Posted May 12, 201213 yr comment_5502432 I know there's not a lot of new gimmicks in the world of rasslin, but some stolen gimmicks are more blatant than others. "The Enforcer" CW Anderson, who runs around doing spinebusters? Stolen gimmick, much? What else is out there? And is this more common or less of a big deal than I am thinking?
May 12, 201213 yr comment_5502438 CW Anderson, at least in MLW, has been one of my least favourite wrestlers ever. He stole the 'throat-slash' hand sign as well and Joey Styles talked how CW and Simon Diamond reminded him big time of Anderson and Blanchard. Ugh. Did he really expect to amount to anything doing that?
May 12, 201213 yr comment_5502440 The thing with CW was that it was self aware. It knew what it was doing. It wasn't like everyone using the facepaint after the road warriors. It was a wink wink thing. and yeah, he was still pretty good as late as 2009. Corporal Kirchner is someone who I see as more along the lines of what this note would be about.
May 13, 201213 yr comment_5502442 I remember a great quote from Arn Anderson when someone told him about CW. He said something along the lines of "Well, I hope he does better with it than I did."
May 13, 201213 yr comment_5502469 Would this be the thread to mention all the indy guys that ape Chris Benoit's and Dynamite Kid's movesets and personas? Davey Richards in particular seems derivative of several guys.
May 13, 201213 yr comment_5502470 If we go way back. The Rock N Roll RPMs were derivative of the Rock N Roll Express.
May 13, 201213 yr comment_5502471 He did the act really well, but Ric Flair is possibly the most derivative wrestler in history.
May 13, 201213 yr comment_5502472 If we go way back. The Rock N Roll RPMs were derivative of the Rock N Roll Express. So were the Midnight Rockers. Come to think of it, the R&Rs themselves were derivative of the Fabulous Ones. On that note, look at all the face-painted tag teams that sprung up in response to the Road Warriors (Demolition, Blade Runners, Powers of Pain). Going in a completely different direction, Hikari Fukuoka was largely a Manami Toyota clone.
May 13, 201213 yr Author comment_5502474 The thing with CW was that it was self aware. It knew what it was doing. It wasn't like everyone using the facepaint after the road warriors. It was a wink wink thing. and yeah, he was still pretty good as late as 2009. Thanks for the link to that 2009 match. I quite enjoyed it. Wouldn't 99% of stolen gimmicks be self-aware? Or are you saying that he did it as a joke on Arn? Everything he borrowed, including calling himself The Enforcer, was a tease?
May 13, 201213 yr comment_5502475 Going in a completely different direction, Hikari Fukuoka was largely a Manami Toyota clone. At first, yes. Then she invented the moonsault footstomp and became the coolest wrestler ever. Inoki > Fujinami > Nishimura > Yuki Ishikawa Genichiru Tenryu > Toshiaki Kawada Dynamite Kid > Jushin Liger > Chris Benoit > Davey Richards Superstar Graham > Jesse Ventura > Hulk Hogan Barry Windham > Dustin Rhodes Jerry Lawler > Eddie Gilbert
May 13, 201213 yr comment_5502485 Going in a completely different direction, Hikari Fukuoka was largely a Manami Toyota clone. At first, yes. Then she invented the moonsault footstomp and became the coolest wrestler ever. On that note, Chigusa > Toshiyo Yamada & Momoe Nakanishi > Natsuki*Taiyo
May 14, 201213 yr comment_5502517 CW Anderson, at least in MLW, has been one of my least favourite wrestlers ever. He stole the 'throat-slash' hand sign as well and Joey Styles talked how CW and Simon Diamond reminded him big time of Anderson and Blanchard. Ugh. Did he really expect to amount to anything doing that? Imagine you are C.W. Anderson and you look like that. What other gimmick are you going to get that won't result in you being a jobber, or a masked guy with a very short shelf life?
May 14, 201213 yr comment_5502519 When Goldberg debuted, I remember people talking about him kind of being a Ken Shamrock/Stone Cold combo. I think he used the ankle lock early on, and kinda did some MMA-type moves. The Austin part is pretty obvious.
May 14, 201213 yr comment_5502522 CW Anderson, at least in MLW, has been one of my least favourite wrestlers ever. He stole the 'throat-slash' hand sign as well and Joey Styles talked how CW and Simon Diamond reminded him big time of Anderson and Blanchard. Ugh. Did he really expect to amount to anything doing that? Imagine you are C.W. Anderson and you look like that. What other gimmick are you going to get that won't result in you being a jobber, or a masked guy with a very short shelf life? I wonder if CW and Arn Anderson met each other, given they both worked for WWE in 2006.
May 14, 201213 yr comment_5502523 CW Anderson, at least in MLW, has been one of my least favourite wrestlers ever. He stole the 'throat-slash' hand sign as well and Joey Styles talked how CW and Simon Diamond reminded him big time of Anderson and Blanchard. Ugh. Did he really expect to amount to anything doing that? Imagine you are C.W. Anderson and you look like that. What other gimmick are you going to get that won't result in you being a jobber, or a masked guy with a very short shelf life? BLATANTLY copying Arn Anderson (or any other wrestler) isn't something I would have done. It's nice that he's a living tribute or something and obviously likes Arn a lot, but I don't see any reason to basically try to be him. Almost screams to me, 'I suck, I'll be THIS guy instead.' I've got limited vision on CW so I'm not trying to say he "sucks," but if I want to watch someone do "Arn Anderson," I'll watch Arn himself before a meh imitaion.
May 14, 201213 yr comment_5502528 Eh, Arn himself was just copying the other Anderson's before him and only got the gimmick because someone thought he looked similar to Ole who also only got the gimmick because someone thought he looked similar enough to Lars & Gene to fit in with them with Gene being the only Anderson who actually was legit named that.
May 14, 201213 yr comment_5502529 Yeah Arn was a copy and C.W. was/is a very good worker. I agree that ideally copying him that much is not the best, but a guy with that look has virtually no real options.
May 14, 201213 yr comment_5502543 It turned out to be a great run and team, but Demolition must have been an out-right spoof of the Road Warrior gimmick. Whoever came up with their wardrobe either had a pretty twisted sense of humor or looked in their own closets for inspiration.
May 14, 201213 yr comment_5502555 CW being an 'Anderson' isn't exactly something I'm against (was it even his idea?), but he looked more like he was copying Arn Anderson. Calling himself 'the Enforcer', using the spinebuster, the throat-slash, having similar way of eating punches....yeah. I'd rather he be an Anderson family member who wasn't THAT inspried by someone else to the point of mimic.
May 14, 201213 yr comment_5502557 CW Anderson, at least in MLW, has been one of my least favourite wrestlers ever. He stole the 'throat-slash' hand sign as well and Joey Styles talked how CW and Simon Diamond reminded him big time of Anderson and Blanchard. Ugh. Did he really expect to amount to anything doing that? Imagine you are C.W. Anderson and you look like that. What other gimmick are you going to get that won't result in you being a jobber, or a masked guy with a very short shelf life? I wonder if CW and Arn Anderson met each other, given they both worked for WWE in 2006. CW mentioned Arn worked out with him a few times in the ring. CW was given the Anderson name by Gene Anderson himself.
May 14, 201213 yr comment_5502561 It was originally sort of parody in ECW though. He was there with Lou E Dangerously as the New Dangerous Alliance. It was more tongue in cheek than the New Fabulous Ones which were meant to be a draw. Granted, he might have been using the gimmick before that, I don't know. Also, I was watching the youtube Memphis Rockers stuff and how did no one ever tell me the Nasty Boys started off with facepaint. In the pantheon of Hawk and Animal take offs, they are less the Road Warrior and more The Warriors.
May 14, 201213 yr comment_5502563 I wonder what was the first post-modern derivative gimmick that wasn't just a short parody deal. Is C.W. the answer ?
May 14, 201213 yr comment_5502565 The guy from Memphis ? Not overly familiar with him. Enlighten me on why he was derivative and post-modern.
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