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

6. The Hurricane

If WWE Superstars and Divas are looked at as "real life superheroes," then what does that make it when one of them takes on the gimmick of an actual superhero? Such was the case of one Gregory Shane Helms, who joined WWE as a part of the WCW Invasion storyline. After being spurred on by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin during a conversation about his Green Lantern tattoo, Helms donned his own emerald-hued superhero costume and began wrestling under the guise of The Hurricane. He fully embraced the gimmick, even going so far as "requiring" his cape in order to "fly" across the ring. What might have helped sell the gimmick is the fact that everyone else on-camera did. Rather than dismissing the notion of meta-humans among us, other talent from the announcers all the way to The Great One himself would play off of The Hurricane's part with all the sincerity they could muster, from looking on incredulously to the "whoosh!" of him flying away (off-camera, of course) all the way to disavowing his origin and time as "Hurricane Helms" when he played the "secret identity" card and doubled as a backstage interviewer. Admittedly, Helms' success wasn't necessarily tied to the Hurricane gimmick; among his other accolades in wrestling, he held both the WCW Tag Team Championship and Hardcore Championship with his fellow members of 3 Count, and the WCW Cruiserweight title on his own, as well as WWE's version of the title while between stints as a superhero. As The Hurricane, he became a two time WWE Tag Team champion while holding the WWE Cruiserweight (for a grand total of two times), Hardcore, and European title once apiece. Save for roughly a year and some time out for injuries, Helms ran with the Hurricane gimmick in WWE for the better part of a decade, and he still wrestles under the gimmick on the independent circuit today.