7 Wrestlers Who Were Blatant Knock-Offs
1. WCW Really Hoped You'd Think The Renegade Was The Ultimate Warrior
As part of the build-up to WCW Uncensored 1995, where Hulk Hogan was scheduled to face Vader in a strap match, Hogan teased fans with "the Ultimate Surprise," showing a silhouette of a muscle-bound man with long hair and tassels. It was clearly The Ultimate Warrior, and fans salivated at the thought of his arrival in WCW.
Some of these fans were disappointed with what they got instead at Uncensored: the debut of The Renegade, a face-painted wrestler with hair, wrestling tights, and entrance music almost identical to Warrior's. I say "some of these fans" because despite being smaller than Warrior and having a different build, some WCW viewers actually believed Renegade was Warrior, just using a new name.
WCW and The Renegade did nothing to dispel this notion, and Renegade gained a bit of popularity that was only stopped by the real Warrior appearing in magazine interviews to crush the myth. Renegade dropped the copycat elements from his gimmick and was quickly relegated to the lower depths of the card.
Warrior did eventually debut for WCW in 1998, but, uhh... let's just say this was one instance where the knock-off was actually less disappointing than the real thing.