(Note by Ray, this is Ryan’s first column on Wrestling Rambles so let him know your thoughts)
The Full Package
By Ryan Wilson
The full or whole package in the WWE is something not all stars possess. But what is the full package? Well read on.
The Look
It is hard to argue that stars must have the look or costume to make up their character. For example, look at the late and great wrestler, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, there is no question in my mind that the Macho Man stood out because of his outfits. The Macho Man was known for his outrageous colours and patterns but that’s one of the reasons we all loved him. Having a look that matches your character is essential; could you imagine R-Truth sporting some shorts? Well the answer you should be looking for would be no. R-Truth was known for his rapping persona therefore his street styled trousers suited his character well, and it still does Lil’ Jimmy!
The In-Ring Skills
One name that springs to mind right now with brilliant in-ring skills would be Dolph Ziggler, another name would be Daniel Bryan. Both of those men really know how to wrestle and entertain the crowd. Granted there are other current WWE workers that know how to put on a match inside that ring but DZ and DB are standing out for me. For me in-ring skills are really important, in fact I’d probably rather have someone who has brilliant in-ring skills and no personality, such as Daniel Bryan. It has to be said that DB is improving on the mic and he might surprise us all and be a comedian. Right now I doubt that but I will always be first in queue to watch him wrestle.
The Mic Skills
Check 1, 2, 3. Hello? Is this thing on?
Yeah anyways, this section of the full package is becoming more and more important in today’s WWE product. Because WWE has become more than just wrestling and more about entertainment the WWE Superstars and Divas must be able to get on the mic and entertain us, after all if no one spoke on the mic then no rivalries would form and WWE would be that bit more boring. You can teach years worth of wrestling knowledge but for the mic skill section it all depends on your ability to speak to a crowd of hundreds up to thousands, which to some can be very daunting. I know I know, just imagine the crowd naked, that should help after all? Well no, not really, if anything that would distract me. Mic skills all come down on your personality and confidence, do you have what it takes to entertain a whole crowd of paying customers by talking? If not, then you do not have the full package.
The Character
This one is another tricky part of the full package. Usually our WWE Superstars or Divas are assigned characters or gimmicks. John Cena is the superhero who can kick everyone’s ass on any given day, R-Truth.. Well R-Truth is the new mentally insane Superstar, Kane is the demented monster who was burnt all these years back to only name a few. But if WWE Creative can’t find a character/gimmick for you then you’ll soon be out on your ass. Sure it depends on your personality, for example Sheamus is Irish, like myself, Sheamus is a proud Irishman so when the penny drops for the creative team they build on that personality and assign him the Celtic Warrior gimmick which will no doubt carry on until the end of his career. Characters like the Headbangers back in 2000 are prime examples of how dry creative can get with your character, all I can remember about the Headbangers were when they entered the 2000 Royal Rumble with giant sized cones as boobs. Way to go creative and here’s me wondering why any of the Headbangers never became WWF champion. If creative can’t assign you a worthwhile gimmick or storyline then you’ll get the news that, “creative has nothing for you” oh why thank you WWE for discreetly telling me I’m out on my ass and out of a job. Characters/gimmicks can be a rough area and your career can hang in the balance if creative don’t get it right.
The Bond Between Wrestler and Fans
This one is left all down to the wrestler. It is up to them to use what they’ve been assigned and to establish that link with the crowd. Sure the WWE can cut excellent promos about you that can make the crowd say, “Woah I like this guy” but to make that promo they must have footage of you. Whether the crowd like you because of your wrestling skills (step forward Sin Cara) or whether the crowd like you because of who you are, it’s all down to one person and one person only – yourself. Why do people like Sin Cara? Because he entertains them with his spectacular moves. Why do people like John Cena? Because even though he has a limited moveset, he entertains people on the mic. Even heels have a link to establish, they have the opposite job of making the crowd hate them -that’s still a link between crowd and wrestler. Using various techniques the heels have the job of gaining heat from the fans and if they can do this then they’re doing their job. Social networking has become a huge part of WWE stars communicating with the WWE Universe -Twitter being the most common form of social networking used and yes, before anyone asks I do try shamelessly to get stars to retweet, reply or follow me. Twitter is an easy way to help get yourself a few extra fans, so why not go for it?
As you can all see the full package is something that sounds quite hard to have, and I can only think of a few that tick all these boxes for me at the moment. Do you have the full package?
“there is no question in my mind that the Macho Man stood out because of his outfits.” How about the Boogeyman, Undertaker from WWF, Mick Foley’s characters? As for ring skills, that have to goto John Morrison & Daniel Bryan. You can’t see Ziggler wrestle cause Vickie’s getting her fatass involved all the time. Mic-Skills, thats the Key thing to the face of the company, Cena wasnt hired for wrestling skills, he was hired cause he had mic skills, look up the Prototype on YouTube, watch vids of him in OVW. This is why he was hired, same goes for the Miz. Its called the WWE Uncreative Team, we all found that out years ago. They never finish a storyline, they either cut it to short or keep it going to lone. They repeat the same storylines from WWF but make it a PG rating Storyline. John Cena is the first name that comes to mind about the “bond” with the fans, why? He’s the face of the company, the “Super Hero” and lets face it WWE is PG-13 so the kids love him. Did you think it would be easy to get that past me? 🙂 Great Blog though.
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Definitely agree with you on the Boogeyman, WWF Undertaker and Mick Foley(s) each had very different looks, which brought something new to the WWE. Macho Man just stood out as one of my personal favourites look wise.
I like John Morrison but he’s not been his best since he returned from that neck injury, hope he starts getting back to his best, that’s not to say he isn’t doing some cool moves lately, e.g the corkscrew over the ring post onto R-Truth. As for Vickie, haha, at least she’s lost some weight. When I was mentioning Ziggler in terms of wrestling ability I was thinking of his matches with Daniel Bryan, those matches were brilliant.
I did as you said and looked up the Prototype, specifically his match with Randy Orton where Orton was paying his dues on the way to WWE. Cena was the first man to come to mind in terms of the bond with the fans because every time I watch RAW I can see a FLOOD of red tshirts in the crowd, Cena’s got the edge with the kids and CM Punk has got the edge with older audience. Man, I love CM Punk!
Thanks for the feedback!
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What can I say, I’m a Cena fan, but I’m 18. Explain that. Also welcome. A WR Staff member invited me to basicly run you over lol
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Super Blog! Of course many Wrestlers stood out because of their outfits and thats if you ask me pretty good! And don’t want to see Guys wearing some Trunks and Boots, i want to see something new like Brian Kendricks TNA Outfit!
Anyway, well-done Ryan!
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You want to see a cape? We need to get you one. You’ll be known as Super Yannic
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Brian Kendricks?! Oh hell no. I didn’t like that dude in WWE and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t like him in TNA either. I don’t watch TNA, what is he wearing at the minute?
Thanks for the feedback, I enjoyed writing it.
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Cool blog bro. Someone who I’d like to point out as having the complete package in WWE right now is Cody Rhodes, and truthfully he may be the only person not in the main event scene that has it.
Cody has a very unique look with the face mask that he wears, he’s a phenomenal athlete, he’s more comfortable on the mic than most, he has one of the best characters going today, and has really been able to draw the crowd in with the paper bag gimmick. Yup it looks like Cody hits just about every box on your list.
Once again, great read bro and keep up the good work. I’m looking forward to checking out more of your blogs.
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Cody isnt bad, but his gimmick is starting to get stale.
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I’m gonna have to disagree with you over Cody Rhodes, I think his wrestling ability is fantasic, and he is great on the mic. I agree that the paper bag thing seems to be a hit but the thing that Cody falls down on is the looks. Nothing quite says disfigured like a perfect nose. The mask thing was interesting at first, but everyone started seeing that the nose was not disfigured. However, maybe Cody is so vain and notices the nose is slightly over to the other side and he thinks he’s horribly disfigured but it’s not selling with me. I read your comment and agree that it isn’t so much Cody’s fault as it is the UNcreative team (props to Ultimate RKO for that)
Thanks for the feedback on the article.
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I agree with Ultimate RKO. Cody is pretty good but his gimmick is getting stale. And i think Cody’s gimmick’s do get stale easily which is a problem. So if that is a problem he doesn’t have the ”Full Package”.
It was a great first blog Ryan, keep it up!
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Good first blog!
I agree on Cody getting a bit stale. They just have to freshen the character up a little bit and he’ll be set. He’s hit his gimmicks out of the park so far. His mic skills and ring abilities are certainly there. I think he’s a main eventer in the making.
I like the Macho Man point you brought up, Ryan. His outfits were, and still are, legendary. Just saying his name causes the images to pop up in my head.
R.I.P. Randy.
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Macho Man was one of my favourites, his outfits were so out there, that’s why some people remember him for his outfits. R.I.P.
Thanks for the response on the article, glad you liked it.
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The dashing gimmick wasnt a good gimmick for Cody imo, either is the masked gimmick. Cody wants to follow in his fathers footsteps, then WWE should give him a gimmick that fits him. The Dashing Gimmick would be good for a Diva & the Masked gimmick would be good for someone like Kane
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I agree that Cody has become a bit stale, but I wouldn’t blame Cody as much as I would WWE’s Uncreative Team as ultimateRko called them (good one by the way). They failed to capitalize on Cody’s success following his feud with Rey. He should have won the IC title months ago and should be flirting around the main event scene by now, interacting with the likes of Orton and Sheamus. He handles the character well, creative just dropped the ball.
I recently posted two blogs with examples of how the uncreative team can blow it with great talent; one discussing the management of Sheamus’ face turn, and the other on how they use their younger smaller talent. Check them out and let me know what you guys think.
Again nice blog Ryan
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Give me the links, and the name Uncreative was said on WWE Universe a cuple of years back, either in 08 or 09 that name picked up. There also holding Ted back with Cody. Ted could be in the Main Event now, but along with Cody there holding him back.
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Hey, don’t mind you trying to get people to your site, but please don’t just ”use” us if ya get what i mean. I’ll check your site out.
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It’s refreshing to discuss something not regarding Punk/Cena/triple H etc
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Which this Monday was AWESOME.
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Hey Ray I’m not trying to use u guys. I really enjoy this blog. I actually referenced your blog in my post and linked to it if I’m not mistaking.
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oh ok cool. You seem a nice guy and i was just saying. Yea just seen it now. I didn’t mean to come across you that way. That’s great to hear!
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No problem bro. Keep the good material coming!
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We’ll try our best. FYI, SummerSlam preview coming soon!
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Hey Guys, thanks one and all for the responses on my first entry here on Wrestling Rambles! Glad you all liked it.
Definitely agree with what everyone is saying about Cody Rhodes, seems like this whole storyline about him being disfigured is being dragged out and getting really silly. I suppose it was never gonna be easy to sell a perfect nose as disfigured.
I will reply to some of your comments individually.
Thanks again.
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Again Welcome, but the Rhodes character is being pulled so much like Cena, and everybody elses cause WWE Uncreative team doesnt fit the PG rating
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Great first blog Ryan.Now the full package is normally what separates main eventers and midcarders and people who are the complete package will normally be the faces of your company.The look is very important because you don’t want someone who looks like an idiot or a hobo main eventing your PPVs and being on your posters cups etc.In-ring skills are important maybe not much by Vince McMahon but I think they are very important because even if you can talk a great game you obviously need to back it up in the ring and put on good matches the fans want to see because you won”t always have an opponent who can carry you to a good match.Mic skills are obviously important because this is sports entertainment and most fans are entertained by very good promos and if two opponents don’t have mic skills the fans won’t care about the much.Mic skills build up fueds and make the fans want to buy PPVs and see the matches.The Character is important because without a character you aren’t anything in the WWE except a jobber or a lowcarder.The Bond Between The Wrestlers and Fans is so important because if the fans don’t care about you you won’t succeed in the WWE faces need to get a good reaction by the crowd and be generally liked wherever they go and heels need to generate lots of heat and be hated by the fans and if not they aren’t doing their job.Now example of the complete package would be people like CM Punk,Chris Jericho,Triple H,Edge,Shawn Michaels,etc.To be a very successful WWE Supertstar you need to either have the full package or have most of the skills required to have the full package if not you’ll never succeed in the WWE and you’ll never achieve superstardom and greatness.
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Agree with absolutely everything you said there. CM Punk, Jericho, HHH, Edge and Shawn Michaels are some of the few that do have the complete package. I feel like there are some wrestlers today that have the potential to get there but as Ultimate RKO called them, the UNcreative team just don’t want or see the need to push them.
Thanks for the response, means a lot.
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@ Ray I’m still contemplating on whether or not I’ll order Summerslam. MITB was the first ppv I ordered since Wrestle Mania 25. I already ordered Hard Justice and kinda wish I had held out for SummerSlam.
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Luckily here in Ireland, we get PPV’s for free, some of them but SS i will have to order, i want to watch it without lagging etc
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I love it when we get PPV’s for free, I dunno if I’m gonna order SummerSlam, decisions decisions. This time last year I tried watching a stream of SummerSlam, I got nothing but a bad quality stream, not to mention on the WWE team vs Nexus match -the main event, the stream popped up saying “F*** you streamers, laters!!” and then black screen, that was until the end of the match where I seen Cena’s hand being raised. I have not watched a stream since haha.
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Lucky bastards! Lol…I normally just find a stream online but lately I’ve decided to shell out a few bucks to support the product
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AB, you keep given me reasons to kill you, FREE PPVs…..
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