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By Andrew Ravens
Contributing Sports Writer
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Professional wrestling, while beloved by many, has a history peppered with truly awful gimmicks. It's easy for any fan to recall at least a few cringe-worthy characters that seemed destined for failure.
This begs the question: what if we compiled a definitive list of the absolute worst gimmicks, the ones so ludicrous they defy belief? Sounds like an interesting idea to me
For every iconic character like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin or The Rock, countless gimmicks were, to put it mildly, ill-conceived. The industry has seen its fair share of terrible ideas, from the downright bizarre to the silly. This list highlights those gimmicks that stand out as the worst of the worst.
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10. Seven
Dustin Rhodes, who made the strange Goldust character work in WWE, tried another odd gimmick called Seven when he went to WCW in 1999. They showed videos of a guy with white face paint looking into kids' rooms, which was supposed to be scary like The Undertaker. But when he finally appeared on TV, Dustin said he hated the Seven character. People say the idea was dropped because it looked like he was trying to kidnap children.
9. Merdecai
Another weird character was Mordecai, who was like The Undertaker but wore white and had white hair. He was supposed to be a religious guy with a big cross, saying he was there to get rid of everyone's "sins." However, the character didn't last long, and the wrestler later became a vampire in WWE's ECW, which also didn't work out.
8. Kerwin White
In 2005, Chavo Guerrero had a strange gimmick called Kerwin White. He acted like a stereotypical white guy, driving a golf cart and changing his appearance. This happened at the same time WWE had another Mexican group called the Mexicools. Many people thought this was a bad way to portray people of different races.
More news: WWE News: Steve Austin Reveals Real-Life Vince McMahon Confrontation
7. The Berzerker
The Berzerker was a wrestling character that tried to be a fierce Viking warrior. But instead of being like the strong Vikings from history or TV shows, he acted like a clumsy, silly guy. He was more like a cartoon than a real warrior.
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6. Dr. Isaac Yankem
Then there was Dr. Isaac Yankem, DDS. In 1995, WWE had a wrestler who was supposed to be a crazy dentist. His name was Yankem, like "yank" your teeth out. He was Jerry Lawler's dentist and would act like he was hurting people during check-ups. It was a strange idea since dentists usually have good jobs and don't need to wrestle.
5. Max Moon
Max Moon was another weird character. He was like someone wearing a bad robot costume from a cartoon. WWE gave Konnan, a wrestler, a costly robot suit, and he became Max Moon. But Konnan didn't like it and left. Then another wrestler, Paul Diamond, tried to play the character, but it didn't work out, and the costume was put away.
4. Gobbledy Gooker
Finally, there was the Gobbledy Gooker. WWE had a big egg on their shows, and everyone wondered what would hatch from it. At a big show, the egg opened, and it was just a person in a turkey costume. The turkey danced with a famous announcer, and it was very silly. Even though it's funny to look back on, it was one of the dumbest things WWE ever did.
3. Repo Man
During a time when WWE had wrestlers based on their jobs, Barry Darsow, who used to be Smash in Demolition, became Repo Man. He was a guy who threatened to take people's stuff if they didn't pay for it. He looked and acted like a gray version of The Riddler from the old Batman show. Even though it was a weird idea, Repo Man had some funny moments, like when he suddenly yelled for 10 seconds at WrestleMania.
2. Shockmaster
Then there was Shockmaster. Some people think Shockmaster could have been cool if his first appearance hadn't been so bad. He was supposed to be a scary guy in a spray-painted helmet, but he tripped and fell during his debut. His voice was also changed to sound scary, but it just sounded silly. The whole thing was a bad idea from the start, but the best part was when Ric Flair yelled "Oh god," as the legendary botched happened.
1. Mantaur
Another strange character was Mantaur. In 1995, WWE introduced a wrestler who wore a big bull head when he came to the ring. He was supposed to act like a bull, even making "moo" sounds. He never became a big star, but he did have one funny moment at a pay-per-view when he mooed loudly during a match. Talk about making a moment.
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For more on WWE, head to Newsweek Sports.
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