15 MORE Wrestling Gimmicks That Got Weird Rip-Offs
14. Ultimate Warrior (One Warrior Nation)
Not always the brightest bulb when asked to speak on certain issues publicly, Ultimate Warrior was nonetheless protective of his intellectual property for a very good reason - it was very easy for people to rip it off.
Powered to the very top of the industry thanks in-part to the unmatched marketing of his gimmick and its various properties, Warrior was still a cultural phenomenon even if he couldn't match the connection or longevity of the man he was supposed to replace. Hulk Hogan had taken his spot back at WrestleMania VII having only "passed the torch" a year earlier, but 12 months on from that, fans genuinely believed that somebody else had stepped into the Warrior gimmick. A haircut and smaller physique convinced many that the Warrior that returned wasn't the one that had left, and perhaps this temporary confusion convinced others they could lift the aesthetic and manage it too.
Renegade was WCW's shameless knockoff (billed as an "Ultimate" surprise before he debuted), but on a lower scale, Dominick Yaniero's 'One Warrior Nation' take gained its own reputation for the imitation being half-decent but the matches being fully awful. Of his 26 (documented) matches between 2008 and 2013, none have drawn any kind of acclaim other than through an ironic lens on YouTube. Naturally, Warrior and others with a handle on licensing made sure to get the cease-and-desist paperwork together before Yaniero could take the poached gimmick beyond VHF halls and high school gyms.