20 Wrestling Gimmicks That Got WEIRD Rip-Offs
18. The Rock (Juventud ‘The Juice’ Guerrera)
Like Ric Hogan, you've got to sit back in awe of the cheek on display here.
Cruiserweight favourite Juventud Guerrara must've been sitting up watching a re-run of Raw one night. That's when he spotted a young up and comer with serious swagger called The Rock. It was absolutely amazing to Juvi that nobody could see what he could see: That Rock's routine was ripe for the taking over on the WCW side. Were the likes of Goldberg, DDP, the nWo and others even paying attention?
Obviously, the above paragraph is laughable, but something tangible came out of Guerrera seeing Rocky's work. Juventud liked the way the WWF star referred to himself in third person, and he especially enjoyed how he'd have the live crowd in the palm of his hand simply by using the mic. Seeking a way to give himself some personality on Nitro, Juvi poached The Rock's banter.
No, really. Pre-match, he'd climb up turnbuckles in the corner, tilt his head all the way back and yell something along the lines of: 'Finally, The Juice has come back to *insert town/city here*'. His 'The Juice' ploy was a blatant rip off of The Rock. Guerrara stopped short of getting a brahma bull tattooed on his arm and asking fellow Cruisers what their favourite aerial move was ('IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR FAVOURITE AERIAL MOVE IS!').
Gold. Gold but...insanely ballsy. The Rock was one of the biggest stars in wrestling by 1999, so it's a wonder Juventud wasn't pulled up for effectively trying to turn into a WCW version of him.