10 Weirdest Ways Wrestlers Got Their Gimmicks
8. The Hurricane
Many parents have a steady stream of tattoo horror stories to discourage their children from getting a band logo inked at 18. The takeaway from most of them was you’d live a life shrouded in regret and be highly unemployable for all but the scuzziest jobs such as chewing gum-scraper and online content writer.
Here is the counterargument.
When Gregory Helms tattooed his favourite superhero’s emblem onto his left upper arm, he never could have predicted that it would lead to him adopting one of the most beloved gimmicks of his era; a gimmick that still has stock despite him only occasionally swinging into WWE TV.
Helms discussed the thinking behind the gimmick, noting:
“It was actually WWE’s idea. I had a pretty successful amateur career and never envisioned myself as a comedy character or a character of any kind, to be honest. I just wanted to be a wrestler. The head writer of Monday Night Raw at the time, Brian Gewirtz, had always wanted to do a superhero-based character, but never found the right guy until I came along. I had the Green Lantern tattoo on my shoulder […] so it was no big secret that I was a huge comic fan. The timing was perfect.”
He also recalled that the Green Lantern connection led to WWE creating Helms' first WWE shirt, as fans wearing Green Lantern tees displayed the demand for Hurricane merch.