10 Successful Gimmicks You Forgot WWE Tried Again
1. Bad Boy Rapper (John Cena/Slam Master J)
John Cena struck gold when he began rapping to try entertain the rest of the roster on the tour bus in late-2002. Stephanie McMahon caught wind of what was happening and had the foresight to change Cena's generic boots n' tights style into a Vanilla Ice-meets-Eminem bad boy rapper for TV. John never looked back. He used that chance as a springboard to immortality.
WWE liked the gimmick so much they tried to use it again in 2009 for Ray Gordy. Sure, Gordy had worked something similar down in developmental territory Deep South in 2006 (as "Ray Geezy"), but that was different to appearing on big shows like Raw or SmackDown. Fans ridiculed the "Slam Master J" name immediately, and the fact Gordy's bad boy rapper was supposed to be tongue in cheek didn't save it.
Slam Master J only lasted a short while before Ray was dropped from screens and later released in April 2010. He'd stumbled around under a few different gimmicks before landing on the 'second coming of Cena' thing. There were several problems with it. One, WWE's product was now PG so writers couldn't be as edgy as they'd been with John. Two, Gordy wasn't as skilled a performer as Cena. Three, his name was bloody horrible and turned Ray into a laughing stock akin to Chad Gable going by 'Shorty G'.
Armed with zero menace and treated like a bad joke from day one, Gordy was cooked once he started wearing the sideways cap and mugging like he was doing his best 2004 Cena impression for Halloween.
What other gimmicks did WWE try repeating over the years? For more like this, check out 10 WWE Jobbers Who Became World Champion and 10 Most ANNOYING Wrestlers Ever!