For me it was the Legend Kenta Kobashi. The gimmick of being Burning Spirit personified came into my mind around PFP Week. I knew out of most Vixens my knowledge of Japanese Wrestling was greater (NO OFFENSE). So having a gimmick that fit the Japanese Wrestler Style was going to happen. I was hinting a gimmick change like that during PFP. With my character wanting to fight even when it meant risk getting an injury or proving Tarah wrong for doubting me. 

so that's mine and what's your?

To me, it can be surreal but I use my personal anger to use for my character. And for course, I use some Mankind/Raven type of freak to represent it in wrestling.

For the man of honor gimmick I had when I returned it was something that inspired me rather than someone. Seeing how morally deteriorated today's society is that is what mainly inspired me to create the gimmick. Another thing that inspired the creation of it was the Bushido (Look it up if you don't what it is). There were just so many guys at the time that had these wicked asa characters, criminals somewhat that didn't follow or abide by any rules and were corrupt to the core. I wanted to try something different than them, I wanted to stand out. That was the only way I'd be successful here again. So I went against the grain and I tried something new.. I guess you could say it worked.

As for my character currently, I was inspired by the haters. The conceited, arrogant yet good "Top Dog" came to be after reading comments of people who I considered my friends hating on me and laughing at those who view me as a top dog. If I pissed them off good. That was the fucking goal (:
Yeah.. This gimmick I am currently doing isn't really original and tbh I'm not a big fan of playing this type of characters. Like I mentioned before I enjoy standing out and there's been cocky face characters before. I have plans tho. Hopefully those plans can take place eventually and my character evolves into something greater. I've always kept his past and other shit secret hopefully soon I'll be able to reveal it, who he truly is and what brought him into wrestling among other important things of him.

Jesus Christ

I actually want to create as original as I can be without putting one character as my personality template. I want to be creative with this character even I took a bit from dorama characters. ...that's if Haruna is a face. 

When DDD told me to turn heel, I actually have no idea of how am I make this character. I never have a plan to make my character as a heel. I was panic and a bit rushed so I just take NXT Anti-diva Paige personality. then I take a bit of Psylocke character as well.

Mr. DEDEDE wrote:

Jesus Christ

Thought you were god and I was Jesus

I can't narrow it down to just one personality, as it's more of a mix of many. It's of rarity that said personalities are actual people too, as I'm more keen on drawing inspiration from fictional characters and other gimmicks. Names like Marshall Mathers (Upbringing), Jon Moxley (Attitude/Upbringing), The Joker (Mentality/perception) are a few that come to mind.

Way too many hours listening to Talk 'n Shop. 

But a fair portion of language and the vocab I use in my promos isn't far from what I use day to day, just slightly exaggerated. There's no real gimmick behind O'Hara but obviously the gestures and mannerisms are inspired, almost completely ripped from Anderson and Bullet Club; It's because of that I try not to make them define the gimmick and the character as a whole. 

Until I dropped the title, I was pretty inspired by the work ethic of my greater family. Many work long hours on cattle stations far north and I'm always captivated when I visit; the idea of being a hard worker, respectful and full of grit was appealing to me, just ran with it when I got settled in EAW.

I guess I get the whole Mexican backstory for Rhyse from myself (just not all too exaggerated). And speaking of exaggeration, I thought of the whole Compton/gangster upbringing from movies like Straight Outta Compton and Scarface (though technically the later isn't real).

I'd like to think of my promo style similar to Alberto Del Rio's WWE debut promo packages. I also use old Razor Ramon promos for inspiration. And I'll admit I did use some elements of Cien's CMLL gimmick/personality.

Oh, thanks to the writer who wrote my match/segment. I think I started to learn this "Prizefighter" gimmick from Kevin Owens. ....except I will never be as good as him at talking in Social Media.

For this gimmick, I tapped into Mickey Rourke's 'The Wrestler' to get some inspiration. I thought it'd be cool to have a character that actually acknowledges what happens to someone who doesn't make enough to retire in the wrestling business. Whenever I've taken a break from fedding or needed to step away, I always incorporated an injury angle into kayfabe. Put those two elements together and you have most of my character. The mercenary aspect is simply because I went with Goldberg as my pic base and I wanted something extra that matched my pic base.

Nasir Capitani wrote:

Mr. DEDEDE wrote:

Jesus Christ

Thought you were god and I was Jesus

U right

El Landerson

Maero: His original idea of thinking he was god came from a doctor show I watched over someones shoulder. The surgeon thing followed suit. The fucked up elements just came from my brain and some influence from Eclipse. His comedic side is straight from my brain.

Oz: Oz was originally going to be my best friend D. It eventually drifted away from him and Oz just became my silly childish side. The Pyromania is just because I like the idea and I'm a fan of fire IRL.

Don't need to explain Nas' character influences up to a couple weeks ago.

Since my character arc of Season 10 began, I would say my biggest current influence is Christian from 2011 when he was chasing after the WHC in his feuds with Del Rio and Randy Orton. I view me and Aren's relationship now how Edge vs Christian was supposed to go at WM 28 before Edge was forced to retire. He of course playing Edge, one of the most decorated in history meanwhile I would be his Christian, always being just not good enough to break into that top tier. Another would be Daniel Bryan's whole "weak link" shtick from a couple years back. Being build around the likes of Aren, Jamie, Xavier, and Vic but not having any claim to fame like them. Nasir is out to prove he can hang and belongs alongside those guys. Finally, Batista from his WM 26 Feud with John Cena. This one stems from the fact that Aren and I started as equals. Even more so than Batista and Cena because we were partners. I was more active in the beginning so I got the bigger push during the beginning of our time together. This would be comparable to Batista's prime years compared to Cena's. However once we split it changed and he eclipsed me very quickly. Similar to how Cena shifted into that prime position ahead of Batista. Now I am looking to claim a spot that had things possibly gone differently, could have/should have been mine. (In my character's mind of course.)

I guess I always had a thing for the dark personas, whether it was Abyss, Willow, Eric Young, Older Taker and Kane, but I think my true influence was Heath Ledger's Joker, the whole anarchy without a real goal in sight, watching the world burn. And kinda morphed it into my character.

At it's heart it's Mikey Whipwreck, but the more recent and prevalent influence in some areas has been myself, which probably wouldn't have happened if not for another question on the boards about how much of you is in your character.  I've had similar medical problems as PB for different reasons, and my dad is currently in what I think is going to be a winning fight against stage two lung cancer.  Unconsciously that started being a part of PB's downfall after HBB left and after I realized how much of it was my own thoughts I went ahead and vented on some things.  There have also been elements from "The Dark Half", one of Stephen King's less celebrated books, and a book I couldn't get past the first chapter on due to surreal connections to my real life that just freaked me the hell out.  Spud has kind of become a muse in ways but I'm trying to give PB a voice that isn't his, and in the past writing wasn't helpful because they wrote him as a brit it felt like, or maybe that's just my hangup projecting.  As for PB's faith, it's more uplifting than anything that comes from me.  I believe in god, but my belief in god is far more disconcerting than his.  We both also have an express fandom in Doctor Who.

But yeah, I could gab forever on what comes from where.

Pre Season 10: Eli Drake is the obvious answer.

Post season 10: Eli Drake's arrogance is still here and there, but I tone it down. Nigel McGuiness is my inspiration for the move-set, and while I don't want to be his knock-off, I would like to think, I do have his promo style a bit. John Cena might be an inspiration as well based on Nobi' constant talk about hard work and dedication. And ROH as a whole is an inspiration for my speciality match (Code of Honor match).

The bravado and colorful personality of Sasha herself had probably the most influence on the character, both inside and outside the ring. I pulled inspiration from Beyonce and Rihanna for a lot of the in-ring persona (the over-the-top aspects, the confidence, etc.). Aria's also a mish-mash of a lotta Black girls from 90s TV shows and movies. There were a lot, but Hillary and Ashley (The Fresh Prince), Lisa (Saved by the Bell), Dionne (Clueless), Whitley (A Different World), and Isis (Bring It On), among others, are probably the ones I relied on the heaviest . The end result was ultimately someone very realistic and approachable, and someone that I felt totally comfortable playing.

I take a lot from a lot of people honestly. Macho Man, Dusty Rhodes, a little bit of Pillman...

Empress Aria wrote:

The bravado and colorful personality of Sasha herself had probably the most influence on the character, both inside and outside the ring. I pulled inspiration from Beyonce and Rihanna for a lot of the in-ring persona (the over-the-top aspects, the confidence, etc.). Aria's also a mish-mash of a lotta Black girls from 90s TV shows and movies. There were a lot, but Hillary and Ashley (The Fresh Prince), Lisa (Saved by the Bell), Dionne (Clueless), Whitley (A Different World), and Isis (Bring It On), among others, are probably the ones I relied on the heaviest . The end result was ultimately someone very realistic and approachable, and someone that I felt totally comfortable playing.

Aria's gimmick connected to ISIS confirmed.
 

Lucian Black wrote:

For the man of honor gimmick I had when I returned it was something that inspired me rather than someone. Seeing how morally deteriorated today's society is that is what mainly inspired me to create the gimmick. Another thing that inspired the creation of it was the Bushido (Look it up if you don't what it is). There were just so many guys at the time that had these wicked asa characters, criminals somewhat that didn't follow or abide by any rules and were corrupt to the core. I wanted to try something different than them, I wanted to stand out. That was the only way I'd be successful here again. So I went against the grain and I tried something new.. I guess you could say it worked.

As for my character currently, I was inspired by the haters. The conceited, arrogant yet good "Top Dog" came to be after reading comments of people who I considered my friends hating on me and laughing at those who view me as a top dog. If I pissed them off good. That was the fucking goal (:
Yeah.. This gimmick I am currently doing isn't really original and tbh I'm not a big fan of playing this type of characters. Like I mentioned before I enjoy standing out and there's been cocky face characters before. I have plans tho. Hopefully those plans can take place eventually and my character evolves into something greater. I've always kept his past and other shit secret hopefully soon I'll be able to reveal it, who he truly is and what brought him into wrestling among other important things of him.

There's many other characters I have created. Jon Lyons/Mike Huxley for instance.  He was so different in comparison to my other characters. He did some crazy ass shit in AWL, LEGION and even EHW under the name Jake Copeland. The primary inspiration for Lyons, Hux and EHW's version of Jake Copeland was The Joker ofc and villains in general. Obviously I didn't make him a straight up rip off of The Joker. I added elements of my own to the gimmick. I remember in LEGION I used to talk to my own reflection in the mirror. LEGION's version of Jon Lyons was also inspired by the rejection I was getting from the ppl at EAW at the time. The way I introduced Lyons to AWL was pretty epic too. And in EHW I remember I did some other stuff too that I never saw anyone do in efeds. I had so much fun playing that character. I'd love to bring the evil me back some day.

Niall Byrne was another rad character I had. Unfortunately his stay in efeds was short lived cause all the feds I used him in kept dying lol. Byrne was inspired by Celtic God of death Ankou. 

Then there's Yahweh/YHWH. Probably the greatest character I have devised. He was such a complex character. I received so much praise for the creation of him. What mainly inspired me to make him was the song "Create" by The Faceless as well as "Crushed" by Parkway Drive. If you listen to those songs you will probably get the idea of what the character was supposed to be.

Usually to make characters I take inspiration from music, mythology, comic book/movie/TV shows characters etc.

If there's anything Steph and I have in common it's our ability to bring the savage out in people lol. Pre-heel Cloud was mostly my take on Mia Yim before TNA- a happy go lucky face who wanted to work hard and be appreciated by the fans. As time went on the character took on a life of her own and I started asking myself 'What would Cloudy do?'

Season 10 Steph is primarily motivated by my own insecurities I've had about not being good enough and what I'm willing to do to prove otherwise. I incorporate a lot of my humor in the character as well. The irony about the current storyline is that the Cloud/Cailin/Tarah scenario is similar to something I went through 2 years ago.

Current Heel Azumi is massive mix of AJ Lee (When she was Divas Champ without the crazyness), BC AJ Styles, Current Naito.