One MIND-BLOWING Secret From EVERY Month Of The WWE Attitude Era

27. February 1999 | Marc Mero’s Badd New Gimmick

Johnny B Badd
WWE.com

Marc Mero never made it past a certain level in the WWF. 

His 1996 run was underrated - Mero’s loss to eventual winner Steve Austin at King Of The Ring was one of the better WWF matches that year - but his flamboyant brand of charisma was somewhat unfashionable, his Wildman persona anachronistic. The WWF recognised this, and Mero was repackaged as a boxer upon returning from an ACL injury in October 1997. Mero was actually one of the more over heels at the onset of the Attitude Era - what could be more detestable than depriving the crowd of his hot blonde wife’s colossal sweater meat? - but that all came to an end, quite infamously, when Steve Austin refused to work with the guy who got his ass kicked by his missus. Mero then got his ass kicked for real in the Brawl For All. If the boxer deal had any credibility to begin with, it died a brutal death that night. 

With his second gimmick donezo, the WWF didn’t know what to do with the guy. Mero didn’t even want to be there; he and Sable requested their release in February 1999. Sable was a huge attraction, and because the WWF were desperate to retain her, they offered Mero the chance to play his old Little Richard gimmick in WCW (albeit under a different name). Mero rejected it; he was so broken down physically that he couldn’t even return to WCW later that year, and his wife, miserable, no longer wanted to wrestle. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!