10 Things WCW Ripped Off

3. Prince

Sting Crow WCW
WWE/By penner (http://flickr.com/photos/penner/2450784866) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

In 1993, peculiar popster Prince had a falling out with his record company and replaced his name with an unpronounceable symbol. Bemused music journalists resorted to calling him 'The Artist Formerly Known As Prince', or TAFKAP. This of course had nothing to do with wrestling, but that didn't stop WCW from jumping on this crazy new pop culture development five years after it happened when trying to work out what to do with undercard wrestler Prince Iaukea.

The Artist Previously Known As Prince Iaukea entered to purple lighting and familiar, sexily squealing guitars, and wore a purple velvet jacket to ensure the reference didn't go unappreciated. WCW gave him Paisley to gyrate around him which was all very well but didn't do anything to suggest why used-to-be-Prince, diminutive sexpot and musical prodigy, should be in any way associated with in-ring aggression. The gimmick probably owed its existence to the fact that Prince Iaukea's name already had 'Prince' in it, an indicator of how much thought went into all this.

In this post: 
WCW Sting
 
Posted On: 
Contributor

Ben Counter is a fantasy and science fiction writer, gaming enthusiast, wrestling fan and miniature painting guru. He was raised on Warhammer, Star Wars and 1980s cartoons that, in retrospect, were't that good. Whoever you are, he is nerdier than you.