10 WWE Gimmicks Saved By The People Playing Them

1. Dude Love

Pretty much every wrestling fan will have created their own gimmicks as kids. Most of us will only get so far as recreating those ideas in WWE video games. Imagine being Mick Foley then, because he saw his teenage vision come to life in the WWF for real. He was a kooky kind of cat and real eye candy for the chicks.

The tie-dye wearing, dad-dancing 70's feel to Dude Love was at odds with the grounded gritty aura of Foley's other characters like Mankind and Cactus Jack when he jived onto screens in the Summer of 1997. Mick performed the role with such gusto though, and it was hard for fans not to be intoxicated by the thought that Foley had come up with this nonsense as a wide-eyed boy.

Years later, Mike Awesome would flop as 'That 70's Guy' in WCW, proving that success even with such an absurdly nostalgic character was never certain. It was Foley who made the Dude what he was, not the other way around. Had anyone except Mick been tasked with acting like one's uncle might at a wedding, then it wouldn't be remembered so affectionately.

What other WWE gimmicks do you feel were saved by the people playing them? Let us know down in the comments section below!