Breaking Down How to Properly Build a WWE Superstar

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Watching WWE every Monday and Friday is no different than watching a character on Breaking Bad—except WWE doesn't have anyone nearly as compelling to watch as Walter White. But the basic ideas are the same.
You want to see characters who grow and progress from the time they first start, who settle into their ultimate role.
There are some differences between the way a regular television show and a WWE television show work. Since WWE is every week with no time off, characters can't do a lot of the extreme things that normal television characters would do.
But building a character is the easiest way to create a true, legitimate, money-making superstar the company can work around.
So how do you do it? What are the little tricks that are necessary in order to ensure that someone who starts out like John Cena can turn into The John Cena?
Here is what WWE has to do in order to take a newbie and turn him into a wrestling icon.

The Character

Remember when Rock looked like this?

Even before a wrestler steps out from behind the curtain for the very first time, WWE can help or hurt that performer just based on the character given to him.
WWE loves to create gimmicks that, frankly, do nothing more than make Vince McMahon laugh. That is good for a performer's job security, though it doesn't do much to help him make it to the top.
If someone is given a ridiculous character—think someone like Brodus Clay right now—his upside is incredibly limited.
The best characters are almost always grounded in some kind of reality, though it can also depend on the era.
For instance, someone like Hulk Hogan, while he would be a star today because of his natural charisma, his limitations in the ring and superhero-esque persona would not go over as well as they did in 1985.
If WWE wants a performer to play someone at least resembling a human being, he can overcome any potential stigma attached to the character because he gives fans something to latch on to, either as a heel or face.

The Introduction

Here is where the build actually starts. Once WWE decides on a gimmick for the character, it is time to introduce that person to the world.
The beauty of wrestling is that it can create different gimmicks for the same person, only having to hit once in order to turn him into a superstar.
Remember, when Steve Austin came to WWE from WCW in 1996, he was known as the Ringmaster and carrying around Ted DiBiase's million-dollar belt.
But you have to tell the world that this person is a big deal right away, why the fans should care and give him a clear direction so that fans know what he is doing. You have to make him feel like a big deal right out of the gate.
This will give the fans the hook they need to get them coming back. They need to know how and why someone is here and how he plans to achieve his goals, as well as why he's doing what he's doing.

The Push

Courtesy of WWE.com

After WWE unveils its latest creation to the world, the most important thing that has to happen is a long, sustained push. While a lot of fans and analysts will joke about how matches in wrestling, particularly WWE, have been devalued, the easiest way to tell people that someone is a force to be reckoned with is by having him win matches.
If you need proof, just look at John Cena.
When he comes out on Raw to cut a promo, he will try to act goofy and tell jokes that not even a six-year-old would laugh at before shrugging off the threat of his opponent like Andre the Giant would shrug off Hornswoggle.
But when it comes to having matches, WWE is going to go above and beyond to protect Cena and make him look strong.
Why? Because he is its cash cow, and McMahon still knows how much wins and losses matter.
When building a superstar, you have to let him beat some people. It also depends on who he's beating.
WWE tends to put two midcard stars—for example, Sin Cara and Cody Rhodes—into a feud. Well, because those two are viewed at a certain level by the audience, a win for either one isn't going to do any good.

On the other hand, CM Punk's star did take off, at least to some degree, after he cut that promo on what is wrong with WWE, but it became obvious that WWE was willing to try something with him when he defeated Cena to win the WWE championship at Money In the Bank.
Austin became a superstar when he refused to submit to Bret Hart's sharpshooter at WrestleMania 13. Why? Even though Austin was picking up steam, he had not yet gone over someone at the level of Hart.
Even though Austin didn't go over in that particular match, his determination and will to continue even as he had blood pouring from his face told the audience that this guy is something special. (It also helped that that particular match featured the best storytelling of any match in WWE history, as Austin and Hart pulled off the double-turn to perfection.)
Another prime example is Dolph Ziggler.
He has all the talent in the world, but because he never beats stars like Randy Orton or Sheamus, how high is he really going to climb on the ladder? The Money In the Bank briefcase doesn't mean what it used to because we have seen what happens to people like The Miz and Jack Swagger.

The Intangibles

Up to this point, we have kept things focused strictly on wrestling ability. While that is critical to anyone's success in this business, with WWE, a wrestler has to be able to do far more than just step in the ring and execute a match flawlessly.

If you were building A WWE superstar, what would you prefer was his best attribute?

Wrestling Speaking Psychology Emotion Submit Vote vote to see results

If a guy is the best wrestler in the world but doesn't understand how to work a crowd or ring psychology, his matches aren't going to work as well.
This is a vicious business, and fans aren't stupid—they have to be given a reason to care about a match. There has to be storytelling involved in the match, or else fans are just watching wrestlers going through motions.
If you want an example of psychology and storytelling in matches, there is no better example in WWE history than Shawn Michaels. He was never the biggest star in company history, but 95 percent of the time, he had the best match on shows he worked, and fans will always remember him because of it.
He knew how to manipulate an audience by telling stories that could get people easily invested in matches. With him, it was relatively simple because he was a small WWE superstar. All you had to do was see him get beat up by a bigger guy for 10 minutes, and because Michaels had such great facial expressions and emotion, you sympathized with him and wanted to see him win.

Courtesy of WWE.com

This gave you more incentive to cheer for him, and it got you even more invested in the match than you originally thought you would be.
Another intangible that not everyone has is the ability to talk. In today's WWE, it is almost more important that a guy has charisma on the microphone than actual wrestling ability.
There is no easier way to sell a match to fans than by telling them about it. A wrestler has to deliver a promo that lays out why this match is happening, why it is important and what it means if he wins or loses.
Part of the problem in WWE today is it has to script every promo word for word, so nothing that anyone says feels natural. The people playing these characters should know them and their emotions better than the creative team, but McMahon has it set in his head that the writers can give good material to the wrestler to sell the match.
Unfortunately, WWE hires soap opera writers who have no clue about the wrestling business. Fans don't want goofy, convoluted stories that you need a blackboard and three sticks of chalk to figure out.
Let wrestlers say exactly what they need to in order to get their match over. Don't make up stories about lawyers or contracts—just keep it simple. The best stories are often very simple in nature, but they are executed so perfectly that they have added layers to hook people in.

The Final Battle

After all the time spent building a character up, there is a moment where he's put in a match that will make or break his superstar push.
If you look back at all of the top stars in wrestling history, there is always that one match you can point to where they went from being good to legendary.
Just using a few WWE stars as examples: Shawn Michaels had Razor Ramon at WrestleMania 10; Steve Austin had Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13; Hulk Hogan had Andre the Giant at WrestleMania 3; CM Punk had John Cena at Money In the Bank; Batista had Triple H at WrestleMania 21.
Even though the first two examples lost their respective matches, they were clearly the stars of those particular shows, and WWE gave them the freedom to show what they could do.
A wrestler needs that one historic match that people will look back on and remember forever. Even if the match doesn't result in a victory, fans will still mention his name. That is when a performer goes from being an act to something more.

Conclusion

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It seems simple to just write this down and say that this is what you have to do to create a superstar, but if everyone could do it, WWE would not be suffering from a serious lack of depth on the roster.
Part of that is self-created by WWE, because McMahon constantly tries start-and-stop pushes that make it impossible for anyone to get over. Part of it is just because it is really hard to make someone into a superstar.
Creating a WWE superstar is a lot like developing talent in baseball, except WWE has much more control over results because it is (SPOILER ALERT) a fixed sport.
But the basic principles are the same—bring in talent, groom it, develop it and hope it catches on.