Count on Bret Hart to complain about the direction of the WWE right now.
In a recent interview, that's exactly what "The Hitman" did. Who's drawing his venom at the moment? Well ... everyone. It's not just the direction of the shows but the lack of compelling characters.
"I think the problem isn't the wrestlers, it's the office. It's the directors of the wrestlers. They're not doing a good enough job. I don't think they understand the talent they have. Sometimes I can pull my hair out watching the TV going, 'Geez, they have so much great talent, but the shows are the same every week. I'm so sick of all the characters they got.' Some of them are great, but the wrestling industry, which is basically WWE, is waiting for the next guy to pull the sword out of the stone. They're waiting for the next big superstar. I don't know who he is, but he's out there. He might be some guy at a wrestling school right now hoping he's going to make it. Somebody's got to come along. Somebody always does. It could be another five years. Wrestling needs a new star, somebody with a new gimmick."
The two biggest superstars in the pro wrestling right now are John Cena and CM Punk, whose gimmicks are a guy who hustles, is loyal and has respect for everyone (even all the people who hate his stinkin' guts) and a guy who likes to call himself an "agent of change" and a "voice of the voiceless."
Oh and Randy Orton is also out there. He's a "Viper" and a babyface whose character is still that of a guy who hears voices in his head that tell him what to do when he gets really pissed off.
That's the top of the line but the mid-card looks just as bleak, at least as far as outright characters go. But here's the issue with what Hart is saying -- pro wrestling doesn't need characters, it needs great wrestlers who can be entertaining when called upon to do so.
A King Kong Bundy clone is the last thing pro wrestling fans in 2011 want to see.
Hart comes from an era that was more cartoon than reality and that's simply not acceptable anymore. Kayfabe is dead and the suspension of disbelief is no longer there. Some of the very best gimmicks of all time weren't really gimmicks; they were just guys turning up the volume on who they really are.
Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Shawn Michaels -- all guys who turned the personality dial up as far as it would go. The Undertakers and Kanes of the pro wrestling world are a dying breed. They represent the last of the cartoon bunch. We buy their characters out of nostalgia more than anything else.
The question remains: Who will become the next big star? Is it someone already on the roster with the right gimmick and ability to have a great match? Or someone working the indie scene as we speak?