'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
There are some characters on TV that merge in with the identity of audience through their blue-collared ways and then there are characters who enchant the audience by projecting a larger-than-life persona, often casting them into wishful reverie of pawing the “what ifs” in life. Either way, as long as a WWE character galvanizes the bond between them and the audience, the end justifies the means.
Through various eras of programming we have been privy to a fair share of characters that fit both moulds, but this list entails exclusivity in that we are firmly focusing on the latter; wrestlers who have been garbed in narcissism and are of purposeful excesses. They tempt, tease and goad the audience into jealousy, all the while flaunting their superfluity – and we love them for it.
These larger than life characters whose lives are perennially on fast-forward, have always found welcome in the WWE, and some of them have gone on to leave their indelible handprint on the WWE landscape. The following is a retrospective jaunt, to re-visit 5 such fast-living characters that have been immortalized in WWE lore.
Ravishing Rick Rude
In an era otherwise predominated by a rampant steroid culture and Hulkamania, Ravishing Rick Rude was a top-level heel in the WWE who was notorious for his flaunty shenanigans. Possessing what was recognized by the WWE as the greatest ever physique, Rick Rude’s penchant with his own Greek God-likeness coupled with his disdain for the men of a more mortal frame in the audience, made for classic heel heat.
“Now why don't all you fat, overweight squared-circle sweat-hogs shut your mouths, so I can take off my robe and show all you ladies what a real man looks like. Hit my music!” he would mouth off to the audience as he gyrated his hips and flaunted his chiseled torso. It was a queasy dynamic at times, for the audience didn’t know if to laugh at his self-glorification or lambast him for his obnoxiousness, because you just could not argue with that physique.
One of the more underrated wrestlers, Rick Rude involved himself in memorable feuds with the likes of Jake the Snake Roberts and the Ultimate Warrior. While his run in the WCW was tangibly fraught with more championship gold, Ravishing Rick Rude’s impact in the WWE cannot be ignored for it was in his narcissistic image that wrestlers like Billy Gunn and later on Dolph Ziggler found their inspiration and niche.
Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon’s proclivity towards body-building has been universally known and affirmed for quite a period of time. Now and in his prime, he possessed a physique that could rival that of any heavyweight wrestler and certainly didn’t pass up an opportunity to exhibit it. When he used to appear regularly on television, he was the power-hungry, self-obsessed and ego-maniacal boss who saw to it that his whims, sexual or otherwise, were satiated.
Ranging from the famous strut down the ramp with hands flailing wildly to his blatant affairs with various Divas, Vince McMahon portrayed the “Boss” character who we loved to hate, to perfection. So much so that the event of Stone Cold Steve Austin stomping mud-holes into Vince McMahon served as a primary draw during the Attitude Era. Vince McMahon’s place amongst the top draws in the company is seldom discussed, but the understated role he played in building up Stone Cold’s persona is akin to the bearing Roddy Piper’s roguery had on Hulk Hogan’s popularity.
‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase
Few characters over the years have been able to pull off the ‘rich man’ gimmick like the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase in the 80s. Although JBL and later on Alberto Del Rio undoubtedly had their respective claims to fame, Ted DiBiase was a trail-blazer in that he evoked massive heat from the audience the likes of which JBL and Alberto Del Rio could never hope to emulate.
From the diabolical treatment of his valet Virgil, to that timeless basketball segment with the boy from the crowd, The Million Dollar Man was such a complete heel that knew how to rub the audience in the most caustic way possible. Under the pretext of money, he coaxed (planted) members of the audience to partake in menial or degrading tasks like kissing his foot or descending to all fours and barking like a dog.
He generated so much heat from the audience after the infamous basketball segment that he even admittedly mulled the necessity of an armoured car to escort him safely from the arena. As many of his opponents, whose mouths he ritually stuffed in condescension with a wad of cash, would tell you though – everybody had a price, for the Million Dollar Man!
The Rock
Few people on this planet supplant Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as a box-office draw in the entertainment industry, but this superstardom that envelops him today has its roots dating back to his exploits in the middle of the squared circle.
The larger-than-life character that is The Rock was forged amidst the fires of failure that his initial gimmick, The Blue Chipper, endured. Fed up of the “Die Rocky Die!” chants that were fans were serenading him with despite being a babyface, ‘The Rock’ persona was borne as much out of necessity as it was of frustration.
He transformed from a smiling babyface, swathed in over-enthusiasm, into one of the most haughty and self-important Superstars who addressed himself in third person, a practice used by monarchs and royalty of old, in case you were wondering.
Regardless of being a babyface or a heel however, The Rock was electric on the microphone and his promo-cutting skills serve as the yardstick to be eclipsed in the WWE even until the present day.
Ric Flair
‘To be the man, you gotta beat the man! Wooooooo!’
‘Styling-Profiling, Limousine Riding, Jet flying, Kiss stealing son-of-a-gun!”
The above listed catchphrases that we remember Ric Flair reel off in his promos, defined the flamboyant persona that he adopted in the ring. Back in the day however, the WWE preserved Kayfabe outside of the ring as well and Vince McMahon was known to have funded Superstars like Ric Flair and The Million Dollar Man in order to maintain appearances.
Ric Flair was known for notoriously over-living his gimmick though, with his engagement in the pro-wrestling travesty that was the Plane Ride From Hell underscoring the liberties he took in allowing his in-ring persona filter into reality. Amidst the intoxication-fuelled ruckus that was unfolding around him 30,000 feet in the air, Flair was reportedly strutting around in his trademark style, flaunting his nether regions while draped in little else but a robe.
Life in the fast-lane, anyone?
