10 Wrestlers Lumbered With Dead On Arrival Gimmicks

2. Oz

Oz WCW
WWE Network

Oz was Kevin Nash portraying the less-than-wonderful wizard in the Godawful Jim Herd era of WCW.

Tony Schiavone, to his credit, tried to grasp the character with his own head canon and explain it to the audience during his second appearance on WCW television. At first, he and Jim Ross were at a total loss for words beyond "He's huge!"

"You know, in this sport Jim, there's a lot of psyching out of your opponents - and if that doesn't psych out your opponents, I can't think of anything that does!"

The thing about the Oz costume is that it looked incredibly naff and cheap. Nash wore a luminous green gown decorated with stars. There was no pyro blast announcing his entrance. What amounted to glorified sparklers erupted with all the force of a urinary tract infection. This young stud of an athlete was also plastered in old man make up.

How could those apparently psychologically afflicted opponents take him seriously under the guise of the guise of a diminutive conman?

Jim Herd couldn't even plagiarise correctly.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!