Best Gimmicks Ever
For every great gimmick WWE has presented us. There’s been around 10 terrible ones.
Who could ever forget The Goon, Meat, The Dicks, Etc.
Most of the most successful wrestlers didn’t earn their legendary status by sticking to some mediocre gimmiick. They tended to be okay with portraying real life character. They added a bit of themselves into that character and it resonated with the masses.
Stone Cold and The Rock were just an extra version of themselves for example.
I’ve piled up a list of what I think are the best gimmicks WWE gave us throughout the years.
The Godfather
Who would’ve thought that Papa Shango would have another WWE stint?
The Godfather wasn’t about his wrestling ability. Let’s be honest…he wasn’t all that great in the ring. He was pretty simple. It was more about having a good time and having one of the best entrances ever.
I do agree that his gimmick was pretty offensive. He played a pimp who would go to strip clubs and hire “hoe’s” To come with him to the ring.
Charles Wright, played the character so well. It actually looked like he was having fun with it. He danced with the girls in the ring, he even offered his girls to his opponents if they were willing to throw the match away.
Most of the wrestlers of course chose the women.
Pimpin ain’t easy like The Godfather said. But man, he sure made it seem easy.
_____________________________________________________________________
Val Venis
Hello Laaadies
This was WWE’s first ever porn star gimmick.
On paper it looked like something that would come to an end fairly quickly. Maybe it would entertain us fans for a few months and just quietly sail away. But no. Sean Morley made the best of the gimmick for nearly a decade and he made quite the living off it.
It’s hard to imagine this gimmick giving over in that period. You had The Rock, Stone Cold, Undertaker, Triple H, all of these wrestlers who were super over.
Here came this porn star guy who actually fans were waiting to see in the middle of the show.
He would come out wrapped in a towel and once in the ring he would grind while removing his towel. The girls seemed to be loving it.
Not to mention, Val Venis’s vignettes before debuting. I think they were one of the funniest and creative promos ever made.
Val was supposably on set of his new “porn movie” and would talk to camera as if the camera was a women. He’d say few cheesy sexual remarks and moan as the camera moved away.
________________________________________________________________________
The Honky Tonk Man
Okay, this man was a terrible wrestler. But, he was always able to get a lot of heat on him.
He was basically an Elvis impersonator.
He sang like Elvis, Moved like Elvis, and even talked like Elvis. He was such an 80’s character and he took advantage of everything that was given to him.
He actually does have one accomplishment. He was the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion, doing a 65-week run.
His fire slowly burned out. He didn’t really make through the 90’s when WWE was transitioning to their stampeded Attitude Era. But he always found the time to make a few appearences.
________________________________________________________________________
The Big Boss Man
This is an example of a wrestler bringing in their real life personas into the square circle.
Ray Taylor was a real prison guard before entering the world of wrestling. He freely came up with the gimmick as he has said that he enjoyed his time being a prison guard.
The gimmick was simple. He was a bad cop.
He made his opponents lives a living hell. He laughed at them when they were in pain. He would hit them or as he said “abuse” them with his baton.
He made a big impact during the Attitude Era when he was in The Corporate faction.
The one time he might’ve crossed the lines was when he did a storyline with Big Show where Big Shows “kayfabe” father died. Boss Man laughed and even went to the funeral and attached a chain to the casket and with his car he dragged the casket around the cemetery. That might’ve been a little too much.
I honestly think that he is one of the most underrated superstar of the Attitude Era. He never gets the credit he deserves. He was one of the best heels ever.
The amount of heat he was able to bring upon himself is something that these new wrestlers need to study if they want to be great heels.
_________________________________________________________________________
Razor Ramon
Say hello to da’ bad guy
Scott Hall wasn’t Cuban. He wasn’t Latino at all. But he made this Scarface-like character shine so bright.
Before becoming Razor Ramon, Scott Hall was just your typical wrestler trying to make a name for himself and trying to get to the big leagues. He had a few terrible gimmicks along the way.
One day he came to Vince McMahon and asked him if he has seen Scarface. Vince replied with a no. Scott then did his impression of Tony Montana. Vince liked it.
The rest is history.
Razor Ramon was a shady character from the start. He was looked like someone you can trust, while also thinking twice about letting him borrow your car or loaning him your credit cards.
The character was a giant hit.
Razor quickly climbed the ranks and was thrown into main event matches. He shared several deep feuds with Ric Flair.
As much as the Razor character drew millions of views and basically made Scott Hall a celebrity. I do think that when he went to WCW and simply became Scott Hall, he seemed to have progressed more and more as time went on.
Survey says…one more for the good guy
_________________________________________________________________________
Muhammad Hassan
This is by far the most controversial character to ever be created.
This could’ve been an all-time great character. But…WWE went extremely far with this one. It seemed like they wanted to know how many buttons they could push before it’s too late.
That’s exactly what happened with this one.
Mark Copani, who played the character wasn’t even from the midd-east. He played the character extremely well tho. He got into it real fast.
Muhammad drew some massive heat every time he went out to the ring. Nobody liked him. I mean NOBODY liked him. I always thought there was going to be some crazy fan to jump the barricade and try to do something to him. Technically, that’s how over he really was in such a short amount of time.
The character came at a bad time also. This was post 9/11. So it wasn’t really the best of times for them to do this.
The character was simple to understand. after the World Trade Center attacks. Arab-Americans were being discriminated and he was sick of it.
With all the negative press he was getting, I actually found his storyline to be one of the most compelling ones of that year. He had a purpose and was going to do whatever it took to get it out there.
Here comes some of the controversial moments
In a tasteless act from WWE they filmed a bunch of Muhammads “terrorists” carrying his then sidekick Davari out of the arena. Why is it controversial? Because it aired literally ONE DAY after the London Bombing. The segment was obviously filmed way before the bombing happened, but it’s still no excuse for them to have aired the segment.
Another act that went too far was when Muhammad sent his “terrorists” to attack Undertaker. They wrapped a wire around the Undertakers neck and proceeded to choke him. The face that Undertaker made during this segment is what has sticked with us wrestling fans forever. It looked like his eyes were about to pop out.
The Undertaker segment has long been removed from WWE history.
Sadly, the character only lasted a year. Copani was sent back to development but refused to portray anyone else and left the company.
__________________________________________________________________________
Mankind
The original Mankind makes this list.
Sure, the later version of Mankind is probably the most remembered one. But, he became a bit too cuddly and funny, don’t get me wrong, it was also great. But the second version of Mankind was more of Mick Foley.
Mankind was a misunderstood man. He was lost. He needed guidance. He was mentally deranged.
In the ring, he would pull his own hair out, stab himself in the thigh, he would rock back and forth as if he didn’t know better, he played it so well.
He reeked of paranoia.
Mankind’s interview were such a delight to watch. The scenario was ominous. He always inside of the boiler room of the arena. He sat in the middle of the room to conduct his interviews.
He would shout and never look at the camera. It was like the camera scared him.
His feud with Undertaker and Shawn Michaels are the stuff of legends.
Who can ever forget the Hell In A Cell match against Undertaker?
Oh yeah, have a nice day!
___________________________________________________________________________
“Ravishing” Rick Rude
All Rick Rude wanted was for the fat, out of shape men, to shut up and watch him take his robe off to show that incredible body.
Rick Rude was the epitome of a wrestling heel. The man oozed cockiness. He talked a lot of crap but he was able to back it up in the ring…and with his great hair.
I’d say he was probably one of the best wrestlers of that 80’s era. Not a lot of people give him that credit. I do. He could wrestle with the likes of Bret Hart and would’ve put on an amazing show.
The ladies couldn’t get enough of him.
The craziest part of his WWE career was that he was over with the fans. He was one of the superstars you paid to see and paid to get ripped apart (vocal wise). Yet, WWE decided to never put the WWE championship around his waist.
It’s one of those “What if” moments I think about.
This man could obviously steal your girlfriend if he wanted to.
Rick tended to cross the line a lot during his promos. He would call out personal matters of his opponents and you could see his opponents just become livid. That was his best quality.
When you had a storyline against Rick Rude…get ready to get publicly humiliated.
___________________________________________________________________________
Mr.Perfect
There’s an old wrestling myth that Terry Taylor was given the choice of becoming The Red Rooster or Mr.Perfect. Terry chose to be the Red Rooster, Curt Henning chose to become Mr.Perfect.
The best decision he ever made!
You can’t picture anyone else playing this character. Curt played it to the bone. He was extremely confident…probably as cocky as Rick Rude was. Mr.Perfect did no wrong. He was perfect in baseball, perfect in basketball, perfect in bowling.
Simply perfect.
The way he carried himself as Mr.Perfect made him truly worthy of entering the WWE Hall Of Fame.
___________________________________________________________________________
The Undertaker
This is Vince McMahon’s greatest creation.
Not only was the gimmick terrifying, but it’s also the best.
This was a gimmick that could’ve easily flopped like the Val Venis one or The Godfather one. But no, Mark Callaway made it work.
It’s a character that really changed throughout the years in WWE but also keeping the core aspect of the original character. From the superhero days of the early 90’s, to the Attitude Era, to Ruthless Aggression era. Mark always found a way to revamp the character and make it relevant in the time period.
Personally, when he turned into the American Badass, I think it was a smart move. He was more free to talk and do things his way. He didn’t have to hold back and continue to be this dark character, this lord of darkness.
The American Badass character was just a reflection of Undertaker when he’s not on the road. He’s a biker who listens to metal music.
Despite who goofy some of his antics looked. From the mystic urn, to the taker cam, to being buried alive multiple times. He still remained extremely popular over the years.
Undertaker is now officially retired.
As much as it hurts that I won’t see him in the ring. I’m profoundly gracious that he left a remarkable legacy behind him. He deserves this long rest after a 30 year career.
