10 WWE Gimmicks That Are Broken
9. Darren Young - 'Make Darren Young Great Again'
When WWE began airing ‘Make Darren Young Great Again’ vignettes last year, the first thing that sprang to mind was: when was he ever great?
In an unsubtle attempt to piggyback the meme-worthy popularity of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, the skits and the subsequent gimmick were supposed to show that Young had grown as a competitor since his days with the Prime Time Players, thanks to the help of one Bob Backlund. But Young quickly bounced between underwhelming feuds, before ultimately demonstrating that even the master of the crossface chickenwing couldn’t teach him how to do a crossface chickenwing.
Never mind the murky ethics of an angle in which a black, openly gay wrestler uses Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, it was clear from the get-go that WWE had little-to-no confidence in Young and Backlund’s ability to carry the gimmick. The vignettes seemed to air for an age, and by the time Darren finally re-debuted, the angle had pretty much lost what little momentum it had.
The gimmick does still exist in some form, but TV appearances are a rarity. It’s fair to say ‘Make Darren Young Great Again’ didn’t have much going for it to begin with.