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Gimmick performers were once a huge part of WWE television. During the mid-1990s in particular, it seemed as if nearly every performer had a day job.
WWE wrestlers during this time period featured a Tax Inspector (IRS), Repo Man (the imaginatively moniker-ed Repo Man), a Garbage Man (Duke "The Dumpster" Droese) and a Prison Guard (Big Boss Man, who incidentally had worked as a Prison Guard in real life).
Then, there were even more outrageous gimmicks that were not of this world such as the Voodoo Practitioner, Papa Shango and Mantaur, half man, half bull, based upon the Greek legend monster, The Minotaur. For every successful gimmick such as The Undertaker, there was an embarrassment like The Red Rooster.
These insane characters were not exclusive to WWE, WCW had its fair share of misses in the gimmick department too. Most famous was the infamous Shockmaster.
Debuting on an episode of "A Flair for the Gold" at Clash of Champions 24, The Shockmaster made a dramatic exit bursting through a wall but made the appearance more memorable by tripping over a skirting board to the floor.
To make the moment even more embarrassing, Shockmaster's helmet (a Star Wars Stormtrooper helmet covered in glitter) fell off, exposing Fred Ottman's (the man behind the character) balding head. Ottman frantically placed the helmet back on and rather lamely pointed angrily at Sid Vicious while his pre-recorded lines played over a speaker.
It was an inauspicious debut which was highlighted by groans from Ric Flair and Davey Boy Smith who couldn't believe what they were watching on the stage with them. Incredibly, Vicious argued back at Shockmaster somehow keeping a straight face.
Shockmaster was dead on debut.
Less memorably, but an even bigger embarrassment for WCW came with the infamous character of Seven.
Portrayed by Dustin Runnels, of Goldust fame, Seven was introduced to the audience via several creepy vignettes, the most disturbing of which saw Seven watch a little boy asleep in his bedroom from the other side of the window.
Alarming Turner executives and parent groups with the obvious (but thankfully unintentional) connotations, the character was quickly terminated.
Runnels made his in-ring debut as Seven on a 1999 episode of Nitro wherein he denounced the gimmick and all unrealistic characters in wrestling and declared he would be wrestling under his real name instead.
It was an unbelievable spectacle.
Thankfully, come the dawn of the "Attitude Era" in WWE, these wild, nonsensical gimmicks largely disappeared from television as the company took a more serious tone in its content. WCW went the other way which partially contributed to their dramatic fall from grace and non-existence as a company in March 2001.
In the following slideshow, SK counts down the five most asinine WWE gimmicks in history.
#5 Bastion Booger
The legend goes that the character of Bastion Booger was designed as a punishment for its performer Mike Shaw.
If true, it was an extremely effective one.
Shaw had previously portrayed the gimmick of Friar Ferguson which was soon dropped due to complaints from the Catholic Church.
Disappointed that Shaw had failed to lose weight as the company had requested, the new character they inflicted on him was that of an overgrown, slovenly baby, in an outfit designed to resemble a nappy and that he also had a hunch back.
Unsurprisingly, the gimmick was not successful and was discontinued within a year.
Shaw never returned to the company except for a one-off appearance to mark the 15th-anniversary episode of Raw in which he portrayed the gimmick one last time in a segment in which Vince McMahon admitted to having slept with him.
A somewhat fitting end for an outrageous character.
#4 Papa Shango
Before he hit upon the successful "Godfather" gimmick, Charles Wright was made to suffer for his art in wrestling.
One such character in WWE was called Papa Shango and was based upon the Voodoo Priest characters seen in 1973 James Bond film, Live and Let Die.
Literally two decades behind the times, the Shango character was an embarrassment to the industry.
Debuting on the February 8, 1992 episode of Superstars, Shango memorably took part in cringeworthy angles in which he would cast spells on his opponents, such as making them bleed or vomit from afar.
The character was deservedly pilloried from all around the wrestling world and was scrapped a year after its debut in early 1993.
#3 Phantasio
1995 was the home of bad gimmicks in WWE. One such example was Phantasio, portrayed by Harry Del Rios, who had played the similar role of Spellbinder in regional promotions.
Competing in his one and only match on WWE television at the July 16, 1995 episode of Wrestling Challenge, Phantasio defeated jobber, Reno Riggins.
Wearing a mime mask that he took off to reveal the exact same mask painted on his face, Phantasio resembled the Phantom of the Opera before he was victorious against Riggins by embarrassingly pulling up his opponent's boxers, seemingly magically to cause enough of a distraction to win.
Post-match for kicks, he also magically removed referee Earl Hebner's boxer shorts as well.
#2 Mantaur
In one of the craziest ideas WWE's booking department ever conceived, they created a character based upon the Greek Myth monster, The Minotaur.
According to legend, the Minotaur has the head and tail of a bull and body of a man. The tall tale became reality when Mantaur first appeared on WWE television in January 1995. Charging and mooing at opponents, Mantaur was a colossal disaster.
The character understandably was derided by fans and observers and lasted all of six months before it was unceremoniously scrapped and never mentioned again.
Mantaur. Better best forgotten.
#1 The Gobbledygooker
One of the main hooks for the Survivor Series 1990 show was what creature would emerge from a giant egg that was placed upon the stage.
Teasing its audience for the bulk of the show, fans were expecting something significant to emerge from the egg that had been appearing at WWE events for months.
Incredibly, it was an oversized turkey that appeared out of the egg and danced in the ring with announcer, Gene Okerlund, as fans in the arena loudly booed the display.
The Gobbledygooker was supposedly a female character that was presumably a precursor to the modern day Diva.
Under the costume, incredibly, was respected Mexican wrestler, Hector Guerrero, elder brother to WWE Hall of Famer, Eddie Guerrero.
So successful was the gimmick, that it lasted for few more pre-taped promos before disappearing from television leaving the WWE audience dumbstruck at what the character was meant to be.
