10 WWE Gimmicks Which Ripped Off Real People

1. Jean Pierre LaFitte - Jean LaFitte

RVD Jean Claude Van Damme
WWE/(Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

PCO wasn't always the hottest commodity in independent wrestling. Once upon a time, he was a pirate - and not a particularly good one. The sum total of the former Quebecer's buccaneering as Jean Pierre LaFitte - a gimmick devised seemingly based on Carl Ouellet's legitimate glass eye - was a nifty leather jacket and a pair of novelty sunglasses he could have bought from the merch stand for five bucks.

Compared to Jean Lafitte - the legendary pirate he was supposedly descended from - it was all a bit pathetic. Throughout the early 19th century, Lafitte and his brother Pierre ran a highly lucrative smuggling racket out of Barataria Bay, LA, amassing a fleet of such might that it was enlisted in fighting back the British in 1812. His successor couldn't have even beaten the British Bulldog.

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Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.