Wrestlers based on TV shows

[The Reverend]

15 hours ago, Statto said:

I think that's the result of a combination of the show proving a massive hit and Britwres being on a bit of a downer at the moment. 

If the show gets cancelled, one of them gets sacked for misconduct of some kind or a sudden boom hits the UK scene again, then we might see some crossover. 

Right now I'd think it's about as likely that WWE catches wind of someone like Diamond (stunning, athletic, legit 6' so you can bill her as 6'4") and tries to sign them straight up. 

Back in the boom of '92 when Gladiators and WWF were running wild, if there had been a half decent UK promotion running I would've thought there may have been a crossover, but I suppose the Gladiators was such a 'body' show and 92 BritWres was a bit more of a saggier affair. Plus I guess that the Gladiators were probably earning some alright money back then. IIRC though one of the contestants ended up wrestling, Paul Vault (geddit?) appeared on Gladiators and then wrestled for Hammerlock. 

[BomberPat]

Gladiators are going to be making decent enough money to not have to pop up on indie shows, but I also expect there's a bit of an exclusivity clause in their BBC contract - they're not going to want to risk one of their stars getting hurt on a wrestling show. I'd be interested to know if any of them are still competing in bodybuilding, or any of the sports backgrounds they come from, but I would suspect not. 

Looking at it the other way around, I know quite a few wrestlers who applied to be Gladiators when they put the casting call out. 

[Carbomb]

Not having seen the Sky revival of the programme, can anyone on here report on what it was like? Obviously can't have been that good, or it wouldn't have been cancelled, but I'd be interested to know what stopped it from getting over. I did initially suspect that it was partly because it was on Sky and not terrestrial, but I didn't think that would be as much of a factor in this day and age.

[Mr_Danger]

This crop of Gladiators seem to be a bunch of ‘tubers and fitness Instagramers. Unless it’s a labour of love there’s nothing in britwres for them. They probably had a far bigger following than most British wrestlers before even Gladiators. 

[BomberPat]

Yeah - a lot of people have said to me that they think Legend would make a great wrestling heel, but it's much more likely that he gets a lucrative panto run out of it.

[Carbomb]

Looking at the thread title, might also be worth talking about some of the best-loved wrestling characters that came from TV. The most famous (and possibly the only) British one has to be Catweazle, no?

I also really liked The Shore when they debuted in TNA; it was very much on the pulse of pop culture at the time, and they did a great job of evolving the gimmick (though I don't know why they got rid of Cookie/Becky Bayless - she was awesome as a Snooki-esque dickhead), and even gave the mostly-useless Jessie Godderz a new lease of life. And Zema Ion, who would've been another vanilla midget (athletically talented as he was), got a brilliant spot as DJZ; I don't know any other tag team that had a DJ at ringside that could get them all supreme heel heat just by hitting that bullhorn multiple times. I know Robbie E has a completely different gimmick now, but he was perfect as the Jersey guido heel with the blow-out haircut.

[HarmonicGenerator]

39 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Not having seen the Sky revival of the programme, can anyone on here report on what it was like? Obviously can't have been that good, or it wouldn't have been cancelled, but I'd be interested to know what stopped it from getting over. I did initially suspect that it was partly because it was on Sky and not terrestrial, but I didn't think that would be as much of a factor in this day and age.

Generally not that memorable or exciting - all the Gladiators wore black or really dark colours, and the studio wasn't especially bright or vibrant either. It just didn't capture the magic of the original or this new series. Plus the fact the Gladiators were all just too good - I can't remember any episode of it where the contenders got more than the bare minimum of points.

Nick Aldis was the only one of them that showed any personality, and after that it's only Goliath / Mason Ryan I remember.

Oh, and Spartan, but only because he basically nicked the Randy Orton pose.

[Just Some Guy]

42 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Looking at the thread title, might also be worth talking about some of the best-loved wrestling characters that came from TV. The most famous (and possibly the only) British one has to be Catweazle, no?

I was in this thread within minutes to post about Catweazle, before leaving crestfallen as it wasn't what the OP was after.

Pat Roache's Bomber nickname played into his TV character. Does that count.

There must be a ton of masked Japanese lads & lasses modeled on anime characters.

 

Edited February 20, 2025 by Just Some Guy

[BomberPat]

1 hour ago, Carbomb said:

I also really liked The Shore when they debuted in TNA; it was very much on the pulse of pop culture at the time, and they did a great job of evolving the gimmick (though I don't know why they got rid of Cookie/Becky Bayless - she was awesome as a Snooki-esque dickhead), and even gave the mostly-useless Jessie Godderz a new lease of life. And Zema Ion, who would've been another vanilla midget (athletically talented as he was), got a brilliant spot as DJZ; I don't know any other tag team that had a DJ at ringside that could get them all supreme heel heat just by hitting that bullhorn multiple times. I know Robbie E has a completely different gimmick now, but he was perfect as the Jersey guido heel with the blow-out haircut.

Robbie E is one of a select few wrestlers who reached out to Channel Islands World Wrestling while I was involved in management stuff there, actually pitching ideas rather than just fishing for a booking. We couldn't afford his fee at the time, so it never happened, but an obnoxious New Jersey heel is such a perfect baddy for a show in old Jersey, where everyone already has a bee in their bonnet about having to say, "no, not New Jersey" every time they explain where they're from.

51 minutes ago, Just Some Guy said:

There must be a ton of masked Japanese lads & lasses modeled on anime characters.

Tiger Mask and Black Tiger, Ultraman, and Jushin Liger are the big ones. 

[Lorne Malvo]

Robbie E was fantastic. TNA were really good with lower/mid-card gimmicks for a while there, the majority of their roster was at the least interesting and they did a good job of hiding most guys weaknesses. They got me interested in Crimson and Gunner!

The less said about Ink Inc mind...

[Carbomb]

19 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

The less said about Ink Inc mind...

Ink, Inc. was a weird one - despite not being much good, Jesse Neal was really over. I think it might be because, if nothing else, he showed a decent bit of fire.

You're right about the lower/mid-card gimmicks, too - the only time I've ever found Amazing Red interesting was when they had the brilliant idea of making Don West his "agent", i.e. face manager. To be fair, West was superb in that role - the face manager is a tricky job to make work, and he did it with great aplomb. Hell, he could've got me into watching Matt Morgan.

There are other gimmicks that come to mind that were based on outside sources, rather than a TV show, like Gangrel (I still find it so odd that McMahon/Titan shelled out for the usage rights for a niche character from a niche TTRPG franchise for a midcarder), or Wolf Hawkfield from Virtua Fighter in All Japan.

 

Here's a question: would anyone count Mil Muertes as being based on a TV show, as LU seemed to be described by so many as more of a TV show than a wrestling show?

[Merzbow]

Does Fandango and Tyler Breeze basing themselves around Twin Peaks & The Return count for this thread? It was only short lived.

[chokeout]

On 2/18/2025 at 3:46 PM, Carbomb said:

Tried searching, but the genius who made that Kevin Webster compilation in the style of Creed "My Sacrifice" has either made it private or taken it down, I think.

There we go, my good man. 

[Chili]

1 hour ago, chokeout said:

There we go, my good man. 

I love that I know which YouTube videos we had to go for the footage ?

[The Reverend]

You do wonder if the WWE shouldn't start looking at UK soap writers to bring their storylines up to snuff. You talk about long term storylines like the Bloodline and the epic Savage/Hogan saga, but how long did the killer feuds of Ken Barlow/Mike Baldwin and Phil Mitchell/Ian Beale go on for with intricate double switches and storylines. 

Look at how soap operas were able to turn their most cuddly of characters into raving lunatics - Jim McDonald went from normal husband to armed robber and prison time so he did, Kevin Webster (as evidenced above) from simpleton mechanic to punch happy maniac, and then there was dim-witted Don Brennan who became some sort of serial killer/stalker/kidnapper....I think. It's been a long time, but these slow build stories and gradual character development would be perfect in professional wrestling. Think Jake Roberts turning from No.3 babyface in 91 to most despised, cobra loving villain was a heel turn - remember Alan 'look out for the tram' Bradley in Corrie. 

Maybe I'm old and a bit sad but if wrestling could harness that kind of storyline development it would be a winner. Hell, even look at the Gripper Stebson storyline in Grange Hill, we waited a whole series to watch him get his comeuppance at the hands of Bullet Baxter - Dibiase/Virgil had nothing on that. Yeah - I'm old!