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Professional wrestling, WWE especially, has always been more about the character than the actual in-ring aspect. You could be pulled off the street and turned into a major star if the machine was behind you, you had the right look, and the right gimmick.
While wrestling fans nowadays are more invested in what goes on between the ropes and tend to focus a bit too much on "work rate," character work is still as important as it's ever been.
Take a look at Roman Reigns, a man who earned the WWE Universe's respect the second he became The Tribal Chief. Reigns was always great at what he did, whether fans wanted to admit it or not, but he needed a gimmick that they could sink their teeth into.
The right gimmick can make your career. However, on the flip side of that coin, the wrong one can upend it. Whether it's down to poor timing, unfortunate incidents, or a simply terrible idea, some WWE Superstars failed to reach audiences in one way or another. Often, it's had to do with a gimmick that wasn't quite up to snuff.
Today we'll be taking a look at some gimmicks that never even go a chance to get off the ground. We'll be starting with someone who recently returned to WWE and, hopefully, is set for more success this time around.
#5. Eva Marie's WWE SmackDown run
Yep, the recently re-debuted Eva Marie was a victim of WWE's weird "will they, won't they" booking, which doesn't bode well for her or Piper Niven. Wait, no, sorry. We aren't supposed to know her name yet. My apologies.
Anyway, back in the summer of 2016, vignettes began airing hyping the return of Miss All Red Everything herself, establishing her as a heel. In August, she was set for in-ring competition. Except...she avoided back-to-back matches, continuously bailing at the last second, faking an injury, or just not appearing at the arena and claiming to be held up by traffic.
Well, she didn't make that last claim. Her special announcer did. To be fair, this was kind of genius in a way. Hardcore fans weren't really sold on Eva Marie in the ring, and the casual viewer would be intrigued enough to tune in week after week to see if she would do anything of importance.
Unfortunately, Eva Marie was popped for a wellness violation before any of this could really get off the ground. Marie claimed it was for her Adderall prescription, but she'd submitted paperwork for it after a deadline with the company, which meant their hands were tied. Unfortunately, this version of Eva Marie lasted only a few short months.
Shortly after this, she stopped appearing on TV altogether and would leave the company by August of 2017. Hopefully, for both her and her mystery associate's sakes, their run on WWE RAW this year works out better for them.
#4. Mordecai nearly faced WWE legend The Undertaker in 2004
WWE ECW saw the moderate success of a vampire character known as Kevin Thorn. Thorn even made it to WrestleMania 23 where he competed in an eight-man match pitting the brand's "New Brood" against ECW originals. However, that wasn't supposed to be his first WrestleMania match.
Let me take you back in time. Well...back further in time. Before 2007. Picture it, a dark room dimly lit with candles. A man covered in bright white robes with bleached blond hair, eyebrows, and goatee included, promised to deliver vengeance to and eliminate the wicked in WWE. Dubbing himself the "Right Hand of the Father," the superstar made his debut in the spring of 2004. Mordecai was his name, and pain was his game.
At WWE Judgment Day, Mordecai demolished Scotty 2 Hotty. He'd go on to defeat legit tough guy Hardcore Holly at The Great American Bash. He enjoyed a moderate amount of success before falling to the legendary luchador himself Rey Mysterio in a match on SmackDown. That was the last we saw of Mordecai, but this wasn't just a normal everyday failed gimmick thrown into the trash bin.
Mordecai was supposed to be the "anti-Undertaker" and was even heading toward a feud with The Deadman. It could've happened too, were it not for an incident Kevin Fertig, the man behind Mordecai, got into that year.
In an interview with Sean Ross Sapp, Fertig revealed that a bar fight upended the whole deal.
"It was going to be built towards that. I'm a dumbass that got in a fight in a bar and basically ruined it. 'Cause of situations that precursed that."
It really was unfortunate, as Fertig was by no means bad. Mordecai was an interesting character, and it could've led to a fun feud with The Phenom. The guy got a vampire gimmick to work in WWE ECW for crying out loud, so this could've been something fun.
#3 WWE "kizills" Kizarny's run after two matches
Remember Kizarny? WWE RAW Superstar MVP probably does, as he gave Kizarny his one and only win in WWE.
In late 2008, SmackDown began airing vignettes of a carny worker who "spoke in carny talk." According to the man himself, this gimmick was what would happen if Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Doink the Clown had a love child. Much like the Duck Tales theme song, it's stuck in your head forever now. Enjoy the nightmares.
After months of teasing, the crazed carnival competitor, Kizarny debuted on January 2, 2009, against Montel Vontavious Porter. MVP dominated Kizarny throughout most of the match. Unfortunately for MVP, he was in the middle of a 23-match losing streak. That's right, 23 matches, and Kizarny wasn't going to be the one to let the former WWE US Champion break it. After a rolling double-armed DDT Kizarny dubbed the 'Tallulah Belle,' he knocked off MVP in his debut match.
A month later, he'd compete in an Elimination Chamber battle royal, where he was quickly eliminated. Soon after that, the carnival left the town. Kizarny appeared in a few backstage segments, including one with WWE Hall of Famer Edge and Vickie Guerrerro, before he was released in March.
Fun fact: Kizarny is a childhood best friend of Edge and AEW's Christian Cage. Edge was even part of Kizarny's marriage to another household WWE name, The Kat. The two married in 2010 before divorcing in 2013.
#2 Chavo Guerrero gets a horrible gimmick overhaul on WWE RAW
Oof, what can be said about WWE's golfing goofball known as Kerwin White? This was...just God awful. I'm sorry I'm even bringing this up, and if you're lucky enough to have not seen anything involving Kerwin White, it might be best to just go to the next slide.
Chavo Guerrero, by 2005, was already a well-established veteran. A multi-time WWE Cruiserweight and Tag Team Champion, Chavo Jr. had proven himself to be somebody any wrestling company would want on their roster. By mid-2005, though, he'd kind of fallen out of title contention of any kind and was getting repeatedly assaulted by the recently signed Mexicools.
In the 2005 WWE Draft, Guerrero was moved to Monday Night RAW, where he soon denounced his Hispanic heritage in favor of the "Anglo-American Way." Yeah... yeah, that's how this one started. Shortly after, we began seeing vignettes of this middle-class conservative golf enthusiast. He was portrayed as a republican with incredibly racist ideals.
Peep that last name real quick and think of all the terrible catch phrases you can think of. I promise it won't be worse than, "If it's not White, it's not right." Soon after, it was tweaked a bit to be, "If it's not Kerwin White, it's not Kerwin Right." Guerrero would win matches by attacking his opponents with either golf clubs or coat hangers, and occasionally his caddy, future WWE World Champion Dolph Ziggler. So at least something good came out of this.
The majority of gimmicks on this list had some potential and could've evolved into something given the right amount of time. Kerwin White, however, was something that shouldn't have ever made it past the first pitch. It was apparently Vince McMahon's idea, as Chavo revealed in an interview with Chris Van Vliet, and Guerrerro felt it was either going with the gimmick or possibly losing his job.
The gimmick was dropped five months following the unfortunate and sudden passing of his uncle Eddie Guerrero, and Chavo was quietly moved back to SmackDown.
#1 WWE's Emma becomes Emmalina...then becomes Emma again
In 2016, WWE RAW began airing vignettes claiming that Emma was getting a makeover to become "Emmalina." The gimmick, as far as anyone could guess, would see the Australian superstar take on the attitude and arrogance of a model. There were rumors that it was supposed to be similar to Sable, but we never got to see what the original idea was.
Have you ever seen someone come up with an idea and then give up halfway through? Well, usually when that happens, it would be scrapped before making it to television. Not with Emmalina. WWE obviously gave up on the gimmick long before Emma made her "makeover" debut on February 13, 2017.
Emmalina appeared in front of a live WWE RAW crowd to announce that Emma had been madeover into Emmalina. In the same promo, about thirty seconds after that, she said that Emmalina had been madeover into Emma, walking away with the crowd, and leaving Corey Graves, confused.
During an appearance on Lance Storm's podcast, Tenille Dashwood said that WWE creative realized that the gimmick didn't fit her at all, as she wasn't a diva. She was a wrestler, and the "Evil Emma" character made more sense for her.
Oddly enough, the whole Emmalina idea seems to have followed Tenille Dashwood to IMPACT Wrestling, where she and her personal photographer Kaleb with a K (yes, that's the official name) are obsessed with keeping her Instagram updated with tons of glamor shots. And it works. Turns out she definitely could've made Emmalina a success if it had been given a chance.
