10 Successful Gimmicks You Forgot WWE Tried Again

Bruce Prichard has lifted the lid on some of Vince McMahon's historical creative quirks across hundreds of 'Something To Wrestle With' episodes. Usually, Prichard then defends them even if they're rather silly and make no sense. Case in point: The curious case of Del Wilkes as The Patriot. According to Bruce, McMahon wasn't fond of masked babyfaces. 

That didn't stop him from bringing Wilkes in as a masked American hero in 1997 though, did it? Work that one out. Vince overlooked his own pet peeve so Bret and The Hart Foundation had someone to wave 'Old Glory' right in their faces. This was a bizarre choice considering the changing face of the biz and the fact more hardened faces like 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin had been running rampant.

Approx six years later, WWE were at it again. Admittedly, things were a little more tongue in cheek second time around. Hulk Hogan had been fired by McMahon, so he introduced the world to Mr. America. It was Hogan under a mask and armed with a US flag. That was literally it, but Vince was supposed to be fooled and go to extreme lengths just to prove that it was his arch nemesis under the hood.

Suspending disbelief can be a challenge on occasion, but that's part of wrestling's charm. In short, Mr. America was another stab at The Patriot's red, white and blue sentiment. The main difference was that Hogan wasn't up against Canada. He clearly didn't watch that episode of South Park everyone else did then.

Hulk Hogan was a Del Wilkes hanger on. You learn something new every day.