WWE star Danhausen has shared the mindset that helped him become one of WWE’s most successful personalities within a short time, even though he never considered himself one of the most athletic performers in the business.
Danhausen made his WWE debut at Elimination Chamber in February, emerging from a mysterious wooden crate. The debut received a mixed reaction from the Chicago crowd, with many fans unsure what to make of his character. However, over time his humor and creativity won people over.
Danhausen Says Standing Out Is The Key To Success
Speaking to students on Lodestone Vlog, Danhausen stepped away from his on-screen character and spoke honestly about what he believes matters most in wrestling.
The “Very Nice, Very Evil” star said he follows advice he once received from William Regal. According to him, success comes from highlighting your strengths and avoiding situations that expose your weaknesses.
“The athletic part is important but it’s not everything, which is good, because not all of us are super athletic, I’m not. But I made that a strength, and you guys can do that too as long as you focus on what you do well. I think William Regal said that, ‘I just hide all the sh*t that I’m bad at and focus on the things I’m good at.’ That seems to work, I’ve used that and it seems to work for me,” Danhausen said.
For Danhausen, standing out is one of the most important thing. He also talked about the importance of being authentic when creating a wrestling character.
“And that kind of is from the character stuff too. What do you like? Do you like, you know, movies?What movies do you like? What does their movie poster look like? What music do you like? I know B3CCA does the popstar thing, right? You’re still doing that, right? Okay, good. That’s not embarrassing then. You’ve taken that and made a character out of that, and that’s something people can connect with and stands out, and I think that’s the best thing is to stand out,” he said.
When asked about how Danhausen convinces the WWE creative about his ideas, he replied,
“I know it’s not easy, it’s just kind of, I guess, deciding if you want to die on that hill. If it is really worth it then yes fight for it and be like ‘this is my sh*t, this is like our time, 5 to 10 minutes, to show these people who we are and this is who I am, can we think of a way for us to get into this? I think it’s just a way of being respectful and being nice,” he added.
Much of Danhausen’s success has been built on his character and personality rather than dominating opponents in the ring. WWE has also been smart about how it uses Danhausen. Rather than presenting him as a wrestler who competes every week, the company has focused on his comedic character. That has helped him generate strong fan reactions, sell merchandise, and go viral without relying on matches.
Read more: Danhausen Expands Beyond WWE With Major Career Move