10 Weirdest Ways Wrestlers Got Their Gimmicks
2. Droz/Puke
Before life in WWE, Darren Drozdov was a professional American football player with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. Despite Drozdov’s athletic prowess, academic achievement, and impressive 6ft 3in, 281lbs physique, Vince McMahon saw money in a more bizarre aspect of Drozdov.
In 1993, Drozdov gained infamy in the NFL by vomiting on a football mid-game and live on television. His chronic vomiting, which also allowed him to spew on command, was a health issue, albeit one that enamoured WWE’s chairman.
Droz was a key contributor in the controversial wrestling documentary Beyond The Mat, introduced as “one particular talent” in which Vince saw “a potential superstar.” By potential Vince meant capitalising on his NFL infamy, concluding:
“Since you are able to regurgitate on command, it just seems to me that it is pretty logical that you should be Puke.”
Vince’s insistence that the moniker had a "nice connotation to it" remains confusing to this day.
After working the brief gimmick as a projectile vomiter, he entered the somehow more distasteful angle of exploiting Hawk’s real-life addiction issues to oust him from LOD. Droz’s time in the ring was tragically cut short when a freak accident during D-Lo Brown’s signature running powerbomb resulted in quadriplegia.