WWE: 9 Unforgivably Stupid Gimmicks That Ruined Great Characters

4. Hulk Becomes Too American

Whether you love him or hate him, you'd at least have to admit that Hulk Hogan is one of the most successful wrestlers of all time, and after being out of the WWF for nine years, he finally came back home. His initial NWO run there didn't live up to it's potential, but that was due in part to fans wanting to rabidly cheer Hogan. The company soon caved, and gave the fans the classic red and yellow version they remembered from their youth. At first it was a lot of fun, but you can't sustain a character's popularity off of nostalgia alone. WWE sure tried, though. Instead of being the "Babe Ruth" of the company that WWE wanted him to be, they were rushing him out there every week, which made his appearances feel less special. After Hogan vanquished Vince McMahon at WrestleMania XIX, the company seemed to run out of ideas. Or at least good ones. Instead of occasionally bringing Hogan back as a legend for big matches, they slapped a mask on him and called him Mr. America. The company didn't even try to hide that it was Hogan, as you could clearly tell it was him. He would do all of Hogan's poses, had the same limited move set and would still say "brother" ad nauseum. The entire act was ridiculous, and was far beneath Hogan for that time in his career. The gimmick was just too cheesy, and not funny like WWE must have hoped for. The company went so far as to even book a lie detector test for Mr. America to take to prove he wasn't Hogan. He passed, but this entire gimmick failed.