10 Wrestling Gimmicks That Were NOTHING Like The Wrestlers Who Portrayed Them
5. Hollywood Bob Holly
Was Bob Holly misunderstood in his own time?
Yes, he once concluded a 'celebratory' WrestleMania 16 promo by calling Michael Cole a "b*tch" and threatening to "break his a*s in half", and yes he reportedly suggested that WWE should neglect Steve Austin and The Rock to "give him the belt" so he could "beat everybody", but was all this aggro just him working the boys backstage as a way of maintaining a persona as a complete misery?
No. Not at all. This deal was real - Holly was an ornery sh*thouse and proud of it. It's why his Hardcore Holly gimmick resonated long after his Sparky Plugg persona had sunk. People looked at the muscular southerner and could feel the rage bursting out of his ample biceps well before he got in there and slapped the f*ck out of some poor jobber. What he wasn't, was a film star.
Falling into a common wrestling trap, a reliance on Holly's surname served as inspiration for the gimmick. Bob Holly was many things, but 'glamourous film star' was categorically not one of them. The ill-suited gimmick didn't garner much success for him during his swing through various Southern territories and briefly WCW, but it did at least spotlight him enough to earn him his first WWE deal. At least Vince McMahon wanted to put his name in lights.