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The sauciness and gore of previous eras of programming have been shed as the WWE continues re-inventing itself in sync with the current climate and audience mindset. However, one ubiquitous aspect of WWE programming has always thrived through the constant changes that have massaged the product into something it wasn’t in the yesteryear – humour.
The WWE programming aims to extrapolate the whole gamut of human emotions of the audience, and humour has historically been as salient and relevant a selling point for the product over the years as the characteristics, catch-phrases and tendencies of individual Superstars.Ranging from cheap imitations to genius mimicry, impersonation has been an oft-applied method of implementing humour into proceedings in the WWE, with some wrestlers particularly more suited to it than others. At times, these attempts at impersonation peter out into slapstick non-events while other times, they end up in this list.
Here is a compilation of 5 WWE Superstars who rocked impersonations of others and induced us into peals of laughter and by virtue of which, are the 5 greatest impersonators in WWE history.
Shawn Michaels impersonates Hulk Hogan
In an era where the backstage politicking didn’t feature in an audience’s appraisal of a Superstar and wrestlers were purely judged by their WWE personas, Hulk Hogan ruled the roost. When reports of his notorious backstage politicking started seeping through to the audience, in many minds, this opinion slowly eroded away.
Shawn Michaels was one of those people who was affected by Hogan’s maneuvering on his return to the WWE and was told to circumspect his babyface run to play heel for him. He must have agreed to the feud under compulsion more than compliance and this showed in the hilarious segment on Raw featuring HBK’s imitation of the Hulkster.
Michaels rips into Hogan (himself in this case) for the two-facedness he purported with accusations of incessant backstage power laundering plaguing his career, despite the Superhero like image of him that was portrayed to the general public. This segment remains to be one of the more witty impersonations in the WWE, and little wonder that the Showstopper was at the forefront of it all.
DX imitating the Nation of Domination
Triple H, as we know now thanks to the advent of NXT, is a creative genius. Coupled with Shawn Michaels, the duo has been responsible for some of the most entertaining moments during the Attitude Era under the hell-raising banner of Degeneration X.
One such instance was the segment featuring the duo impersonating Vince and Shane McMahon, followed by a manure bath for the Chairman and his son. While one wondered what Vince wouldn’t put himself through for the sake of ratings, you couldn’t help but feel that this whole segment was slightly over-done.
However, the DX’s attempt to impersonate the Nation of Domination in 1998, was rather more tasteful. With each member of DX (except for Chyna) clowning their nation counterpart, the segment hit home with the desired effect and had the audience stitched up in laughter throughout. It was a pity this segment played out during Michael’s first hiatus from active wrestling, but it certainly delivered nonetheless.
Rock-dust!
Any fan would tell you that Goldust has got to be the sleaziest Superstar in WWE history. His cross-dressing antics often bordered on the bizarre at best, and flirted overtly with sexual taboo at worst. Goldust - love him, hate him or ignore him, is certainly a one-of-a-kind Superstar.
Credit to him though, he has also been responsible for some truly humorous moments through the course of his career. One such instance transpired backstage at the 2002 King of the Ring tournament where Goldust clad as the Rock, tried to reel off a couple of the Rock’s catchphrases to the 5-time WCW champion Booker T, only to be caught in the act by The Great One.
What follows is a segment laced with rib-tickling put-downs by the Rock, and if that wouldn’t suffice, a reproached Goldust tries his hand at mimicking Booker T’s catchphrase, only to be snubbed by him as well. While The Rock undoubtedly added a dash of stardust to proceedings, it was Goldust’s portrayal as the Rock around which this segment was construed, and shall be remembered as such.
Stunt Double Mizdow
Over the years, the WWE have proven themselves fond of the impersonation angle, with wrestlers ranging from Charlie Haas to Curtis Axel desperately mimicking other Superstars, for the want of a more solid in-ring persona. It undeniably contributes to novelty in proceedings, but wrestlers who enact the impersonation gimmicks have never really been taken too seriously right off the bat.
All that changed when Mizdow enacted the stunt-double gimmick. He breathed new life into the concept of an impersonation gimmick with his antics, and was incredibly over with the fans at a point in time. It is so typical of the WWE to allow all his momentum to wash away by consigning him to an uninspiring impersonation of the Macho Man.
Anyway, Damien Sandow has shown true performance class in his imposter gimmicks which questions the WWE’s direction with a talented wrestler and performer, rather than affirming it.
The Rock layeth the verbal Smackdown!
After Muhammad Ali, The Rock is the arguably the greatest trash-talking celebrity in history and few would dispute that. The promos during his initial tenure in the WWE were revolutionary, for never before had the audience swayed to one man’s mastery over the microphone in that manner.
In a backstage segment on Raw, leading up to the 6-man Hell in a Cell match in 2000, The Rock is seen letting loose a verbal volley on each of his opponents. The Undertaker, Kane, Kurt Angle, Rikishi, Triple H and even Stone Cold Steve Austin was not spared the verbal lashing that The Rock dished out, in what was easily one of the most entertaining backstage segments in his storied career.
Few men could even comprehend the complexity of mimicking 5 different Superstars in one take, but The Rock makes it look ridiculously easy. Arguably the greatest exponent of microphone usage in WWE history, this segment captures the verbal adroitness of the “Attitude Era” Rock in a nutshell.
Rarely matched on the microphone in his first run with the company, it perhaps hurt The Rock’s legacy when the PG Era forced him to tone down his rhetoric. A pity, since The Rock of old used to conjure up epic segments such as this frequently, and was considered hands down, the most entertaining Superstar on the microphone.
