10 Accidental 2-In-1 Wrestling Figures
When manufacturing botches become unintentional bargains, featuring John Cena, Riddle, and more...
The flamboyant and over-the-top personas of professional wrestlers makes them a natural companion alongside the heroic and villainous action figures of a toy box. Deprived of the "action" by a pristine box, they are also eye-catching collectables for mature fans, making any shelf a talking point.
Action figures are among the best-selling and most collectable wrestling merch, meaning these plastic likenesses can prove profitable to their flesh and blood counterparts. WWE superstars typically get a 5% cut from merch sales at live events and from WWE.com sales, this rises to 25% from third-party licensed sales.
However, not all recreations are created equally. The head scan results are fierce grounds for debate among collectors with the likenesses running a range from uncanny valley to "who dis?"
While some of the face scans are unforgivable, as wrestling fans we have honed our ability to step back, take a breath, and look on the bright side. If a likeness isn't all that great, reinterpretation can help soften the disappointment. Here are a collection of wrestling figures that blur the lines between two wrestlers. You can:
a) Follow the packaging suggestion
b) Recast them, or
c) Have the figure pull double duty.
10. Billy Gunn/John Cena
WWF Maximum Sweat Series 2 - Billy Gunn
Gunn Likeness: 1/10
Cena Likeness: 6/10
WWE’s Maximum Sweat line of figures are amongst the most controversial merch spawned from professional wrestling. Each figure was not only distorted, so muscular that they made Scott Steiner look like a slacker, they also were able to be filled with water to simulate beads of sweat running down their plastic skin. The faces prioritised Looney Tunes levels of agony and ecstasy over any real likeness. Despite its faults, the line ran for four series.
In retrospect, and discounting the monstrous, sweat-glistened bodies, one figure has a redeeming quality; an uncanny likeness to one of the post-Attitude Era’s biggest stars. While it is a struggle to see Billy Gunn in the plastic face mould, there is a clear resemblance to John Cena; albeit a rather pale, clammy, and pouting one. Almost capturing how Cena must have felt in the face of ECW diehards threatening to riot
Billy Gunn would thankfully get better plastic representation - what would a ‘90s toy box be without Mr. Ass himself? - yet Collectors will never get an action figure of WWE’s golden boy, that is quite so grotesque.