Tell Em Why You Mad...about characters!?!?

Wassup people...
I got a question?

What do:
- Pince Nana
- "Hot Stuff" Matt Striker
- Devin Sturgis
- Christopher Street Connection
and a few others have in common?

Take your time...give up? They all have great characters. And in this edition of "...Why You Mad", I want to ask everybody, do you feel that there is currently a lack of unique characters in indy wrestling?

Now before you go off on a tear with the whole "This ain't Vince McMahon's circus, we want 'real' wrestling", I know that the general independent wrestling fans really do like characters. If we didn't, would we really care about the CSC? Would Prince Nana get as much heat as he does? Hell, I'll even go the WWF route...how many were let down by the Undertaker's return? A lot of fans out there wanted a return of the "Deadman" character. When we got a cowboy version of it, we screamed and yelled. So now I want you to think, does indy wrestling currently have a lack of characters?

This is not a knock against anybody or thier in-ring skills, this is a question to the way they present themselves to the public, heel or face. With the rising of WWF's "attitude", a lot of the talent redefined themselves in a manner that was more authentic to themselves but, and I quote, "with the volume turned all the way up". Of course, anything that happens with the WWF (fuck an 'E' for all you newbies), will trickle down. So henceforth, you have a lot more talent using their real names, claiming to either be:

- A bad ass
- a pure wrestler
- cocky
- crazy but like a fox (i.e. "loose cannon")

Now being one of the types of characters if fine...but when it seems that everyone is following the trend, it's stale. Even ECW had it's own cast of characters. Raven, Sandman, Shane Douglas, Little Guido, Tajiri, Rob Van Dam, and others all had a place and thier own personalites to fit a character. What made for even better matches was a mix of excellent wrestling with stories that were propelled by and assortment of characters. Hell, the F.B.I. gimmick was started by a BLACK MAN WHO THOUGHT HE WAS ITALIAN AND HIS 'PAISAN' WHO WAS GUIDO! Dudley's...an assortment of colorful hicks. That's what got some of these guys over to begin with. Now-a-days, you don't seem to see that or much less anybody trying to. But respect given, because keep in mind, a lot of these guys are putting major thought into their matches. I just think it would make it a lot more fun if we had more colorful characters.

I mean, look at "Hot Stuff" Matt Striker. A major reason, I believe, is that the man can adapt his character as needed. No matter where he goes, he's pushing it to the tilt, and he's not afraid of laughing at himself or doing something so dumb, that at any other time, other guys would look at him like less of a man.

Kurt Angle is another perfect example. The man is a legit gold medalist...he shouldn't have to put on a character with those merits. But who could forget him hanging out on Raw wearing a little cowboy hat or playing his lil' guitar? How about driving a milk truck through the Titantron ala Stone Cold? Now look at him...he got himself so over that once he got serious again, the fans were so endeared to him that he doesn't need to really do those skits again. He now feared and respected as a gold medalist should be. You have to believe that even a little bit of him doing an over the top geeky kind of character helped get him inbedded in our minds...even though his almost flawless skill as a wrestler helped too!

So, as fans, the next time we see someone coming to the ring, wonder...what is this person aiming to do besides wrestle? What type of character is he? And the next time you see the Christopher Street Connection, yell your ass off at them, let Mace plant a kiss on your cheek, and maybe appreciate them a little bit more for thier wrestling AND commiitment to character development.

Off topic...I thank everybody for the kind words and anybody who didn't agree or just don't like me...too fucking bad, I'm here, LOL.

Anybody with any kind words, mean words, or just curse words, can email me at MadWhip@msn.com. Anything really of intrest will be responded to or talked about in following columns.

Holla!


The Mad Whipper Whip



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