Retrospective: Horrible Gimmicks in WCW

By @TrueGodImmortal

One thing that WWF and WCW had in common was that they both had terrible gimmicks over the years. Before WCW got bought out by WWF, they would see years of terrible gimmicks, characters and confusing storylines. For some reason, WCW felt some of these storylines were truly what was best for business. Today I wanted to look at a few of these and wonder just exactly what the company was thinking, because it's still quite fuzzy to me. If you're unfamiliar with some of these, I've attached images below. You've been warned.

*Glacier
-The long running joke for me is that Glacier is a legend and one of the best of all time. The truth is, Glacier was terrible all around and while not a terrible worker, he didn't do himself any favors that's for sure with that gimmick overshadowing him. I still wonder why they did this, outside of attempting to bring Sub Zero from Mortal Kombat to life.

*Wrath
-I was a fan of Adam Bomb in WWF. So, I was shocked to see him in WCW as Wrath. Mainly because I was unaware of what the gimmick was or what it meant. It was a dark gimmick, but like most dark gimmicks in wrestling, it came off cheesy and corny along with some hilarity.

*Johnny B. Badd
-This dude was wearing makeup and impersonating Little Richard, a black entertainer, and this dude wasn't even black. Marc Mero is Jewish dammit. That's one aspect. Other than that, this was the most misguided character I had seen at this point. Very confusing, and far too much makeup on a grown man. WCW was a strange place in the 90's.

*Vinnie Vegas/OZ
-Kevin Nash in a bouncer gimmick. I don't really think I need to elaborate much more on this. Kevin Nash as some form of Oz from the Wizard of Oz. Nuff said.

*Black Blood
-I was writing this at a restaurant when a friend said to me "yo, you remember Black Blood in WCW?" and I really didn't. Upon review and research, I was not impressed or pleased with this at all. I can't even express anything else besides "what the fuck WCW"..

*The Ding Dongs
-I know..... I know. I'll just say that the Jim Herd era of WCW was full of mishaps, this being one of them. How anyone thought this would work is beyond me.

*The Renegade
-So, mental note: never try to imitate the Ultimate Warrior. Ever. Hogan was so obsessed with getting his win back over Warrior that he decided to make Richard Wilson a Warrior clone. Sadly, the Renegade never got over like that and nothing came of it. He won the TV Title, but that's not even noteworthy as he would not hold it for long and fizzle out quickly. Disappointing sure, but also expected.

*The Black Scorpion
-This is almost as bad as Hardbody Harrison's idea to dress up in paint and go as Sting's evil black brother "Stang". This was the most cheesy gimmick ever and yet it ended with Ric Flair behind the mask the character had. Amazing.

*G.I. Bro/Misfits In Action
-Look man.... I know Booker used this shit back in his younger wrestling days, but good lord, this was bad. The whole Misfits in Action thing was terrible to be honest. Bill Demott went by the name Hugh G. Rection.... and that's all you need to know about the gimmick right there.

*The Shark
-The fairly successful Earthquake from WWF came to WCW and he became the Shark. Right. The Shark.

*The Demon
-Somewhere in the WCW offices, there was this thought process of..... yo man, let's just go ahead and create a Gene Simmons like character, I mean KISS is forever legendary... and we'll apply it to wrestling. Like.... yeah. I just don't get it. This was one of the worst ideas I've seen. To be honest.

*Seven
-WCW really decided to give Dustin Rhodes this gimmick. As if Goldust wasn't weird or bad enough, they gave him this one. WCW gimmicks are just so bad that I truly have very little words for them and this is another one. Another One. *DJ Khaled voice*

*The Zodiac, The Disciple and The Booty Man
-Brutus Beefcake couldn't catch a damn break in WCW... let's start with the Booty Man. His signature move was a high-knee. Take a moment and you'll catch why that's the worst thing in the history of wrestling. The Zodiac.... this asshole was in zebra pants and face paint and such... like.... the Dungeon of Doom should have never had the idea of this. Never. Ever. And The Disciple? Literally just a minion of Hogan and the NWO. Absolutely pointless. All three fucking gimmicks.

*Arachnaman
-I mean.... do I really need to explain why? Like.... do I really? I don't think I really do. So I won't.

*Mortis
-I'm not going to lie man... I genuinely liked this character for a second. The mask was cool, Chris Kanyon could wrestle, but this is professional wrestling. Why was WCW so heavily into this whole idea that you needed all these creepy weird characters? I just don't understand it. It worked briefly, but in retrospect, it was not a good look or idea.

*Alex Wright aka Das Wunderkind
-A German kid.... who dances. Like.... I just don't understand. That's all I can say.

*Oklahoma
-WWF was kicking WCW's ass in the ratings and overall. Somehow, this ended up hurting WCW so bad that they created a corny and weak parody of JR. It wasn't funny, it wasn't even that offensive, it was just completely stupid.

*The Shockmaster
-If you know WCW, then you know all you need to know about this. Fake metal helmet, horrible outfit. I mean... it speaks for itself.

*The Yeti
-Look. At. The. Photo. That's all I have to say.

*Disco Inferno
-A John Travolta character. That's all I can really say. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Do you have any gimmicks that you thought were terrible? Email us and let us know.

-True