83 Weeks - Worst WCW Gimmicks [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Eric the feedback on the Dungeon of Doom episode with you & Casio was so good and so bad all at the same time - I thought it was time we discussed something we’ve stayed away from. The worst WCW things ever - gimmicks, matches, etc. You & Casio had a ton of fun with the Dungeon of Doom and dammit I didn’t want to miss out on it so we’re going to break down some of the worst of WCW ever…and I want your honest opinion on each of these - if you liked them, hated them, and can you defend them!

Before you were put in charge there was some awful stuff in WCW…and I think it starts with the Black Scorpion. The long angle where this man performed magic tricks while Ole Anderson talked into a microphone leading to a Starrcade main event where of course it’s revealed that it’s Ric Flair…did you watch some of this silly shit?

Next up is the Ding Dongs! And well…Jim Herd would launch a creative initiative to compete with the more child friendly World Wrestling Federation. Herd decided to create his own colorful team that would be geared towards children. To that effort he brought The Rock 'n Roll Rebels to World Championship Wrestling. Playing the part would be southern wrestlers Greg Evans & Richard Sartain. However Sartain and Evans would not be recognizable, but would be clad in orange morph suits and covered with tiny bells. I’ll just let Jim Cornette describe it:

“To show you how much this guy was in touch with the wrestling business, his idea was "Let's have a tag team with bells on their neck, bells on their ankle, and bells everywhere. And we'll have them come out with a big bell, and whenever one of them's getting beat up, the other will ring the bell and he'll get fired up. The kids will love it."

They debuted on a Clash of the Champions in 1989 and they were booed out of the fucking building Eric and while on commentary you could tell JR was embarrassed. Was this just an example of WCW trying to be like the WWF and failing miserably?

Moving on…Arachnaman. You’ll hear the name Brad Armstrong a lot on this episode sadly as the man who was such a tremendous worker just never caught on with all the various gimmicks he was given…he was dressed to be very similar to Spiderman and would even lead to Marvel threatening legal action against WCW because of the gimmick.

Kevin Nash is someone that was done no favors in WCW. Between the Master Blasters and Vinnie Vegas - somehow he was even in a worse gimmick. The Almighty Oz. Dressed as the Wizard of Oz…it was presented as a big time special effects gimmick but my god Eric - it was terrible was it not?

Before there was Master P in WCW and John Cena rapping in the WWE, there was PN News. Over 400 pounds he was a rapper who was getting a push before he accidentally hurt Dave Sheldon - wrestling as the Angel of Death - when he splashed him on his knees instead of his torso and cost him a year in the ring. How did WCW survive all these years?

Well they didn’t survive because of Van Hammer. This dude - great look - massive body - but given a heavy metal gimmick when the dude could barely wrestle let alone hold a guitar. There’s a famous story that Arn Anderson tells about Hammer walking in and saying he was there to save the company. What say you, Eric?

The Colossal Kongs - and no we’re not talking about Blue Chew! That would be Awesome & King Kong before a copyright claim changed it to Krusher Kong because of you know…copyright issues…they were even managed by Harley Race - AND HEADLINED A CLASH OF THE CHAMPIONS AGAINST RIC FLAIR & STING. How did that even happen?

Black Blood - Billy Jack Haynes as he’s more well known - and Big Josh - Matt Osbourne - are two of the worst gimmicks ever - and they even wrestled each other on pay-per-view at Great American Bash 1991! Blood was a masked executioner from France and Big Josh was a lumberjack…Eric - when you’re watching the WCW product back then - did you know all the mistakes being made to help learn from it?

Norman the Lunatic is another one that took who was considered a very good worker in Mike Shaw and he was considered nuts because Teddy Long saved him from an insane asylum and led him around with a giant key. Somehow that wasn’t even his worst gimmick considering he was Bastion Booger in the WWF…

Now the most epic terrible WCW gimmick…the Shockmaster. Poor Uncle Fred comes busting through on a Flair for the Gold and goes ass over tea kettle and the helmet falls off and Ole Anderson keeps cutting the promo and it’s just a mess…

Now let’s get into when you were in charge…

There are going to be various opinions on some of these gimmicks…so we’ll start with some of the possible borderline gimmicks.

There are people out there that didn’t like Johnny B. Badd - but I don’t know that I would put him in that category would you?

Thunder & Lightning debuted in 1993 and one of the guys were Jeff Farmer who would go on to be nWo Sting…but I couldn’t even find any information on who teamed with him as when the team broke up he left the business. Do you remember who it was?

“Jungle” Jim Steele - a product of the WCW Power Plant - stuck around for a year before going to Japan for over 11 years! What do you remember of Steele?

One of the classic WCW gimmicks - and I mean that tongue in cheek obviously - is when The Big Boss Man - Ray Traylor debuts as The Boss. How did you ever think this would get through legal?

After the legal threats are over - he’s repackaged as the Guardian Angel. THE GUARDIAN ANGEL. Eric - did Ray ever object to this gimmick because my goodness was it silly?

Barry Darsow is a whole category himself. Let’s walk through his WCW career… he debuts as an interrupter and would eventually get arrested for attacking Dustin Rhodes. Col. Robert Parker bails him out and he’s named the Blacktop Bully. He would get fired along with Dustin when they both bleed on the King of the Road match - a match on the back of a moving flatbed truck - because the blood was the issue…

You would then bring him back in 1997 before repacking him as “Mr. Hole-In-One”...a golfer…even called Stewart Pain at one point because of the golfer…

When Vince Russo takes over he would get an amnesia gimmick and go through all his bad gimmicks weekly which is probably the best thing Russo ever did in WCW…

Touched on in your Dungeon of Doom episode there’s Evad…I mean Dave Sullivan. Kevin’s brother - he’s first introduced as the Equalizer, then Dave, then Evad - a dyslexic Hulkamaniac. Yup.

Moving on…the Gambler! Jeffrey Gann - was originally trained in the Power Plant before leaving WCW and becoming the Gambler on the indies. He is brought back with that gimmick and as part of his entrance would take out a set of playing cards. Yup. That’s it.

Now a questionable one and something I think wasn’t as bad as people think it was - the American Males. Marcus Alexander Bagwell & Scotty Riggs. Do you think it’s fair to categorize them as part of the worst gimmicks in WCW history?

Road Block! He would walk out with a road block or sawhorse and he was a gigantic dude. His biggest claim to fame is getting racked by Lex Luger on Nitro. How did he even get on television?

Let’s talk about the Mauler next. Mike Enos is a part of one of the more historic moments in WCW history as he’s in the ring when Scott Hall enters WCW to begin the nWo invasion but he hung around WCW for years as an underneath guy. What was it about Enos that kept him on the roster for so long?

Blood Runs Cold would lead us to Glacier, Mortis, Wrath & really Ernest the Cat Miller. Do you consider Blood Runs Cold and what amounted to it afterwards as one of the worst parts of WCW?

Disco Inferno…listen Glen gets a lot of heat for what he does nowadays…but really did you enjoy Disco as a gimmick?

Now we’re going to get into some of the worst - in my opinion - of all-time…

And it all starts with Brutus - the fucking Barber - Beefcake. Ed Leslie literally had every bad gimmick you could imagine. From Brother Bruti, The Butcher, The Man With No Name, The Zodiac, The Booty Man, The Disciple…what was the worst in your mind?

Now you weren’t a part of this but it has to be said…Oklahoma…Ed Ferrera…the mocking of Jim Ross and his condition…you can’t have this list without him am I right?

Alex Wright transforming into Berlyn - is it true that it was Alex’s idea and you let him run with it?

Was the shooting in Columbine a major part of the scale back of the gimmick?

Was it hopeless at that point for this gimmick or did you think there was a chance it could still work?

What did you think when Jim Duggan turned Canadian? Or found the TV title in the trash can and started defending it?

When Russo took over he would have Dustin Rhodes come in as Seven and it went a few weeks with promos and then he debuted and cut a worked shoot promo on how shitty the gimmick was and how he would much rather be Dustin Rhodes. Yup.

We already touched on Brad Armstrong…but my goodness BA Buzzkill. He joins the MIA which we talked about last month - but then Russo comes in and turns him into a stoner. Why did this guy never just get a break?

Speaking of MIA - where does it eventually rank for you in worst WCW gimmicks with Hugh G. Rection?

Let’s get to the music section of WCW while we talk about MIA…3 Count! The pseudo boy band that will eventually induct Tank Abbott…

From there - KISS Demon. Between Brian Adams to Dale Torberg - the money spent on KISS - how big a failure is this really?

Next up in music…the Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea…did he really need that gimmick?

Then we have the Maestro - who supposedly only got his job because he had got the trademark for Gorgeous George…

Why did WCW have no success with musical gimmicks? Was that a sign possibly that WCW should stop doing musical gimmicks?

There were gimmicks that were just ripoffs of the WWF - or not if you tell me - but there were people like Asya who was a direct shot at Chyna…I mean when you signed Virgil you named him Vincent after Vince McMahon! What say you?

There were even people like the Amazing French Canadians - you know, the Quebecers, VK Wallstreet - IRS at another shot at VKM - and you signed Nailz as the Prisoner after he was fired from the WWF for choking Vince McMahon. Come on Eric!

Some of the ones who were there for a short time and barely registered like Ranger Ross, the Giant Ninja, Yoshi Kwan - I mean they weren’t offensive but my goodness none of them were good.

The biggest gimmick change to someone who literally stripped them of any chance of being a draw - you spend all this money to ECW to sign their champion Mike Awesome - and within months - MONTHS - he’s that 70s guy and then the Fat Chick Thriller. This is all on Vince Russo right?

Now some of the worst moments in WCW history - Chucky at Halloween Havoc, Warrior being in the mirror and only Hollywood Hogan being able to see it…and Ric Flair having a pretend heart attack and then being committed…can you think of any other bad or awful moments?

Well we can’t forget…what really is the bottom of WCW…and take your pick…David Arquette beating you or Vince Russo winning the WCW Title. What say you, Eric?