10 WACKIEST WCW Gimmicks Ever

In these trying times, we could all use a bit of levity, and what better place to find it than in crap wrestling? If laughter truly is the best medicine, then you can get a healthy dose by digging through the untidy archives of WCW...
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Cultaholic provides video coverage of professional wrestling - including WWE (including WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown, NXT and 205 Live), AEW, IMPACT Wrestling (formerly TNA), NJPW, ROH, and more with daily news updates, reviews, highlights, predictions, reactions, podcasts and much, much more.

[@davehelix]

The Alternate Warrior

[@mistformsquirrel]

... swiping that name for possible wrestling game custom character use...

[@nno6646]

@@mistformsquirrel take The Intimate Warrior as well

[@claydecoursey2339]

I just screamed that in Finks voice.

[@nate1066pollock]

@@claydecoursey2339 lol! The Alllllllllternate Warrior!

[@snowballs4]

IM WHEEZING

[@weloveslotmachinememes]

What WCW did to Mike Awesome was disgraceful.

[@chrisuncleahmad]

He should have stayed in ECW

[@MarcoRizzolo]

They were bouncing his checks. He has a family. @@chrisuncleahmad

[@matthewlane518]

It's not the yeti, it's THE YET-TAY!

[@d-repaslp.]

Right

[@lucretiamacevil362]

The only wrestling show I ever went to, my dad took me to see a WCW house show when I was still pretty young. The only thing I remember was him pointing at Arachnaman and shouting "Look, look, Spider-Man!", trying to get me excited. I started crying because it obviously wasn't Spider-Man (he was red and blue!), then sat with my back to the show and fell asleep through the whole thing.

[@Maggot39967]

Dear god you almost made me tear up a bit lol. I just kinda feel bad for your dad in that moment, although I know it's dumb he tried and failed to maybe entertain you with the show and when that wasn't working he tried some stuff on the fly lol. I also know that I'm being silly and that it's also not that big of a deal lol.

[@dafedge2007]

now I want to hear that promo - "Roman Reigns you're not the big dog, there's only one big dog and that's Clifford the big red dog!

[@dpenlow]

"We could all use a bit of levity..." 2 minutes later: "The man who portrayed Renegade took his own life." Thanks, I feel much better now.

[@JohanReid]

))

[@JohanReid]

Ll))l)l)))ll))l))))))ll)))l)llll)l

[@jmw06003]

Haha yep. HoW WaCkY?!?!

[@Nepthu]

Obviously the guy loved wrestling and wanted to wrestle. Creative gave him a bad gimmick. He took his own life when his dream fell apart. Many men fall into a deep depression when their livelihoods are stolen. RIP Renegade.

[@davidbermudez7704]

Poor guy WCW ruined him

[@alexh8613]

The Kiss Demon character was just baffling. Kiss was a 70's and 80's band. By 1999, very few people gave a shit about them.

[@cjvaye99]

WCW wasn't alone didnt WWF do an angle with Motley Crue? at least there it was just a one off appearance and a way to debut Test they didnt make a wrestler based on Motley Crue and sign him to a contract that he had to main event a PPV.

[@youngpop8696]

In 96 and 97 they had the highest grossing tour of the year and had a pretty popular album in 98

[@CurlyFromTheSwirly]

​@@youngpop8696 I think I have that CD

[@glennwelsh9784]

You gotta admit, Dustin Runnels doesn't get anywhere near as much credit and respect as he should.

[@cra0422]

Sometimes it's hard to tell who did more damage to professional wrestling: Jim Herd in the early 1990s or Vince Russo in late 1990s-early 2000s.

[@woobgamer5210]

or Vince McMahon 2015-2022

[@russblack443]

Russo for sure. At least herd had Ole telling him he was an idiot and eventually they fired him

[@buddyrevelle736]

Russo. He killed Owen.

[@stevegallo8483]

It has to be Russo. After he killed WCW, Russo went to TNA and used some of the same idiotic ideas there.

[@420TwistedUp]

Idiotic segments gets the most views people love stupid things because people themselves are stupid

[@buckwrestling]

The funniest part of the KISS Demon is that part of the contract apparently stated his match was to be the "main event" on shows, so there are PPVs where he is wrestling on the undercard, but the ring announcer calls it a "special main event" or "bonus main event."

[@GizmoMcs]

A Giant Ninja ? ahah no one would repeat that one!.. oh wait...

[@bloodguts6786]

You talking about that shitty looking "ninja" they just debuted on WWE? 😂

[@exorphitus]

He was not just a Giant Ninja, but a Super Giant Ninja!

[@MinscFromBaldursGate92]

WCW: Our wrestlers are named by 6 year olds.

[@BrianTKessler]

0:01 Me: "WCW's Wackiest gimmicks? This will be fun!" 1:40 "Renegade. He committed suicide, that's kind of sad." 4:37 "Mike Awesome killed himself too. Damn, this list is getting depressing. Hope the next one didn't kill himself." 6:37 "Brad Armstrong? He died suddenly at the age of 50. At least he didn't kill himself though." 8:47 "Oklahoma! Finally, a gimmick done by someone who didn't die tragically before his time! I can finally enjoy this video..." 9:17 "And of course he was paired with Steve Williams, who died of cancer at 49. This list is just too depressing. I'm out!"

[@johnlabrott2835]

I feel called out by the Ready to Rumble dvd & Surge line in the intro.

[@dpenlow]

I'm literally drinking Surge as I watch this. (Burger King brought it back)

[@ZeroZ0]

I need a Surge...

[@DatrayKingofDudes]

Only lived up to the Awesome part of his name?! Mike Awesome was ten times the Mike you'll ever be!

[@nastyc85]

Why did he kill himself?

[@TheBillliantOne]

Jokes on you, my name isn't Mike. :P

[@DatrayKingofDudes]

@@TheBillliantOne Joke's on YOU, as he's now eleven times the Mike you are!

[@venousbirch2186]

Becuase he went yo jail and his wife divorced him and took the kids and he lost his family

[@dil09ful]

And she was taking everything from him

[@thebombspayloadisexposed]

DAMN IT! We never got to see Sin Cara vs. The Shockmaster in a "Whose Debut Was Worse" Deathmatch.

[@EssexAggiegrad2011]

Shock Master as Sin Cara injured himself by botching again

[@RuanAntunes7]

The Shockmaster's debut was far worse than Sin Cara's

[@GavinWoods]

I heard they did but they botched the finish.

[@sonybluraydisk]

Jim Cornette claims to have spat in Ed Ferraras eye for the JR impersonation, and rightfully so

[@korywilliams1856]

NOT a claim, IT'S a FACT!!!!! I was there, it happened in Nashville, TN at the Fairgrounds before they re-named it the TNA Asylum. The spit was actually the exclamation point after a FABULOUS Jim Cornette tirade.

[@evanabbott2737]

@@korywilliams1856 wow, you’re lucky to have witnessed that..!😁👍

[@michaelvaughn8864]

@LastDropFalls I don't doubt it. Jim Cornette talks a bunch of nonsense only to stay remotely relevant. Who gives a fuck about a washed up has been like him anyway??

[@thebrownbaldy]

GOOD, that was an insult to JR but guess who got still got a job as a commentator and still relevant in WWE and AEW?

[@611_hornet5]

Fun fact: The Oklahoma character was originally created in WWF by Ferrara with JR's blessing.

[@joemixon834]

Why didn't you make Se7en number 7 on your list? It was right there and you didn't take that low hanging fruit.

[@andrewsd.r.7180]

Too easy I imagine

[@johnbush5347]

Probably cuz 7 lasted through one second of actually being in the ring

[@keiotic8077]

That 70s Guy? They already had Disco Inferno!

[@brettmajors69karaoke]

Sid never broke character- don’t overlook that.

[@ct7-christian612]

He is the character

[@g0ud77]

I thought Sid did break though?

[@brettmajors69karaoke]

@@ct7-christian612 Agree, good point.

[@brettmajors69karaoke]

@@g0ud77 Kind of in the shockmaster debacle though Sid got right back into it.

[@dreday5880]

"Told ya"

[@coopdeville7150]

"The Tidal Wave of Garbage." I must work this into an everyday conversation. 😂

[@jb888888888]

Whadya mean Seven "never got off the ground?" He literally flew into the ring in his first (and only) appearance!

[@Whogrl16]

*in monsoon voice * will you stop

[@natemccollum3731]

It’s crazy that Ole Anderson was the voice of the antagonist of those inspector gadget cartoons from my childhood

[@berimbolo2947]

Damn, I remember watching Kiss perform on Nitro. Wrestling in the 1990s was likely the best era EVER. Monday night wars were so holy.

[@Dim4323]

Did you hear Hogan promo "THIS IS NOT THE ULTAMITE WARRIOR RIC FLAIR, THIS IS THE ULTIMATE SWERVE"

[@dylanogg347]

Man, Hogan foreshadowed Russo right there.

[@trailerparkchief]

How did you manage to type "ultimate" twice and spell it wrong the first time???

[@MrBranh0913]

I have to be honest. Seven had an amazing intro and great theme music. Certainly would have been interesting to keep him around to say the least.

[@aaronhurst4379]

Lol, now I'm imagining an alternate universe where The Kiss Demon was involved in the Invasion, before going on to be an active WWE roster member during the Ruthless Aggression era

[@rogregg29445]

I mean the make up is in the video games 😂

[@aaronhurst4379]

@@rogregg29445 Ahh, why didn't I imagine this before?? Damn it!

[@Nossairito]

Poor guy would have been repackaged as the 'Tokyo Hotel demon' in the Ruthless Aggression era

[@TheBillliantOne]

That, I wouldn't mind.

[@rogregg29445]

Aaron Hurst idk lol

[@DanTheEnigma]

"Russo's best, and likely only, friend..." Watching this during breakfast was a mistake... That nearly got me to spit my OJ out.

[@TheBillliantOne]

He's also got newLEGACYinc as friends.

[@DanTheEnigma]

You should probably @ Pacitti that instead of someone quoting the video.

[@jawn215]

Hilarious.🙄

[@harrylewis4430]

Probably a good thing they say OJ,s a killa 😊

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

Don't forget Disco.

[@LuckyDT]

I went to a WCW wrestler signing when I was maybe 10 years old and here was the lineup: Van Hammer, Marcus Alexander Bagwell, Teddy Long.... and the crown jewel; Renegade. The guy seemed legitimately very shy compared to the others, even to a kid.

[@dav129id]

For me, it has to be mentioned that guy who was added to The Dungeon of Doom and his nickname was The Final Solution, which was rapidly changed into The Ultimate Solution when WCW found out which other thing was also named The Final Solution in the past. Apparently nobody in WCW knew it XD

[@stevegallo8483]

It also should be mentioned that the Dungeon of Doom had a member named the "Loch Ness Monster" who in reality was English wrestler Giant Haystacks. He was only in WCW a short time before leaving to deal with health issues.

[@JKimma8080]

You guys forgot brad armstrong's fourth gimmick the freebirds masked partner when they held the wcw 6man tag titles around '91 "Badstreet".

[@str8edgedenigmamp96]

When ric flairs hair got cut in the Spartacus clip, it looked exactly like Dustin Rhodes lol

[@speakingmoistly9912]

Seven was a cool gimmick with the Dark City entrance. People misconstrue the vignettes too. Dustin could’ve pulled off the Kiss Demon too.

[@Stealthdud]

"Amazing 16 minute Video, #1 was awesome!" - This comments section 30 seconds after the video is uploaded.

[@MorrisseyMuse]

Maybe they skipped to number 1? :)

[@jb888888888]

Obviously they didn't watch the vid, #8 was Awesome.

[@sstrykert]

KZbin pushing certain channels

[@GodofWarChuka]

The Renegade was the most iconic wrestler off all time. I don’t know why they made him a jobber?? He probably became depressed?

[@jpass7784]

And also unfortunately rick renegade wilson committed suicide.

[@evanabbott2737]

@@jpass7784 damn....R.I.P.🙏

[@jpass7784]

@@evanabbott2737 its a sad story. Check it out. So sad, that after he was a full shining star, he was demoted to jobber even, he was also humiliated by wcw commentators.

[@michaelvaughn8864]

@@jpass7784 It's a damned shame about the late Rick Wilson. He went from being over as WCW TV Champ to chump in getting jobbed out. He was built up wayyyy too quick with a title instead of slowly creating his character to move him up the ladder to eventual main event status. He peaked too soon and had nowhere to go, so he plateaued. It depressed him to the finale of suicide😕 It's tragic. Renegade dead at 34

[@familiathelabel7482]

How exactly was the Renegade the most iconic wrestler of all time ?

[@Igetnorespect]

" The Bus has been washed " lol, man I'll always remember that line when that 70s guy took on the ICP...

[@dumbname939]

I feel like the Renegade gimmick could have worked if it was given to someone who beat Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 6

[@willcampbell8997]

Here is an honorable mention, The Dog. Portrayed by the guy who was aligned with Kevin Nash during the Master Blaster days. His gimmick was that he acted like a rabbid dog and was led to the ring on a leash by his teammate/handler Brian Knobbs, sometimes with Findlay as well. This had to be some kind of Russo nonsense as this gimmick existed sometime in late 1999/2000. A very weird gimmick to say the least.

[@neilefc877]

Seven was a great idea. I would have loved to see where they would have gone with it had „standards and practices“ not shot it down.

[@barfharper4407]

For Brad Armstrong, you could've added Badstreet, the short lived masked addition to the post Roberts and Gordy Fabulous Freebirds.

[@KingKhanate1997]

Aren’t the Freebirds billed from “Bad Street, Atlanta Georgia?” That’s like if Raven found a new flock member and named him “Philly.”

[@slavenpetanic]

And also BA from filthy animals in 1999.

[@sithvsjedi9696]

Great upload very enjoyable 👍. Entertaining too, love your sense of humour mate. Keep it up.

[@scaryterry1637]

12:04 made me spit out my drink laughing

[@justinbonds2002]

"Because in wrestling, we fall upwards".😂😂😂

[@caesar7395]

I was actually drinking a surge when I clicked on this, lol

[@ukwolfman6938]

The Yeti was originally supposed to be played by Giant Gonzalez, but he was suffering from health problems so Ron Reis was saddled with it instead.

[@philsginger351]

“He really lived up to his name... Mike”

[@SimpleManGuitars1973]

I loved Aracniman. LOL! The Ding Dongs and those weird Ninja Turtle knockoffs were among the worst ever.

[@SatoshiKong]

Saturn looking like a reject from a NIN video was truly a sight to behold...

[@itsjustmeBen]

Honorable mention: The New Breed. They were time travelers from the year 2002, they thought LazerTron was an actual robot and referred to Dusty Rhodes as Mr. President 🤣

[@jb888888888]

You must have meant to post this comment in the 10 BEST WCW Gimmicks Ever video.

[@ryanleikness3414]

I'm surprised Glacier wasn't in this. Then again I actually like Glacier and didn't think he sucked

[@bryancarlton4747]

He taught at my high school in GA. I had him for History one year and Health another

[@DannyKnightmare]

Ha, you guys had me at SURGE! Ooo can you do a list of random product placements in wrestling? Surge shirts were randomly seen on Nash and Kidman.

[@markcullen2015]

ferrara and russo were sent by wwe to sabotage wcw and boy did it work

[@larrycopes506]

that was the day Hulk Hogan was Dp'd into submission.🤣

[@Stephen7764.]

These are still 100 times more entertaining than the generic meanmuggers with equally generic names like ''David Davidson'' or ''Jack Jackson'' with zero mic skills that we have today...

[@lunchtablebastard2315]

Hey ! You watch your mouth . The yeti was over asf 😂

[@ennbee2051]

Yep. You're favourite wrestler anyway. Followed by Bastian Booger, lol.

[@MinscFromBaldursGate92]

The YETAAAY!

[@brock3010]

11:42 Seven cross between the Undertaker and uncle fester after a big night out...lmfao 🤣🤣

[@creoleDJ]

I loved the way Seven buried himself! 😂😂

[@breezy9297]

It's sad that I'm only halfway through this list and 4 of the wrestlers mentioned are dead. 😔

[@aaronroyal9449]

B. A. also played Badstreet, so that's 4 whacky gimmicks for Road Dogg's big bro. I always hoped he'd jump to WWF so we could get the New Age Armstrongs.

[@joesomenumbers]

The 2nd Mike Awesome gimmick was especially weird 'cause it's like "Well what if we just do Disco Inferno again"

[@Dick_Valparaiso]

Renegade's makeup courtesy of Heinz ketchup and French's mustard. Seriously, I can picture Hulk Hogan spraying condiments on the dude's face and calling it a day.💦👌

[@m.jarvis4638]

I don't care who you are, where you've been, and what you're about, but Surge was F'n AWESOME!

[@4KProductions93]

😂 10:40 I lost it. I can’t deal with this, too funny.

[@Captain_Pudding]

13:25 I remember Big Show saying in a podcast once that Luger came up to them while they were doing that spot and told them to stop it immediately because they were killing the business.

[@patrickdoran180]

Which speaks volumes, as Luger never really cared much for the business himself.

[@InfectedChris]

Oz was proof that even Dusty sure had some crap ideas back then. But, it sure makes for great watching now!

[@davidmatoushek9111]

It's good that the list has come back after almost a month. I thought it was banished forever.

[@franklingoodwin]

Ikr 🤣

[@jasonjimerson7046]

Thanks, Pacitti! You just made Jack cry lumping the Ye-tay into this list of losers! EDIT: I guess The Wall was too obscure and not well known enough to make the list.

[@TheCheat420]

Seven rode a wire thing to the ring so technically the gimmick did get off the ground.

[@andrewblanchard2398]

😂

[@jonvia]

Is it just me or is JR the living Oklahoma version of Hank Hill? "Bobby dont go over the top ropes...OH MY GOD!!!"

[@sithvsjedi9696]

OZ!!!??? WFF?! Lol 😅😂 I NEARLY forgot how bad that was. *Shudders*

[@alexandersilady4751]

Renegade? More like the Alternate Warrior.

[@MinscFromBaldursGate92]

Ultimate Warrior ordered from Wish.

[@Isabelthompson99]

I've always liked Vinnie Vegas he made me laugh and had at least some charisma that was lacking in WCW at the time no wonder Shawn liked the look of him to

[@TravJam317]

The saddest thing about the Renegade was that casual WCW fans actually thought it was really Warrior. No seriously!

[@vividleo]

Good thing the internet wasn't around when the shock master came out

[@charlesgrybosky1916]

I"d forgotten all about Master P and the "No Talent Soldiers." (my name not theirs) Me and my friends were rabid WCW fans back in the day and we were wondering what the hell they were doing there. Note to bookers... If you hire celebrities and pay them a ton of money make sure you have an angle to use them with that is intriguing. Or at least makes some kind of sense...

[@mitchellregalado2917]

Love how they Aranta-man looks more like The Shocker then Spiderman

[@frankvonfrauner]

I always saw Sting as the Dollar Store version of the Ultimate Warrior, he was the main reason I ignored WCW as a kid in the early 90s. (I had no idea about their history) Renegade seems redundant.

[@scotcarr3390]

I've a sense of humor, & got a giggle out of 90% of the subjects, but, considering how WCW treated him & his later suicide, The Renegade strikes me as more sad than "wacky". That said, Shockmaster's original gimmick was a truly laugh out loud festival of suck. You should've also mentioned that during Ole's promo for him, he completely (unintentional as it was) mercy killed v1 by saying "I'm coming for YOU, Stid!!!"...😁

[@xCythex]

I woulda been miffed if Oz wasn't on this list. Thank you for not dissapointing me...lol

[@ChalkInTheLand]

Anyone else tumbling down the KZbin rabbit hole at 2am because they can't sleep?

[@VuTron30]

The Hunchbacks sounds like a funny Bar Joke/Idea, you and your buddies come up with for $hits n giggles lol

[@ILoveMyBeard001]

7:37 His name wasn't BA Buzzkill, it was just Buzzkill. BA was Armstrong's name in 1999, when he was a member of the short-lived stable No Limit Soldiers.

[@northumbriabushcraft1208]

Dude, it's not the Yeti, it's the YEH-TAY and the week after it was the YETTI and then the YEH-TAI and then... the Super Giant Ninja (and for people who don't know, he changed costumes before names, so for a few weeks (and at a PPV) he was called the Yeti but he was dressed as a ninja.) Yes this actually happened.

[@thecommentator7017]

In simple terms WCW is like " we had some promise.....but we shoved in the grave"

[@Filmation77]

You forgot about Lazer-Tron and The New Breed(Sean Royal & Chris "Yoshi Kwan" Champion), Captain Mike Rotunda,Trucker Norm and Evad "The Original Eugene" Sullivan

[@kathartik]

not gonna lie, I'd love to see Strowman try to get over Clifford the Big Red Dog as a character.

[@PigeonSmythe]

I always thought ‘The Juicer’ was one of WCWs wackier gimmicks just from reminiscing - I guess it may have been best to leave him out given why he was let go by WCW having just looked him up briefly.

[@ARWNetwork]

“Good wrestler that has good wrestling matches” Marks- Trouser accident Normal people- so he has fake fights with no charisma, why do we care?

[@dibslin2.081]

BINGO

[@rsingh5887]

how the hell did they manage to ruin mike awesome in such a devastating fashion?

[@sstrykert]

Russo

[@MiamiSunrise]

There are a couple of instances you can watch of the Yeti in action after his debut. None of his future on-screen appearances incorporated the mummy look though (knowingly). The Yeti (as shown in a still in this video) showed up at War Games not long after and in the ninja garb and sometime around this he also had a match on WCW Prime as the Yeti but then also had a match on WCW Saturday Night as "Super Giant Ninja". You could tell there was absolutely no idea how to use him during all of this. WCW was a strange place in the mid-90's. If anyone knows of more appearances of the Yeti that I haven't listed (including him as the Super Giant Ninja), please let me know!

[@bryannicholls200]

I think he was in Raven's Flock stable in WCW as Reese.

[@OldCouchGamer]

Best thing about the Shockmasters fall is Sid in the background saying loud "i told you so"

[@btipton6899]

Not as funny as Davey Boy saying "he fell on his fucking arse!"

[@bryanhall1548]

Davey Boy Smith, may you forever rest in peace. His segment at Clash of the Champions still cracks me up to this day. 🇬🇧🤘🏼

[@talonthehand]

Am I the only one who uses cultaholic and coffee to get pumped up for work in the morning?

[@echopryme]

True story!... A few years back, I took an online Creative Writing Degree course from Full Sail University, and my instructor for "Intro to Screenwriting" was Ed Ferrara... As much as I was concerned about doing so for my own future, I ABSOLUTELY blasted him about the "Oklahoma" thing, and asked why in the hell we were supposed to trust that we could learn good writing from him... I couldn't help myself. It HAD to be said! I never got an answer. I still passed the class with an "A"...

[@nickmontoya3001]

Fans: But you said 10, this list is broken Adam: SCREW THE LIST AND JOIN US

[@wolfhurricane897]

The Yeti would've been a good idea if it was Giant Gonzalez.

[@Zanatos9]

OZ was great! It was a different entrance and an interesting character. He came in, as Oz. A big production, then had him job to everyone.

[@HeezNeez]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, , that hunchback tag team thing is fucking brilliant.

[@jefflarson3693]

To be fair, it wasn't the Shockmaster's fault what happened. David Crockett decided to have an extra 2x4 added on the wall without letting Shockmaster know about it. Granted, the gimmick was stupid without the fall.

[@heelturnsface]

Ed Ferrara also wrote for Duckman, but I suspect he didn’t write any of the deep psychological stuff.

[@mentalrobb5062]

Did you really use a picture of Seth Rollins as an example of good wrestling?! He makes me miss WCW so much.

[@nichhodge8503]

With the hunchbacks it was brought up to Jim Heard about submissions when he said they’ll never lose since you can’t pin their shoulders to the mat