10 Worst Gimmicks For The Best Wrestlers
It’s always puzzling when great wrestlers get terrible gimmicks.
Pro wrestlers and promoters have been using gimmicks since professional wrestling’s early days. The flamboyant Gorgeous George inspired generations of future stars such as Buddy Rogers, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels. Vince McMahon created gimmicks like ‘The Million Dollar Man’ that helped grow his wrestling empire. From Demolition, Doink the Clown, and Goldust to The Red Rooster, The Gobbledy Gooker, and The Yeti, wrestlers' gimmicks have taken fans and the wrestlers on an emotional rollercoaster ride for many years.
Some wrestlers and promoters catch lightning in a bottle with a gimmick. Del Wilkes putting on a red, white, and blue mask and tights to become The Patriot was genius. However, the same formula didn’t work out nearly as well for Hulk Hogan’s disastrous Mr. America gimmick. Other times, a wrestler must drop a gimmick by any means necessary. Ric Flair was being pressured by WCW to assume a “Spartacus” persona when he jumped to WWE in 1991.
Today's great wrestlers are also not immune to being saddled with a bad gimmick. How these superstars overcome such adversity are always interesting stories. The great ones find a way to survive and thrive.
10. Chad Gable
Chad Gable is an accomplished amateur wrestler and competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics. He signed with WWE in 2013 and soon became a tag-team specialist as a part of two successful tag-teams with Jason Jordan and Bobby Roode.
Gable has made the transition to WWE’s singles division with mixed results. He has yet to find that right combination of in-ring work and charisma needed to take his solo run up a notch. His new gimmick isn’t doing him any favors.
In late 2019, he was repackaged as ‘Shorty G’ and doesn’t appear to be any closer to breakout success or even getting more TV time than he did before the repackaging job. The underdog storytelling associated with him works but unfortunately, the name has been a huge hindrance. If the name isn’t dropped soon then we may see the old Chad Gable having success elsewhere.