10 Wrestling Gimmicks Probably Made Out Of Spite

3. VKM

fake razor diesel
TNA/Global Force Wrestling

Having had clear success under the WWE banner, the hope was that Brian James and Billy Gunn could recreate said success when they were brought together in TNA.

Under his B.G. Games name, the former Road Dogg arrived in TNA in 2002 a year after being released by WWE. Once Bill Gunn signed in 2005 under the guise of The Outlaw, aka Kip James, it didn't take long for this duo to reunite - initially as part of 3 Live Kru, then The James Gang, and then rebranded as Voodoo Kin Mafia.

What's a Voodoo Kin Mafia, we all asked? Well, it's merely a name devised as a supposed clever play on the initials of Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

The idea for VKM originated with Vince Russo - because of course it did - and the former New Age Outlaws were eager to vent their real frustrations towards WWE. With the VKM pairing believing they'd been treated unfairly by McMahon's promotion, they attempted to ignite a war with WWE and, in particular, with Triple H and Shawn Michaels.

Filmed trips to WWE HQ followed, VKM visited a WWE house show, promo shots were taken, and VKM offered up a $1 million prize for a real fight against Helmsley and Michaels.

Despite the efforts of the miffed James duo, all at WWE completely no-sold any of this.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.