10 Wrestling Gimmicks That Only Lasted ONE Segment

9. Phantasio

Doink The Clown Doppelgänger WrestleMania IX
WWE.com

You've got to give it up for Gorilla Monsoon. The longtime federation favourite did his able best to make Phantasio look like anything but a duff magician on the 28 June 1995 edition of Wrestling Challenge. Sadly for ol' "banana breath" (Bobby Heenan's words), fans tuning into the syndicated show could see that the gimmick was rotten.

Oh. So. Rotten.

There's a hilarious side note to Phantasio's story too; Bruce Prichard once revealed on his pod that the debuting trickster actually set fire to the backstage area whilst trying out some of his stunts. That didn't endear 'Tasio to the WWF crew, and his performance did nothing to offset the skepticism either.

The promotion's brand new illusionist was never seen again after this Challenge win over Tony DeVito (later of 'Da Baldies' fame in ECW). All presumable plans to call him up to Raw for some more magic were promptly cancelled.

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.