10 Wrestlers Who Visibly Hated Their Own Gimmicks

10. The Red Rooster

"I just plain didn't get it," remarked the Red Rooster in a shoot interview years later.

Whether dumbfounded or pissed off or both, Terry Taylor's appearances as the Red Rooster were notable for his sheer, wide-eyed discomfort. Looking almost captive, Terry seemed to send coded messages using only his eyes. Is it just me? he said. I'm sort of in the bubble up here: is the UWF still f*cked, or can I go back?

It was still f*cked, Terry, and so were you.

The gimmick - to the uninitiated, an anthropomorphic rooster with a red mohawk and a predilection to caw throughout tragically optimistic promos aimed at his 'Rooster Boosters' - was conceived as a surgical removal of Taylor's apparent skyscraper ego. In execution, it was as successful as WrestleMania III. Taylor stumbled through his hyper-earnest promos. Perhaps there were layers to this sh*t we didn't get. Perhaps Taylor was acting scared because he was a chicken. Or perhaps he was trapped in an actual existential nightmare.

Taylor probably should have detected a hint of cynicism, even if this predated WWE's rampant culture of toxicity years later. Terry, bubby, they didn't just ask you to cluck through a f*cking airport - they made you wake up to catch the earliest flight!