Unsuccessful gimmicks

[Cookie14]

We all know successful people with great gimmicks. Undertaker, Stone Cold, HHH, Hogan etc.

We all know people who had awful gimmicks that didn't work. Shockmaster, Isaac Yankem, Boogeyman and many many others.

I want to know who you think had a decent gimmick, but WASN'T as successful as it could have been.

Let me give you an example......

Mark Henry, the World's Strongest Man.

Anyone who claims to be the World's Stongest man should be multi-time world champion, simple as. He should dominate everyone. Instead, he acts as a weak mid-carder.

To me, this is a massive waste of a potentially very good gimmick.

Tell me who you think had a great gimmick, that didn't achieve success.
Why did they deserve it?
What would you have liked to see them achieve?
And why didn't they?

 

[dman1373]

muhhamed hussan was great. I loved his gimmick because even though he was a heel he still was right about his persicution
Its just a shame that a terrorist attack would end his run

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Tell me who you think had a great gimmick, that didn't achieve success.

Sean O'haire, circa Smackdown 2003

Why did they deserve it?

He was "The Devil's Advocate" character- he was the kind of guy that tempted you into doing things you necessarily wouldn't've done: ex. talked Brian Kendrick into streaking and Dawn Marie to flash the audience. He used to cut promos (vignettes) that you can still find on Youtube about questioning authority and such:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hO9ELioCAw[/YOUTUBE][YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcYEq63CyeQ[/YOUTUBE]

This guy literally screams Anti-PG.

Oh, and it's a fact that throughout his career in the WWE, he was never pinned. He left pretty much undefeated.

What would you have liked to see them achieve?

If not an Intercontinental Championship run or something, I would have really liked to see how his gimmick would have stood out against the likes of Shawn Michaels, CM Punk, and maybe even The Undertaker. He was built for good storyline rivalries if not championship material.

And why didn't they?

WWE dropped the ball and pretty much made him a lackey of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper's. As soon as Piper left, they pulled the plug on Sean. Now I know there is more to it then just that- I have read stories that Sean had an attitude problem with the people in the back or whatever, but from a kayfabe standpoint the second Piper was gone, they let O'haire go too. Shame, I really liked the guy, but Hell I'm not telling you anything...that you don't already know.

 

[santinoistight44]

alright, i know this isn't what you're really asking, actually, kind of the opposite.. but "king booker" to me was 10 times as bad as the boogeyman. he annoyed the crap out of me. there was nothing wrong with booker T, i don't know why they had to change that. i think it was a big mistake on the WWE's part.

 

[TheLoneLegend]

Let me give you an example......

Mark Henry, the World's Strongest Man.

Anyone who claims to be the World's Stongest man should be multi-time world champion, simple as. He should dominate everyone. Instead, he acts as a weak mid-carder.

HORRIBLE....let me repeat that....HORRIBLE EXAMPLE!

Why you may ask, because this wasn't a gimmick. Mark Henry had legitimately won Strong Man competition and was legitimately labeled as the World's Strongest Man at one time. The guy absolutely CRUSHED High School and Professional Weight Lifting Records.

He's just never been a good wrestler and in the times of a lot of good to really good to even a few great wrestlers, there was no way to ever get him over as so.

 

[Cookie14]

HORRIBLE....let me repeat that....HORRIBLE EXAMPLE!

Why you may ask, because this wasn't a gimmick. Mark Henry had legitimately won Strong Man competition and was legitimately labeled as the World's Strongest Man at one time. The guy absolutely CRUSHED High School and Professional Weight Lifting Records.

He's just never been a good wrestler and in the times of a lot of good to really good to even a few great wrestlers, there was no way to ever get him over as so.

Actually, he NEVER won any global strong man competitions. He placed second in the PanAmerican Games in 1995 for weightlifting, and 10th in the Olympics in 1992.

He was also voted as the second strongest man in the world in a poll by Met-rx (sponsors of the worlds strongest man competition, which Henry has never competed in) behind Mariusz Pudzianowski, 5 time world's strongest man.

I gree that he isn't a great wrestler, but this thread isn't about ability, it's about the gimmick, and how/why it didn't achieve success

 

[Rammsteinerteen]

I think a great gimmick that was wasted was Papa Shango. Papa Shango was a vodoo priest, i thought that could've been the next Undertaker. If they used this wrestler right, he could've been as big as Triple H, ONLY MAYBE. Papa Shango was a descent wrestler, like Undertaker back then, not GREAT but Descent. But looked how Undertaker turned out. The Greatest Legend of all time and he's still using the dead man gimmick.

Papa Shango had a really interesting gimmick, and he was this* close to getting a push. Ever since he costed Hogan his match with Sid Vicous, and Ultimate Warrior came in and attacked him. This feud could have gave Papa Shango the right push. Instead he became the godfather and made a nobody outta himself.

 

[Bryan Danielson]

Repo Man

In late 1991, Barry Darsow was repackaged as "Repo Man", a ubiquitous, sneaky heel character who delighted in repossessing items such as cars from people when they were late on (or unable to make) their payments.
Repo Man wore a black Lone Ranger-like mask and an outfit with tire tracks on them, and had mannerisms similar to Frank Gorshin's portrayal of The Riddler.
He always carried a tow rope that he would tie up opponents with after defeating them and then assault them after.
Shortly after his debut, he helped Ted DiBiase defeat Virgil for the Million Dollar Championship, leading to a series of matches with Virgil.

Repo Man's most notable feud was with The British Bulldog in mid-1992, sparked by Repo Man hanging the Bulldog over the ring ropes with his tow rope on an episode of Wrestling Challenge.
The two had a series of house show matches as well as a match on Prime Time Wrestling, all of which saw Bulldog come out victorious.
Repo Man lost a match to former partner Crush at SummerSlam 92, though it was never acknowledged on television that Repo Man was actually Smash.
Repo Man also had a short feud with Randy Savage in January 1993 when he stole Savage's hat on an episode of Monday Night Raw.
The two had a match the following week, which Savage won.
His final recorded match would be on the March 28, 1993, a loss to Typhoon.

On Raw XV, on the 15th-anniversary WWE Raw special on December 10, 2007, Darsow participated in the 15th Anniversary Battle Royal under his "Repo Man" persona.

Japanese band Aural Vampire produced a song called "The Repoman" and use video footage of Darsow and other wrestlers in live performances.
Former Ring of Honor performer Adam Pearce is often heckled by fans who call him "Repo Man" because he looks similar to Darsow.
At one match in 2007, at the pay-per-view taping for Driven, against Takeshi Morishima, Pearce pulled a mask similar to the Repo Man's out of his tights and put it on to the delight of the crowd.

 

[Chopper]

oooh where to start

Phantasio: wrestled one match in 1995 against Tony DeVito. A terrible magician gimmick, in which the finish was a phony wedgie and a school boy.

Beaver Cleavage: 1999. one match. Kind of a Val Venis meets Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver. He even walked out in the middle of a live promo. Thats how you know a gimmick is bad.

Seven: Dustin Rhodes. Look it up. One appearance. WCW

"Thats 70's Guy" Mike Awesome: way to ruin the "Career Killer" Russo....

Kerwin White: dont get me started.

Misfits in Action.. terrbile army stable with sterotype/sexual innuendo names.
General Rection (Hugh Morris) GI Bro (Booker T) Major Gunns (some random bimbo)

 

[CuddleBuns84]

I have a pretty good sized list. One of them is the Renegade. This was when Hulk Hogan was going against the dungeon of doom. Well the Renegade was thought to be the Warrior. Well WCW never really made the Renegade live up to those expectations. The Renegade good of been the next Ultimate Warrior, but instead he was written off the pages.

Nailz. This was the arch rival of the Big Boss Man. He even had a horrific attack on the boss-man with his own night stick. He was good size, and even scared some of the folks. He even cross the path of the Undertaker. WWE back in the day never booked, so he quickly was removed. I think a good IC run, and maybe a decent feud with Taker would of worked. When I was young, I remember the fans had some decent heat towards him.

Ken Shamrock. The UFC legend once had a run with the WWF/E. He won the King of the Ring, and made the Rock top out. He ended up leaving because he believed he was loosing his edge as a serious fighter. He would of made a good heel champion, or face champion. Instead he was placed in the corporation, then the union. At the last part of his career in the WWF/E he was going to have a feud with Chris Jericho. This would of moved him to a higher status. Instead, he was mostly used for stables.

Renee Dupree. This guy was one of the youngest superstars to get a title. He was decent on the mic, had a good look. He even had good heat because he was a foreigner. Well, he was washed off the pages. He would of been a great WWE champion.

Last by not least. Muhahhmed Hassan. The crowd hated him, and he was great on the mic. I think it would of been huge to see Him and Cena at a PPV match. The crowd would of been nuts. He should of been a main-eventer.

 

[Lif3h4cker]

One of the worst gimmicks of all times were the "prince of punk" shannon moore. He's been awhile definately long enough to have had some real quality feuds, but he hasn't gotten off the ground in over 10 years that he has been pro wrestling.

 

[Vintage]

Wrath - He was too talented for this gimmick not to work. I have no idea why they scrapped it. The flatliner was awesome.

Mortis - A pitfighter. Looked freaking awesome and did some impressive stuff in the ring. I don't get this one either. They even had James Vandenberg and couldn't get over.

Glacier - The gimmick had potential, but he sucked so much ass.

I really wish the WCW writers figured this out. The story wasn't all of that but I'm sure there was more they could have done with these guys after the program with Ernest Miller.

 

[Beitter]

Vampiro when he was in WCW back in 2000! He torched the stinger and through his ass of the top of the WCW verson of the titiontron while he was on fire! Cut alot of decent promos during this run, and in my view was Stingers best enemy! Including drowning him in the ring with blood, and then hanging him on the thing that lowered sting to the ring! Outside of that WCW used him to try and make the whole demon character (that was created from the band Kiss) not be a complete flop when the 2 had a match at Bash at the beach 2000! However that was unsuccessful! Other than that WCW never used him for anything good! In my view he had the potential to be one of the best heels the company would have had! He was good on the mic, and drew alot of heat, unfortunatly he worked for WCW!

 

[D-Will316]

I agree with the Mordecai one. I was just starting to watch wrestling at that time and thought him and The Undertaker were great. I really would have liked to see where he could have gone.

 

[waylonmercy]

I don't know if it qualifies but a gimmick that ended up unsuccessful due to an injury and his retirement is yours truly.

Waylon Mercy was incredible. Dan Spivey had the look as Waylon Mercy as somoene intimidating, he played the role incredibly well and was awesome on the mic. His vignettes were wicked. I will NEVER forget him having a match against Jerry Flynn (Not Lynn) and at the back they talked about having a clean match and listening to the ref and then during the match he threw Flynn outside and proceeded to DDT him onto the floor and told the ref when he came inside that he slipped... classic.

Becuase of that injury his career got derailed...

Here's Lex Luger's best gimmick in my opinion against Jim Powers. Great moment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=RACWWmZeo9U&feature=related

 

[Newman]

King Booker was actually a successful gimmick for me. But here are mine unsuccessful gimmicks-

DDP- What a huge waste of talent, the WCW's version of the rock was transformed into a motivational talker. Ridiculous!

The Giant Gonzalez- Wearing fur coats and putting on one of The Undertaker worst Wrestlemania match. Need I say more?

Bam Neely- He could have been a great enforcer for Edge but he was wasted as a bodyguard for Chavo Guerrero, he did not really do anything except jobbing to whom Chavo was feuding with.

Kerwin White- Speaking of Chavo Guerrero, his horrible run as Kerwin White(a man with white hair and attacking people with golf clubs) made a joke out of a great wrestler like him.