The Straight Edge Society was a villainous professional wrestling stable in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) that appeared on its SmackDown brand .
90-425: The concept behind the group was the straight edge lifestyle, which promotes and abides to discipline—primarily no smoking, drinking, or drugs. The group acted as a militant organization, denouncing all people who did not live the straight edge lifestyle, even those who also abstain from substance abuse , so new members were required to shave their heads , which signified a "new beginning". The founder and leader of
180-449: A gimmick generally refers to a wrestler's in-ring persona, character, behaviour, attire, and/or other distinguishing traits while performing which are usually artificially created in order to draw fan interest. These in-ring personalities often involve costumes, makeup and catchphrases that they shout at their opponents or the fans. Gimmicks can be designed to work as good guys/heroes ( babyfaces ) or bad guys/villains ( heel ) depending on
270-415: A spinebuster . Triple H attempted a Pedigree , but Sheamus countered and began to work over Triple H, executing a neckbreaker on the floor on Triple H. Back in the ring, Triple H performed a DDT on Sheamus, who executed an Irish Curse Backbreaker for a near-fall. On the entrance ramp, Triple H attacked Sheamus with a kendo stick and attempted a Pedigree, but Sheamus countered with a Back Body Drop onto
360-487: A chair but Swagger countered by throwing Orton through the chair. Swagger then performed a gutwrench powerbomb on Orton and pinned him to retain the World Heavyweight championship. After the match, Orton performed an RKO on Swagger on the floor. When Orton was leaving the ring, Sheamus came out carrying a pipe for his street fight with Triple H. At the start of the match, Triple H attacked Sheamus and executed
450-628: A character based on an authority over other people. These include non-wrestlers like managers , and wrestlers like The Mountie , Big Boss Man , "The Alpha Male" Marcus Cor Von , Consequences Creed , "The Man" Becky Lynch , "The Boss" Sasha Banks , Sean O'Haire 's devil advocate gimmick, and David Otunga 's legal adviser character, ECW 's 911 , and stables New World Order , Right to Censor , The Truth Commission , The Acolytes Protection Agency , 3-Minute Warning , and most recently, The Authors of Pain , The Shield , and The Authority . The evil billionaire/millionaire tyrant character works well as
540-533: A continuation of the One Night Stand chronology, the 2010 Extreme Rules event was noted by WWE to be only the second event under a new chronology, thus establishing Extreme Rules as its own annual event. Although the second event in the Extreme Rules chronology, it was the first to feature the titular Extreme Rules match , among other hardcore-based matches. The event took place on April 25, 2010, at
630-669: A contract for a guaranteed championship match at the time and place of his choosing. He used the contract on the April 2 episode of SmackDown , defeating Chris Jericho to win the World Heavyweight Championship after Jericho had been attacked by Edge . After a number one contender's match between Jericho and Edge ended in a double countout , Raw guest host David Hasselhoff announced that Swagger would face Orton, who had beaten Swagger on two occasions, in an Extreme Rules match . Chris Jericho and Edge also had
720-414: A dead wrestler who returned for vengeance. Raven was the leader of five stables; Raven's Nest , The Flock , The Dead Pool , The Gathering , and Serotonin . The Brood was a vampire stable, composed of Gangrel , Christian and Edge . Alexa Bliss was also given a different gimmick after her alliance with Bray Wyatt in late 2020s, appearing suddenly and sometimes attacking the other wrestlers,
810-1984: A demonic but somewhat-bumbling figure in horror face paint who claims to be "very nice, very evil" and attempts to put curses on his opponents. Exaggerating the characteristics of a wrestler's (on occasion fabricated ) origin is one of the most commonly exploited gimmicks, in which overarching characteristics of a character play up to clichés and stereotypes . A long list of wrestlers in this category includes: Arab ( The Sheik , The Sultan , Muhammad Hassan ), African ( Kamala , Abdullah The Butcher , Akeem ), American ( The Patriot , Hulk Hogan , 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan , Jack Swagger ), Australian ( Outback Jack , Nathan Jones ), Austrian ( Walter ), Bulgarian ( Rusev ), Canadian ( Team Canada (TNA) , Team Canada (WCW) ), Chinese ( Xia Li , Boa ), Cuban ( Razor Ramon ), English ( William Regal , Lord Alfred Hayes , Gentleman Jack Gallagher ), French/Québécois ( La Résistance ), German ( Fritz Von Erich , Baron von Raschke ), Hawaiian ( Crush , Leilani Kai ), Indian ( The Great Khali , Jinder Mahal ), Iranian ( The Iron Sheik , Ariya Daivari ), Irish ( Finlay , Sheamus ), Italian ( Full Blooded Italians , Santino Marella ), Jamaican ( Kofi Kingston ), Japanese ( Yokozuna , The Orient Express , Mr. Fuji ), Mexican ( The Mexicools ), Native American ( Chief Jay Strongbow , Tatanka ), New Zealander ( The Sheepherders ), Nigerian ( Apollo Crews ), Pacific Islander ( Jimmy Snuka , The Wild Samoans , The Headshrinkers ), Puerto Rican ( Carlito Colón , Primo and Epico ), Polish ( Ivan Putski ), Russian ( Ivan Koloff , Nikolai Volkoff , Lana ), Scottish ( Drew McIntyre , Roddy Piper ) and Swiss ( Claudio Castagnoli ). Masked wrestlers made their appearance in Europe ( Theobaud Bauer in France, 1865) and
900-659: A handicap match to Big Show, a visibly frustrated Punk executed a Go to Sleep to Gallows and left the ring. On the September 24 episode of SmackDown , Gallows confronted Punk by saying that after defeating him later in the night, he would celebrate by having a beer, but Punk would go on to win the match and Gallows would later be released from the company shortly thereafter, fully disbanding The Straight Edge Society. Gimmick (professional wrestling) Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s In professional wrestling ,
990-408: A joke, dancing and finding out his opponent to win the 24/7 Championship in a strange and funny way. Characters who do charity are depicted as a heroic gimmick due to real-life charity . Wrestlers who used this gimmick include Sweet Daddy Siki , Brother Love , "Make a Difference" Fatu , Dude Love , and most recently, "The Doctor of Hug-o-nomics" Bayley , and tag-team Men on a Mission . Usually
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#17327940771241080-478: A masked character which allows for the identity of the wrestler in question to be concealed. Razor Ramon was portrayed by both Scott Hall and Rick Bognar and Diesel was portrayed by Kevin Nash and then Glen Jacobs . Occasionally, a wrestler uses a gimmick as a tribute to another worker; such is the case of Ric Flair 's Nature Boy persona which he took on as an homage to the original Nature Boy, Buddy Rogers . When
1170-605: A minority of the roster, with most shows containing an abnormally high proportion of clean sportsmanly matches between two "blue-eyes" (as faces were known backstage in the UK). This would remain the case for several decades to come. Gimmick matches were a rarity, midget wrestling failed to catch on, while women were banned by the Greater London Council until the late 1970s. During the Golden Age of pro wrestling in
1260-500: A more individualistic and narcissist form of character. He was one of the first pro-wrestlers to use entrance music, " Pomp and Circumstance " which always played as he made his way to the ring. In Britain, television took British wrestling to the next level when in 1964, it went full-time as part of the World of Sport show. The style of wrestling at the time was unique with strong emphasis on clean technical wrestling. Heels made up
1350-446: A real-life Hollywood actor/actress. These include "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan , The Rock , and most recently, Batista , John Cena , The Miz , and David Otunga 's A-list character, and tag-teams The Hollywood Blondes , and MNM , and most recently, The Bollywood Boyz , despite being of Indian descent and being billed from the famous Indian filming district of Bollywood , Mumbai ( Bombay ), instead which they were named after (although
1440-406: A recent attack on The Undertaker, Serena showed security camera footage of herself breaking edge by drinking at a bar with an unknown man on the same night The Undertaker had been attacked, only for the other Straight Edge Society members to arrive on the scene and angrily trash the place. Despite facing expulsion from The Straight Edge Society, Serena was forgiven by Punk after she told him she showed
1530-627: A rematch for the WWE Championship at Over the Limit by defeating Randy Orton and Sheamus in a number one contender's match, but Cena defeated Batista at the event in an "I Quit" Match. The next night, Raw general manager Bret Hart told Batista he had to qualify for the WWE Championship Fatal-4-Way at the eponymous pay-per-view, but he refused and lost to Randy Orton by forfeit. Batista then quit WWE. After capturing
1620-475: A result, Mysterio challenged him to a match at Extreme Rules with a stipulation that if Punk lost, he would have his head shaved. Also announced for the card was a match for the Women's Championship between the champion, Michelle McCool , and Beth Phoenix . The feud began when Phoenix objected to SmackDown Consultant Vickie Guerrero aligning with Team Lay-Cool (McCool and Layla ) and refusing to grant Phoenix
1710-464: A scheduled match on the card. Edge returned from injury at the Royal Rumble , winning the Royal Rumble match , and earning a match for a championship of his choosing at WrestleMania. Edge elected to wrestle then-World Heavyweight Champion Jericho, but lost. On the following episode of SmackDown , after being refused a rematch, Edge attacked Jericho, allowing Jack Swagger to cash in his Money in
1800-489: A sidekick companion during segments while addressing the fans. And recently, The New Day pursued a joyous gimmick, giving them a character heavily associated with the fans. Damien Sandow also falls under this category due to his 'stunt double' gimmick in late 2014 where he copied whatever his on-screen mentor The Miz did, due to the latter using a gimmick of an arrogant movie star. R-Truth also influenced his character with some of his comedic activities, such as breaking out
1890-418: A superhero, into Nikki A.S.H. (Almost a Superhero). TNA 's Dean Roll's ring name, Shark Boy , became the inspiration for the 3D film, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D . Similarly to superheroes and supervillains, supernatural characters add to entertainment value. Most famously in this category is The Undertaker , considered one of the most respected wrestlers in the business, whose gimmick
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#17327940771241980-407: A title match. After earning her championship match, Phoenix was attacked and humiliated on the April 23 episode of SmackDown by Team Lay-Cool, who hit her with an ironing board and drew on her while unconscious with lipstick to set up an Extreme Makeover match . The final match on the card was between former tag team partners, Shad Gaspard and JTG. After Cryme Tyme lost a tag team match on
2070-519: A villain — due to the jealousy of the fans who want the things "money can't buy" for themselves which they can't afford — in contrast to professional wrestling's working-class fan-base. It is because of this audience that Dusty Rhodes' Common Man or " American Dream " was highly successful with the crowds. Extreme Rules (2010) The 2010 Extreme Rules was the second annual Extreme Rules professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It
2160-1807: A villainous gimmick, initiated by Gorgeous George , due to the jealousy of the good looks the fans want to have for themselves. Wrestlers that followed on with this trend include Sonny Kiss , Angel Garza , "The Untouchable" Carmella , Lana with her catchphrase, "I am the best in the world", "Dashing" Cody Rhodes , "The Black Machismo" Jay Lethal , "The Artist Collective" Sami Zayn , "The Masterpiece" Chris Masters , Byron Saxton , "The Swiss Superman" Antonio Cesaro , Dolph Ziggler with his "perfection" gimmick, The Miz with his catchphrase, "AWESOME", Randy Orton , "The Glamazon" Beth Phoenix , Carlito Caribbean Cool , "The Phenominal" AJ Styles , "Glorious" Bobby Roode , "The Almighty" Bobby Lashley , "The Golden Standard" Shelton Benjamin , Scotty 2 Hotty , "The Rated R Superstar" Edge , The "Great One" Rock , "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry , Val Venis , "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels , "Big Sexy" Kevin Nash , Lex Luger 's "The Narcissist" character, "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton , Ravishing Rick Rude , "The Model" Rick Martel , "Adorable" Adrian Adonis , Hulk Hogan , "Macho Man" Randy Savage , Jesse "The Body" Ventura , "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair and his daughter , "Handsome" Harley Race , "Classy" Freddie Blassie , AEW's "Pretty" Peter Avalon , and Powerhouse Hobbs , TNA's Mr Pec-tacular , Brian Christopher's Grand Master Sexay , Billy Gunn's Mr Ass , Curt Hennig's Mr Perfect , Paul Orndorff's Mr Wonderful , NXT's Tyler Breeze , Lacey Evans , and "The Finest" Kona Reeves , and tag-teams The Mexicools , and Too Cool , as well as women's tag-teams The Beautiful People , LayCool , Fire and Desire , and The IIconics . Hollywood movie stars are occasionally villainous due to fame outside of wrestling as
2250-578: A wrestler acts outside their gimmick this is known as 'breaking kayfabe ', a term showing pro wrestling's linkages to theatre , where the more common term " breaking the fourth wall " is used. Gimmicks are annually rated for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards by the publication's owner, professional wrestling journalists, and various industry insiders, such as Dave Meltzer , promoters, agents and performers, other journalists, historians, and fans. The two awards are given to
2340-416: A wrestler to perform as more than one character for a variety of wrestling promotions. In Mexico, a masked wrestler's identity is often not even a matter of public record, and being unmasked, usually as a stipulation of losing a match , is considered a great humiliation. It is a major taboo for a Mexican wrestler who has lost his mask to start wearing one again, though this has occasionally been violated, as in
2430-758: Is a horror-themed character of an undead, macabre and paranormal dark presence prone to scare tactics. He was managed by the ghostly character that was Paul Bearer and tagged with his half-brother Kane in The Brothers of Destruction stable. Other wrestlers displaying supposed supernatural powers include Matt Hardy (as his Broken/Woken persona), and his younger brother Jeff Hardy (as his Brother Nero/Willow character), Mordecai , Waylon Mercy , Jake "The Snake" Roberts , Papa Shango , The Boogeyman , Abyss , and most recently Asuka , Aleister Black , and Bray Wyatt's The Fiend , and stables The Three Faces of Fear , and The Dungeon of Doom . Japanese Onryo portrays
2520-623: Is also an ex- amateur wrestler , NFL player and UFC champion. Welsh wrestler Mason Ryan is also a former Gladiator and football player. English wrestler Wade Barrett was also a former bare-knuckle fighter as well as Elijah Burke who is also a former amateur boxer . Former MMA fighters Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler also uses their MMA background as part of their characters as well as former American Ninja Warrior competitor Kacy Catanzaro , former kung-fu fighter Xia Li , and Matt Riddle , who always wrestles barefooted during matches, presuming that he had an MMA background career in
2610-414: Is often a rare gimmick in professional wrestling due to its controversial nature. Wrestlers who used this gimmick include Friar Ferguson , and most recently, "Bolieve" Bo Dallas , and "The Monday Night Messiah" Seth "Freakin'" Rollins . Whilst being way beyond over the limit from some sheer violence is scary in some matches, hardcore technician gimmicks are also another popular choice for gimmicks, due to
2700-450: Is that the event features various hardcore-based matches. There were eight matches scheduled on the event's card , all of which were contested under a hardcore stipulation. There was also one dark match that occurred before the live broadcast. In the main event, John Cena defeated Batista in a Last Man Standing match to retain Raw's WWE Championship . In SmackDown's main match, which
2790-533: The 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore , Maryland and featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands . Extreme Rules 2010 also replaced Backlash as the post- WrestleMania pay-per-view. The professional wrestling matches at Extreme Rules involved professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting promotion , WWE. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on
Straight Edge Society - Misplaced Pages Continue
2880-709: The Batman comics have inspired wrestling attire for Sting and Alexa Bliss respectively. Finn Bálor 's Demon King persona is visually based on Spider-Man villains Venom and Carnage . Sandman's character name is also based on Spider-Man villain Sandman as well as Rhyno , whose character name was based on a pun on the Spider-Man villain Rhino . Raven's character name was based on DC Comics superhero, Raven . Kenny Omega 's taunts were inspired by video games since he
2970-817: The Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, and so challenged him to a match at WrestleMania, but lost. As a result, the following night on Raw , Sheamus attacked Triple H with a lead pipe, and it was announced that the two would meet in a Street Fight at Extreme Rules. CM Punk and Rey Mysterio had been feuding for several months prior to Extreme Rules, which included Punk tormenting Mysterio in front of his wife and children. They wrestled at WrestleMania, with Mysterio winning, allowing him to avoid being forced to join Punk's stable , The Straight Edge Society. When inducting members into The Straight Edge Society, Punk shaved their hair while retaining long hair himself; as
3060-420: The Royal Rumble , where he would preach while eliminating Dolph Ziggler , Evan Bourne , JTG , Beth Phoenix , and Zack Ryder , even though he was ultimately eliminated from the speaking platform by Triple H , whom he had tried to convert previously and who had espoused that he too avoided drugs, smoke, and alcohol, but he did not think it was right to be preaching like Punk was doing. On February 23, 2010 it
3150-474: The best and worst gimmick of that year. Pro wrestling's history has been tied to the use of gimmicks from its infancy. From its circus origins in the 1830s, showmen presented wrestlers under names such as "Edward, the steel eater", "Gustave d’Avignon, the bone wrecker", or "Bonnet, the ox of the low Alps" and challenged the public to knock them down for 500 francs. During the late 19th century-early 20th century, when wrestler Frank Gotch rose to prominence,
3240-732: The leprechaun Hornswoggle , El Torito and other various dwarfed versions of other various wrestlers . Education is a rare gimmick in wrestling due to the fact that, most times, the wrestler is a former real-life student or scholar of a school , a college , a university , or a TAFE , who also worked as a cheerleader , a coach , a dean , a librarian , a teacher , or even a principal . Wrestlers who used this gimmick include NXT wrestlers, e.g. Alex Riley etc., Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , Sgt. Slaughter , Dean Douglas , Jonathan Coachman , Michelle McCool 's "sexy teacher" character, The Miz 's and Jack Swagger 's "student" amateur background characters, Damien Sandow 's "Intellectual Savior of
3330-596: The 1980s–1990s, a rise of cartoonish, outlandish gimmicks became popular with the increase of the World Wrestling Federation's popularity. The WWF contributed to the explosion of gimmicks by becoming the most colorful and well-known wrestling brand because of its child-oriented characters, soap opera dramatics and cartoon-like personas. Most notable was the muscular Hulk Hogan , who marked the 1980s with his "Real-American" gimmick and made his main events into excellent ratings draws. His dominant role in
3420-1094: The 1994 movie The Crow , based on the comic book of the same name . Other wrestlers with superhero and supervillain gimmicks include late WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes ' sons Gold and Stardust , Big Van Vader , Bam Bam Bigelow , Pierre Carl Ouellet , Dr. Luther , the magician Phantasio , Icarus , Super Eric , Dexter Lumis , Samoan Rosey during his "the Super Hero in Training" (the S.H.I.T.) phase and his tag-team partner The Hurricane and valet Super Stacy , Earthquake/Avalanche and his tag-team partner Typhoon in The Natural Disasters stable, and tag-teams The Road Warriors , Demolition , KroniK , The Assassins , The Super Assassins , The Machines , and most recently, The Ascension , and The Viking Raiders/War Machine . Some of these characters are brought during very short periods of time for entertainment value. The Joker and Harley Quinn from
3510-934: The 80's, The Honky Tonk Man worked with a Elvisesque character. Elias also works well with his musician guitar character. Rapping was demonstrated by R-Truth / K-Kwik 's original rapper character along with Road Dogg and John Cena worked during the first years of his career with a rapper gimmick. AEW tag team The Acclaimed also begin each of their matches with a different rap. Other music genre types were demonstrated by CM Punk 's straight edge iconoclast hardcore punk , party boys No Way Jose and Adam Rose , Cameron Grimes , Rick Boogs , Rockstar Spud , Heath Slater , Lance Archer , Chris Jericho , Jeff Jarrett , Marty Jannetty , The Honky Tonk Man , Disco Inferno , One Man Gang , Buck Zumhofe , WWE's Brodus Clay and his fun-loving, funk dancing gimmick "The Funkasaurus" and Fandango who includes salsa dancing in his routine, and AEW's Jack Evans who usually does breakdancing in
3600-436: The April 2 episode of SmackDown , Gaspard turned on JTG and attacked him, setting up a strap match between the two. Before the event went live on pay-per-view, Kofi Kingston defeated Dolph Ziggler in a dark match . The actual pay-per-view opened with Sheamus attacking Triple H with a pipe. Following the attack, Unified WWE Tag Team Champions ShoMiz ( Big Show and United States Champion The Miz ) came to
3690-555: The August 27 episode of SmackDown , after defeating JTG, Punk ordered The Straight Edge Society to assault Big Show during his match with Gallows, but Big Show defeated Gallows, showing signs of discontinuity in the Straight Edge Society. Later on in the night, WWE.com announced that Serena was released from her contract, severing her ties to The Straight Edge Society. On the September 3 episode of SmackDown , after losing
Straight Edge Society - Misplaced Pages Continue
3780-450: The Bank contract and win the championship. After a number one contender's match between Jericho and Edge went to a double count-out, it was announced that they would face each other in a Steel Cage match . The secondary rivalry from the Raw brand heading into Extreme Rules was between Triple H and Sheamus . Sheamus felt that Triple H was responsible for him losing the WWE Championship at
3870-553: The Big Show, against whom Swagger defended the World Heavyweight Championship at Over The Limit. At Over the Limit, Swagger lost via disqualification, retaining the title. Triple H was sidelined for the rest of the year and came back in February 2011 to confront The Undertaker . A week later when he returned, he attacked Sheamus to end the feud. The feud between Batista and John Cena continued after Extreme Rules. Batista earned
3960-535: The Giant (7 ft 4 in), The Great Khali (7 ft 3 in), Big Show (7 ft 2 in), Awesome Kong and Nia Jax (123 kg). Similarly to juggernauts, since its beginnings in the circus circuit, the professional wrestler's stereotype has been that of small, but powerful and strong like those of dwarves of Norse mythology . Various wrestlers have banked on the small size which has influenced their in-ring style and persona. Notable examples of these kind include
4050-522: The July 23 episode of SmackDown , after the "mystery man" wrestled and lost to Big Show, the mystery man's mask was then pulled off, revealing him to be Joey Mercury . The next week on SmackDown , Punk berated the three other members, stating that they are nothing without him; this changed after Gallows lost to Big Show later in the night by disqualification after all four members of The Straight Edge Society attacked Big Show and crushed his hand repeatedly on
4140-405: The Limit , in which if Mysterio lost, he would have to join the Straight Edge Society, and if Punk lost, he would have to shave his head. At Over The Limit, Mysterio defeated Punk and forced Punk to shave his head. After Extreme Rules, Randy Orton started a feud with Edge. A match was set up between the two at Over The Limit, ending in a double countout. Jack Swagger entered into a program with
4230-471: The Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown . The main storyline from the Raw brand featured John Cena and Batista feuding over the WWE Championship . The feud had begun several months previously and been a feature of several pay-per-views, including WrestleMania XXVI , where Cena defeated Batista to win
4320-531: The Ruthless Aggression era following the Attitude era, the emphasis of gimmicks became more realistic with wrestlers portraying themselves or actual people without wild exaggeration, freakishness or fantastical qualities. It is also more common for the wrestlers to use their actual names. Wrestlers like Randy Orton , Batista , Bobby Lashley , John Cena , and Brock Lesnar are prime examples. All
4410-637: The United States (Mort Henderson as "Masked Marvel" in 1915) considerably earlier than in Mexico, but it was the latter that popularised the use of masks. This, in some cases to signify a high-flyer style, influenced by Lucha Libre . A specific masked gimmick may be used by more than one wrestler at a wrestling company's request since their identity can be permanently concealed. This is the case of Mexican Sin Cara and Japanese Tiger Mask . Masks also allow
4500-610: The Unwashed Masses" character, and "The Librarian" Peter Avalon and his manager Leva Bates , and tag-teams The Steiner Brothers , The Spirit Squad , and most recently, Team Rhodes Scholars , American Alpha , and Chase University . Bad News reporter characters are a villainous gimmick; due to any "bad news" reported to the fans by a "bad guy" (heel); but is quite rare since that fans are not quite interested in it either. Wrestlers who used this gimmick include Bad News Brown , and most recently, "Bad News" Barrett . Religion
4590-595: The WWE Women's Championship, Beth Phoenix tore her ACL on the May 6 episode of Superstars during a singles match against Rosa Mendes, which Phoenix won with a roll-up. Phoenix eventually dropped the WWE Women's Championship to Layla in a 2-on-1 handicap match on the May 14 edition of SmackDown . After being out of action for six months, Phoenix returned at Survivor Series to save Natalya from an attack by LayCool . In December at TLC , Phoenix and Natalya defeated LayCool in
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#17327940771244680-465: The barricade but Cena stood at a nine count. Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment through the announce table on Batista, who stood at a nine count. Batista performed a Spinebuster through a table on Cena, who stood at a nine count. Batista performed a Batista Bomb on Cena, who stood at a nine count. Cena applied the STF on Batista, who stood at a nine count. Cena incapacitated Batista by tying Batista's feet to
4770-584: The case of Rey Mysterio . Other wrestlers who have used masks in their performances include: The Masked Superstar , Mexican-American Kalisto , Lince Dorado , Gran Metalik , or Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger . A high number of wrestlers who start their careers in another sport incorporate their athletic abilities as part of their act. That is the case for Olympic medallist Kurt Angle , who previously competed in freestyle wrestling and alludes to it in his attire and wrestling style. Brock Lesnar
4860-521: The championship. Following WrestleMania, on the April 5 episode of Raw , Batista attacked Cena after a match. It was announced that Batista would receive his rematch in a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules. World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger from the SmackDown brand was scheduled to face Raw wrestler Randy Orton . Swagger won the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania, earning
4950-446: The concept of the show was that the event featured various matches that were contested under hardcore rules . The defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion, which WWE acquired in 2003, originally used the "extreme rules" term to describe the regulations for all of its matches; WWE adopted the term and has since used it in place of "hardcore match" or "hardcore rules". While the inaugural 2009 event had originally been described as
5040-416: The conclusion of the match, a masked man ( Joey Mercury ) attacked Mysterio with a Fallaway Powerbomb on the floor, which allowed Punk to perform a Go To Sleep on Mysterio and pin him. After that, JTG wrestled Shad in a Strap match, where the objective was to touch all four turnbuckles while connected to the opponent. Shad used his size advantage to overpower JTG for most of the match. The conclusion of
5130-480: The crowded independent circuit by adopting absurdist comedy gimmicks intended to be understood by post-kayfabe fans as purely fictional characters. Two such wrestlers whose independent-scene popularity got them noticed and eventually signed by the internationally televised promotion All Elite Wrestling are Orange Cassidy , an emotionless slacker who puts as little effort as possible into his matches and frequently wrestles with his hands in his pockets; and Danhausen ,
5220-476: The decisive winner. After, the officials tried to help Triple H backstage, but Sheamus came out again and executed a fifth Brogue Kick. Triple H was carried out on a stretcher and not seen again for almost 10 months. Later, Michelle McCool defended the Women's Championship against Beth Phoenix in an Extreme Makeover match. At the conclusion of the match, Phoenix performed a Glam Slam on McCool and pinned her to win
5310-473: The end of the match, Kane interfered and took Punk from the ring, allegedly accusing him of injuring The Undertaker , causing Punk to lose the match and not win the title. On the June 25 episode of SmackDown , Punk faced Kane in a no disqualification match , where Punk legit injured his arm and left the building, resulting in a no contest . After an ultimatum was set by Kane to show Punk's innocence concerning
5400-645: The end, on the August 28 episode of SmackDown , Punk retained his World Heavyweight Championship in a Loser Leaves WWE steel cage match and Hardy left the WWE. The formation began on the November 27, 2009 episode of SmackDown where Punk transformed the formerly mentally disabled and unresponsive Festus into the focused and driven Luke Gallows, who explained that his friends got him hooked on prescription pain medication, which explained his behavior as Festus, and he also credited Punk with cleaning him up and "showing him
5490-399: The entrance ramp and executed a Brogue Kick . Back in the ring, Sheamus executed another Brogue Kick. As the referee checked on Triple H, he pushed him aside and in a final act of defiance performed the famous "crotch chop", taunting Sheamus. Sheamus executed two more Brogue Kicks before pinning Triple H to win the match. After this, he posed on top of the knocked out Triple H before leaving as
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#17327940771245580-802: The fans being over with getting used to watching sheer violence as they don't shy away from it either. These include Abdullah the Butcher , and Bruiser Brody , which came popular into other professional wrestling companies like ECW wrestlers, e.g. Terry Funk , Hardcore Holly , New Jack , and Mick Foley/Mankind/Cactus Jack , etc., CZW wrestlers, e.g. John Zandig , Necro Butcher , Wifebeater , Nick Mondo , and Nick Gage , etc., AEW wrestlers, e.g. The Blade and The Butcher , etc., Japanese Wrestlers Atsushi Onita , Toshiaki Kawada , and Jun Kasai , and tag-teams The Motor City Machine Guns , and most recently, The Mechanics , and Heavy Machinery . Music influences are another popular choice for gimmicks. In
5670-476: The fans. Such showmanship was unheard of for the time; and consequently, arena crowds grew in size as fans turned out to ridicule George. Gorgeous George's impact and legacy on wrestling gimmicks was enormous, demonstrating how fast television changed the product from athletics to performance. Before him, wrestlers' gimmicks imitated "ethnic terrors"—Nazis, Middle Eastern Muslims (Arabs, Turks, Persians, Afghans, etc.), Japanese, Russians, etc.—but his success birthed
5760-525: The focus became on contests largely legitimate (see catch wrestling ), which largely resulted in the abandoning previous character gimmicks. It was not until the First Golden Age of Professional Wrestling in the United States during the 1940s–1950s, when Gorgeous George created pro wrestling's first major gimmick. His heel character focused on his looks and quickly antagonized the fans with his exaggerated effeminate behavior, drawing jealousy to
5850-533: The group was CM Punk , who follows the straight edge lifestyle in real life. Members included Joey Mercury , Luke Gallows , and Serena . As of 2024, Punk, and Gallows remain employed with the WWE, while Deeb is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Before The Straight Edge Society was formed, CM Punk feuded with Jeff Hardy over the World Heavyweight Championship while making allusions to Hardy's real life drug usage. In
5940-592: The industry at that time led to this era to be also known as "Hulkamania". Around this time, wrestling became a form of entertainment rather than an official sport. Other wrestlers from this era with similarly vivid and outlandish characterization include The Iron Sheik , The Ultimate Warrior , Randy Savage , The Undertaker , Sting , Goldust , Roddy Piper , Ric Flair , "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels , Big Daddy Cool Diesel , Kwang , The Bushwhackers , Big Boss Man , Tatanka , Razor Ramon , Sgt. Slaughter , Irwin R. Schyster , among many others. Beginning with
6030-412: The match came when Shad had JTG on his back and began to tag corners, unaware that JTG was doing the same. After touching the third corner, JTG performed a Box Cutter on Shad and touched the final corner to win the match. In the fourth match, Jack Swagger defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton in an Extreme Rules match. At the conclusion of the match, Orton attempted an RKO on
6120-402: The match, Big Show turned face and punched The Miz right through his jaw. Big Show moved to the SmackDown brand and became the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship at Over the Limit . The feud between CM Punk and Rey Mysterio continued after Extreme Rules. A match combining the stipulations of their matches from Extreme Rules and WrestleMania XXVI was announced for Over
6210-419: The match. In the main event, John Cena defended the WWE Championship against Batista in a Last Man Standing match. Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment onto a chair on Batista, who stood at an eight count. Batista performed two Spears on Cena, who stood at an eight count each time. Cena attempted the STF but Batista countered, knocking Cena through a table; Cena stood at a nine count. Batista threw Cena through
6300-527: The name "Bollywood" was borrowed from the word "Hollywood" but with a "B" instead of a "H" to describe a famous filming district in Mumbai (Bombay), in India, which it was named after). Authority figures are apparently villainous but sometimes as heroic characters as wrestlers and non-wrestlers (e.g. referees , general managers, security , police , etc.) as well depending on the storyline. Some wrestlers also use
6390-448: The past before debuting in WWE along with Mojo Rawley 's "hyperactive" wrestling style due to being a former NFL player before debuting WWE as well as the stable The Four Horsemen . The theatrical nature of professional wrestling easily blends with comic hero and villain characters , made popular in the 1980s by legend The Ultimate Warrior and Sting , whose character was inspired by
6480-414: The ring and complained about not having a match for the night, prompting SmackDown general manager Theodore Long to make a tag team gauntlet match for them against three other teams, with the winners earning a future tag team championship match. The first team was John Morrison and R-Truth , who lost when Morrison was disqualified for refusing to release a hold on Big Show by a five count. The next team
6570-540: The ring during entrances or when he's won a match, and tag-teams The Public Enemy , Badd Company , The Rockers , The Rock 'n' Roll Express , The Rhythm and Blues , and most recently, The Vaudevillains . AEW 's Adam Williams is also a professional wrestler and a real-life guitarist. Whilst humor has long been present in professional wrestling matches and many wrestlers incorporate elements of comedy in their act, full-on comedic gimmicks are not commonly seen. These are sometimes reserved for wrestlers who not always have
6660-416: The ring post with duct tape . Batista was unable to answer the 10 count, allowing Cena to retain the title. In August 2010, WWE reported that the event had received 182,000 pay-per-view buys, down on what the previous year's event had. Because The Hart Dynasty defeated ShoMiz (Big Show and The Miz) at Extreme Rules, they received a tag team championship match the next night on Raw , which they won. After
6750-407: The said wrestlers are depicted as less-exaggerated average people. Although rare, colorful and cartoon-like characters remain in the WWE, such as Shinsuke Nakamura (a wildly random, erratic mixed martial arts enigma, emotionally charged by the sound of violins) and Matt Riddle (a stereotypical carefree, barefoot surfer Valley boy ). Outside WWE, some wrestlers have made names for themselves on
6840-528: The same things that Bray Wyatt would do. Since its beginnings in the circus circuit, the professional wrestler's stereotype has been that of large, powerful and strong, most notably Kane upon his arrival to the WWF/E. Various wrestlers have banked on the larger size which has influenced their in-ring style and persona. Notable examples of these kind include Swede Tor Johnson (181 kg), Gorilla Monsoon (182 kg), Giant González (8 ft 0 in), André
6930-436: The steel steps, with Punk revealing that his arm had healed. Big Show then challenged all three members of The Straight Edge Society in a 3-on-1 handicap match at SummerSlam , which Big Show won. On the following episode of SmackDown , Serena and Gallows competed in a tag team match against Big Show and Kelly Kelly , which if Gallows and Serena lost, they would be kicked out of The Straight Edge Society, which they won. On
7020-794: The stereotypical physique required in the industry and instead exploit their entertainment abilities. Initiated by English wrestler Les Kellett , wrestlers who fall under this category are Doink The Clown which was majorly portrayed by Matt Osborne until his death in 2013, which inspired others like Scottish comedian and actor Grado , Ring of Honor 's Colt Cabana , Santino Marella , James Ellsworth , and Eugene's "mentally disabled boy" character, Japanese Wrestlers Stalker Ichikawa , Gran Naniwa , Kuishinbo Kamen and Toru Yano , Charlie Haas during his impersonations run, and WWE 's 1990s turkey character Gobbledy Gooker , and rooster character Red Rooster , WCW's Brian Pillman , and Al Snow along with his mannequin prop called "Head" which he used as
7110-436: The title. The next match was a Steel Cage match between Edge and Chris Jericho. When Jericho attempted to retrieve a chair, Edge stopped him but Jericho slammed the steel cage door on him. Jericho then attempted to strike Edge with the chair but Edge ducked and performed a spear on Jericho for a near-fall. Jericho then performed a Springboard Codebreaker on Edge for a near-fall. Edge performed another spear on Jericho to win
7200-584: The two agreed to face each other at Over the Limit in May, in a match which combined the stipulations of their previous two pay-per-view matches. At Over the Limit, Punk was defeated and wound up getting his head shaved after interference from Kane . To conceal his baldness, Punk then began to wear a mask. In June, Punk participated in a fatal four-way match at the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view event for Jack Swagger 's World Heavyweight Championship that also featured eventual winner Rey Mysterio and Big Show , and near
7290-413: The video to protect him from Kane, promising to never break the code again. The following week on SmackDown , Punk got into a verbal altercation with Big Show with regards to the upcoming Money in the Bank pay-per-view and a ladder custom made for Big Show; retaliating against an attack from The Straight Edge Society, Big Show chased Punk up the ladder and pulled his mask off, revealing his bald head. On
7380-707: The way", and became Punk's main enforcer. Gallows would assist Punk in his feuds with R-Truth and Matt Hardy . A few weeks later, the two began shaving the heads of ( planted ) fans in the audience who wished to follow the straight edge lifestyle, demonstrating a "new beginning" for their lives. Before Punk was able to find a third person to convert, a woman named Serena came out of the crowd begging to be saved by Punk, but instead of having security escort her out, he accepted Serena and shaved her head. From thereafter, Serena accompanied Punk and ran interference in his matches. Punk would interrupt many events in an attempt to recruit members to The Straight Edge Society, starting from
7470-478: The wrestler's desire to be popular or hated by the crowd. A tweener gimmick falls between the two extremes, such as wrestlers who manifests many heel and face traits such as Randy Orton 's viper gimmick. A wrestler may portray more than one gimmick over their career depending on the angle or the wrestling promotion that they are working for at that time. Promotions will use gimmicks on more than one person, albeit at different times, occasionally taking advantage of
7560-422: Was Montel Vontavious Porter and Mark Henry , who also lost after Miz pinned MVP following a KO Punch from Big Show. The final team was The Hart Dynasty , who won after Kidd pinned Miz following a Hart Attack . Next, CM Punk faced Rey Mysterio, where if Punk lost he would have his head shaved bald. During the match, Luke Gallows and Serena attacked Mysterio on the outside and were banned from ringside. At
7650-408: Was a big fan of them. Mantaur 's character name was also based on a pun on the word Minotaur , a half-man, half-bull creature from Greek Mythology . Luchasaurus ' character name is a portmanteau of " lucha libre " and " dino saurus ". Tag-team The Super Smash Brothers 's name was based on the video game franchise Super Smash Bros. Nikki Cross also changed her gimmick and name like that of
7740-430: Was an interpromotional match, Jack Swagger defeated Raw's Randy Orton in an Extreme Rules match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship . The event received 182,000 pay-per-view buys, the same as the figure achieved by the 2009 Backlash event. In 2009 , World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) established Extreme Rules as a gimmick pay-per-view (PPV), replacing One Night Stand . Just like One Night Stand,
7830-636: Was eliminated by Mysterio in an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship. The feud would then intensify when Mysterio cost Punk a qualifying match against Shelton Benjamin the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI . The Straight Edge Society would then interrupt Mysterio's daughter's ninth birthday party, enticing Mysterio into challenging Punk to a match at WrestleMania XXVI, where if Mysterio lost, he would have to join The Straight Edge Society. However, Mysterio defeated Punk at WrestleMania. A rematch
7920-431: Was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions . The event took place on April 25, 2010, at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore , Maryland . It replaced Backlash as the post- WrestleMania pay-per-view. It was the first Extreme Rules event to feature the titular Extreme Rules match and the last WWE PPV to feature a Saliva song which was "Time to Shine". The concept of Extreme Rules
8010-413: Was made at Extreme Rules where Mysterio said if Punk lost, he would have his head shaved; however, Punk won the match with interference from a mysterious fourth member who concealed himself either with a hood or a mask ; thus Punk kept his head from being shaved. On the following episode of SmackDown , after getting assaulted by Mysterio during a match with Luke Gallows against Montel Vontavious Porter ,
8100-435: Was revealed that Punk would be mentoring Darren Young , a "South Beach Party Boy", on the first season of NXT . A few weeks later, Young became fascinated with The Straight Edge Society and decided to join them, only to quickly change his mind after finding out he had to shave his head as initiation. The Straight Edge Society would begin a feud with Rey Mysterio at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event, where Punk
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