Wrestling's 10 Most Embarrassing Music Gimmicks

"Timely" is rarely a word people use to describe WCW's track record with pop culture references. Like the majority of their talent pool, the showbiz concepts they used were embarrassingly past their prime.

So while it makes a certain amount of sense that wrestling promotions would borrow their gimmicks from the flashier, flamboyant side of the musical spectrum, putting a Little Richard clone into the ring in the early '90s would be tantamount to debuting a new stable based on Duran Duran next month.

Despite his name being a cheesy riff on a Chuck Berry song, Johnny B. Badd was clearly Tutti Frutti from top to bottom. And boy was it incredibly painful to watch this vibrant character walk down the ramp as a heel.

Can you imagine Little Richard trying to get people to boo him? WCW could.

Still, Marc Mero was an incredibly talented performer, so he was able to sell the gimmick about as well as anyone could be expected to, eventually turning into a solid babyface and becoming a three-time World Television Champion. In that respect, he's probably the most successful character on this list.

But he was probably happy WWE didn't ask him to reprise the role when he jumped ship in 1996.