“As I kind of made the transition to Tyler Breeze, I decided to look at the other end of the spectrum. I looked at the character and the over-the-top flamboyant gestures and mannerisms. I watched a lot of Buddy Rogers and Gorgeous George and took from them. It’s certain things that have fallen by the wayside of how they did it. I don’t know if it was ahead of its time, but you just don’t really see it anymore. People just don’t do it. I started watching that and mixed it with my other influence to have a nice complete package” - Tyler Breeze in 2015
In the age of the selfie: the age where every single person changes their profile picture every other day, WWE, moreover NXT, tapped into something great. In 2013 - NXT debuted a character called Tyler Breeze; a character whom was focused on his looks, think Rick Rude but with 21st century technology (that comparison also extends to work rate). The gimmick was current and relatable and in-turn WWE had the perfect guy at the perfect time, Mattias Clements to deliver this gimmick.
What really helped this gimmick succeed in the early days of it’s incarnation was Breeze’s in-ring work. Breeze’s matches were consistently stellar; meaning a somewhat ‘goofy’ gimmick could be executed perfectly, when the person executing said gimmick could back it up with excellent matches and an impressive win/loss ratio. This gimmick should have worked on the mainstream level. There is no excuses as to why ‘Tyler Breeze selfie sticks’, weren’t the top seller on WWE Shop whilst every person in the world was seemingly purchasing one of these new devices.
In Breeze’s case there is obvious the detriment that WWE have sort of moved away from the selfie gimmick towards a more comedic gimmick. WWE made a huge error by not taking advantage of Breeze’s popularity and consequently merching it with the society movement of selfies and selfie sticks. The biggest error wasn’t just the economic opportunity that Breeze and his gimmick offered, it was WWE not utilising Breeze’s in-ring ability to its fullest capabilities.
Breeze, wrestling as Mike Dalton, would make his FCW TV debut in the summer of 2011 against Rusev of all people. Following a brief FCW title run, FCW transitioned into the beloved NXT product, meaning more eyes would be on Breeze and some fellow elite company moving forward. It’s public knowledge that in 2013, WWE officials informed Breeze that he would need a new character in order to stay with the company, as his current character (which was basically a default create a wrestler) was getting little to no reaction. Henceforth, Breeze himself created the Tyler Breeze character.
Breeze’s first programme within the NXT brand would be with CJ Parker (Juice Robinson), a man like Breeze, who was previously underutilised within WWE and the company failed to capitalise on his potential. Luckily for Parker, another avenue managed to highlight this potential in the best possible manner.
In Breeze’s case there is obvious the detriment that WWE have sort of moved away from the selfie gimmick towards a more comedic gimmick. WWE made a huge error by not taking advantage of Breeze’s popularity and consequently merching it with the society movement of selfies and selfie sticks. The biggest error wasn’t just the economic opportunity that Breeze and his gimmick offered, it was WWE not utilising Breeze’s in-ring ability to its fullest capabilities.
Breeze, wrestling as Mike Dalton, would make his FCW TV debut in the summer of 2011 against Rusev of all people. Following a brief FCW title run, FCW transitioned into the beloved NXT product, meaning more eyes would be on Breeze and some fellow elite company moving forward. It’s public knowledge that in 2013, WWE officials informed Breeze that he would need a new character in order to stay with the company, as his current character (which was basically a default create a wrestler) was getting little to no reaction. Henceforth, Breeze himself created the Tyler Breeze character.
Breeze’s first programme within the NXT brand would be with CJ Parker (Juice Robinson), a man like Breeze, who was previously underutilised within WWE and the company failed to capitalise on his potential. Luckily for Parker, another avenue managed to highlight this potential in the best possible manner.