Personality over gimmick

By Scott Keith on June 13, 2020

Scott,

Not sure if you listen to the AEW Unrestricted podcast? Last four weeks they have had guests: Hangman, Britt Baker, Darby Allin and Kris Statlander. That is three wrestlers who have gotten themselves over huge in AEW, plus one who has gotten themselves over reasonably. If you listen to them talk, it is very clear that their on-screen persona is an extension of their real personality. For me, this is the biggest difference between WWE and AEW.
My question is, given that everyone from Hogan to Bret, Shawn to Austin and Rock to Hunter got themselves over just protecting exaggerated versions of their own personalities on-screen, why has WWE spent so many years micro-managing their own wrestler’s personalities?

Because they (by which we mean Vince) don't want any wrestlers becoming bigger than the brand and then leaving like the Rock did. The philosophy has long been to build up the WWE name so that when the circus comes to town, you don't need to announce pesky things like “cards” and “advertised stars”. You just throw out the WWE brand and instantly sell out!

But yeah, that's why I love Dynamite, because I'm actually invested in the characters and relationships that they've built over the course of the show, and they reward viewers for paying attention and remembering what happened before. Even when the matches aren't always great, everything still makes sense and people behave and speak like you'd expect them to.

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