of wrestlers who have used high-risk spots as a regular feature in their in-ring repertoire. Clearly though, just having the ability to pull of jaw-dropping aerial spots from the top rope isn’t enough when it comes to being a success in the WWE, and some of these superstars never really established themselves long enough to justify their talent.
#7 Larger-than-life personas
A watered down, PG-aware version of The Rock may have found at certain points during the 2 year-long build-up to both their Wrestlemania matches, that a pumped up John Cena may have matched him on the microphone, but this was a feat that was scarcely accomplished during The Rock’s initial run in the WWE.
Enter Chris Jericho.
Rarely did another wrestler go toe-to-toe with the Rock on the microphone during the attitude era, but Chris Jericho admittedly sometimes even had him in a spot. If their face-off on the microphone against each other was entertaining, who can ever forget their combined verbal tirade that embarrassed Stephanie McMahon on live TV?
Such larger than life personas will always be over with the fans, purely owing to the connection that they established with them through the microphone. Maybe the complexity in crafting out such a persona is lost on the fans amidst all the entertainment generated, but suffice to say that of all the character prototypes in this list, this may be the most exclusive, with perhaps CM Punk the only other wrestler to gain inclusion on the basis of his revolutionary promos.
