8 Wrestling Gimmicks That Totally Ripped-Off Musicians

7. Johnny B. Badd (Little Richard)

Marc Mero was not a fan of professional wrestling growing up. Instead, the New York native focused his energies on the worlds of bodybuilding, boxing and football. When they didn't pan out as viable career choices, Mero turned his hand to wrestling, a business he knew very little about.

After a little bit of training at the Malenko's wrestling school in Florida, Mero got himself a gig as an enhancement talent for WCW when he was spotted by booker Dusty Rhodes. The American Dream couldn't get over Mero's likeness to R&B singer Little Richard and saw money.

Somewhat hilariously, Mero himself had absolutely no idea who Little Richard was, despite the fact that he was wearing his actual face. So out came Mero, as Johnny B. Badd - a not-so-subtle reference to Chuck Berry song Johnny B. Goode - wearing make up, with hair coiffed and carrying a glitter gun.

He was certainly committed to the role, although it would cause some problems for him when he signed with the WWF in 1996. See, Mero had pretty much been trained to play that particular gimmick and couldn't do a whole lot else and be convincing at it.