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 The Devil’s Advocate
Sean O’Haire joined WWE after WCW folded in 2001. He took part in the WCW Invasion angle. O’Haire had the size and agility of someone WWE coveted. Additionally, O’Haire was a legitimate tough guy. He was eventually sent down to WWE’s developmental territory OVW for more seasoning and character development. In January of 2003, Sean O’Haire filmed a series of vignettes where he urged viewers to take a walk on the dark side of life. He urged people to not follow the rules and to do things that broke away from regular society. He urged husbands to cheat on their wives, not pay taxes and to drink as much as they felt like. Every one of the vignettes ended with O’Haire telling the audience…”I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know.”
While the character of the Devil’s Advocate was mostly a collaboration from the entire Smackdown creative team; the idea of the character was rumored to come from head Smackdown writer Paul Heyman. The vignettes were an instant hit with fans and built up O’Haire’s eventual re-debut with the company. After a series of dark matches and some backstage segments, O’Haire was paired up with ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper. The Devil’s Advocate gimmick was severely downplayed until it vanished.
According to Jim Ross, Vince McMahon “did not get” the gimmick. Jim Cornette said that while the taped vignettes were great, Sean O’Haire couldn’t translate those promos to a live crowd. Bruce Prichard also said that Sean lacked a larger than life personality that didn’t fit in WWE. The reason he was made Roddy’s sidekick was in hopes that he would learn to cut better promos and in ring psychology. Unfortunately, WWE management did not feel O’Haire was developing as they had hoped and was released in 2004. Sean O’Haire was not a fan of the creative process and believed that he should have just let him be himself instead of a character citing he was an athlete, not an actor.
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