Wow, some of these designs are horrible, and others are kind of interesting.
Goldust and Adam Bomb had quite the character design progression there. IRS looked like a male stripper. I hope they post more of these, they're awesome and the kind of stuff that fans never get a chance to see and always go crazy for.
I'm going to assume the S&M Adam Bomb was Pat Patterson just doodling away.
ReplyDeleteI'm just going to use this opportunity to point out once again, that Adam Bomb was awesome. Bomb Squad 4 life.
ReplyDeleteHoly shit these are great! The sketches of Mankind look really creepy. The character was great (I LOVED his early days) but he never got that horror movie vibe they have in the sketches.
ReplyDeleteAnd Goldust's tear away suit to reveal the leather body suit would have been great.
WTF were they thinking with Rocky?
I saw this at 411, some of these concept arts are cool.
ReplyDeleteThe Papa Shango concept art was very cool. Totally different face paint and ring gear designs.
Doink also had a variety of different styles that I liked in face paint and gear.
Dustin Rhode should be thankful that Vince McMahon did not give the go ahead for some of the ridiculous ideas in the concept art. Dustin Rhodes as a pharaoh Egyptian? WTF? Rhodes in a cowboy hat, leather vets and boots?
How flamboyant did they want to make Goldust to be?
They hit it right with Dude Love. From paper to the actual performer. They got that right on the money.
Razor Ramon's sketches were awesome. They gave him the most effeminate stances when he was supposed to OOZE MACHISMO.
ReplyDeleteFound it funny that IRS was drawn like Vince. Also wondering if Dustin was originally the person in mind for Golddust, given the 5 or 6 other sketches they had of him. The Pharoh thing was different but the problem with that is it would have been like all WWF people at the time, "Hey its Dustin Rhodes" If a new unknown were to do that Pharoh it would have worked.
ReplyDeleteI think the long tights would have worked for Hall.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else notice that the "Ringmaster" gimmick was considered for Bryan Clark in some of these sketches?
ReplyDeleteStargate Dustin Rhodes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWow that was pretty awesome. I'm glad they decided to share this.
ReplyDeleteHall had the kind of build that looks better in trunks, IMO. Tights work better if you're trying to sell a guy on his height (whether he actually has it [Kevin Nash] or not [Eddie Guerrero]).
ReplyDeleteAM I THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS A LOT OF THESE DESIGNS LOOKED AWESOME?
ReplyDeleteI LIKE THE EARLY CONCEPTS OF THE GOLDUST CHARACTER.
IIRC, "The Ringmaster" was a concept that existed on paper (and was trademarked) years before Steve Austin was ever signed and shoehorned into it. It would be a given that they considered several guys for it before Austin.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how things would have played out of Goldust was just the guy in the gold studded suit with the singlet, and the gold painted up guy in the bodysuit.
ReplyDeleteThe artist wasn't exactly giving a lot of love to Mick's cardio in the Dude Love sketches, huh? Looks like they were auditioning Balls Mahoney for the gimmick based on that art.
ReplyDeleteSomeone said in another page, that the Stargate look would have worked if it was Cody....
ReplyDeleteWWE.com has become pretty awesome.
ReplyDeletebreaking kayfab!
ReplyDeleteDoink looks terrifying.
ReplyDeleteHe should have been after the heel turn.
ReplyDeleteThe sketches made Max Moon look awesome. And then you see the final product and you laugh.
ReplyDeleteHoly shit. I know I heard that before but I didn't think anything of it. I guess it was true afterall.
ReplyDeleteI think we have a different definition of awesome...
ReplyDeleteIt's been pretty awesome for a couple years. Ever since Styles took over, it seems.
ReplyDeleteHe started as a heel.
ReplyDeleteThe facepaint, especially, is freaking awesome.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of concept artists like this use pre-drawn bodies and then add the costumes on top.
ReplyDeleteThey looked like someone had been staring at their Masters of the Universe collection and said, "Hey, some of these outfits would look great on a wrestler. Let's combine three or four of them into one!"
ReplyDeleteMaybe so. But still, the drawings are infinitely better than the actual costume. It looked like part of it was made from balloons. I guess Doink also worked in the costume dept.?
ReplyDeleteReally cool stuff. Ringmaster Adam Bomb? Stargate Dustin Rhodes? It's like WWE 13's Community Creations exploded.
ReplyDeleteCosign.
ReplyDeleteJoey Styles and his crew have to be commended for doing a pretty amazing job over there at WWE.com. They seem to come out with several awesome articles and features every week.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is the "June 16th, 1995" sketch of Dustin Rhodes where he is wearing some kind of giant jacket and there's a tiny diaper hanging out in space next to him. Like, I wonder if there was supposed to be an artists note next to it, "May need tiny diaper??? Keep one handy"
ReplyDeleteI imagine someone excitedly bringing Vince the sketch and Vince raving about it and then saying "but, uh, let's not spend too much money, okay?"
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of these are the sheer amount of ideas that look like they were ripped from movies.
ReplyDeleteDoes HBK's concept remind anyone else of Bob from the Michael Keaton Batman?
I'm curious how Vince responds to people questioning their assigned gimmick. We've heard that Foley and Hall changed the direction of their characters but they were established and almost 20 years ago (in related news: I feel old).
ReplyDeleteHow about now? Are guys just happy to have a spot or does someone like Johnny Curtis speak up and say, "Uh, how about this idea?"
Great subtle moment: "Charles in Mexico"(Konnan) is crossed off the Max Moon sketches. I think Paul Diamond replaced him.
ReplyDeleteThey must've thought Max Moon would take off (get it, hehehehe) because there's like twelve different sketches.
ReplyDeleteI get the impression that Vince is one of those guys who respects you more if you're not "just happy to be here." This may sound silly, but I've always thought Foley's WWF career would have gone differently had he told Vince on their first meeting, "Sure, whatever you guys want me to do is fine."
ReplyDeleteI assume Stargate was big around the time Dustin was coming to WWE?
ReplyDeleteI can just imagine the current ideas that "creative" comes up with for people. People that don't know wrestling are going to come up with really bad gimmicks.
ReplyDeleteWell Stargate came out in 94.............
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKlhUEwuwGI
ReplyDeleteits tony atlas, i mean saba simba
ReplyDelete'Rhodes in a cowboy hat, leather vest and boots?'
ReplyDeletewell they call him the naturalllllll
better than when he diddles away
ReplyDeleteso the abbreviation is bs?
ReplyDeleteThe Mankind sketches were in Foley's book.
ReplyDeleteI would pay for a book of nothing but rejected sketches of WWE creative.
ReplyDeleteOne of Max Moon's early custome designs looks slightly similar to Bane, who debuted right around the same time. Another looks like Samus Aran from the original Metroid game.
ReplyDeleteAnd boy, they had no idea what to do with poor Dustin, did they?
I guess Konnan was supposed to be a big deal, fairly quick.
ReplyDeleteForget the mockup of Stargate Dustin Rhodes, I want to see the proposed vignette script/storyline to introduce the character.
ReplyDelete"Stargate Dustin Runnels" would have been an instant WrestleCrap entry for sure. Did he dial a gate after every match and disappear into a pool of water?
ReplyDeleteDid there really need to be that many slides for that one? It was basically the same once it debuted.
ReplyDeleteAnd they appeared to actually have his arm tied off like he was shooting heroin.
ReplyDeleteI want to see the lawsuit that MGM would have slapped them with!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw the Ringmaster ones on Bryan Clarke with the big RM on them, I didn't realize they weren't supposed to be for Adam Bomb and I assumed the original gimmick name was going to be Radioactive Man. No word whether Johnny Polo was originally supposed to be Fall Out Boy.
ReplyDeleteI now want to see "IRS: Male Stripper".
ReplyDeleteIts Ron Simmons uh no its farooq assad
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing most of those names written are just placeholders/descriptions. Dustin would have gotten another name by the time the gimmick debuted.
ReplyDeleteI guess in hindsight that's why the goggles do nothing.
ReplyDeleteMax Moon ALMOST looked awesome in some of those designs.
ReplyDeleteThe Adam Bomb concept drawings look like a rejected Image Comic character from the 90's.
ReplyDelete100% agree. Do a lot of people here view the site regularly? Because WWE.com seems to do everything many fans here wish WWE -- as a television entity -- did. They reference history that the announcers usually ignore. They dissect character motivations. And they seem to have a deep appreciation of the company's history. Anyone catch the photos and story on the original WWE Championship?
ReplyDeleteLater used for Jeff Jarrett;
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wwe.com/f/styles/photo_large_lightbox/public/photo/image/2013/06/022_Conceptual_Drawings.jpg
I will be so disappointed in everyone if I'm the only one to upvote that.
ReplyDeleteBlack trunk, grey trunk, red trunk, white trunk... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI've heard "The goggles they do NOTHING" so many times the words have lost all meaning.
ReplyDeleteBut a Simpsons quote is a Simpsons quote. I shall upvote it.
I love how the cowboy look is more gay than the actual Goldust character.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I remember that time me and another dude messaged Scott with Brian Clark questions. He was definitely a good worker for his size at one point, and it's kind of a shame that he had very little charisma, and WCW fucked away the Wrath push.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they've ever given a guy a gimmick so bad, that they knew was horrible and not going to work, just to see if the guy being offered the role would say something. Give them a test right off the bat to see how well they do with telling truth to power...
ReplyDeleteI'm sure they would have.. Come to think of it, Farooq (Ron Simmons) had a look that could be considered a Stargate ripoff when he first debuted... hmm...
ReplyDeleteYes, that's why they made Dusty Rhodes wear polka dots. He ran with it and became a bigger legend.
ReplyDeleteWhat would've been cool if they had "Radioactive Man" and his entrance theme was The Firm's "Radioactive"
ReplyDelete