10 Weirdest Wrestling Characters (That Didn’t Work)

Every wrestler needs a gimmick but these personas were something else!

By Chris Quicksilver /

Every wrestler needs a gimmick. If you€™re a tough amateur wrestler, or boxer, like, say, Danny Hodge, then your gimmick will likely be based around your sporting prowess. Ditto for stars like Kurt Angle, Mark Henry, Ken Shamrock and even latter day Brock Lesnar. However, if you€™re just a good, solid wrestler, then people need a reason to come and watch you wrestle €“ and this is where the power of a good gimmick comes into play. Who would you rather watch wrestle a main event, Texas Red, €˜Mean€™ Mark Callous or The Undertaker? If you answered anything other than €˜Taker, then you€™re a nob, plain and simple. A good gimmick can mean the difference between languishing in the mid card and rocketing to the top of the sport, or, to put it into more salient terms, a good gimmick and a bad gimmick are usually several tax brackets removed from each other. OK, we€™ve established The Undertaker as a good gimmick. We can also safely add characters like €˜Stone Cold€™ Steve Austin, Bruiser Brody and Randy Orton to the €˜good€™ pile. ...But what makes a bad gimmick? Is it the wrestler playing the role, the fan reaction, the timing, or a combination of all three? Let€™s take a look at 10 weird (and sometimes woeful) concepts that never quite translated into big bucks for anyone involved...