15 MORE Wrestling Gimmicks That Got Weird Rip-Offs
3. Shane Douglas (Triple H)
As creative overlord in WWE who makes no secret of his spot or anything he can gloss up as a success story, Triple H is mostly thought of as an insufferable bore now. Not ideal, but at least a trait that actually feels close to Paul Levesque's real personality as opposed to the times he attempted to be anything else in an endless quest to actually get over. He was booked as, variously, the hardest guy, the funniest guy, the coolest guy, the roster's best sex-haver, the best wrestler alive; there wasn't a hat he didn't wear in his near 20-year run at the top of the card.
And about that - the leather biker/Kangol hat Hunter wore backwards during 1998 and early-1999 wasn't just an of-the-time fashion statement, but a direct lift from Shane Douglas alongside 'The Franchise's wet-look long hair and stubbly beard co-opted by 'The Game' on his ascendency.
It's a strange bit of thievery from somebody who was part of The Kliq by the time they were instrumental enough to harm Douglas' cursed WWE run, but a recent tidbit unearthed by the Vault YouTube channel revealed how it might not just have been Fed business the group were discussing on the long van rides. While filming footage on the Titan Tower roof for new Raw credits in 1995, Shawn Michaels directly references ECW. The group were all-too-aware of their noisy neighbours in Philadelphia, to the extent that Hunter probably permanently kept enough of an eye on the show when it came to needing inspiration for his tweaked act.