10 Wrestling Gimmicks That Failed Before They Started

4. Eric Escobar

Eric Escobar (a.k.a. Eric Perez) debuted on Smackdown in fall 2009, portraying a "very intense Latino" character, which was at the direction of Vince McMahon (according to a later interview with Escobar himself). After a big debut win against Matt Hardy and a storyline with Vickie Guerrero which saw him first aligned with her, then opposing her after a face turn, he was gone by early 2010. While Escobar wasn't a poor worker, the gimmick itself was too stereotypical for the WWE by that point - and that's saying something, given Rusev's recent cold war throwback. The thing is, the Rusev gimmick brings back fond memories of wrestling's cold war era heyday, while the "intense Latino" character lacked the nostalgia bent and seemed like a hastily cobbled together stereotype that was never given room to grow. Thus it's not surprising that it never took off, though with just a little bit of care, it might have worked. Since it failed so quick (including Escobar being yanked from his first proposed PPV along with several other workers), it never even got the chance.