8 Stupid WWE Gimmicks That Got Over Huge
Eugene was once the hottest act on Monday Night Raw.
We've seen plenty of stupid gimmicks completely fail to take off, either coming close to ruining careers and promising performers or outright nixed any chance they had of having a successful run in WWE. Look no further than stuttering Matt Morgan, 'Dean' Douglas, TL Hopper and so on and so on.
The best gimmicks are usually an extension of the performer's personality, only turned up to eleven. They're also usually rooted in reality and allow you to suspend your disbelief. That's one of the (many) reasons why Steve Austin has headlined countless WrestleManias while Battle Cat has headlined zero.
The importance of a gimmick cannot be overstated and a stupid one can ruin you before you even have the chance to get going. WWE used to revel in giving dumb gimmicks to guys and gals, usually as a way to amuse themselves. Sometimes, the laugh was on them, as the performer got the damn thing over against the odds.
Other times, moments of inspiration hit in the strangest of ways, turning something that looked silly on the surface into a money-maker and status-enhancer. This has then inspired others - just look at the New Day - to think outside the box and try and get the stupidest gimmicks over.
It doesn't always work, but these eight examples prove that it can.
8. The Hurricane
STAND BACK! There's a goofy jobber-to-the-stars coming through!
Superhero movies are all the rage these days - one cursory look at the recent box-office figures should tell you all you need to know about that - but the situation was somewhat different in the early 2000s.
They were popular, sure, with Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002) a notable mega-hit, but they weren't constant record-breakers like they were these days and there were big misses, too. One person who was a noted fan of the genre was former Three Count member Shane Helms, who had a Green Lantern logo tattooed on his arm.
Inspired by the love of his caped idols, Helms adopted a superhero gimmick towards the end of the Invasion in late 2001. It wasn't especially over in its early days, but it did grow to become one of the most popular midcard acts in the company.
So much so that, by March 2003, Hurricane was over enough to engage in a mini feud with Hollywood superstar The Rock. He even got a surprise victory over The Great One and it was around this time that his merchandise sales were some of the strongest in the company.
Hurricane pretty much always provoked a reaction and could fit a number of different roles, but he and WWE saw fit to ditch the gimmick in 2005, with Helms becoming the nondescript Gregory Helms instead. He floundered, and ended up going back to being The Hurricane in 2008.
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