WCW, at one point, was the most successful wrestling promotion in the world. Stars like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Randy Savage all were once part of the company’s stacked roster. While Hogan and Flair sold out arenas thanks to their impeccable character work and charisma, there were quite a few that didn’t became successful.
Their failure, for most part, was due to the terrible gimmicks they got associated with. There’s no arguing that WCW had a lot of awful gimmicks during the nineties and even in the final year of their existence.
Of course, it’s quite hard to list every single one of them. So, here are five gimmicks I truly think are the dumbest in company’s history.
Arachnaman
Pro wrestling has always taken a major influence from pop culture. Some of the most successful gimmicks in the business often use movies and comic book characters as their inspiration. The same can also be said about bad gimmicks.
Fans who watched WCW during its early years might recall the awful Arachna-Man character that popped up on their screens. One cannot imagine what WCW were thinking when they gave this bad Spider-Man ripoff to an underrated worker in Brad Armstrong.
Thankfully, Arachna-Man would not last long as Marvel finally stepped in to take legal action against the company over blatant copyright infringement.
‘The Fat Chick Thriller’ Mike Awesome
Mike Awesome’s assault on Kevin Nash instantly put the spotlight on him. However, creative would destroy the legitimacy of the then-ECW Champion by giving him terrible gimmicks.
Awesome would be paired with a couple of plus-sized women and referred to as “The Fat Chick Thriller.” Fans who had seen the big man’s work in ECW were left shocked with WCW’s poor treatment of Mike Awesome.
After WWE bought WCW, Awesome would be featured on Vince McMahon’s show as one of the many “outsiders”. Unfortunately, he’d be lost in the shuffle before parting ways with the now-biggest wrestling promotion in the world.
The Renegade was WCW’s attempt at recreating The Ultimate Warrior
The Renegade was WCW’s failed attempt at recreating The Ultimate Warrior. Richard Wilson, who closely resembled Warrior due to their similar stature, was brought in to play The Renegade during the nineties.
The Renegade would make the save for Hulk Hogan from Vader’s lackeys Ric Flair and Arn Anderson at WCW Uncensored ’95. Despite being hyped as the “Ultimate Surprise,” The Renegade would fail to connect with fans, ending his run with the company just after three years.
The Kiss Demon
A collaboration between Kiss and WCW paved way for The Demon. After Gene Simmons performed at a WCW event, the promotion decided that a Kiss-inspired gimmick would be introduced on television. The result was The Kiss Demon.
Dale Torborg, the man behind the gimmick, was apparently a huge Kiss fan and wanted the in-ring persona to work. Unfortunately for Torborg and other Kiss fans, the larger WCW audience never connected with the gimmick.
The WCW Yeti
Halloween Havoc 1995 remains one of the most infamous shows in WCW history. The PPV event featured more than 10 matches. The main event featured The Giant (Paul Wight) versus Hulk Hogan for the world title.
The match itself had tons of overbooked elements. The aftermath would lead to the arrival of The Yeti. The person entered the ring and join The Giant to give Hogan a double bear hug. To this day, this remains one of the most awkward visuals in WCW history.
It is worth mentioning that the Dungeon of Doom had brought The Yeti to the WCW Nitro in the lead-up to Halloween Havoc. The Yeti would escape his ice-block prison by the end of the night to finally show up at the PPV event later that week.
Honorable Mentions
- The Maestro
- LaserTron
- Big Josh
- The Shark
- Oz
Also read: 10 Best WWE Gimmick Names Of All Time
