10 Regrettable Wrestling Revamps

As a former WCW Champion, legendary member of the Four Horseman and all-round wrestling great, Barry Windham had some serious wrestling pedigree when he entered the World Wrestling Federation in 1996. Despite these undeniable credentials, WWF completely denied his them by making him The Stalker.

Windham soon found himself decked out in camouflage like an extra from a Chuck Norris B-Movie. Bizarrely billed as being from “The Environment”, The Stalker was presented as a predatory hunter - supposedly based on serial killer Richard Ramirez - eyeing up the rest of the roster as his supposed prey. Notwithstanding the creepy sexual connotations, the gimmick itself absolutely stunk.

Speaking of stink, his opponent in his debut match was coincidentally TL Hopper, the hygienically-challenged plumber. Hopper was also an '80s star himself, formerly known as Dirty White Boy, now repackaged in mid-90s gimmick sludge. But that’s a another story for another time.

As if all that wasn’t enough, The Stalker also happened to have some of the worst entrance music known to man. Snapping the final string on his ever decreasing pro wrestling bow, Windham’s wrestling output was also limited mainly to strikes, with enough back elbows to earn him a yellow belt at any YMCA.

All in all, a pretty solid effort by McMahon and co to reduce one of the NWA’s best wrestlers to an elbow-toting, face-painted eco-warrior.