WWE Countdown: Infamous Gimmicks
So infamous is more than famous, right? Or maybe not. This list will count down those gimmicks that gained notoriety more than gained fame. Boogeyman, Disco Inferno, Giant Gonzales, just to name a few. I’m sure we’ll see some great footage in today’s episode.
10. The Mountie
A bit of a surprise to find the Mountie here because I thought he worked quite well with this gimmick. You had the Bossman for the States, so why not give the friendly folks to the north in Canada, their piece of enforcement. Plus, he carried around a taser, and what wasn’t cool about that? He had a good mouthpiece with him in Jimmy Hart, but I guess overall, you would throw this on the infamous side of things because he could have been something more.
Don’t forget that he always gets his man, which was such a fun entrance theme.
9. Dynamic Dudes
Now here’s a pair I have no recollection of, but I believe People Power John (however you spell his last name) Laurinaitis was a member of it. Oh wow, Shane Douglas!?! He was part of this? Jim Cornette was a part of this too? Why did this fail? Oh yea, it just wasn’t meant for these two guys. You have to give some credit for this pair that we’re even talking about it when they talked about it only lasting a year. A year of infamy.
8. Akeem
The African Dream? One Man Gang goes African… yes, that’s very legit to believe. It makes me think of Brodus Clay for today, where we expected one thing, and got something completely different. Lots of juking and jiving along with Slick Rick. Then you got the “dream” match with Dusty “The American Dream” Rhodes and Akeem “the African Dream”.
7. Glacier
WCW tried their hand at something that looked out of Mortal Kombat. Huge videos put together for this guy, and then it all went downhill from there. They ended up talking about in this segment that it was definitely a rip off of Sub-Zero, who was in Mortal Kombat. Then we had Mortis come out to challenge Glacier, along with Wrath. Too much buildup for such a hokey character.
6. Disco Inferno
Wow, everyone sure shot this gimmick down in this segment. But then again, he just didn’t work out so well in the ring. Hey Fandango, your time has come and gone is the way I look at today’s gimmick for him. He’s pretty much trying to recreate what Disco Inferno did back in the day. Then he even tried out a Disco Duck. Retro is usually a cool thing, but apparently, not this type of retro idea.
5. Red Rooster
So you throw a guy out to the ring with some weird mohawk and make him crow around the ring. Once again, why would ANYONE think this is going to work? I loved the reactions of people in this segment as they saw the picture at first. Laughter and OMG’s are the best reactions to these gimmicks. He even got a cool robe that said Rooster on it, so that’s something. According to the segment, this was all Vince’s idea, so ONE person loved the idea.
4. Giant Gonzales
A big man in a bodysuit. That’s pretty much the only way to describe this character. What else can you say? Oh yea, he fought the Undertaker. What hurts the Taker? Oh yea a rag soaked in ether. Yet again, you can think of someone in today’s WWE, Great Khali. A guy that’s just hard to work with because he’s so big and slow in the ring.
3. Gobbledy Gooker
Do I even need to type away what this was? A huge egg popped out a huge chicken. And guess what? Even back then, you had the “smart fans” you decided to boo away this. I can only imagine if today’s wrestling crowd would be subject to this. It would have been ripped to shreds even before the egg hatched.
2. Doink The Clown
RIP to one of those legendary gimmicks that you’ve never forgotten. Just think he even went heel for a bit and had just a different way of approaching. I know some people are scared of clowns, so I can only imagine what the kids of the 90s were feeling with Doink. He had some great gags like throwing a bucket of confetti on people. He actually worked well in the ring, so that made him at least believable as a character. Don’t forget Dink, the small clown.
1. The Boogeyman
I’m the Boogeyman and I’m coming to get you. Or shove some worms down your throat. Give it to WWE to really play upon some fears. Eating a mole of Jillian Hall’s face… yes, that really happened. He ate plenty of worms as well. Lots of worms. A lot of worms. But once again, here we are talking about him, so it was something done right. You have to be over the top. You have to play out what you’re given. The Boogeyman did just that.