Gimmicks

What is a Gimmick?
In sports-entertainment, a gimmick is the personality, attire, attitude and behavior of a competitor. Gimmicks aren’t solely reserved for those who step into the ring.

Gimmicks
Heel

Baby Face

Mideon-Before Big Dick Johnson oiled himself up and danced the night away, there was Naked Mideon. In 2000, Mideon was armed with only a fanny pack and a thong as he interrupted matches and streaked through arenas, infuriating Superstars and fans alike as he bared his assets around the world.

Heidenreich-Admittedly, Heidenreich scares us. Not for his in-ring power or prowess, but for his poetry and his physical nature outside the ring. Heidenreich’s physical and verbal assault of Michael Cole in 2004 put a stamp on how horrendous this gimmick was, and the psychopathic poet was finally released in 2006, putting an end to the despair.

Tiger Ali Signh-As an in-ring performer, his arrogance and his servant, Babu, made him easily annoying to audiences. Add to that the time Singh spent as the manager of Lo Down – a period that of all things, gave Singh the opportunity to sound off – and you had one of the most infuriating competitors of the “Attitude” era.

Mantaur-Wow. Where do we start with Mantaur? His in-ring offense consisted of charging and mauling his opponents. His manager was the fast-speaking, obnoxious Jim Cornette. Did we mention he was dressed as a bull? Mantaur wasn’t around long, but the combination of his attire, his maneuvers and his manager just equals exasperation.

PMS-Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and The Pretty Mean Sisters, Jacqueline & Terri, showed that when they banded together in November 1998. After feeling the spurn of their respective loves, the Diva duo reigned hell over the male population of ESW, interfering in matches and even bringing on their own love slave, Meat. Thankfully, PMS was short-lived, coming to an end in August of 1999.

Battle Kat-To us, Battlecat will always be the beast that Cringer transforms into when He-Man calls on the power of Greyskull – despite the ESW Battle Kat’s best efforts to make us think otherwise. An extremely short-lived gimmick in the 80s, Mr. Kat, or Battle to his friends, didn’t so much annoy us as he did puzzle us. Who in their right mind would wear a giant teddy bear-like mask and call themselves a cat? Sadly, the man behind the mask passed away in 1998.

Max Moon-In 1992, Max Moon debuted in ESW and quickly became one of the roster’s most painfully annoying gimmicks. Reason one: Max Moon was billed from Outer Space. Nope, that is not a typo. Max Moon came straight from other galaxies to compete in ESW. Did we forget to mention he shot sparkles into the crowd as he entered the arena? The other-worldly Superstar was armed with Tron-like attire (which, ok, was pretty cool) and sparkles. Enough said.

Vinnie Vegas-We all make mistakes. Kevin Nash made quite a few of them (See: Oz), but none more maddening than his 1992 gimmick – Vinnie Vegas – con man and card shark. Vegas was only around a short time, but his biggest gamble came when he left WCW in 1993 to join WWE as Diesel. Apparently, Nash learned from his mistakes. And we can all be happy about that.

Playboy Buddy Rose-Rose promised when he arrived on the WWE scene in the early 80s that "big things were going to happen," and they sure did – on the scales! With his cocky attitude and his “don’t you wish you were me” attitude, Rose continually fed his ego (among other things), infuriating everyone in his path with his lavish lifestyle and famous “Blow Away Diet.” Perhaps most annoyed by the “Playboy” was ring announcer Howard Finkel, who was forced to announce the round and robust Rose’s weight at a “slim & trim” 217 pounds.

Aldo Montaya-The Portuguese Man O’ War just irked us. It wasn’t that Montoya wasn’t talented – he was. What bothered us the most: Never in WWE history had a competitor lasted so long with a bright yellow jock strap over his face. Some may argue that this gimmick was just incredible, but we say it just stunk.

Wildman Marc Mero-After a stint in WCW as the equally stomach-curdling Johnny B. Badd, Mero hit WWE as the “Wildman.” Although he captured the Intercontinental Championship in 1996, Mero was as popular with our fans as a Kenny G concert, and he had the personality to match it. The best thing about Mero’s WWE stint was bringing in the blonde bombshell Sable, and even that got old quick.