17 Early 90s WWE Superstars You Totally Don't Remember

9. The Goon

Barney William Irwin was given one of the most inexplicably bizarre gimmicks in WWF history, and this was still during the period of €˜careers-as-wrestlers€™ era of cartoony wrestling. He was given the nickname €˜The Goon€™, that of a hockey player who had been €˜kicked out of every league he had ever played in€™. His attire was complete with hockey jersey, hockey stick, and boots that looked like ice stakes. If there was ever a point in which a non-wrestling fan would€™ve really criticized the WWF for making over-the-top characters, it would be this one. Why on earth would a hockey player decide to be a wrestler? Unsurprisingly, his character didn€™t last long. He arrived in the summer of 1996, as €˜Stone Cold€™ Steve Austin€™s character was beginning his meteoric rise, and the WWF was beginning to take a different turn in company direction. Had The Goon arrived in WWF maybe three years earlier, he might€™ve lasted more than a few months. At least he got to be in WrestleMania X7€™s Gimmick Battle Royale, though.
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Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.