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Derivative Gimmicks


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CW mentioned Arn worked out with him a few times in the ring. CW was given the Anderson name by Gene Anderson himself.

Gene died in 1991 and CW's debut (under a mask, with no training) was in '93.

 

I don't see Troy Graham as really being post-modern. He had the name and the Dusty-ish manner of speaking, but he was almost always doing it as a heel without any of the "son of a plumbah" working man stuff either.

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It turned out to be a great run and team, but Demolition must have been an out-right spoof of the Road Warrior gimmick. Whoever came up with their wardrobe either had a pretty twisted sense of humor or looked in their own closets for inspiration.

The Road Warriors spawned a TON of derivative gimmicks. Demolition, the Powers of Pain, the Master Blasters, the Blade Runners. And the Road Warriors themselves were a copy of characters from Mad Max.

 

I think in a way wrestling can be more accurately grouped into families. The Superstar Graham group which includes Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura, Paul Ellering. The Gorgeous George group which spawned Buddy Rogers, Ric Flair, and a million Gorgeous George Jrs., the pretty boy tag team group where you have the Rockers, the Rock 'n' Roll Express, the New York Dolls, the Fabulous Ones, the Fantastics, etc. And of course, Doink the Clown. It seems like almost any successful gimmick is covered ad nauseum.

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I really think this shows that it doesnt matter what the gimmick is. The gimmick gets you into the door and gives you the ability to make something of it. But really there isn't a whole lot new under the sun as far as wrestling gimmickry. Some of our most revered entertainers were derivative of someone else and they are happy to talk about it. Just seems like wrestlers hold on to it a bit longer instead of branching out. Partially because once you become CW anderson the only thing a promoter is going to ask you to do is "hey you do that Anderson gimmick? Keep doing that!"

 

It's a lot like hollywood in that regard in that the people who have money don't want something new.. they want something safe and proven so they can make money.

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CW mentioned Arn worked out with him a few times in the ring. CW was given the Anderson name by Gene Anderson himself.

Gene died in 1991 and CW's debut (under a mask, with no training) was in '93.

 

I don't see Troy Graham as really being post-modern. He had the name and the Dusty-ish manner of speaking, but he was almost always doing it as a heel without any of the "son of a plumbah" working man stuff either.

 

When he was Troy T. Tyler he was a babyface in total Dusty clone mode.
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CW mentioned Arn worked out with him a few times in the ring. CW was given the Anderson name by Gene Anderson himself.

Gene died in 1991 and CW's debut (under a mask, with no training) was in '93.

 

I don't see Troy Graham as really being post-modern. He had the name and the Dusty-ish manner of speaking, but he was almost always doing it as a heel without any of the "son of a plumbah" working man stuff either.

 

Wait it has been a long time. It might of been a Anderson trainee who gave him the name.

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the pretty boy tag team group where you have the Rockers, the Rock 'n' Roll Express, the New York Dolls, the Fabulous Ones, the Fantastics, etc.

Who was the first of these, in your opinion? Group has to have a namesake.

 

Oliver & Johnson's book says the Fabulous Ones. I wouldn't disagree with that.
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the pretty boy tag team group where you have the Rockers, the Rock 'n' Roll Express, the New York Dolls, the Fabulous Ones, the Fantastics, etc.

Who was the first of these, in your opinion? Group has to have a namesake.

 

Oliver & Johnson's book says the Fabulous Ones. I wouldn't disagree with that.

 

By all accounts, the Rock & Roll Express were created as the teeny-bopper B-show Fabs, the Fantastic Ones (as was their original name) were the replacement knock-off Fabs. A lot of subsequent teams (The Midnight Rockers, Southern Rockers, Rock & Roll Rockers, etc.) came from the Rock & Roll, but the Fabs were first.

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CW mentioned Arn worked out with him a few times in the ring. CW was given the Anderson name by Gene Anderson himself.

Gene died in 1991 and CW's debut (under a mask, with no training) was in '93.

 

I don't see Troy Graham as really being post-modern. He had the name and the Dusty-ish manner of speaking, but he was almost always doing it as a heel without any of the "son of a plumbah" working man stuff either.

 

Wait it has been a long time. It might of been a Anderson trainee who gave him the name.

 

It was Pat and Rocky Anderson.

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It turned out to be a great run and team, but Demolition must have been an out-right spoof of the Road Warrior gimmick. Whoever came up with their wardrobe either had a pretty twisted sense of humor or looked in their own closets for inspiration.

The Road Warrior came out in 1981. The Road Warriors debuted in 1983 (according to Wikipedia). Demolition were a rip-off of The Road Warriors and wore the outfits that The Humungous sort of wore in The Road Warrior. I kind of just always assumed all of it was based off of the movie.

 

There's even a promo that Demolition cut where they call Legion of Doom "nothing but a Demolition rip-off!" I always thought that was a rib.

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It could have well been that too, but it's also addressing the big elephant in the room. I watched the Barry Darsow shoot, and I agree that both teams could have had a bit more longevity if they didn't put the two of them right off the bat as they did in '90. It was probably done to ease Demolition out though, as it's been noted that Bill Eadie was having health problems.

 

The comment I made about the outfits was along the lines that it was easy to think the Road Warriors were like these futuristic bikers, but quite a bit of Demolition's gear is easily identifiable with fetish gear, especially when they started wrestling in hoods for that brief period in Fall '90.

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It could have well been that too, but it's also addressing the big elephant in the room. I watched the Barry Darsow shoot, and I agree that both teams could have had a bit more longevity if they didn't put the two of them right off the bat as they did in '90. It was probably done to ease Demolition out though, as it's been noted that Bill Eadie was having health problems.

 

The comment I made about the outfits was along the lines that it was easy to think the Road Warriors were like these futuristic bikers, but quite a bit of Demolition's gear is easily identifiable with fetish gear, especially when they started wrestling in hoods for that brief period in Fall '90.

I fully believe they turned Demolition heel to protect the Road Warriors. To keep the fans from having a real choice.
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I fully believe they turned Demolition heel to protect the Road Warriors. To keep the fans from having a real choice.

Turning them heel was good, I won't disagree with that. But I meant they should have just kept them apart and left the issue of a possible feud between the two on the back burner, possibly by putting LOD with another team like Power & Glory or HTM & Valentine.

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Would have been incredibly stupid. Two roided dudes in spikes or two old fat guys? Wouldn't have been much of a choice.

Yeah because there were not other roided guys in the WWF during the time Demolition was there. Demolition was the third biggest act in the WWF from the time they turned face to the point they lost the WWF Tag belts to the Hart Foundation.

 

Though lol at "fat".

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By the time the LoD came to Titan, the Demos were not a fresh act anymore. The Road Warriors were making them look old and fat de facto. The fact Bill Eadie got health issue and was replaced by the very green Brian Adams just didn't help their case, hot heels Demos were a thing of the past too. The feud would have been awesome in 1988 or so as far as star power goes.

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It could have well been that too, but it's also addressing the big elephant in the room. I watched the Barry Darsow shoot, and I agree that both teams could have had a bit more longevity if they didn't put the two of them right off the bat as they did in '90. It was probably done to ease Demolition out though, as it's been noted that Bill Eadie was having health problems.

 

The comment I made about the outfits was along the lines that it was easy to think the Road Warriors were like these futuristic bikers, but quite a bit of Demolition's gear is easily identifiable with fetish gear, especially when they started wrestling in hoods for that brief period in Fall '90.

I fully believe they turned Demolition heel to protect the Road Warriors. To keep the fans from having a real choice.

 

I don't think the WWF had a choice about turning Demolition heel once The Road Warriors came in.

 

I live in the Uk. At the time we got most of the WWF programming and some of the WCW programming, depending on where you lived. On thing we did get, even if you didn't have access to TV, was all the Apter Mags. Even though the put over Demolition, it was always in the shadow of the Road Warriors. So when the LOD showed up in the WWF, even as a dumb kid mark, I knew they were "better". US fans must have beleived that more so, as they seen more of the Warriors.

 

I really don't see how you could have kept the two teams apart for any period of time. Demolition/Warriors was one of those PWI dream matches that everyone wanted to see. It made sense that when the Warriors entered the WWF that they would go after Demolition straight away.

 

Even if The Warriors didn't jump ship. I think the days of Demolition remaining faces were bleak. The top 3 teams were them, The Harts and the Rockers. Who were all faces. The heel side was pretty weak. Somebody had to switch.

 

No one was going to buy The Rockers as heels. So it was either them or The Harts who turned. The fans still didn't fully trust The Harts at the time. But who looks a more sympathetic babyface? Bret Hart or Bill Eadie?

 

 

Would have been incredibly stupid. Two roided dudes in spikes or two old fat guys? Wouldn't have been much of a choice.

 

Old and Fat? Eadie and Darsow weren't ripped. But they weren't blobs. Darsow must have been at least the same age as Hawk & Animal.

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