Gimmicks So Bad, That They Shouldn't Have Worked...But Did

[HereticBD]

Watching an interview with "The New Day" made me think of this. What gimmicks should've ultimately died a quick and pathetic death, but didn't, because the performers made lemonade out of lemons.

Off the top of my head, I've got...

The New Day
Dusty Rhodes(WWE edition)
Goldust
The Hurricane
John Cena
The Hardy Boys
Kane


What say you?

 

[Based God]

The Undertaker, his name wasn't even bad ass at the time, an Undertaker is just a funeral director. Then he had like 5 years of some of the corniest super natural gimmick matches, moments and storylines. He was just so talented he made the corniness seem awesome. I feel like if anybody else was given that gimmick they would have washed out quick, but he made it work.

 

[Thrawn33]

The Undertaker, his name wasn't even bad ass at the time, an Undertaker is just a funeral director. Then he had like 5 years of some of the corniest super natural gimmick matches, moments and storylines. He was just so talented he made the corniness seem awesome. I feel like if anybody else was given that gimmick they would have washed out quick, but he made it work.

This. Dude took the late 80s/early 90s cartoon gimmick and has people marking the fuck out over 30 years later.

Dude no sold like a zombie, flew up to the rafters, led a Satanic cult, was involved in all kinds of supernatural shit..."AND STILL!" will get a pop better than any wrestler alive today with one toll of the bell.

 

[Steve-French]

Dusty Rhodes. I always saw him as some fat out of shape scrub with a speech impediment when I was a kid.

 

[Pliny Pete]

Mankind could've quickly been lumped in with Bastion Booger, Mantaur and all the other ridiculous cheese of the mid 90"s WWF if Mick wasn't so talented

 

[Frank23]

 

[the ambush]

The Model
The Repo Man

 

[HereticBD]

The Undertaker, his name wasn't even bad ass at the time, an Undertaker is just a funeral director. Then he had like 5 years of some of the corniest super natural gimmick matches, moments and storylines. He was just so talented he made the corniness seem awesome. I feel like if anybody else was given that gimmick they would have washed out quick, but he made it work.

Yeah, he's probably the ultimate example. Anyone else gets that gimmick, and it's dead in three months. However, I think he was aided a bit by the era he debuted in, and people were willing to suspend their disbelief a lot more(or actually believe it...). I'm not sure if the supernatural stuff would've gotten over today with the business as exposed as it is, no matter who was doing it. A brand new character doing that dead man controlled by an urn gimmick today, could be laughed out of the building.

You've still got your Bray Wyatt's today though, so it wouldn't necessarily fail in this era.

 

[BFoe]

IRS? He kind of got over at the time. Although I always liked Rotundo in the Varsity Club the best.

 

[HereticBD]

IRS? He kind of got over at the time. Although I always liked Rotundo in the Varsity Club the best.

Yeah, IRS was fun. Rotunda was tailor made for that role.

A few others:

Too Cool
Santino "Cobra" Morales(how that ever got over is beyond me)
The Godwins
Prince Albert(might be stretching it a bit, but he had a decent run for a guy named after a penis piercing)
Val Venus

 

[BFoe]

Yeah, IRS was fun. Rotunda was tailor made for that role.

A few others:

Too Cool
Santino "Cobra" Morales(how that ever got over is beyond me)
The Godwins
Prince Albert(might be stretching it a bit, but he had a decent run for a guy named after a penis piercing)
Val Venus

The Attitude Era had a couple of those. Godfather? Just went from a shitty voodoo shaman to a straight up pimp and got over.

 

[HereticBD]

The Attitude Era had a couple of those. Godfather? Just went from a shitty voodoo shaman to a straight up pimp and got over.

I was thinking of him, but then I thought "Who wouldn't get over bringing a ho train down to the ring? You gotta suck extra hard not to make that shit work."

He was great though. Really put his all into that character. It was nice to see him finally get his due, after so much garbage he worked through. The guy has run the gauntlet of gimmicks, and he always put a great effort into whatever shit character they gave him. Finally something clicked for the poor guy.

 

[IloveTHIS]

Like 9/10 guys I saw last time I watched Raw


I'll get heat for this but....cm punk

 

[flashNsmash]

The Attitude Era had a couple of those. Godfather? Just went from a shitty voodoo shaman to a straight up pimp and got over.

he was also the human weapon kama mustafa in the nation in between shango and shaggin hos

 

[Peuhkis]

What about ludvig borga?

 

[SocraticMethod]

This. Dude took the late 80s/early 90s cartoon gimmick and has people marking the fuck out over 30 years later.

Dude no sold like a zombie, flew up to the rafters, led a Satanic cult, was involved in all kinds of supernatural shit..."AND STILL!" will get a pop better than any wrestler alive today with one toll of the bell.

Became a biker and lost his super powers, and we all accepted it and he stayed over. Then he became a supernatural undead warlock again and we cheered even harder.

 

[SocraticMethod]

Stone Cold Steve Austin. Black trunks and black boots? How could that ever get over?

 

[Fizzee Water]

John Cena - guy who can't wrestle gets his ass kicked for twenty minutes and hits three moves and wins.

Worst gimmick ever.

 

[Thrawn33]

Became a biker and lost his super powers, and we all accepted it and he stayed over. Then he became a supernatural undead warlock again and we cheered even harder.

Because we wanted the undead warlock back....

Crazy.

 

[The GR81]

Hulk Hogan