Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
A gimmick is something that is intended to hook the attention of fans to a wrestler. They may be outrageous or steeped more in reality, whatever the case may be…some have succeeded and many others have failed. The Gimmick Table takes a look at the origins of some of your favorite and not so favorite gimmicks of professional wrestlers.
Today we browse the gimmick of Simon Dean
Mike Bucci had signed a WWE developmental deal in 2002 and spent two years as a top talent in Ohio Valley Wrestling (WWE’s developmental territory). Bucci was growing frustrated that he wasn’t getting called up to the main roster and decided to take matters into his own hands. After wrestling a dark match before a WWE television taping (as Nova)…Bucci was able to get a meeting with Vince McMahon. Bucci knowing ow Vince was a workout enthusiast, pitched a gimmick where he would portray a psychotic Tony Little/Jack LaLanne type character…an evil fitness guru. According to Bucci, McMahon’s eyes lit up and loved the idea. Bucci worked on the presentation of the gimmick back down in OVW.
When the gimmick was ready to debut in OVW, WWE sent scouts to watch Bucci’s presentation. He bought a loud purple jumpsuit and named the character Sonny Slade. When Vince got positive feeback and watched the videotape of the Sonny Slade gimmick, Bucci was called up to WWE headquarters to finetune the gimmick. McMahon stated that he wanted to record a few vignettes to introduce the gimmick before debuting. Bucci suggested that instead of the traditional vignettes, he record a series of infomercials…which McMahon loved. Ultimately, the Sonny Slade name was dropped in favor of Simon Dean which was a rib of Dean Malenko’s real name Dean Simon.
The plan for the Simon Dean character was to have an entourage of followers with him which included a wife named ‘Jean Dean’ and a couple of muscle bound enforcers called ‘The Bod Squad.’ Bucci suggested OVW wrestler Jillian Hall for the role of Jean Dean and the Bod Squad would consist of Tank Tolland and Chad Wicks. Eventually, that part of the gimmick was dropped by McMahon as Jillian Hall went on to have a large mole put on her face in a different gimmick and Tolland/Wicks became a male stripper team called ‘The Dicks.’ Bucci would add a Segway to his gimmick after seeing an overweight individual using one to get around a casino in Las Vegas. Bucci named the motorized vehicle as ‘The Dean Machine.’
Bucci was eventually given a tag team of goons to act as his followers…developmental wrestlers the Shane Twins who were renamed ‘The Gymini.’ That portion of the gimmick was dropped after one of the twin brothers suffered an arm injury. The Simon Dean character lasted for about two years and according to Bucci, some people within WWE’s hierarchy did not like him and got in Vince’s ear…mainly Bruce Prichard and Michael Hayes. Bucci suspected it was jealousy that Bucci had developed the idea by himself and forged a close relationship with Vince because of it. The Simon Dean gimmick was dropped in 2006 and Bucci would become a front office employee as head of WWE’s developmental.
To Browse Other Entries in The Gimmick Table…Please Click Here.