10 Rip Off Wrestling Gimmicks (That Messed Up What They Copied)

This really doesn't get enough attention. Former California beach hound turned brooding 'Crow'-inspired-loiterer Sting had a brief run as Joker Sting back in 2011, as TNA veered from one creative misstep to another. Stinger has been quoted as saying that he never had more fun than when he was playing this version of his iconic character, and it is clear to see that he was putting everything into the role. It was dumb, but it was vaguely entertaining.

That doesn't change the fact that ripping off The Joker may well be the most overdone thing in all of entertainment today. Is there anything more eye-rolling than another character playing 'crazy' by laughing a lot and having vacant eyes? No, the answer is no. This extends to modern wrestling too, where Alexa Bliss shows her maniacal side by laughing, another indication that whoever writes these characters has never spent a single second anywhere near an actual mental hospital.

But anyway, Sting and The Joker. Sting was super over because Sting is always super over, but the Joker gimmick was a regrettable time for his legacy. It was really quite sad, a still beloved star of yesterday trying to tap into something a little more modern, albeit something that was already three years old, itself a resurrection of a character first created in 1940. Heath Ledger's Joker worked because of its fictional borders, its commitment to nihilistic violence and its villainous core, no matter how beloved the character has become in the world of social media and cynicism.

Joker Sting was just a slightly older Sting with worse face paint.