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| Peck and Veronica, Chikara's new power couple |
1. Archibald Peck
There's a certain amount of silliness needed to do a good gimmick. I mean, when wrestling's good, a part of it has to make people laugh, right? Well, even with the inherent goofiness involved, usually, the guy playing the character wants his gimmick to be somewhat cool, right? Yeah, not Archibald Peck. There's probably nothing dorkier than being in a high school band, and that's what makes this gimmick work so well. He's intentionally nerding it up and he and his lovely Veronica put their all into it. It doesn't help that the guy behind the character is supremely talented. BE that as it may, every time you see him come out with his band hat, twirling his baton, marching emphatically to a brass-n-drum version of "Any Way You Want It", you can't help but smile, even if you're supposed to boo the guy out of the building.
2. Cedric the Hitman
From the super silly to the super serious, Cedric the Hitman is actually a brilliant, brilliant gimmick that I'm surprised hasn't been tried yet in the bigger feds. Basically, he's hired muscle. You pay him and he takes out the target. In NWA Hollywood, where he resides, he's most recently been used by Austin Aries to continually harass Scorpio Sky, and he became a really big part of that angle while it was ongoing.
3. LuFisto
What does being a "Super Hardcore Anime" entail? Well, it's probably the most abstract gimmick listed here, but it's an incredibly fun part of any SHIMMER show that I watch on DVD. Basically, she's supposed to be the living embodiment of an anime character, and she has a figurine that she talks to and gets advice from. It's so weird and manic that it works, and it makes her the highlight of any show she's on.
4. Grizzly Redwood
He's a lumberjack and he's okay, he sleeps all night and he works all day. Haha, cheesy Monty Python reference aside, the short-guy lumberjack is a great gimmick. I think a lumberjack character would work for a guy of any size; refer back to the ROH Video Wire segment where he was training Delirious as an example. I just think that a 5'4" guy who's supposed to be a stout feller of trees is such an epic visual. Plus I really like flapjacks. Hell, if I had to do it all over again, I'd probably name this blog "I Want to Go to IHOP with Grizzly Redwood" instead of The Wrestling Blog. But that'd be gimmick infringement.
5. Matt Classic
There are old school characters, REALLY old school characters and then there's Matt Classic. A character purported to be such a veteran that he was in a fed with Abraham Lincoln, the good friend of Colt Cabana pops up from time to time to do calisthenics, make daring leaps from the first rope and purvey old school wrestling holds like the drop suplex and the claw. He's also super surly, and if you can, seek out footage from the tag gauntlet from night 3 of King of Trios this year, especially his interactions with Sara del Rey and Daizee Haze. It's wonderfully chauvinistic, but eminently amusing.
6. The Throwbacks
The last spot has to be a shout to my boys, the original playas from Chikara-land. The ABA baller and the turn-of-the-century batsman would have been great gimmicks on their own. Pairing them together is genius, I think. Both characters have a wealth of material to draw from, and all of it is potentially crowd pleasing. Both Dasher Hatfield and Sugar Dunkerton have found guises worthy of making a career out of.
Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
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