When it comes to psychotic gimmicks coming out off NXT/FCW people on here mostly refer to Dean Ambrose or Bray Wyatt but with this thread I would like to step up to bat for that guy up there. Right up there ^.
Kruger is one of those guys who grew on me. When I watched him in FCW and at the start of NXT he was nothing I was crazy about. He portrayed a spoiled rich kid from South Africa who was decent in the ring but there was nothing else. I didn't think he would become anything. Then the gimmick change happened.
Kruger was eliminated from the NXT title tournament and the next time we saw him we got some freaky vignettes followed by Kruger debuting his current gimmick. Gone was the spoiled kid from Johannesburg and born was the insane big game hunter. I was shocked by the drastic character change but looking back at it now I can say it was all for the better because it has done Kruger only good.
This new gimmick brought an edge to the character and made him interesting, he was deranged, sadistic and evil. And after some adjusting he seems to have taken to the gimmick and is incorporating it into everything he does, the way he walks to and from the ring, the way he stands and carries himself and the way he looks at people, always with that insane grin on his face is in my opinion great.
His ring work has also improved since adopting the new gimmick. He is working a style focused at the limbs of his opponent, crippling them and setting them up for the finish. Which makes sense considering his gimmick. He's also worked his gimmick into his offense as well. A prime example of this is from a few weeks ago when he had a match with I think it was Trent Barretta or Tyson Kidd (this was shot in December), possibly Oliver Grey in the tag tournament, and he had him in an abdominal stretch. Kruger then used his free arm to drive his elbow into the ribs of his opponent and laugh like a mad man. It was beautiful.
Even his worst trait, his mic work has improved under the gimmick. His accent was detrimental for him before but in this gimmick and in the way he speaks it enhances it instead. It makes sense that a crazy South African poacher talks like that somehow. And the gimmick itself helps draw people in. In my mind Kruger can become a successful midcard-upper midcard heel with this gimmick on the main roster. I would like to say WHC but I don't want to be too optimistic.
Am I the only one seeing the potential in Kruger? Or are there others who like him?
