5 Scary Gimmicks That Failed in WWE and WCW

Mantaur (WWF)

In Greek mythology, the Minotaur was a creature composed with the head of a bull and body of a man that would consume human flesh as lived in the Labyrinth. Sounds like the perfect type of scary gimmick to portray in the World Wrestling Federation, right?

Give it to the world of professional wrestling for being consistent with mythological creatures coming across as jokes shortly after their in-ring debut. Portrayed by Mike Halac, the 400-pound wrestler came to the ring on an episode of Superstars of Wrestling on January 1995 wearing a a bull helmet as he walked to the ring to face a local jobber.

No one was really afraid of him as he walked by several fans who reached out to get a high five or handshake, like they would other popular superstars. In fact, many fans in the crowd who were caught on camera looked confused as to what they were looking at.

As he went on a winning streak to start his run in WWE, Mantaur would make a number of bull-like antics like charging his opponents and trampling them. He even mooed at them. Is there anything worse than to be squashed by a guy who moos at you?

Now Halac’s time in WWF would end shortly after he was easily defeated by Bam Bam Bigelow a few months later. He did have another run in WWF about a year later, but more as a bodyguard hired by Goldust during a feud with the Ultimate Warrior.

So what went wrong with the Mantaur gimmick? Similar to Bastion Booger, the scary wrestler looked out of shape and wasn’t really intimidating like the powerhouses we’ve seen like Kane and Undertaker.

Next: The Yeti