10 WORST WCW Gimmick Changes

[@andywyrobek902]

I remember many years ago whilst in school Rey Mysterio did an interview with the UK Sun and you could submit questions. I asked him about being unmasked and he said he hated it and WCW just didn't understand the heritage and meaning behind his mask

[@paranoidewok6772]

As soon as Eddie dies they dropped the gimmick like a bag of shit.

[@EssexAggiegrad2011]

Rey begged them not to do it

[@danieldrayet2364]

It was ridiculous they did it to literally every masked luchador

[@MovieEggman]

Blame Vince Russo, he has not respect for wrestling traditions especially Lucha Libre tradition with respecting the mask.

[@danieldrayet2364]

@@MovieEggman sadly this 1 we cant blame russo because he wasn't there yet Its allon bischoff Juventud unmasked march 98 Rey unmasked february 99 Psychosis unmasked march ish 99

[@ifandafydd7432]

"...less famously Repo Man" Simon Miller begs to differ

[@ItsAVolcano]

I remember Rey mentioning in an interview how his first "action figure" in WCW was as a long necked accessory for The Giant (the long neck being so he could be properly choke slammed).😒😔

[@justinpalochak6404]

I used to have it lol

[@ridanann]

I remember that pretty f****** disrespectful I was a Paul Wight fan still didn't buy it

[@thesprock5270]

He was also in Goldberg and Kevin Nash packs. Had em.

[@ZekeThePlumber86]

He is he still wrestling?

[@thesprock5270]

@@ZekeThePlumber86 Si

[@paulmoore5392]

Rey taking off his mask was one of the worst things WCW ever did. The amount of merchandise sales WWE has made selling Rey's different masks proves that alone

[@PJErvin]

Even if no one ever wanted to buy a Mysterio mask, I would still agree with your first statement.

[@cob2076]

I wouldnt let my kids anywhere near rey.....iykwim

[@davidbenjamin9400]

@@cob2076 sorry. I don't kwym

[@jeremyrhansen6637]

I stopped watching due to that type of shit! the over commercialization of it all drove me and MANY others away!!! the same people that bought those NWO and 316 shirts!

[@YogiWonKenobi78]

idk,it helped elevate him to superstar status,he even beat Big Kevin Nash..So,even though I do understand why you would feel that way,it's not necessarily correct 💯

[@jvstice56]

Given Rey's mask sales in WWE are among the highest, I don't see Triple H's new creative team unmasking him. It was a shameful thing for WCW to do as it took away from what makes a luchador a luchador.

[@undertakernumberone1]

Eh, I COULD see it, if Rey would retire after. Giving some "up and comer", maybe a heel Dominic, the rub of having demasked him. The masks would still sell well, I'd say.

[@rizkyanandita8227]

​@@undertakernumberone1 but that 3 years from now.

[@namikstudios]

WCW gave the luchadors a platform. While WWF was sticking with their tired old way of thinking that a wrestler had to be huge to draw, WCW was developing and showcasing countless smaller wrestlers like Ray. But of course all of McMahon's marks have been conditioned to believe that WCW was somehow the worst thing that ever happened to the industry.

[@namikstudios]

And lets not pretend that putting him back in a mask to cash in on merch sales (what WWE did) is somehow showing respect to luchadors. WWE put him back in a mask because $$$. That's the really shameful part.

[@TheForeverRanger]

What really didn't help in Rey's case is that he looked like a 12-year-old with tattoos without his mask. That hasn't changed in the 20 years since, just bald now.

[@aaroncollins6411]

And...you know...some Grey in the beard

[@benespinosa6725]

Stacy Keibler was the best part of Standards and practices in WCW and Rey Mysterio Unmasking in 1999 sucked.

[@terridactyl5152]

Demolition and Repo Man were def faves of mine growing up.

[@Urineil]

I'm 43 yrs old...watched that ear of wrestling through attitude Era without missing many episodes....I was today years old when I learned the repo man was in demolition

[@99somerville]

Demolition were great! No idea why Vince thought replacing them with the LOD made sense. Demolition was still way over with the fans.

[@gregsky01]

It still cracks me up that they had a PPV called uncensored then fired two guys for breaking censorship rules on said PPV.

[@michaelsinger4638]

Taking Rey’s mask off was such a monumentally stupid idea. WWE were 100% correct in having him put the mask back on.

[@timbartschwolfman]

Rey Mysterio unmasked was a Bad Idea

[@greatnezz10]

It really was a bad idea, but he had a lot of charisma and fun as part of the filthy animals as well

[@bengregson8125]

They could’ve just kept the mask on and added those horns

[@MrEritreanman]

@@greatnezz10 I agree, Filthy Animal Rey was pretty solid, it just paled in comparison to Luchador Rey Mysterio which is straight iconic.

[@vegasviking86]

Thankfully the lucha higher ups allowed him to put it back on

[@haggus71]

The story of Prince changing his name isn't that long. He did it because he hated working for Warner Records, and started doing everything he could to try to piss them off. It's also why his last albums with Warner got more and more bizarre.

[@Hellwyck]

It was because Warner refused to release Prince's back catalogue so he changed his name and did it himself.

[@jasonjimerson7046]

Loved that Kerwin White reference, another terrible gimmick change.

[@ZanderEzekial77]

This is the first time I've understood why WCW had a wrestler called The Wall. Thank you for explaining that.

[@jeremywilliams5141]

Honorable mentions: 1. Brad Armstrong to Buzzkill 2. Glacier to Coach Buzz

[@chrisbreezy3048]

I'm glad someone else remembers these two since WCW tried to unsuccessfully capitalize on the fact that Brad was Road Dogg's older brother. As for Coach Buzz Stern, I only remember that gimmick going seemingly nowhere before Glacier was reverted back to his original character.

[@stosh5082]

You could also throw in Arachnaman in Armstrong's case.

[@TheThird1977]

"Right lads, do we call it "10 Worst WCW Gimmick Changes" or "The WCW Career of Ed Leslie""?

[@Justin_North]

I watched WCW back in the day. I even remember staying up late and to watch reruns of nitro and thunder during the summer months. BUT, even I do not remember WCW Saturday Night.

[@tyrone5969]

Forcing Rey to lose his mask was so incredibly disrespectful. Doing that to one of the single greatest wrestlers ever shows how much WCW had absolutely no respect or appreciation for anyone beyond the ego maniacs who were booking their own matches.

[@actionsub]

Plus those STUPID stick-on horns they had him wear!

[@amcx32]

Wcw did it to everyone

[@namikstudios]

Pretty funny comment considering that it was WCW who gave Ray and countless other luchadors and cruiserweights a huge spotlight, all while the backwards WWE still believed wrestlers needed to be massive to get over. The luchadors and cruiserweights have never been given anywhere near the kind of exposure that they got on Nitro ever again.

[@jesterskully563]

I detested the way Bischoff had no respect for Lucha libre. Unmasking Rey, Juvi, and psychosis was a slap in the face. The cruiser weights were working their butts off giving us great matches and he totally emasculated those guys.

[@namikstudios]

"The cruiser weights were working their butts off..." Damn that evil SOB Bichoff for hiring them and giving them such a huge spotlight! No respect whatsoever. Shame they weren't huge massive hulking brutes so they could've found employment at the WWF at the time, then they would have gotten the respect they deserved. Oh... and while we're at it, marking out for Vinnie Mac and all... Bret screwed Bret, damnnit!

[@99somerville]

Was it Bischoff or Russo who decided to do it?

[@ivenstorm]

Did we forget about Seven? Dustin Rhodes gimmick where in his own words he was a "creepy uncle fester".

[@strangeimpulse2003]

That wasn't made to be taken serious.

[@jaybeedub]

That one is a glaring omission. And also a transparent attempt to emulate Goldust

[@YaowBucketHEAD]

Wasn't Dustin Rhodes in a really bad spot then life wise as well? Dude had some sort or addiction (I don't remember if it was drugs or booze) and was seriously overweight as well. Glad he back to Goldust and the rest is history.

[@Jamessmith-xk3fh]

I was a teenager and when Brutus Beefcake was the Disciple I couldn't tell it was the same person

[@jb888888888]

Juventud Guerrera being repackaged as a Rock wannabe The Juice. "Finally, the Juice is back in the Juice-town!"

[@apri1979]

As a german i liked Alex Wright back then. His Berlyn persona looked very cool, but WCW made nothing with it.

[@iamnoone4918]

The Guardian Angel and Shark are bad gimmicks for legendary wrestlers

[@guyfranchise934]

ISO: I remember watching an episode of Shotgun Saturday Night and seeing Booker T working a match as G.I. Bro. I've been searching for over 20 years now and can not find it. This was around the time he changed from Booker to Bro. If I'm correct, he worked the gimmick in the WWE then debuted it in WCW

[@Rando1975]

Booker wasn't in WWE till after WCW closed.

[@guyfranchise934]

That's why I've been looking for this. It took place on Shotgun Saturday Night. They used to put little quotes under the wrestler's names during their entrances. For example, after the Slammy Awards, the quote under Mankind's name said "Yo Adrian, I did it" being that's what he said after winning an award. Under G.I. Bro's name it read "Yoooo Bro"

[@mikeattard3543]

@@guyfranchise934 Booker was in WCW till it closed, then went to WWE. He did briefly use the G.I. Bro in WCW's dying days, but I don't recall him ever using it in WWE.

[@guyfranchise934]

The match took place on 07/11/1998 It was Dan Severn vs G.I. Bro but..... It wasn't Booker T 😡 The match is available on KZbin

[@byronkennedy7203]

Seeing Prince Iaukea makes me wonder what the Velveteen Dream is up to now.

[@silvereloking6149]

Berlin was great gimmick and The Wall with him was cool

[@nicholasvertucci165]

Bossman showed up in WCW in 1993. Hogan had nothing to do with him getting signed.

[@miroslavtomic7038]

The only reason Mike Awesome was punished by Vince Russo was because Russo couldn't get his hands on Hulk and Horace Hogan to punish them as they already left WCW following the incident. Many think that loser gimmicks were just the ways Russo and Ed Ferrara were trying to get Awesome out of WCW. Many years later, Russo claimed that this was not the case and that he never had nothing personal against Awesome, but simply didn't see much potential in him, but couldn't get rid of him due to his rock solid contract. This, however, came after Russo made peace with Hogan and Eric Bischoff when they were reunited in TNA in January 2010.

[@jayduffy5532]

What about the entirety of team Canada in wcw skipper duggan major Gunn's and lance storm had a spiral

[@WWChampion16]

Actually, Ray Traylor arrived in December 1993. Months before Hogan signed with WCW.

[@AndreWakefield]

As a young kid I didn't mind that Rey took his mask off. I thought he was cool with or without it because he was still doing amazing stuff in the ring. But now as an adult I definitely understand that it was an awful move in many ways, especially marketing.

[@jerryjanik480]

Alex Wright is one of the the most underrated wrestlers of all time who came out of Europe like you're William Regal Finley Dynamite kid British Bulldog who never got there you never got a world championship run you should have got a world championship run in my opinion I was a huge those Wonder kid fan

[@luminous6969]

1:08 WOW I HAD TOTALLY FORGOTTEN ABOUT DISCO INFERNO. I've watched a ton of wrestling content of KZbin and none of it ever mentioned him so I was never reminded of him until now.

[@ScapeGoat2099]

Berlyn had potential same with the artist they both we’re different and stood out berlyn and the artist could have been world champions same go for superstars such as wrath, mortis, glacier & etc

[@ThatThereWesty]

I thought for the longest time I was mad remembering Rey Mysterio with horns

[@brettkihlmire573]

Alex Wright became the singer of Sabaton?! The similarity is uncanny

[@mikeattard3543]

Alex & Disco were The Boogie Knights. I don't remember them ever being "The Dancing Fools." Ray Traylor did his best no matter what they gave him, and same for Tenta. And punishing Awesome because he was a distant relation to Hogan? Ugh, c'mon, that's Vince McMahon levels of pettiness.

[@johnunderkoffler2913]

It's nice to see Rey with his mask back on in WWE. However, I think lucha libre tradition states that luchador can never put the mask back on once he/she unceremoniously loses their mask. Therefore, the WWE kind of messed up by having Rey put the mask back on.

[@cqmorrell]

He used a loophole, he claimed to be continuing his retired uncle's character - said uncle being the original Rey Mysterio. If it works, it works.

[@CMWaters]

@@cqmorrell That and the slight letter difference in the last name: pre WWE it was Misterio with an I, WWE Mysterio with a Y.

[@cqmorrell]

@@CMWaters Nope, was Mysterio with a Y in WCW.

[@CMWaters]

@@cqmorrell Huh...could have sworn that it was the case, but looking up you're right.

[@tafua_a]

@@cqmorrell Also, he changed his mask. Very little, but he changed the design and never went back to the original.

[@Mr_Gray_Sky]

Remember in the first series of Tough Enough when Rey came out and took his mask off and everyone had to pretend it was a big deal?

[@yomamma359]

I think I.R.S. became V.K. Wallstreet or something like that 🤔

[@Djarra]

Big Boss Man isn’t the only wrestler who joined the Guardian Angels and worked the gimmick in the ring, Vampiro is also an Angel and appeared as one in Mexico

[@The4cp]

Prince Nakumaki! Jericho killed it.

[@lightningfarronxp8899]

I dunno, I remember watching WCW in like 98' when I was in second grade and I liked Maskless Rey Mysterio in overalls. I thought he looked cool and his hip hop style really went well with his entrance theme (one of very few good entrance themes in WCW, the others being the NWO themes and Goldbergs theme). To me it very much felt like the original thuganomics gimmick.

[@mannyduran8458]

10:54 I see what you did there for anyone that doesn't know rey mysterio is spanish and translates to king of mystery.

[@tafua_a]

Rey Mysterio is Spanish for "You're eliminated". Or was that Sin Cara? (I hope somebody guesses the reference)

[@patrikbroden6592]

This list could have been all about Brutus barber beefcake and still be a top 10 and and still be set in Wcw

[@victorstewartjr.106]

I understand the hate that removing Rey's mask gets, but that being said, I LOVE The Filthy Animals as a stable.

[@TravisLoneWolfWalsh]

I thought Berlin was a Rammstein rip off

[@spokenwordillusions5756]

Hugh G Reaction!!! Was one of the few who watched WCW Saturday night, and do remember "Mr. L P G A", Barry Darslow would always bring a golf club, and hit a golf ball right into his vanquished opponent. The only thing worse was Nu Blood vs Millionaires' Club, where all the Nu Blood faction would try to impersonate the Millionaires from wardrobe to entrance music. One of those things i prefer to forget. The only bright spot was Curt Henning repackaged as the West Texas Redneck

[@haydntaylor6838]

the way Adam said Das Wunderkind at 1.26 made me laugh so hard 🤣

[@miroslavtomic7038]

Rey was offered to put the mask on by WCW management after negative backlash from fans. However, Rey, who was always about honor, refused and said publically that, despite it all being scripted, he wanted to honor the word he gave to Kevin Nash on-screen. Interestingly enough, the man in charge of booking in WCW at the time was Kevin Nash. Rey never used a mask for the rest of his WCW run.

[@namikstudios]

Then McMahon saw $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and cashed in on remasking him. All done out of respect of course, as the "WWE Universe" (McMahon's marks) will be quick to assure you. *groan*

[@francissobotka8725]

I'm glad Ray Taylor went back to the wwf .It was great to see him there but I wish he would of won a world title

[@user-jq2iz9zn4p]

My wife used to say that pro rassling was ruined when Rey Mysterio lost his mask. For an honorable masked rassler his mask is everything. It goes back to colonial days when men like Zorro protected the peasants from bandits and evil-doers. Mexico needs heroes like that today.

[@nestorgonzalez8021]

Mike Awesome is WCW hurts to remember… Russo WCW was worst thing that happen to wrestling

[@mitchcolburn1216]

I can think of worse things. The women's revolution, the yes movement, indie stars being pushed, etc.

[@davidcoates7615]

Mike Awsome was a big name in ECW. Then WCW did not do anything much with him. Bad choice. He died not much longer after that.

[@weedsmoke86]

Berlin was a fresh gimmick change for Alex Wright imo. His character had potential. I didn't know why he kind of faded away, but since you mentioned the Columbine connection I guess that kind of makes sense.

[@sydrified]

Where is The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea?

[@ReinEngel]

Bobby Heenan: "It's The Boss! Man, is he big!"

[@TheCheat420]

1:37 THAT'S THE WALL BROTHER!!

[@REfan2002]

Alex Wright was one of my favorite wrestlers in WCW.

[@miroslavtomic7038]

Avalance/Shark's run in WCW was a disaster. However, one interview of his remained one of the most famous WCW interviews of all time. Of course, as all WCW fans know, I am talking about "I am not a fish" speech in which he revealed and started using his real name John Tenta before his untimely death.

[@jamesball9608]

Filthy animals had potential. They just didn’t have any direction.

[@EternallyEve]

Much like practically everything in WCW

[@SheriffOutlaw]

JAh Yes! I was wondering when this topic was gonna be covered Mr. Pacciti! But all jpking aside Good Afternoon good sir! TBH Berlyn and Unmasked Rey was what my teach would call "Dog Sh**".

[@mitchcolburn1216]

Filthy Animals Rey was cool too.

[@dylanogg347]

Mysterio losing his mask was planned even earlier. He was booked to lose to Eddie Guerrero at Halloween Havoc 1997.

[@mitchcolburn1216]

Misfits In Action were cool.

[@miroslavtomic7038]

Prince Iaukea to The Artist was actually a real life punishment. At the time there were rumors that he had an real life affair with an unnamed high ranking WCW official.

[@loug.1481]

Id always crack up when the one announcer I think his name was something Hudson would call him the afkapi for short

[@seanm2600]

A prince iakeua sighting

[@119Agent]

The Yellow Dog gimmick was pretty clever even if it was a Midnight Rider ripoff. I don't really see what the problem was, it was a pretty good angle.

[@LoneWolf-zd7lh]

People can laugh at me saying this however I am a fan of Yellow Dog, also I really liked The Artist Formerly known as Prince Iaukea or as The Artist, & I liked That 70s Guy Mike Awesome. It might have seemed stupid for the time or might have been wacky but that's the way WCW was, it was different. & I believe in these past WCW characters & gimmicks.

[@attiepollard7847]

9:00 if you didn't see WCW that case was kind of winnable if they would have sued for the avalanche name. For example WWE didn't have nothing to say when Jake the Snake Roberts came but he called himself Jake Roberts even though the obvious he was going to have a snake in wcw another example when Sid vicious came from WCW and he was named and he was renamed Sid Justice only for a couple of years to go back to WCW with his name Sid vicious even though both characters are similar. But I WCW did not want to to deal with the legal troubles.

[@ScarysReviews]

the dancing fools did get some where, couple PPVS, numerous spots on Nitro, Alex came back as himself after Berlyn failed. wwf had some dumb gimmick changes too

[@albertogarcia2317]

At least Blacktop Bully didn't turn into a gimmick similar to Smash of Demolition otherwise WWF/E would sued WCW for copyright infringement and it didn't make sense to turn into Krusher Kruschev as it was a Cold War turncoat-type wrestler.

[@miroslavtomic7038]

They did, however, give Mike Awesome a decent storyline when they made him join Team Canada and pair up with Lance Storm during the final months of WCW.

[@Jamessmith-xk3fh]

I hated that The Shark changed his LSU Tiger Tattoo because I'm a LSU fan lol

[@Monk0405]

Never heard of Standards and Practices but they just sound like a botched Right To Censor 😭

[@EternallyEve]

Which is ironic since they were first, but RTC actually had talent and Steven Richards' charisma while S&P had... fuckin' Lodi?!

[@Azeeeer]

Hello there

[@jordanellison4861]

General Kenobi

[@DecadentDeviant13]

...'Booker went MIA'... ...I see what you did there...twice even.

[@MYSEGAISBROKEN]

Berlin was closely resembled to blade which came out in 1998 so his gimmick made sense.

[@terrencenewman5580]

Berlin was WCWs generic value brand Edge

[@dylanogg347]

"JOHNNY DON'T B BAD, JOHNNY B GAY!" - I think that may have contributed.

[@lindahaynes2620]

Rey's Purple attire is a classic.

[@TheForeverRanger]

Booker recently donned his GI Bro gimmick at his wrestling school.

[@freakfoxvevo7915]

Source?

[@zanethind]

So Ludwig Keiser speaking for Walter is supposed to be a play on the character Berlin with his translator?!

[@RaccoonRevolution]

If I had a time machine, I'd like to go back to 1995 and tell John Tenta that tiger sharks are a thing.

[@attiepollard7847]

Maybe but I would tell him to encourage WCW to win that case against WWF when it came to the avalanche game because that is so similar for example sid Justice and WWF compared to Sid vicious both companies didn't sue each other because the characters were similar.

[@sickemdudley01]

Bullshit, WCW Saturday Night was rarely-watched. In the Southeast US, that was practically a weekend requirement, followed by Atlanta Braves baseball on "dah muddaship, daddeh".

[@MCWFanatic]

Brian Pillman to the Yellow Dog was an angle! It was hardly a character change

[@bryanmorrison2396]

Repo man was a fkn legend 🙌 👏

[@UndergroundSkat2000]

Good list but I disagree when you mentioned WCW Saturday Night as "hardly watched"... That's the "Mother Ship Saturday Night beby"

[@Nbflowers1989]

Like spike ya bastards! I was a dumb kid and didn't mind the Rey losing his mask angle.

[@martinrubio7099]

Rey mysterio didnt want his masked removed

[@joejackson3091]

Didn't multiple people play Rey Mysterio? I could've sworn a few of his tattoos changed or disappeared outright over the years.

[@Iansco1]

Standards and Practices failed. DX came on the air and read actual S&P crap from USA won.

[@DFloyd84]

I preferred Wright and Disco as The Boogie Knights. That name had more class.

[@Hugh.G.Rectionx]

i know what my new name is going to be....

[@vinniethedeuce]

I guess I'm the only one that actually liked the filthy animals whether they were face or heel...lol. It didn't really work, but it was different 👍plus both of theme songs were badass.

[@Paulthompson9942]

Am I correct in thinking that Regal got his big break in Germany when Steve Wright fell off his roof

[@tytharpe350]

I respect your opinion on Booker T to G.I. Bro and Luchador Rey Mysterio Jr. To Filthy Animal Rey Mysterio Jr.; however, I will have to disagree with you on both of them because the presentation and entrance music was good. Rey Mysterio (Filthy Animal) was winning by any means necessary. Booker T (G.I. Bro) I think was trying to get M.I.A over with the fans during that persona (gimmick).

[@MovieEggman]

Vince Russo in WCW pretty much showed people that he has zero respect for wrestling traditions, especially Lucha Libre traditions, where removing your mask is considered a sin.

[@joshthorne3721]

Moon dogs plz and make sure to talk about moondog king

[@michaelspikes8076]

I really like rey unmasked in the filthy animals