Wasted Gimmicks

[thewrestleranurag900]

I mean a gimmick that had all the potential but was wasted due to reasons like face turn,etc.For me its Doink The clown.The guy had it all during his heel run but was wasted due to his face turn.Another one that comes in my mind is Mankind because i hated his shoco crap.So what r ur thoughts.

 

[Fallen Angel 21.3]

I would have to say Mick Foleys other gimmick in the WWF was Catcus Jack i mean he was big in ECW, WCW, but WWE tired it and it failed badly i mean royal rumble 2000 was a hardcore match for the title. It was the match that he should have won but of course didn't. Also i don't know if you want TNA in here but Suicide was a wasted gimmick i mean it could have been big but with the game comming out before him it was just stupid how they used him.

 

[steveh0481]

I'm not blasting you at all by this, but how is Mankind a wasted gimmick? He turned face and they still wanted him to seem crazy. If he has a "friend" named Mr. Socko then he still is a little nuts in the WWE's eyes. That keeps the transition from heel to face seem normal without destroying all the backstory of the character.

One gimmick I thought had a lot of potential was Sid Justice. I would have loved to see Sid face Undertaker with Sid as face and Taker as heel. I know it was in the works when Sid got hurt. When Sid came back at Royal Rumble 91 (the one Flair won), he was cheered for throwing Hogan over. He could have been a huge face. Instead, we get a few weeks of him actually wrestling between Summerslam 90 and Royal Rumble 91 and then a heel turn.

 

[captain_awesome]

for sheer annoyance, king booker in tna, was pretty damn annoying, to the point i felt like changing the channel, but the oddities with icp get an honourable mention imho. Suicide in tna, and desmond wolfe, he just oozes "wasted" at the moment

 

[Ferbian]

I would actually say that I think Festus was a wasted gimmick as a whole, alongside Jesse, those two were an absolute waste, especially the Festus one, due to the fact that they shouldn't have thrown that gimmick on him in the first place, he's doing great with CM Punk right now, and I'm not saying they should have given him that gimmick from the start, but it's just showing that he could've worked much better with a gimmick where he got to wrestle properly, and didn't come off as a person with a mental problem.

On the other hand, I feel the whole damn Spirit Squad was a wasted gimmick, sure they succeeded in having a decent feud with D-generation X, and defeating The Big Show and Kane for their only championship, but that was about it, they were associated with Vince McMahon, and even that wasn't enough to throw them into something appropriate to watch, rather than just being released after a few months time.

These guy's could definitely have worked together as a stable, or as single stars, Kenny Dykstra and Dolph Ziggler has proved that they could work alone, and work greatly, so that was definitely a wasted gimmick.

 

[King Blitzkonic]

Wasted gimmicks aye? Here's a few I can think of:

Glacier: Not sure whether it was getting squashed by Goldberg or the blatant MK-ish nature of the gimmick, but this guy had more talent than half the WCW roster.

T.L. Hopper: WWF's resident plumber. I consider this gimmick wasted merely because it was actually USED. I don't remember this guy winning more than a handful of matches.

Million-Dollar corp.: Not so much a gimmick as a stable but still purposeful. Last I checked there wasn't really much of a formalized breaking off (besides Austin and one or two others). This could have easily become what Evolution was about 10 years later with DiBiase in the Ric Flair spot.

LOD 2000: Once again, a gimmick that should never have been used. To me, there was absolutely no need to revamp the most famous tag-team of all time (more famous than Team 3D!), not to mention the little stunt with Hawk and Droz.

Chris Masters: Face turn?! No no no that just isn't going to work. At least as a heel Masters did more than a couple of moves and pec flexing.

Mark Jindrak as the "Reflection of Perfection": An almost blatant rip-off of Lex Luger's Narcissist gimmick. Parallel to Masters and his "Masterpiece" gimmick. This guy was far too talented to be trapped in that kind of thing.

DANIEL BRYAN: Let's be honest: There wasn't really any need for Danielson to do any gimmick change to get over. Look at the promo he cut on Cole recently (I loved it!)

Sean O'haire: Both his Devil's Advocate gimmick and the spider deal were wasted by circumstances I can't remember. He made far better promos than most and had the size/strength/ability that gives Vinny Mac a hard-on. WHY couldn't O'haire get the right push?!

Shelton Benjamin: Self explanatory- easily on par with Kurt Angle concerning wrestling ability but just didn't have quite enough mic skill/time to get over as more than a mid-card/tag-team wrestler.

Charlie Haas: See Shelton Benjamin.

Dean Malenko: Wasted when he got the Ladies Man gimmick. It just didn't really work for someone who was known as the Iceman.

Lance Storm: Not so much wasted gimmick as a wasted talent. Had the size, had the ability, had the mic skills, had the charisma to get with the crowd. Not sure what happened there.

Owen Hart: Only really considered wasted because of Owen's death.

Goldust: Another one who has everything but apparently someone in booking has a hard-on against him.

That's all I can think of at the moment...

 

[nahbrah]

I agree, the spirit squad was full of solid wrestlers, dolph and kenny like you said, but, Johnny Jeter was also freakin awesome.

I also think the Heart Throbs (as faces) was a waste. I don't think a lot of people will agree, but, I laughed my ass off at them, and thought they looked pretty decent in the ring.

 

[tjfjr4488]

i think mordici could have been a big part of the wwe if they used him right, him and taker could have had great fueds along with kane. he could even have been smackdowns main eventer and a top face once taker leaves passing the "deadman" torch to him

 

[Vintage]

John Morrison - He's a natural heel, his gimmick as some kind of Jim Morrison inspired smart mouth cocky and arrogant chick magnet on a permanent acid trip doesn't work as a face. He was like the new age Rick Rude.

Kane - He's a monster with a burned and hideously deformed face, yet he takes off the mask and due to the miracle of plastic surgery looks normal. He's not so scary anymore is he? The edge went with the mask.

Vladimir Kozlov - First he was like the new goldberg. Creative stalled and he lost steam. Then he switches to becoming some kind of Russian Ivan Drago ish super soldier and almost as fast becomes a world renowned sambo master? uh what?

MVP - Highest paid superstar on smackdown ever, which automatically makes you a cocky heel. Turned face and went from MVP to towel boy losing god knows how many matches for how many months in a row. Now for some reason we're supposed to care?

Kofi Kingston - Much like Cena he's a wrestler who's abandoned his gimmick but didn't change his look or mannerisms. Instead of it seeming like a natural progression of character you come off looking like a poser. He really needs to change his attire and music to distance himself from his Jamaican gimmick since he's billed from GHANA WEST AFRICA now..

Cena- Battle rapper thug from the mean streets of Massachusetts with a slick mouth who transitioned to some type of armed forces groupie with super human pain absorption powers and super strength. Problem is, he didn't really change his look, still comes out to rap music although there isn't anything hip hop about him and he just comes across as a dork


I can go on all day, I'll stop here or I'll end up listing damn near the whole WWE roster

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Sean O'haire: Thank you for mentioning him Blitzkonic. This guy had it all- the look, the mic skills, the promos from hell (literally), and the standout gimmick. Shame shame.

Braden Walker: He was doomed to fail from the start with his *Knock Knock* angle. Crappy. But his name could have gotten a lot farther. Hell he was 1/2 of America's Most Wanted in TNA- he could have been packaged right.

Jimmy Wayne Yang: I mention him not because I liked him or anything, but for the sheer fact he had the charisma and athletic moves that should have capitalized his career. And they stick him in a Residential Redneck gimmick...I don't know to me he should have dropped it and let him take a serious angle.

Mordecai: Another that has been mentioned and I have to agree. It's speculated that he got cold feet because they wanted him to be the one to face Undertaker at that year's Wrestlemania, and then we have----

Kevin Thorne: Not the brawler gimmick, but the vampire one. To me, he could have been this generation's Gangrel, but soooo much better. Instead they give him that for a year or two and then that is dropped. It had potential. Not many supernatural gimmicks make it, and to me that's disappointing.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Naked Mideon- That gimmick and Mideon was just a waste altogether

The Spirit Squad- There were a lot of talented wrestlers in the squad like Dysktra and Ziggler, but no one knew that because this gimmick was so terrible.

The Radicals- Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero were the only benefactors of the group. Dean Malenko turned into the ladies man and Perry Saturn had an affair with a mop.

Suicide- TNA's suicide gimmick was a failed character from a failed video game that no one cared about.

Cody Deaner- We will never know how talented Chris Grey is because of this low rent gimmick. Instead of being a southern man's man Deaner just turned out to be a blue collar comedy tour joke poking fun at southern people and people that live in trailer parks.

Shark Boy- The man is cheered in the impact zone, but even when he was doing impressions of Steve Austin no one took Shark Boy serious. How could you with that name?

Giant Gonzalez- The man was the tallest athlete to compete for the WWE. He was 7'6 and billed as an 8 foot giant. Even the Undertaker couldn't build this man up with his limited ring ability and his Sasquatch naked man tights.

The Yettie- A man dressed as a hairy mummy that appeared on Monday Night Nitro against NWO. Horrible.

Gillberg- a cheap imitation of Goldberg that was funny the first time, but was a cheap joke that went on too long afterward. At least the man won the light heavyweight title.

The Ding Dongs- Jim Ross probably still has nightmares of this team. Ding and Dong wore orange suits and masks. Every time they wrestled they would ring a large bell at ringside.

TL Hopper- A plumber that eats chocolate bars in the pool that look like turds. Awesome.

Eugene- Nick Dinsmore never had a chance. A mentally challenged man that imitates wrestlers. The only reason people cheered for him because they felt sorry for him.

Charlie Haas- A gifted athlete that was reduced to being a low rate wrestling impersonator.

Lance Storm- Another solid performer that was limited by his " Can I be serious for a moment" gimmick.

Mike Awesome as that 70's Guy- One of the best big man performers around wasted as the "Fat Chick Thriller" a guy that wore leisure suits and loved large women.

The Shockmaster- The gimmick failed before it ever got off the ground. Later The Shockmaster was turned into a goofy klutz known as Uncle Elmer.

The KISS Demon- KISS performing live on Nitro was one of the lowest rated shows in history. The former baseball player turned into the KISS Demon didn't help matters.

The Gobbledy Gooker- Another brilliant invention from Vince and the WWE machine. People were waiting weeks for the big surprise at the first Survivor Series. What the got was a big dancing joke of a guy in a turkey costume.

Aldo Montoya- Portuguese Man O War- Just saying the name is forgettable. Thankfully Justin Credible had success else where.

The Patriot- This red white and blue freak was pushed hard into the main event against the anti American pro Canadian WWF champion Bret Hart. Too bad the audience give a damn about the Patriot to notice.

Johnny B Badd- Marc Mero as a cross dressing Little Richard impersonator.

Se7en- Dustin Runnels dressed in white with a black hate and jacked like the Undertaker.

The Red Rooster- Poor Terry Taylor was the butt of many jokes with this horrible gimmick. The man would crow during his interviews and actually had a spiked red hair.

The Blue Blazer- One of the worst gimmicks of all time that started when Owen Hart first came into WWF and ended in his tragic death. If WWE and Owen Hart never agreed to this gimmick maybe he would still be alive today.

Other Honorable mentions- Billy and Chuck, Max Moon, Rhythm and Blues, Outback Jack, The Goon, Skinner, The Sultan, Isaac Yankem, The New Rockers, Glacier, Renegade, Van Hammer, Man Mountain Rock, Vinnie Vegas, Oz, Dean Douglas, Disco Inferno, Adam Bomb, Bastian Booger, Akeem, The Beserker, Robocop.

 

[waylon p]

most of what is mentioned here seems to be wretched gimmicks. a wasted gimmick is more of a gimmick that was good, but never allowed to come into full flower and get over like it should.

the problem with this is that most fit this category were around so fleeting a time that they are difficult to remember.

for instance, "the crybabies" tag team of chris jericho and eddie guerrero. this team had a real chance to be a successfuly hated heel team, and they were fantastic in the ring together. for some unknown reason...(cough!cough! hall and nashcoughcough!) they were killed after about four matches. i could describe it, buti could do no justice. the matches have to be seen.

for a while, i thought they were going to use eugene as an inexplicably unbeatable opponent, until HHH figured out (after losing to eugene about three or four times in high profile matches) that he could only wrestle MATCHES HE HAD SEEN ON TELEVISION, and the "cerebral assassin" finally defeats the "savage savant" by doing what noone had done in wrestling for years....wrestle a completely original match.
but that is less a wasted gimmick than a wasted opportuniyt to create a great gimmick, and that would be a whole different thread.

 

[Supernova]

Muhammad Hassan was good, but the complexity was a bit too much for wrestling because what he was saying initially was true. But choosing to portray him (a Muslim who's had a hard time because of 9/11) as a heel was only ever going to end badly - because they just turned him into a two dimensional terrorist and ended up getting in trouble for it. Keeping him as a guy that gets booed because people know what he was saying was right would have been a lot better, and he could have been massive.

 

[Klown_Karnage]

One I have to mention is Nailz. This guy was freaking scary, especially the way he dominated the Big Boss Man. He was about to have a really interesting feud with The Undertaker. Then the wrestler himself had to be an idiot and get himself unceremoniously fired and so Nailz never really got to come into his own. It's a real shame. The gimmick could have worked (still could on the right wrestler.)

The other I think was a wasted opportunity is Charlie Haas the Impersonator. This could have worked well in a heel sense, a wrestler who was not only a great talent but could defeat his opponents with their own signature moves. A kind of "anything you can do I can do better...to you". I think the WWE should have run with this idea as a logical progression from his impersonations.

 

[TheAnimal]

How about Test winning the immunity battle royal in 2001 so he wouldn't be fired. They could have made him into a real badass guy. 'Why can't i do that, what you gonna do, fire me?'

I always thought Jericho should have main evented mania 24 as a face against Orton when he returned with the save us gimmick, especially having been away for over 2 years. Im not sure if thats a wasted gimmick in this sense though.

 

[MoRtAnDaD]

Muhammad Hassan was good, but the complexity was a bit too much for wrestling because what he was saying initially was true. But choosing to portray him (a Muslim who's had a hard time because of 9/11) as a heel was only ever going to end badly - because they just turned him into a two dimensional terrorist and ended up getting in trouble for it. Keeping him as a guy that gets booed because people know what he was saying was right would have been a lot better, and he could have been massive.

Absolutely right!, Muhammad Hassan is one of the best wasted gimmicks. That guy got everything, the look, the mic, the skills (he was way better than most of the actual roster).

 

[RKO FAN#!]

Vladamir- he is a power house and packs a powerful punch

Shelton Benjamin and charlie hass- could have been the greatest tag team of the new millennium

lance storm- fantastic wrestler, great single's athlete, should of had a longer stint in wwe. should had gone to TNA after WCW fell he would of done well there.

mark jindrak- great singles wrestler when he went to smackdown would have been a great tag team with Chris master since they had the same gimmick.

rhino- doing a great job in TNA should have gone farther in WWE

goldust- freaky but great performer and should be given a title run.

Eugene- special needs gimmick sucked he should have been as he was in the independent circuit

 

[Captain America]

Muhammad Hassan- This was a brilliant character played to perfection. This character drew more heat than any wrestler had in years. It was genius and it's just a shame that the character had to be ended, because of bullshit over-sensitivity in our society and everything needing to be pc.

Rob Conway- His last gimmick in the WWE was brilliant and he had the best entrance music in the biz. I still can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that he wasn't successful with this gimmick.

Mordecai- "Hear me, Fear me" He had a great gimmick, a great look, and money-making feud with the Undertaker in the bag. It's a shame that the WWE hasn't brought this gimmick back.

Hirohito- I think this gimmick had a lot more potential than Kenzo Suzuki's other gimmick. I wish the WWE would've given it a try.

FBI- I felt this gimmick had more mileage than the WWE used it for. I felt they could've done more with it.

Sean O'Haire- He had the look and a gimmick that was not just brilliant, but was original as well. I don't understand why the WWE didn't give it more of a chance.

"The" Brian Kendrick- A great heel played very well. The WWE dropped the ball on this one. They also probably should've done more with his original "spanky" gimmick too.

"The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels- When he started to feud with Sting, his gimmick was really cool. I don't understand why they didn't bring him back with this gimmick.

Imposter Kane- There was a story here that wasn't ever fully revealed. It seems strange that the WWE had him beat Kane at a PPV and have Kane be fearful of him only to have him be sent way afterwards with no mention of him ever again.

 

[BWEEZY2009]

Sean O' Haire

Everybody on this board should be posting this as a top 3 answer. He was mad over in the tag division and all of a sudden he comes back with some of the greatest vignettes ever. I really don't know how this promo didn't continue.. it had the legs and they teamed him up with one of the greatest heels in wrestling history!

Muhammad Hassan

This is kind of unfair to the WWE to mention, because they were pushing him to the moon. A bit of bad luck/timing caused this gimmick to be a waste. Hassan might of had the most heat of any heel in the last decade. If he would of won the world title, it wouldn't of surprised me one bit of the arena rioted. I remember his promo after not getting invited to the gold rush tournament where him and Austin had their first promo together

 

[Goliath Uterus]

"The" Brian Kendrick comes to mind, he was (is) great on the mic and had a HUGE mufucka behind him. I think he coulda been in the ME picture as a top heel. Muhhamed Haasan- This guy generated so much heat is was scary, wish they woulda kept this guy around. Sean O'Haire- Very immpressive wrestler who was only improving, not to mention he was fucking amazing on the mic. The Radicalz- I think they could have been THE dominant stable in the WWE and a more high profile breakup would have created fantastic feuds/matches.

 

[pessimism101]

I say the Boogeyman. When I first saw this gimmic, I thought it was the dumbest thing I have ever seen, but he had a cool entrance, his matches weren't bad, and I started to become interested in the gimmick. Then, he just vanished...

Gangrel also comes to mind. The WWF/E gave this guy THE greatest entrance in the history of pro wrestling and then, for some reason, pushed ALL of his former stable mates and left him to wrestle on Heat... the D show. God, I would love to see Gangrel's entrance again...

 

[Killer Kelbo]

I say the Boogeyman. When I first saw this gimmic, I thought it was the dumbest thing I have ever seen, but he had a cool entrance, his matches weren't bad, and I started to become interested in the gimmick. Then, he just vanished...

Gangrel also comes to mind. The WWF/E gave this guy THE greatest entrance in the history of pro wrestling and then, for some reason, pushed ALL of his former stable mates and left him to wrestle on Heat... the D show. God, I would love to see Gangrel's entrance again...

You stole my favorite two. Actually there were some horrible ones to be mentioned as well. How about Duke the Dumpster Droese, the Godwinns, Bob Holly's run as Thurman Sparky Plug. Classic horrible ideas from the early to mid 90's. How about Doink and Dink, better yet, when he added Wink and Pink and then they went against Jerry Lawler with Queasy, Sleezy, and Cheesy. If i was any older than I was at the time, I would have had the sense to realize that it was just ridiculous rather than encourage the shit that was going on. Then there was Isaac Yankem and other horrible ones. The WWE was turning into a circus before it was saved by the attitude era. I mean seriously, a trashman? a couple of farmers? A racecar driver? clowns and midget clowns? midget kings? a dentist? what the hell were they thinking?
Some good one's that I did like that were wasted were the boogeyman, gangrel, and a newer one kizarney. He was only in for one match when he beat MVP and never seen again.