10 Terrible WWE Gimmicks That Were One Tweak Away From Perfection

The Nearly-But-Not-Quite Men.

Marc Mero
WWE.com

The Hell In A Cell main event between Seth Rollins and The Fiend needed more than just a finish to salvage what was clearly a train careering off the tracks, but the collapse of the contest yet again highlighted a raft of internal fragilities.

Modern day WWE operates in spite of itself, with talent constantly skating on razor-thin ice thanks to the lack of metrics solidifying their standing. On her WWE Network 24 Special, Becky Lynch referred to 2019's 'Show Of Shows' as "my WrestleMania". She espoused this with beaming pride, but there was a subconscious understanding of the broken system wrapped within it - making it on the grandest stage wasn't going to cement her status the following year as it once might have done for Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin or, latterly, Roman Reigns. She was grateful for her turn but knew it was just that.

Characters and gimmicks aren't intentionally abused by the clunky creative machine, but they're so often hindered by the damaged mechanisms. WWE has failed enough times to show itself as an imperfect model, but there was a time when even the duds were earnest efforts.

In 2019, the company willfully hijacked the progress of Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins in that rancid main event in a way they'd never have done for some of the following accidental aberrations. Partly because they couldn't have sustained it, but also because the gimmicks themselves were surprisingly close to finding success...

10. Bray Wyatt (2013 - 2018)

Marc Mero
WWE.com

Where better to start in times of tumult for The Fiend than with the man behind the mask that, at one point, really did have the whole wrestling world in his hands.

The Bray Wyatt that left NXT for the main roster in 2013, was every bit as sharpened as his unique vignettes suggested because the character was afforded the one thing it absolutely fundamentally needed to thrive - success.

Sounds simple, but Wyatt's persistent inability to simply just f*cking win did irreversible damage to a gimmick that's hard enough to sell in the modern age. 'The Eater Of Worlds' had - so we were made to believe - indiscriminate magical powers yet couldn't use any of them do hold a wrestler down for three when it mattered. For years it was all flexes and hexes until he was forced to front his inhuman abilities against superhuman pro wrestlers.

The likes of John Cena, Randy Orton, The Undertaker and virtually every other topliner that came into contact with him saw through his hocus pocus as entirely bogus, beating him with ease and robbing the mystique in the process. Yet, little changes - it appeared for months as if the same mistake wouldn't be made with The Fiend, but Wyatt could well be doomed yet again as the rebadged baddie.

In this post: 
Marc Mero
 
First Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett