FAILURE TO LAUNCH | Wrestling's Biggest Failed Gimmicks

[@WRESTLEWITHANDY]

Thanks for watching, what we lists should we have in future videos? Also, make sure to drop a like to help get the video picked up by KZbin’s algorithm 💪🏻👊🏻🤘🏻

[@tajunoor1311]

Let me talk to ya the Eli Drake story

[@tajunoor1311]

No Gimmicks needed the Chris Candido story

[@tajunoor1311]

History of the Midnight Express

[@alexgeorge501]

Gorgeous George, Bruno Sanmartino, Lou Thees, Tommy Dreamer, Vampiro, Vince McMahon, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Ultimo Dragon, Hulk Hogan, or WWF in 2000

[@JjJj-eg9dg]

Elias career story

[@remylucai]

Paul Burchill wasn't a failure. he got that gimmick over, and WWE didn't want to do anything with it.

[@redben1252]

It's strange how he was a comedic pirate for most of ruthless aggression era, then make him horny for his kayfabe sister just before they went PG.

[@rojax_thevoicetm2385]

Vince McMahon hates when you get a gimmick over that he thinks was supposed to be a joke. For example Internet Champion Zack Ryder, Rusev Day, vampire Kevin Thorn and pirate Paul Burchill.

[@HORSEYANIME2024]

Kudos to Paul Burchill whom was underrated as a wrestler in the Wwe whom had potential but wasn’t given a huge opportunity in the Wwe

[@superrobz]

Unpopular opinion but I loved Paul Burchills pirate gimmick, had they launched NXT U.K. around that time it would have most certainly been a hit

[@thybloodyromance]

Yeah, it had potential, every kid back in the day loved POTC and it could be money gimmick for sure

[@Hyde_Hill]

I think it was actually pretty over, not main event over however just fun over. The kill was not due to lack of success however like said more because Vince was out of touch.

[@bam4everful]

I liked the Pirate gimmick as well!

[@royalty843]

I loved it myself. Being a fan of POTC, the Hanna Barbara cartoon Pirates of Dark water i flocked to him immediately. Definite upper midcard.

[@KingFreak54]

Same

[@ElGamerCosplayer]

Tensai wasn't as bad a gimmick, is just that we all knew he was A-Train and they were acting like he had never stepped on a WWE ring before

[@metpach]

Lol facts. I remember watching his introduction, and the announcers acting like they've never seen this guy before. And I'm like bro, that's just Albert.

[@MaddMountains]

It was terrible. If the guy was Japanese, then cool, but it was just A-Train.

[@bigdonpaul]

They still do this today with the NXT callups

[@vleaky3430]

I mean his face looked like it was ran over

[@vleaky3430]

@@MaddMountains he does have Asian eyes

[@dylanthomas9907]

Its so ironic that the Shockmaster gimmick is more over now than what it ever would have been had Ottman not tripped over and the helmet stayed on

[@aaronholman8288]

You're so right he really had no chance whether he tripped or not with a ridiculous gimmick like that. A storm trooper helmet?🤦‍♂️

[@stevenpagnani7005]

Aka tugboat and typhoon

[@dylanthomas9907]

@@stevenpagnani7005 I enjoyed his run as Typhoon when he was one half of the Natural Disasters with Earthquake

[@glasschin871]

Nearly as bad as the shark lol

[@glasschin871]

Nearly as bad as the shark lol

[@ArmyofBulldogsProductions413]

Met the Shockmaster a few years ago at a convention, he let me put on the helmet and literilay could not have been a nicer person seriously one of the coolest wrestlers I've ever met, so kind. Long live Fred !

[@kageakuma3009]

That's awesome

[@Rob_Thorsman]

Can you actually see out of the damn thing?

[@ArmyofBulldogsProductions413]

@@Rob_Thorsman Absolutely not!

[@SynopsisGrim]

It warms my heart to see the Red Rooster mentioned! As bad of an angle as that was, it's a fond memory from my early teen years. 🐓

[@salvagemonster3612]

It was a rub n Terry because of his huge ego. Terry thought he was on par with a hogan and was just a ham and egger

[@EDifyer881]

​@@salvagemonster3612 someone probably ruffled his feathers lol

[@patrickperalta59]

I seen a video of Dusty Rhodes telling the Shockmaster story..............he mentiond young Cody was watching the debut with friends and when Shockmaster triped and lost his helmet.....Cody turned to his friends and said "I think that was Uncle Fred" LOL

[@toganlate8333]

In my opinion, Lord Tensai had potential if they would’ve just acknowledged his past and properly push to rebrand him

[@cliffordjackson3]

FACTS dude because this was after albert had a successful run in njpw.

[@noyb12345]

No opinion there

[@stoneharper7038]

Nah, that was dog shit lol

[@SnipingIsFun]

Maybe make it a title he earned in Japan

[@sstrykert]

They didn't run with him as a monster level heel long enough

[@patrickperalta59]

I loved how Brian Danielson played a joke on Regal on a episode of WWE Superstars he was faceing Regal in a match and when Regal came down the ramp his intro music switched to "Real Man's Man" song... causeing Regal to smile at Brian as Brian laughed at the joke.

[@deandrenicholas2545]

Can never be said that Regal doesn't have a sense of humor.

[@Henderson1011]

I know Burchill and in fairness, the pirate gimmick was getting pretty over. They had to stop using it because Disney threatened to go after them for copyright infringement. Add that in with McMahon not being up to date on pop culture, they were quick to scrap it. He's a great guy.

[@bradfry5403]

I have no idea why they repackaged Owen Hart as the Blue Blazer , a blunder that would end up costing him his life.

[@eddiejoewalt7746]

because it was done as a so called punish for Owen Owen didnt want to do a "risque" storyline done by Vince Russo involving cheating his wife! 😵😵😵😵😵😵

[@shallendor]

Owen was the Blue Blazer before it was revealed that he was Owen Hart!

[@eddiejoewalt7746]

@@shallendor Owen did the gimmick the first time back in 1988 and hart lost the Blue Blazer mask in a mascara contra mascara match against Mexican wrestler El Canek, and would not utilize the gimmick again until 1998

[@sstrykert]

Look up the old Blue Blazer matches in late 80's WWE. You'll be pleased& get that lucha look& an owned WWE property was a win for all but Owen

[@glasschin871]

@@sstrykert I liked that gimmick and preferred Owen in that role to the new foundation and hi Engery tag teams.

[@LNGcreepyztv]

This may be a hot take bur I feel like If anyone besides Mark had become undertaker the gimmick would have fallen flat, I mean a grave digger? Mark killed it tho

[@dabigguy7788]

Fake Diesel and Razor are about as bad as it gets. It was actually insulting to the audience.

[@qanye]

i remember seeing that burchill debut live, looking back as an adult the gimmick could have worked if he had a nathan drake uncharted style storyline lol

[@raidernation7427]

Glacier never really had a chance to succeed. WCW spent too much time hyping him up, pushed his debut back a cpl months & then had him debut when NWO was just gaining momentum. Imo, if he would've started a year before & with less hype,he could've found a groove before Hall & Nash came in. Still wouldn't have gone past upper-mid card but could've done more than he did.

[@ryanleikness3414]

I said that before too... gosh I wish this character would be retried again.

[@kylescott3824]

Agreed. Such a great entrance. Glacier and Ernest "the Cat" Miller's feud with Wrath and Mortis was fucking awesome.

[@truckshackley373]

I always thought that, with the right booking, Mortis could have been WCW's answer to The Undertaker.

[@Illgaia]

Credit to Fred Ottman, he's gone on to lasting fame for his blown entrance. Sometimes, embracing the foolishness of a situation is better than denying it happened.

[@jonstefanik9400]

I heard Terry Taylor and Curt Hennig were competing for the "Mr. Perfect" gimmick. Just to be fair The Red Rooster is undefeated at WrestleMania, which The Undertaker is not.

[@Thor-Orion]

Two guys who could work their asses off. So silly.

[@derrickhaggard]

I actually loved Paul Burchill's pirate gimmick. WWE didn't want anything to do with it due to Vince not being up to date with pop-culture aka he failed to understand people love anti-hero pirates and cheer for them.

[@robertclark2253]

The pirate gimmick was done years before Burchill . When The Quebecers split up Quebecer Pierre became Jean Pierre LaFitte who had a short feud with Bret Hart . This was in 1995 .

[@nOT_sURE08]

I effing HATED hearing Taz on commentary exclaiming, "WE'RE GONNA HAVE SWASHBUCKLING ON SMACKDOWN!"

[@Hunkzilla]

The Tensai thing woud have worked minus the name Tensai. They should have just brought him back as Albert/A-Train . They should have just provided the backstory like this : During his first stint in the WWE , Albert could only win thE Intercontinental Title and failed miserably to even mount a challenge for the WWE and World Heavyweight Title . So A-Train ended up leaving WWE in 2004 to go wrestle all over the world in order to properly horne his skills and dominate the competition . After dominating the competition , Albert makes his return to the WWE with his Japanese attire and makes it clear that he returned to win either the World Heavyweight or WWE Championship. Its that simple. But no ,Vince decided to insult the audience's intelligence and try to pass him off as Japanese.

[@chrisyoung5549]

Vince doesn’t think like that, he’s the type to turn everything into a joke like we knew he was A-Train to us but Vince does wat he does

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

By mentioning Black Reign, this entire channel has officially been blocked by Dustin Rhodes.

[@TheRobobuck]

Surprised he didn't mention Seven - his hybrid Uncle Fester/Freddy Krueger abomination.

[@JaminWarrenPMS]

Glacier wasn't bad in the ring. Did you watch him perform? It was a dumb gimic but he has good martial arts skills.

[@Thor-Orion]

And good skills as an all around worker!

[@g-man80]

I was a fan of "Pirate" Paul Burchill for the ridiculousness of it all and hoped Kizarny would've had a longer self life because I liked his debut promos. I might just have bad taste. lol

[@Thor-Orion]

Everyone liked Pirate Paul. This video is weird.

[@WrestlingBehindTheThemes]

You could do 10 more videos on this topic...great work as always!

[@SnipingIsFun]

Glacier would have worked if they kept the cool entrance attire as part of his wrestling attire. Make him mysterious and cool.

[@TheChrisHype]

Black Reign could have been fine. Drop the rat gimmick. Drop the spike gimmick. Don’t associate him with Rellik (that’s Killer spelled backwards), and just make him the anti-Goldust. Introvert instead of flamboyant. Ultra violent instead of meticulous. Lashing out instead of using mindgames. Hell, make him quote literature instead of movies. It’s really not hard to make it work, and I think it could have been much more therapeutic for what he was dealing with in his personal life.

[@kingsboro1]

Dustin was in a dark period at that time

[@TheChrisHype]

@@kingsboro1 And being forced to play an awful character makes a dark place even darker.

[@williamhild1793]

FULL DISCLOSURE: "The Pirate" Paul Burchill was a guilty pleasure of mine. I loved it! But then again, with me, there's no accounting for taste. :)

[@BlueRoseSteakhouse]

Some great ones. But come on, where is Isaac Yankem! Lol

[@kennyfleck8630]

The most underrated part of shock masters debit is that ric flair left halfway through the segment, but they replaced him with a cardboard cutout, lol

[@toddkurzbard]

I remember watching the Shockmaster's debut as it happened. My instant thought at the time was, "WTF??? Did they really PLAN this???".

[@billyrouse4813]

Nope. I can tell why you would think that.

[@wingedhussar1453]

Paul burcghl wasn't a fault ,he was jobbed out and cut because of copyright from disney.he was over asf and popular

[@sedrickgipson8088]

Facts

[@KilamajaroKen]

13:30 INCORRECT! Berchill would say that the Pirate gimmick was Vince's idea.

[@sstrykert]

& it was an update on Karl Pierre Outtlette's(sp*?) gimmick after he left the Quebecers& feuded with Bret Hart.

[@ShockerTopper]

I thought the "Man's man" Steven Regal was one of the funniest things ever lol. I loved his ridiculous music, the gimmick and him as a wrestler hahah

[@sstrykert]

Kizarney was shacking up with the Kat, so WWE loses Lawler, or loses a rookie. Pretty simple call. (Sourced from Lawler's bio)

[@CaptainTae]

PIRATE PAUL BURCHILL WAS GENIUS!

[@nedthomas6563]

I’m still convinced that the Beaver Cleavage gimmick was created specifically so they could do the worked shoot promo to introduce the domestic abuse angle. Kinda like the Seven gimmick, just with more incest and less child stalking.

[@jernigan007]

I'm glad Dustin got clean

[@itsjustian8484]

I seem to recall Miz being referred to as looking like Red Rooster, likely by commentary. This would have been in the earlier times of Miz's WWE career.

[@jamiegaskins3687]

I will never forget Kizarny being hyped to the moon. I don’t even remember seeing him on television.

[@MONEYPYROgaming]

Me too. Honestly as a kid, I thought he looked like Jeff Hardy if he had put on some weight. I watched every week, and never saw his matches, or anything other than all the hype packages

[@jamiegaskins3687]

@@MONEYPYROgaming I swear they showed those videos for like 2 months and then that was it

[@kamieyonce]

Typhoon was a strong man, I would’ve never recovered from the shockmaster!

[@sjrex2553]

I would replace the red rooster gimmick with Perry Saturn's moppy gimmick. That was really bad.

[@JACSLuvsNachos]

Sonny Ohno getting his beak wet in being the middle man when Glacier sold his gimmick was hillarious

[@anthonydyson8103]

When I was a kid, about 11 or 12, Glacier was actually pretty cool. Sure, now I'm older, it's obvious he wasn't any good, but he was enjoyable to kids.

[@unum1979]

Did he say Shock master was to be a "major heel" while he was teaming with Sting and Bulldog? All of The Kiss Demon's matches were not required to be main events. He had to have one Pay Per View main event. It was a match against Vampiro I think, but yeah that was in the middle of the show.

[@patrickperalta59]

yes he said Shockmaster was a heel in his debut.

[@WhoistheWolf]

Pirate Paul Burchill was awesome how dare you?!?!

[@lightninglj]

When did the beaver clevage thing happen? I'm wondering why i can't remember this

[@sstrykert]

Oh it happened. I cringed.

[@chrischar9428]

1999

[@MarvelMTs]

In fairness to Glacier, the guy got injured before his scheduled debut, forcing the “Blood runs cold” videos to run much longer than planned. So by the time Glacier did debut, the audience was burned out of all videos and no payoff so Glacier debuted to “meh” rather than “OMG” because his injury cost WCW the ability to strike while the iron was hot

[@drpecker1452]

Glad to see im not the only one that liked Paul Burchill's pirate gimmick as it was quite enjoyable.

[@luedanger561]

Great video Andy! As much as I love Goldust, Dustin's Reign was terrible.

[@kingsboro1]

Still better then Black Reign but he was in a dark period at that time

[@DoNotPassGO]

I thought Pirate Paul Burchill was dropped because Disney sent a cease and desist

[@SnipingIsFun]

Black Reign could have worked too if they handled it better

[@seanmcclure]

As a kid I loved the red rooster. He was flashy and he had that cool hair. A lot of kids growing up in that time liked this character.

[@jordanking6939]

What happened to wrestlers without gimmicks that did 90 minute shows of pure wrestling, holds, ring psychology, etc.

[@sstrykert]

Those were the main event acts. Always have your main pure& leave low card as the carnival show

[@michaelscriver5395]

Terry was the" perfect"rooster 🐓

[@miroslavtomic7038]

Fred Ottman is Cody Rhodes' maternal uncle, just like Jerry Saggs, and, therefore, he is not biologically related to Dustin Rhodes.

[@SellavinAtoms]

12:05 I remember Paul burchell the pirate I think he had some good moments I remember the episode he showed up and scaring the WWE mini juniors just little wrestlers that irritated WWE Superstars he scared the crap out of them swinging his sword I thought it was kind of funny but then again I was a kid at the time Paul burchell he's not the worst wrestler for more I can tell that's how you just got dealt a lot of bad hands.

[@JUVI9596]

Beaver Cleavage. I remember when he broke character live and refused to do it anymore. Awesome

[@handlesRdumb]

Dustin must not have sweat glands, i don't know how he could do anything in that gear let alone wrestle.

[@sstrykert]

Sleeveless& short hair

[@SICresinwrks]

Man what a nostalgic blast from the past, so many characters i completely forgot about. Glaicer was such a joke for wcw 🤣🤣🤣

[@ShowTymeDollarS850]

Uh.. Killer Kross.. Lashley.. Who could've been Brock Lesnar equivalent.. Omos.. Alister Black.. Pac as Neville.. Keith Lee.. Hell even Great Khali could've been better

[@andrewburak1205]

I feel like "Pirate" Paul Burchill could have made it pretty big had Vince McMahon actually put any faith into him. I remember a lot of fans at the time, including myself, loving the character! He had a cool (albeit corny) entrance, a gnarly finisher that got me into knowing the Spanish Fly, and his rivalry with William Regal was top notch

[@Drowmerc]

Yeah I liked him. The music and entrance were pretty cool, and I thought he was a decent wrestler at the time.

[@bryancronbaugh4265]

I think you should do one on money making talent. People who shouldered the business. Stone cold, John cena. But I like earlier wresting stuff to.

[@seanharris37]

I was actually a big Red Rooster fan when I was a kid.

[@reesymac8243]

I was too!! it wasn't till I got grown that I found out I wasn't suppose to like that gimmick 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ery7706]

I’m probably the only one to like the Paul Burchill Pirate and the Demon characters.

[@mae2759]

I actually really liked the Paul Burchill pirate gimmick. He got it over and would have been a great character for a long while. I also kind of liked Lord Tensai too.

[@AnarkeeSoundVibes]

I actually liked the Glacier gimmick. If he actually had any real martial arts skills and an effective push, he could've gotten over with more fans.

[@craiglozo9104]

Well, he did have actual martial arts skills, just never got an actual push

[@johnsmith-ko8vq]

Yah as a kid Glacier was one of my favs loved his entrance.

[@Harley-D-Mcdonald]

I liked the Red Rooster. He was really a great wrestler in the ring and he played up his gimmick as good as anyone could have.

[@tims4502]

The Shockmaster cracks me up. Let’s just say that he didn’t trip. What was the next step with him? Did they really think anyone would take it seriously?

[@antwoneallwood2293]

Sub-Zero with blonde hair and Reptile with long hair in wcw ha ha ha

[@Jd-zr8bs]

The Man's Man gimmick was brutal to sit through at the time.Its like come on

[@christiancage6626]

There have honestly been so many failures with wrestling characters...at the end of the day tho it falls on all parties involved to make it succeed... another awesome video man👌🏻👌🏻

[@ShowTymeDollarS850]

Glacier should've won at least the TV title.. And had it frozen with ice sickles from it when he came out

[@anthonydaniel9534]

No Gobbledy Gooker? Come on, dawg!!

[@CasualVideoGamer]

I don't know who started the hate against Burchill's pirate gimmick, but as someone that watched it form and was a part of the IWC at the time, there were very few people that disliked it compared to those that found it entertaining. I mean, yeah it's not a shtick that was going to propel him to the main event, but it was dumb and fun. But since it was given up so shortly after it started, online folks (especially on youtube) like to rip it apart without actually clarifying why they think it's horrible. Yes, on paper it sounds dumb (it was), but it was actually fun to watch. Also, I still say the reason A-Train's/Tensei's reign flopped was the horrible ring gear he had. Also... white dude pretending to be Japanese is just cringe as fuck - I mean look at my avatar pic, I was precisely that way when I was like 12 and THAT was cringe, let alone a grown-ass man. I mean, they could have still promoted his accomplishments in Japan, gave him gear that didn't like like a shiny red diaper (some pants and a top preferably) and just let him go to work in the ring. This is one of the examples that despite constantly having time after time to do so, they can't build monsters without getting bored of the style so they quickly reduce themselves to "hahaha see? big scary man do something silly!" level.

[@johncady9780]

Dustin Rhodes has the misfortune of doing two awful gimmicks. His 7 character was so bad Rhodes went off script on live TV and blasted the gimmick and WCW creative. 7 was alluded to in 2020 when the Dark Order in AEW offered Rhodes membership as that number. Rhodes soundly rejected the offer.

[@metpach]

That's partially true. What actually happened was that Turner executives were kind of horrified with the vignettes. They assumed 7 was a pedophile creeping on a kid's window. And they forced WCW executives, to axe the character. So, they told Dustin to bury it. And boy did he. He wasn't supposed to go that nuts, but he did. And it was great.

[@sstrykert]

@@metpach funny thing about those Turner execs....

[@austinpopdan4190]

The crazy thing is, not only is Ray Lloyd still wrestling with the Glacier gimmick, but he turned down an offer to join WWE in 2000.

[@QuentinDude]

You could probably put Mordecai on this list as well. Also Mantaur. There were other bad gimmicks that lasted longer than they should of like Sparky Plugg.

[@ASoberBear]

KISS… In 1999… 1999…. Not 1989… 1999…. Holy Fuck.

[@Sunprism]

Shockmaster for Hall of Fame....I mean, that clip has gotten more life then most super stars successes

[@BIGJ03SGPHS]

I actually love the Black rain character in TNA

[@BatFan1]

Katie Lee was hot, so i cant really blame Paul for trying, y'know?

[@matthewlane518]

Mortis was cool! RIP Kanyon

[@TimDaGoof]

Lmao as a kid i actually was looking forward to Kizarney then he dissapeared

[@Dragonskull1057]

I used to love Glacier. Loved seeing him when he showed up in AEW's Casino Battle Royale

[@danielboom72]

Kizarny reminds me of a character on Kroll Show by the name of Branch Rickey. I kept waiting for him to bust out and sing LA! DELI!

[@dustincongello5802]

Glacier versus Mortis Could have been epic

[@robertclark2253]

The Pirate gimmick was done years before Burchill . After splitting with Jaque Rogeau Quebecer Pierre became Jean Pierre LaFitte and had a feud with Bret Hart .

[@itsjustian8484]

"Glacier". Ripping off Mortal Kombat AND Killer Instinct (in name only: Glacius).

[@ASoberBear]

12:02 I mean can you blame him…

[@ThunderHorsePyro]

I am astonished that you didn't mention Dustin's character Seven from WCW.

[@timnavarrette6932]

Glacier and mortise was cool

[@Jd-zr8bs]

It would have made sense to have them team up with the others .And feud with the brooding ,dirty flock.Might have worked in hindsight.lol

[@xXRaMsiisXx]

Pirate burchill and tensai was awesome! I can see rollins sport the pirate gimmick too

[@jimbo_1312]

Daveys reaction to shockmaster was everything 😂

[@Darthloozer]

The Kiss Demon should have formed a tag team with Norman Smiley. That was probably the high point of the gimmick when Smiley became the Kiss Demon for a night.

[@DankHunt420]

Idk the kid me liked glacier all though all I do remember is his entrance but kid me wins because life was better then remember being a kid wanting to be grown I member

[@BudDavis269]

Beaver Cleaver was looking jakked up, musta been all that milk...

[@grandmastermario3695]

What about stardust or kung Funaki or the plumber guy

[@averykevin47]

As it pertains to the Paul Burchill pirate gimmick I don't care what anybody says. I LOVED THE PIRATE GIMMICK!!! AND SO DID THE FANS IN ATTENDANCE! I mean when his music played in he would swing from that rope he'd get a ginormous big pop and cheer from the crowd! Hell I mean having Paul Burchill as pirate wrestler would have been awesome during the whole PG era from 2008 - 2017 considering the fact that Vince McMahon was looking to attract a younger audience that being children. I mean for Christ's sakes children would have loved the Paul Burchill pirate gimmick during that time. The only real reason why it was dropped was because Vince McMahon was completely unfamiliar with the pirates of the Caribbean franchise and didn't want to risk receiving copyright infringement complaints from Disney and to add to that wasn't exactly sure what Paul Burchill was going for. Paul Burchill himself would go on to say that dropping that gimmick was a bad idea because he even he enjoyed portraying it. And let's be honest it helped him get over well with fans.