#3 The bearded champion Eric Young
When Eric Young became the TNA World Heavyweight Champion in 2014, it should have been a momentous occasion. Eric Young had given ten years of loyal service to the company and had been one of their most prominent icons during his time there. The championship was a long time coming for him and if there was anyone who deserved it, it was him.
However, the gimmick change that Eric Young went through to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship made him nothing short of a clone, a clone of another certain bearded World Champion – that’s right, the “bearded underdog World Champion” gimmick of Eric Young was blatantly ripped off from none other than Daniel Bryan.
Both gimmicks had a smaller wrestler taking on bigger obstacles – Young and Bryan had run into problems with “The Authority” and both of them overcame the odds to win the World Championships in their respective promotions. Did I mention the beard? because the beard was a pretty major part in both their gimmicks as well.
Even when TNA copied Daniel Bryan’s gimmick, they didn’t invest any buildup or storyline time into it.
Daniel Bryan wasn’t popular just because the WWE pitted him in an underdog storyline, he was popular because of months of buildup, because fans turned against the WWE for not doing justice to him and because his victory felt like a well-deserved one after a solid buildup.
Eric Young won a gauntlet match and challenged Magnus for the title on the same night, winning it. Just like that, nothing else. The ripoff couldn’t possibly have been executed in a worse manner. When called out for copying the WWE, Dixie Carter had cut a hilariously cringeworthy promo, which can be seen below:
Next, let’s move on to another Daniel Bryan gimmick that TNA stole.
