10 Crazy Wrestling Gimmicks That Should Have Never Worked (But Did)

Over the years, professional wrestling has seen many a bizarre, crazy gimmick. In general, it's pretty much an anything-goes industry. However, just because anything goes doesn't mean that anything works. From farmers to aerobics instructors, teachers to dentists, along with cowboys, fairies, millionaires, bodyguards, garbage men, plumbers, race car drivers, truck drivers, bikers, Mortal Kombat characters (or close facsimiles thereof), rednecks, rappers, country singers, supermodels, and so on, many gimmicks simply beggar belief. In other cases, there are those gimmicks which just seem so strange, so out there that it feels like there is no way the audience could ever invest themselves in someone wearing the persona of a particular gimmick. And yet, despite all the odds to the contrary, they not only manage to survive... they manage to thrive as well. Of course, many of these don't tend to go very far. In some cases, it depends as much on the person playing the part as it does the part itself. For instance, few would argue that Bray Wyatt has done more with the Cape Fear-inspired gimmick than Waylon Mercy ever could. Here, then, is a look at ten gimmicks which did just that, thriving against all odds, no doubt due in part to those who were chosen to portray said gimmick. However, a word of warning: Most entries on this list don't consider more current, shorter-lived gimmicks such as Bray Wyatt above; for those, it's simply too early to judge. While they may indeed go the distance, the future is yet to be written, and the last thing we want to do is jinx anyone working their magic at present. Instead, our focus is to look at the absurdity of the gimmick, how long they've been able to keep it going, and what titles/accolades they've won while performing in that role.