10 Wrestling Gimmicks Created By The Last People You’d Expect

5. The Rockers

Who You Think Created It: Vince McMahon, Pat Patterson or maybe even Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty themselves.

Who Actually Created It: The original Rockers tag-team (not the guff 'New' variation with Leif Cassidy years later) caught on big time in the WWF of the late-'80s. Messrs Michaels and Jannetty were handsome, athletic and managed to become both credible heartthrobs and an underdog face duo.

They had Verne Gagne to thank. Sort of.

The curmudgeonly AWA promoter was the one who came up with the basic concept for the team. He and son Greg wanted them to be 'The Country Rockers' and play to his midwestern audience. Jannetty was the one who changed that to 'The Midnight Rockers' (after Judas Priest's Living after Midnight) and ensured the pair were over with a younger demographic rather than becoming a localised version of The Rock N' Roll Express like Verne had wanted.