10 Most Shameless Wrestling Ripoffs Ever
Asya>Chyna, at least geographically...
True originality is hard to come by.
Particularly in the modern era, with footage libraries so vast and accessible, almost everybody is borrowing something from somewhere or someone. This is true of every artform on the planet. Genuine innovators still find ways to harness their creativity into a unique creation that people want to buy into, though the world is home to exponentially more banal heels cutting dull-as-hell "you people!" promos than Goldusts, Minoru Suzukis, and Undertakers.
At the lower end of the originality scale lie the men and women within, though their inclusion need not be a condemnation. While each of these characters came from copycat beginnings, a handful were able to take someone else's act, tweak it enough to make it their own, and prosper. They are the exceptions, though. Most of these people were straight-up cosplayers.
There's no room for parodies like Gillberg, the Blue World Order, 'or Stone Cold' Shark Boy. This one's all about the carbon copies that weren't tongue-in-cheek. Instances of wrestlers taking their old characters from one promotion to another with a new name don't count either.
Let's start with a former WWE Heavyweight Champion...
10. Justin 'Hawk' Bradshaw
Ripped Off: Stan Hansen
Stan Hansen is John Bradshaw Layfield's favourite wrestler. This should be apparent enough from watching his work (and particularly his bruising Clothesline From Hell finisher - a shoutout to Stan's industry-best Lariat), but check this footage on the former Acolyte paying tribute to Hansen backstage at the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The man is beaming. Have you ever seen JBL so happy?
As a fixture in any credible greatest-of-all-time discussion, there are certainly worse guys to fawn over than Hansen, whose roughhouse style informs so many of today's brawlers. JBL's original WWE gimmick, however, was essentially a tribute act.
Justin 'Hawk' Bradshaw aped Hansen's wrestling style, attitude, and look, even going as far as swiping as signature hand gesture, cowboy hat, and bullrope. The very definition of a cheap knockoff, the character was fortunately short-lived as Layfield eventually transitioned into another tribute bit, this time as one half of the New Blackjacks, before eventually forging his own identity as an Acolyte. Echoes of Hansen's style would pepper his work for the rest of JBL's career, though the aping was never as gratuitous.