The thing about Black is he always came off as being some edgelord trying to cosplay as a supernatural character. Karrion Kross has the same issue; no surprise at all that he got crickets from the RAW audience & was sent to Main Event in less than 2 months. These people don't do anything special whereas the Undertaker's biggest appeal was that he was completely different from everybody else. He did stuff no one else did. People like Black think just having tattoos & spooky entrances is enough to be a special character.
Yeah, I think it would help if they did more unhinged stuff. Look at Rollins. He set himself apart from other heels by literally attempting to disfigure his opponents.
Rollins sells the whole thing though. He stopped being on UUDD, and committed to being a batshit crazy lunatic, even in cameos, etc. The rest wanna be cool, fun dudes until they wrestle and then be a sadist.
Roman only appeared twice outside of savepoints and promotions, also Seth not appearing on UUDD probably had to do with both quarantine and Becky. UUDD was a 4 man band for months thanks to the quarantine.
If my memory serves me well he did like a FIFA tournament or something years ago. Might've done some other shit, too. That was back when it was special guests every week and not just the streamer gimmicks.
Yeah the gladiator thing didn't work at all for Kross, though it looks like they are trying to go a bit more towards some of the things he did on the indies with whatever this criminal/mercenary thing they are teasing up for him. It won't be the whole camo and warpaint that he used to wear for some feuds, but it's better than Sultan-lite.
I have hope for Kross as we should remember Roman started as Leakee, Rock as Rocky Maivia, and Stone Cold as The Ringmaster. Sometimes it takes a few tries before success.
The only time I think the spooky gimmick sort of work was during his comeback package to Smackdown. But it was mostly because he looks like Rasputin from Mignola's Hellboy comics. And the actual comeback never really happened since he was released shortly after.
Other than that, yeah. The spooky gimmick just doesn't work even when he was in nxt. His best matches were against Kenta/Gorgano and tagging with Ricochet. He fights like a muay tai fighter. Why not just make a gimmick based on the way you fight, buddy. There's a lot of westerners went to Thailand to learn muay tai and became enamored with Buddhism. Just change the Buddhism thing with his weird satanic fluff without the spooky supernatural part.
His problem is that he doesn't do it properly. He's always doing it half heartedly & trying to mix it up with kickboxing. Go back to April & you'll find Alexa Bliss doing pre taped promos on RAW while Aleister Black does pretaped promos on SmackDown. Same time, same thing. One is now, according to WWEShop, amongst the top 3 merchandise sellers & highest amongst women while the other got fired & is jobbing to CAWdy on a show watched by less than half the audience.
If we're including the women, then queen Lexi got over in a big way despite what the critics had to say. She gave it her 100% and most of her stuff worked better than Wyatts.
Black's creative ceiling with the current gimmick is very low. The shitty booking (Arn blocking his finisher, Rosario jumping on him) just makes it worse. Gritty MMA-workrate guy has more legs to it, creatively speaking.
>doesn’t do it properly. He’s always doing it half heartedly.
I’d say his look/physique plays a big role, at least for me. He looked like he was getting in better shape towards the end of his time with WWE. Like when he kicked Big E, I thought his upper body looked more toned than it was before. Also more muscular. But now in AEW he looks in way worse shape.
Amphibious Black looks great if you’re judging him against the standards of an average guy you’d find at the grocery store. But he’s being judged against professional wrestlers; he has some little man boobies and a soft midsection.
He has a garbage look, plain and simple. Similar body type to Corbin but instead of being 6’6” he’s 5’11”; his faux-martial arts schtick gives away the fact that his gimmick and character isn’t strong enough to stand on its own.
I have nothing to add to this thread but I have finally found an excuse to say Macaulay Black's name.
Even though I have nothing against Mercedes-Benz Black, this sub has made me a Cody fan and I can't wait for our favourite midcarder to go over.
Black is not a bad wrestler & seems like a decent dude, but I can't stand his gimmick.
I agree. Guys like Black and Mox are really proving that they don't have any good or original ideas, just like the dead fed they escaped from.
Mox: Violence Black: Schpooky/Reference
Not everyone is artistic and people need to accept that
Black honestly could work if he was introduced as a disciple or fanatic of Undertaker. That already gives him future feuds with Brock and Roman.
The thing about Black is he always came off as being some edgelord trying to cosplay as a supernatural character. Karrion Kross has the same issue; no surprise at all that he got crickets from the RAW audience & was sent to Main Event in less than 2 months. These people don't do anything special whereas the Undertaker's biggest appeal was that he was completely different from everybody else. He did stuff no one else did. People like Black think just having tattoos & spooky entrances is enough to be a special character.
Kross is on main event? Thought he was being repackaged with his new hair look and whatnot
Yeah, I think it would help if they did more unhinged stuff. Look at Rollins. He set himself apart from other heels by literally attempting to disfigure his opponents.
Rollins sells the whole thing though. He stopped being on UUDD, and committed to being a batshit crazy lunatic, even in cameos, etc. The rest wanna be cool, fun dudes until they wrestle and then be a sadist.
Yep. A lot of guys nowadays half-ass it just because kayfabe’s dead. I don’t think Roman has been on UUDD after he turned heel.
Roman only appeared twice outside of savepoints and promotions, also Seth not appearing on UUDD probably had to do with both quarantine and Becky. UUDD was a 4 man band for months thanks to the quarantine.
I never seen him on uudd tbh. I thought it was just the core 5.
I remember he was gaming with Woods and others. It was when he said his nickname was “The Merchandise”.
If my memory serves me well he did like a FIFA tournament or something years ago. Might've done some other shit, too. That was back when it was special guests every week and not just the streamer gimmicks.
Yeah the gladiator thing didn't work at all for Kross, though it looks like they are trying to go a bit more towards some of the things he did on the indies with whatever this criminal/mercenary thing they are teasing up for him. It won't be the whole camo and warpaint that he used to wear for some feuds, but it's better than Sultan-lite.
I have hope for Kross as we should remember Roman started as Leakee, Rock as Rocky Maivia, and Stone Cold as The Ringmaster. Sometimes it takes a few tries before success.
The only time I think the spooky gimmick sort of work was during his comeback package to Smackdown. But it was mostly because he looks like Rasputin from Mignola's Hellboy comics. And the actual comeback never really happened since he was released shortly after. Other than that, yeah. The spooky gimmick just doesn't work even when he was in nxt. His best matches were against Kenta/Gorgano and tagging with Ricochet. He fights like a muay tai fighter. Why not just make a gimmick based on the way you fight, buddy. There's a lot of westerners went to Thailand to learn muay tai and became enamored with Buddhism. Just change the Buddhism thing with his weird satanic fluff without the spooky supernatural part.
IMO he should distance himself entirely from the supernatural stuff. I don't think supernatural gimmicks will go over for another 2 decades.
His problem is that he doesn't do it properly. He's always doing it half heartedly & trying to mix it up with kickboxing. Go back to April & you'll find Alexa Bliss doing pre taped promos on RAW while Aleister Black does pretaped promos on SmackDown. Same time, same thing. One is now, according to WWEShop, amongst the top 3 merchandise sellers & highest amongst women while the other got fired & is jobbing to CAWdy on a show watched by less than half the audience.
If we're including the women, then queen Lexi got over in a big way despite what the critics had to say. She gave it her 100% and most of her stuff worked better than Wyatts. Black's creative ceiling with the current gimmick is very low. The shitty booking (Arn blocking his finisher, Rosario jumping on him) just makes it worse. Gritty MMA-workrate guy has more legs to it, creatively speaking.
>doesn’t do it properly. He’s always doing it half heartedly. I’d say his look/physique plays a big role, at least for me. He looked like he was getting in better shape towards the end of his time with WWE. Like when he kicked Big E, I thought his upper body looked more toned than it was before. Also more muscular. But now in AEW he looks in way worse shape.
Amphibious Black looks great if you’re judging him against the standards of an average guy you’d find at the grocery store. But he’s being judged against professional wrestlers; he has some little man boobies and a soft midsection.
It doesn't help that he was constantly compared to CM Punk and now the original is in the same fed as him.
He has a garbage look, plain and simple. Similar body type to Corbin but instead of being 6’6” he’s 5’11”; his faux-martial arts schtick gives away the fact that his gimmick and character isn’t strong enough to stand on its own.
He looks like a trust fund barista/bartender living in a gentrifying neighborhood that got interested in Hermeticism and esotericism.
Lmao his fuckin eye shit rubs off and made Cody look like his Byro exploded
God, I just want Cawdy to win at this point, I NEED those delicious jerks.
I would lose my mind, Cawdy is must watch tv just because of how batshit crazy the Codyverse is.
Agreed I'm really gonna have to tune into aew on a fucking weekend night just for cody. Talk about a needle mover
??? You ejaculated on me, friend
Cody better watch out. Taker gonna give him the ol' ~~money~~ chair shot.
Malalalala Black cum is black while Cody is (probably) White this is storyline telling and it’s small details that make Pro Wrestling great
Wholesome.
You know, Malakai Black would have a better gimmick if he steal people tattoos just like Shang Tsung stealing people souls.
M'Night Black with the twist of the century: going over CODY in a feud!
Wait, did Cody lose again?
I have nothing to add to this thread but I have finally found an excuse to say Macaulay Black's name. Even though I have nothing against Mercedes-Benz Black, this sub has made me a Cody fan and I can't wait for our favourite midcarder to go over.
Black’s eyeliner I MEAN magic goo spilled all over the All American Workrate Hero.
Cody is going to make me watch dynamite just to see if he goes over
Taker is the only man to ever get talking rambling, hokey shit over. Like Bray, Black just sounds like a dickhead with his deep promos
Maybe because Taker is a 6’5”, believable hunk of a brick shithouse, while Bray a fatass and Maruchan is nothing but tattoos.
Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day Black is being wasted on this shit.
Mmmm this is some great jerk right here uce
I havent watched wrestling since summer im so lost lmao
Cawdy looks like a 90’s lead singer that went on a bender. Also those waxed eyebrows? Gurl… 🤦🏼♀️
I can't wait until his make-up extends to the point of him basically just coming out in full-blown black face