Wrestling's 10 Most Embarrassing Music Gimmicks
Milli Vanilli is less of an embarrassment by comparison.
Coming up with fresh, exciting gimmicks can be a tough task, as everyone's gimmick has to be at least moderately unique and relatable for the fans on some level. The job was made even more difficult once roster sizes started ballooning in the '90s.
Scanning the pop culture landscape has always been a reliable source for character ideas in the wrestling industry, and though the silver screen is probably the biggest inspiration for gimmicks, the music biz has been tapped pretty frequently over the years as well.
But judging from pro wrestling's success rate with these types of gimmicks, this isn't a well that should be visited all that often. In fact, if one were to guess, most people on the creative team are decidedly anti-music, and only bring in their distorted versions of musicians in a short-sighted effort to destroy the business once and for all.
How else do you explain the following gimmicks, which are so embarrassing that even Nickelback wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot steel chair.
10. DJ Gabriel
DJ Gabriel was essentially Alex Wright ten years later. Every time he appeared on screen, it was like your uncle bombarding you with his mediocre Borat impression after having just watched the movie for the first time in 2016.
Also, not for nothing, but if you're going to use the "DJ" moniker, couldn't you at least go all in with it and show the guy behind a turntable just once during his run? They didn't even bother giving him a pair of headphones or, at the very least, a laptop. Deadmau5 he is not.
Instead, they opted to pair him with Alicia Fox and make her jiggle her way down to the ring so that hopefully no one would notice that this supposed DJ was wearing only a fur-lined leather jacket, trunks, and a pair of shades like he's a hairless David Hasselhoff. The word "cheesy" can't be repeated enough when talking about the dorkiness of this gimmick.
That said, Gabriel was a very talented in-ring worker. Ya know, when he wasn't grinding around to synth music. Seriously, ever watch that scene from Kickboxer where Jean-Claude Van Damme gets blackout drunk and tries to dance? This was worse.