20 Wrestling Gimmicks That Got WEIRD Rip-Offs
19. The Ultimate Warrior (The Renegade)
Need a more official Ultimate Warrior cosplay artist after that madness? WCW has you covered.
WCW had people covered for anything, truth be told. Need WWF-lite silliness that was never going to get over? WCW. Want ultra-cool nWo badassery as part of your wrestling week? WCW. Want to see someone pretend to be Warrior because the company can't get their mitts on the real deal? World. Championship. Wrestling. In 1995, The Renegade was born.
Hulk Hogan began teasing "The Ultimate Surprise" heading into a bout vs. Big Van Vader at Uncensored that year. Naturally, fans got excited and thought Jim Hellwig was on his way to Atlanta, but no - this "Ultimate Surprise" was actually Renegade. It was someone who looked, moved, talked and wrestled almost exactly like Warrior. A bargain bin version of him, if you like.
The strange thing here is that WCW chiefs seemed to think their fanbase would be giddy about that cruel tease then Renegade's eventual debut. It was the pro wrestling equivalent of showing someone silhouettes of a delicious chocolate bar, only to lift the lighting and reveal it to be a rather un-tasty bar of soap. Useful for something else, but not the point.
This kinda of counterproductive swerve bit WCW in the butt. Unsurprisingly, people weren't chuffed to see The Renegade do his thing. They wanted Warrior. Then, 1998 rolled around and WCW fans realised they didn't want Warrior after all. It's said some folks still wake up in a cold sweat reminiscing about Warrior vs. Hogan at Halloween Havoc '98.