Wrestling gimmicks and WWE have gone hand in hand for decades now. But if you ask two-time WWE Hall of Famer Booker T about them, he believes that the day of gimmicks in professional wrestling is done.
On the latest edition of The Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T was asked by a fan if he thought wrestlers in WWE need more gimmicks to get over. Booker T certainly didn’t think so, explaining that he could be wrong, but he believes it’s easy to go out and get over as yourself in the current landscape instead of trying to use a gimmick.
“No, I don’t,” Booker T said. “You know what made the Attitude Era successful was guys coming out and making the fans jump. Everybody had their core fans that came there to see them no matter who it was, we talked about Rikishi and Too Cool those guys had fire and flavor every guy that walked out of the curtain. Like I always talk about Val Venis, If you go back and just look at the camera shots when Val Venis came out. Half of the ladies came to see Val. You know, I mean, he was a big part of the draw for that community. The Rock, he had — everybody had their fans back in the day, and I just think that’s what’s different.
“I think the day of the gimmick is gone. Okay, the day of the gimmick wrestler, were you coming out and we make believe [is gone]. The reason I believe that I feel like the nWo changed the name of the game as far as gimmicks as opposed to real guys. Can you imagine being Glacier on the same show as the nWo? It must have sucked really, really bad. It’s hard to be those characters and wear those costumes and think that you’re going to go out there and get over with the regular guy at the bar. That’s just my that’s my opinion. I could be wrong.”
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What do you make of Booker T’s comments? Do you think the day of gimmicks in professional wrestling is done? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit The Hall of Fame podcast with a link back to this article for the transcription.
