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Michael Campbell |
Whatever happened to the days of wrestlers talking their way to the top?
�I can reach into my personality and find those elements that the audience reacts to. Then I turn up the volume and act them out in a way that works.�
Eric Bischoff�s book Controversy Creates Cash may have been a defensive, self-serving work, but this is one statement from it that rings true. Despite his business and creative misjudgements, Bischoff has proven over time to be a wonderful on-screen character and the aforementioned quote highlights exactly why: it�s because the fictional Bischoff largely emanates from the real one. The former boss of WCW booked himself as a cocky, headstrong, self-serving businessman with friends in high places. While that description may be a somewhat one-dimensional in regards to an important figure in the mid-Nineties revolution of the wresting industry, it�s a neat summary. Fact is, Eric Bischoff was a crass, confident youngster who talked his way into the top echelons of WCW�s brass but in later years, he matured into a storyline character who was a superb parallel of his former self.
But at the end of the day, nobody else could have played Bischoff except the real deal. And this isn�t a one-off scenario either; from Roddy Piper and Jake �The Snake� Roberts to Steve Austin and The Rock, the business� biggest superstars have almost invariably all reached such a level of stardom whilst channeling their own minds. The Ringmaster didn�t main event a pay-per-view and never would have, but Stone Cold Steve Austin did. Mason the Mutilator would never have headlined a card, but Mick Foley was able to adapt aspects of his own personality into three separate acts who did.
Such acts should be regarded as a rule of thumb for the entire wrestling industry. Why attempt to squeeze into clothes that are too tight to fit? If a character isn�t believable, why should the average viewer care? How can a performer be expected to convince crowds when handed a microphone if they�re playing the wrong part? Sadly though, these are all questions that, right now, WWE is either failing to answer or, even worse, ignoring altogether.
For the rest of this feature, check out issue 48 of FSM - available at WH Smith and all good retailers. (For US readers we are now carried at Borders and Barnes & Noble, so check for local availability or click here to subscribe.)
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