Crazy characters are nothing new in WWE. We can look at anyone ranging from Mankind to George "The Animal" Steele and have no short list of wrestlers whose mental standings were appropriately questioned. Each era has its staples that were responsible for the most cerebral, psychotic, and bone-chilling promos, and that's something that WWE's been missing for quite some time.
If you haven't heard Jake "The Snake" Roberts from his heyday, you're really missing out on captivating work.
Our last generation of unstable personas mostly ended when characters like Kane and Orton cooled off. However, the upside is that such themes seem to have been returning to the forefront in recent years.
Affairs such as Eugene, the Benoit scandal, and the entrance into the PG/shareholder era might have had something to do with this lack of instability, and that's unfortunate; instability is what sports entertainment is all about, and it's part of the reason that each WWE event is "unpredictable."
The Unstables in Recent Memory
2012 was arguably the year of AJ. Her storylines centered around being the General Manager brought about her even more successful year of 2013, and all of her accomplishments in that short time came because of her personality and presence. She was ruthless, evil, and unhinged, and now she's the longest reigning Divas Champion.
2013 saw the main-roster debut of Bray Wyatt, who soon had crowds everywhere singing a song about God while he was proclaiming to be one himself. He declared that he created war and eats worlds. His success is unquestionable, even if his win-loss record is. He had that rocky start with Kane, but eight months later, he went to WrestleMania against the biggest star of this decade. And he did it again for two more months.
2014 is already the year that Dean Ambrose made himself. With hints and hopes that he might take the briefcase from Seth Rollins, even if those don't come to fruition, he's already made a big enough impact to have earned a better 2015.
So with all the success these performers have and have yet to earn, will their peers dilute our interest in them? Is there such a thing as too much crazy?
So far this year, we've already experienced five other instances of crazy:
1/20: The first invocation of "U-SO Crazy" after Jimmy and Jey's bout with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan.
5/13: Alicia Fox has a mental breakdown following her loss to Paige
6/16: Cody Rhodes joins Goldust to become the truly bizarre one.
7/4: Chris Jericho wants to get "crazy" and "nuts".
7/21: Paige's slightly loony heel turn on the post-Battleground episode of Raw.
To be fair, Jericho and the Usos were just being themselves. Not counting them, that still leaves us with seven crazy characters. Does this mean that there's an oversaturation of insanity? Will the unstables eventually become passé and blasé? I think not, since they each have their own niche, though Paige's stylings have yet to be fully explored. Still, WWE should put a lid on the crazy from here on out, unless it's for something great. The reason the demand was high for Lee, Wyatt, and Ambrose is because the supply for their brand of charismatic instability was low. Their territory won't be hurt much by the others, but then the real question becomes if the others can rise while those three are on top. I think the Rhodes Dust are carving out their own niche with the "Cosmic Key" plot, but that's because they have a fresh and specific goal that ties into their mental state.
Will WWE's Influx of Unstable Characters Offend?
Crazy characters are still relatively new territory in this "Reality era." Are uses of terms like "crazy" and "nuts" offensive in this time of politically correct sports entertainment? Mental health diseases are a real issue in our country, and people with them and those around them know just how hard it is to deal with the associated stigma. Because of that, I have to wonder if anyone gets offended when they see a guy like Ambrose being a stereotype of a lunatic (though he has been practicing it for years). No matter how captivating he is while doing it, it furthers that stereotype by portraying it. Maybe it even causes fellow wrestlers to keep their own problems under wraps.
As mentioned before, surely the Benoit tragedy had an impact on the creation of such characters, but has the elapsed time made it okay to have our unstable characters again?
Furthermore, are they even doing a good job when making crazy characters? TNA has done a much better job with Samuel Shaw, mostly because his insanity has been fleshed out and explained. He's had actual character development.
I'd love to hear other Cagesiders' thoughts on the mental health matter.
