10 Wrestlers Who Were REJECTED For Famous Wrestling Gimmicks

8. Terry Taylor

MJF Demon
WWE.com

A quick google search of wrestlers talking Terry Taylor will find about an even split of those that are full of praise for the former Red Rooster and those clearly glad he was saddled with such a dead-end gimmick.

The latter group would probably argue that great talents get garbage over, but the man was asked to cluck and jut his head like a chicken whilst sporting a rooster's comb atop his dome - what chance did he really have?

Not much, and nowhere as much as Curt Hennig did after he was allegedly the one chosen out of the two to take on a Mr Perfect moniker that served him well for numerous WWE stints starting in 1988. The story goes that the two were paired together so company chiefs could assess who'd wear the persona more convincingly. When Hennig got the nod, Taylor went off in a different direction as Bobby Heenan's rookie. Or, "his little red rooster".

This became literal farmyard animal eventually, because Vince McMahon.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett