10 Wackiest Wrestling Gimmicks That Actually Worked

7. 'Loose Cannon' Brian Pillman

During his appearance on Ric Flair's podcast recently, Eric Bischoff remained virtually clueless over whether or not Brian Pillman worked him back during the mid-1990's. Convincing Bischoff to release him from his WCW contract, Pillman wanted to travel around and cultivate a personality known as 'Loose Cannon'. The madcap character would then return to WCW as a bigger star. That didn't happen. After a brief period in ECW, Pillman signed for the WWF and resumed his career there. The 'Loose Cannon' gimmick didn't become a main event star, but it certainly worked in shunting Pillman up the wrestling ladder. In the WWF, he was part of the revamped Hart Foundation, an angle which saw a lot of success. Tragically, the man would pass away in late-1997 before he could really come into his own under the persona. Nonetheless, it was such a huge departure from his previous gimmick that it was impossible not to pay attention to the man. Nobody watching could ever forget his short-but-sweet feud against Steve Austin, whereby Pillman threatened to shoot Austin after the latter decided to break and enter his family home. It was a controversial angle, one that showed the potential the character had.