Throughout the history of wrestling, countless terrible gimmicks have been created based on a wide range of ideas. Some of these were done by the wrestlers themselves, others were handed to them by a creative team, and one bad trick can ruin a career because it can be impossible to build momentum.
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Controversial WWE Gimmicks: 5 That Surprisingly Worked (& 5 That Failed Miserably)
While many controversial WWE gimmicks have failed in the past, others have somehow succeeded over the years.
Gimmicks can be based on anything, but there have been some shocking ones over the years based on animals. While some worked well because they were loosely connected, such as Rhino, others forced wrestlers into ridiculous scenarios that were difficult to endure because of their awfulness.
The Gobbledy Gooker was a disaster from the start
The audience saw the gimmick burst out of an egg
- The character quickly became comical
- Various wrestlers have worked under this mask
The Gobbledy Gooker is one of the worst gimmicks that WWE ever created because it was absurd and impossible to take seriously. There were many wild characters in wrestling at the time, but the idea of a wrestler jumping out of an egg was too much for anyone to accept.
The costume looked ridiculous, which didn't help, and the gimmick was never taken seriously from that point on. WWE often brought out The Gobbledy Gooker for one-off moments, usually around Thanksgiving, but there has never been a moment that fans liked.
Mantaur looked ridiculous
It was impossible to take it seriously
- The mask was removed during games
- Mantaur was a character that was never taken seriously
The Mantaur was an interesting idea on paper because the mythological character could be good if done right, especially in his time. However, he would go into the ring The craziest headdress that immediately took the fans out of the situation.
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Then he would take it off to wrestle and no longer be seen as anyone else. The entire premise was poorly thought out, and there's a reason WWE didn't seriously push him, and that's because fans thought it sucked.
The Red Rooster was a waste of Terry Taylor's talent
It featured one of the worst hairstyles ever
- The idea was to prove that Bobby Heenan could convince anyone as a manager
- It negatively affected Terry Taylor's career
Terry Taylor is a fantastic professional wrestler who is capable of putting on great matches from a technical perspective. However, when he was heavy-handed with the Red Rooster gimmickhis career was immediately limited because he could only take it so far.
For some reason the gimmick was loosely based on the animal, which was poorly explained at the time. Taylor did his best, but it was clear from the start that this character would never work.
“The Shark” was WCW’s attempt to keep John Tena relevant
There was no clear trick here
- He was supposed to be Avalanche, but WWE's lawyers stopped it
- The shark had terrible face paint to convey the trick
Many wrestlers switched between WWE and WCW during the Monday Night Warsand John Tenta was one of them. He is best known to most wrestling fans as Earthquake. He had developed a reputation in the WWE as a decent heavyweight wrestler.
WCW tried to take advantage of this by initially calling him Avalanche, but WWE lawyers stopped because it was too similar. This led to the creation of “The Shark” gimmick, complete with terrible face paint that distracted fans from what he was doing in the ring.
The rabbit eventually became a character
It started as part of Adam Rose's Rosebuds
- The bunny was a regular Rosebud
- He collaborated with Adam Rose several times
Adam Rose was an interesting character who managed to get by for a short time because of his energy. A big part of it was his performance as he ran around with his rosebuds filled with colorful and vibrant characters to get the party started.
One of them was the hare, someone dressed as a rabbit. Outwardly, it was a fun mascot, but then WWE decided to turn the bunny into a real gimmick, which was immediately rejected by fans who hated the idea of it becoming a main character.
Shark Boy was a joke of a character
TNA was interested in comedy
- The character became a Steve Austin impersonation
- Shark Boy had his greatest success in TNA Wrestling
Shark Boy was a unique animal-based gimmick because it focused on the shark mixed aspects of Steve Austin Cosplay, which meant it was even weirder than most. This was a character that was never going to seriously win titles or be much of a threat based on the gimmick alone.
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“Shark Boy” managed to entertain some fans as TNA at least acknowledged the insanity involved and embraced the comedy. However, it wasn't a gimmick that could ever be used for memorable storylines.
El Torito was treated like a mascot
He rarely had the chance to show his real talent in the ring
- He would work with Los Matadores
- He had a legendary WeeLC match against Hornswoggle
El Torito was a wrestler who brought something completely different to everyone else, and WWE took advantage of that by pairing him with Los Matadores. However, he was portrayed as a matadores bull and was used primarily for comedic purposes.
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Although El Torito was a talented worker, as he demonstrated during his feud against Hornswoggle, his character was limited in no small part to the trick he had to work with.
Battle Kat revealed a terrible mask
The gimmick was one to forget
- The mask immediately made him look stupid
- He had a career to forget
Another terrible animal-related gimmick was Battle Kat, a character who didn't make much of an impact in professional wrestling. It wasn't a gimmick that fans could take too seriously or wanted to watch, because the idea that a cat could be a wrestler was hard for people to take seriously.
Lince Dorado did a better job of making this character style work because he didn't rely on looking like a cat, but rather translated that into the way he ran the ropes and had a unique in-ring style. Battle Kat failed to do that, resulting in a career that didn't make much of an impact.
