10 Unexpected Origins Of Wrestling Characters

Before the mainstream arm evolved into what is primarily serial television, the average wrestler didn't deal in backstory. Beyond the odd vignette, it was unnecessary to the old form of live theatre. They arrived under some silly presentation or other via vignette, and it was only until years later that you grasped, hang-on, haven't I see this before?

Isn't Razor Ramon simply Tony Montana?

Isn't the Honky Tonk Man simply Elvis Presley?

Isn't Bobby Fish simply George Hackenshmidt?

Those characters were heavily inspired by pop culture phenomena, as is much of wrestling, as those involved volunteer willingly. Dusty Rhodes outright said that he conceived the WarGames match after watching Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Listen to the entrance themes. 'Jimmy Hart version' is wrestling nomenclature for "song that has been changed just enough to get away with it". Wrestling is unashamed in its influence, so much more than any other medium. Everybody else is careful not to say "Yeah I made the film because the one it's rather a lot like made tonnes of money, stupid". They're not outright ripping things off, nor are they claiming to, but still: there are comparisons to be drawn. Particularly when you're invited.

Nothing on this list however comes close to outright plagiarism; sometimes, the pull from the creative wellspring is much deeper.

Doink the Clown is remembered - rightly and wrongly - as a cartoon character.

Throughout a genuinely unnerving heel run, Doink, portrayed by Matt Borne, burrowed into the psyche of fans with his expert grasp of the camera. He leered into it at ringside and, to deeply unsettling effect, located the hard camera in moments when he wasn't supposed to be looking into it. It was haunting, as was Borne's overall portrayal; he possessed an unseemly, misanthropic quality, revelling in taunting and making miserable his opponents. The malevolent sad sack vibe could not be carried off by anybody else, and after Borne lost his job following a misjudged face turn, Ray Apollo chewed scenery as an all too literal clown.

What's ironic is that, while a bold and superbly executed character, it was in fact rooted in a cartoon: Krusty the Clown from the Simpsons.

The legend goes that Road Warrior Hawk surveyed Borne backstage, sprawled out and generally being very bleak, and compared him to Krusty - which, coincidentally, tied in with Vince McMahon's desire to promote an evil clown character.