10 WWE Gimmicks Which Ripped Off Real People

5. The Stalker - Richard Ramirez

RVD Jean Claude Van Damme
WWE/By San Quentin State Prison, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

A broken and battered Barry Windham returned to WWE in 1996, in need of a killer new gimmick to mask his ailing mobility. He got one - literally.

The former Widowmaker was daubed in camoflague and asked to make a widower out of Marc Mero in homage to rapist and serial killer Richard 'Night Stalker' Ramirez, an obvious choice to sit alongside the likes of Aldo Montoya and Isaac Yankem as part of WWF's 'New Generation'.

Mero understandably balked at the plan for wife Sable to be killed to death, leaving the new Stalker rudderless. WWE simply made him your friendly neighbourhood predator instead - with the expectation he'd shift more merch than the recently debuted Mankind. He did not.

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Editorial Team
Editorial Team

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.