10 Terrible Wrestling Gimmicks You Secretly Love
1. Dude Love
This would’ve tanked without Mick Foley’s personality, let's be honest. Imagine a top star trying this sort of thing today: CM Punk suddenly realises that he'd like to play a gimmick he created as a teenager. So, he goes to Triple H and says, 'Paul, I'd like to occasionally perform as Punk Love'.
How do you think that'd go down?!
Dude Love should've bombed, realistically speaking. It was a spoofy take on 1960s/70s flower power and psychedelia, and it happened at the same time Foley was tearing it up as both Mankind and Cactus Jack. Adding a third alter ego into the mix was a huge risk. One that paid off though, to be fair.
It was terrible, but deliberately so. Mick lived his best life as Dude, and everyone from Steve Austin to Vince McMahon found it hard not to corpse on-screen around him. Dude Love absolutely takes bronze next to the (interchangeable) gold and silver of Mankind and Cactus, but it was a charming side quest for Mick.
What other gimmicks were objectively terrible but you loved them anyway? For more wrestling, check out 10 Shocking AEW Plans You Won't Believe Almost Happened and 10 Forgotten WWE Stables You Totally Don't Remember!