10 WWE Gimmicks That Seriously Took The Piss

4. Bastion Booger

Daniel Bryan Michael Cole
WWE.com

In late-1993, Vince McMahon had a big problem.

Not to be confused problem with people being big. He always had that problem. No, just months removed from getting shot of Hulk Hogan "forever" in June ahead of reimagining the philosophical direction of his organisation completely, the demons of his past returned to haunt him with stunning effectiveness.

Several steroid charges dating back to the headiest days of the 1980s were being brought forth at pace. The trial would go down in 1994 (and McMahon himself would not), but ripped and chiselled was suddenly not necessarily the ideal look. Big was spot on, burly less so.

In steps Bastion Booger, with plenty of upper girth and gear show it off, but McMahon decided to make this size advantage Booger's gross undoing. His belly was big because he couldn't stop eating, you see. Was this a comment on people having dangerous relationships with food? Or what else might lurk beneath an eating disorder or unhealthy greed?

Was it f*ck. The back of his outfit shaped his spine into a hump. Being big was grotesque, pal. That was the message. Oh, sh*t, sorry, unless you could be mocked for something else instead...

 
First Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett