10 Wrestling Gimmicks That Weren’t Supposed To Last Long
9. The Blue World Order
Stevie Richards, Nova and The Blue Meanie provided bizarre comic relief in between the blood and brutality of ECW in 1996, with a selection of three/four-person parodies of various old performers in their roles as well-intended lackeys for cult leader and Heavyweight Champion Raven.
Ripe for parody as they already were just months into their tenure, the New World Order were lampooned by the trio with such charming panache that all three ended up sticking with the characters as a permanent gimmick. Aping Kevin Nash, 'Big Stevie Cool' even worked the contendership prologue main event of the company's first ever pay-per-view Barely Legal in the gimmick alongside his partners - the flexing 'Hollywood' Nova and Scott Hall-inspired 'Da Blue Guy'.
Either as a credit to popularity of the original nWo or the effort made to comedically mirror the three biggest stars in the industry at the time, versions of the homage lasted long after the expansion and dilution of the New World Order.
Nearly a decade later, the blue crew even re-emerged in WWE after the company doled out a brief 2005 stint on SmackDown as a make-good for the real-life sh*tkicking Bradshaw dished out to The Meanie at the chaotic climax of One Night Stand 2005.