10 Gimmicks So Bad They Didn't Even Make It To WWE TV

3. Shawn Michaels: Hell's Angel

HBK Biker
WWE

For over two decades, between 1984 and 2006, Senior Vice President of Creative Services Debbie Bonnanzio was, alongside a team of artists, tasked with creating the look of a new WWE Superstar TM from scratch based on a generic description.

These early sketches, intended as drafts in a feeling out process of sorts, provide a fascinating glimpse into what might have been. Razor Ramon was once intended to wear long tights, for example. Also Shawn Michaels was the American Badass.

He had to be a bad guy of some description - he'd just smashed his partner face-first into a pane of glass - and perhaps that very event, not too removed from a bar room brawl scene, inspired what admittedly is more of a costume design than a gimmick per se. It was not a good fit. Michaels wasn't a biker - the f*ck was this, Grease 2? - even if that middle figure has the word BIKER emblazoned unambiguously across his jacket. The name of the gang is usually positioned there. The Bikers.

The Heart Bike Kid mercifully never made it to air.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!