10 most over-the-top cartoon characters from WWE in the early 90s'

Well, some of you or most of you may remember The Bunny from last year. His presence was quite indelible given how ridiculous it was to see him wrestle in a ring wearing a Bunny costume. It was later revealed that The Bunny was Justin Gabriel. Now, nobody can blame Gabriel for asking the company to release him from his contract.There have been many such ridiculous characters in the WWE who just couldn’t be taken seriously. They were over the top and had a straight-out-of-a-cartoon presence. But we’ll be looking at a particular period. The 90s was a time when there was an influx of such gimmicks.Here are 10 of those characters that stand out:

#10 Tekno Team 2000

Way ahead of their time

In 1996, two individuals joined forces to bring something sci-fi to the world of wrestling. Tekno Team 2000 sounded like your average video game or a futuristic movie but it was a team of two young guys who just looked quite cartoonish. Their blank stares and minimal dialogue delivery were just some of the few reasons why it was extremely hard to take them seriously. Well, if those expressionless stares were meant to be intimidating, they just simply did not work.

Their futuristic suits just looked too out of place and they just couldn’t make the most of a ridiculous gimmick. The future didn’t look too bright.

#9 Papa Shango

Before he became The Godfather or The Goodfather, Charles Wright was a Voodoo expert. He was able to do weird things like making his opponents vomit or disrupt the typical motion of events in the ring and cast some black magic. He was adorned with beads and bones around his neck and white facepaint.

All of that amounted to zilch. His breakout moment should have been the time he interrupted the Hogan Vs Sid match but it all culminated into a botch as he missed his cue to interfere and everything went for a toss.

After that, it just led to one forgettable feud after another.

#8 TL Hopper

The plumber

This is to show that you can make it to the list of all things ridiculous by just having the sound of a toilet flush as your theme song. TL Hopper was just like your average plumber. Actually, why wouldn’t he be since his gimmick was that of a plumber. But WWE just took it all to a literal level by giving him every identifying entity related to a plumber. Be it the paraphenalia or just that darn entrance theme.

1996 may have been a magical year for planting ridiculous gimmicks.

#7 Battle Kat

Meow

How are we supposed to take somebody seriously who wears a mask that is nowhere near to being intimidating. It’s a cat mask and maybe, just maybe, Catwoman made it work but not Battle Kat. He even dangled and drooped and swept like a feline. If that wasn’t enough, well, his offense in the ring did no favors and here’s another performer who had to bear the fruits of walking down to the ring to an entrance theme which is more of a parody of Saturday Night Live than anything else.

But if you were a kid back then, you may have surely been entertained.

#6 The Berzerker

The Berzerker had quite a dangerous paraphernalia

There may not be many genres left for the WWE to dabble with in terms of gimmicks. Maybe a vampire? But mostly, one can definitely look at all the movies and TV shows they’ve watched and the WWE may have made a character out of it. Now, think warfare or epic dramas or just plain Gladiator or Ben Hur and then look at The Berzerker.

There may be an indication towards that genre as the Berzerker entered the ring with all his warfare intact and well, some of them may very well be dangerous if not used properly.

He had the makings of an over the top gimmick but what made them ultimately cartoony was the helmet with horns. That isn’t selling any points for originality.

#5 Fake Razor Ramon and Fake Diesel

Fake Razor Ramon

Firstly how desperate was the company to replicate the success the gimmicks of Ramon and Diesel. Secondly, was it desperation or was it Vince Mcmahon just getting back to them and imposing the fact that he made them and he can very well make do with their duplicate versions?

Anyway, these two did not succeed in making the audience believe in them.

The gimmick soon vanished and melted into thin air. This did not just lack originality but it was apalling how they made their audience watch all of this in motion.

#4 Saba Simba

Well, that was one ridiculous gimmick

You might or might not remember Tony Atlas. It all actually depends on how much you’ve followed wrestling and if you noticed that he’s made momentary appearances over the past few years. He was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2006 but given his intimidating build, one of the gimmicks he had to endure were a complete opposite to what it was supposed to be or should have been.

His ring gear and his wrestling were all speaking volumes about his strength but then he started dancing. Now, which gimmick has ever stood the test of time with dancing being so intricate to its existence?

#3 Phantasio

One match wonder

For a single, solitary appearance on WWE television, Phantasio made quite a debut. A magician, an illusionist, Phantasio came to the ring in a mask that was identical to his painted face underneath it, For a match less than 3 minutes, he pulled off quite a few tricks. He walked into the ring with some intrigue and some curiousity surrounding him. Paul Heyman and Jim Ross were on commentary.

His hat had a brief stroke with smoke and fire, then he led a Spiderman-esque attack on his opponent but in the end he went for his opponent’s tights, literally pulling them out of his trunks. The same fate awaited the referee.

Ridiculous much?

#2 Gobbledy Gooker

Picture speaks a thousand words

What do you think when you think about somebody from the Guerrero family? The entire family is one talented bunch of wrestlers. So, it was quite underwhelming that Hector Guerrero was given a gimmick like Gobbledy Gooker. It was as ridiculous as ridiculous could get. They actually made him wear a turkey costume and gave him that ring name. He was made to hatch out of an egg.

Now, will you ever look at such an event and think that anything histroy- changing could ever occur.

Well, it didn’t.

#1 Doink The Clown

Evil clown

How can we talk of ridiculous gimmicks and not include Doink the Clown? Doink the Clown is the epitome of such lists and he was the epitome of absurdity in the early 90s. But the gimmick did well enough to have multiple reincarnations. Actually, it had multiple people who continued that gimmick after Matt Osborne played it originally. Doink The Clown even had another guy playing ‘Dink’ for a sidekick.

But when all said and done, he was just a clown. An evil clown, but still a clown.

And he was the only guy that Heath Slater got to defeat during his Raw 1000 jobbing days.