Wrestling's Best Ripoffs | Wrestling With Wregret

A quick history of some of the most successful copycats in professional wrestling! Proof that nothing in the wrestling is original.
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@zmanbrianzane

[@zetaniloticus]

Scott Steiner's Big Poppa Pump gimmick owes a lot of to Superstar Billy Graham, though he at least tried to add his own spin by Steinerizing the hell out of it.

[@TheSaltySeaman]

overmind2000 good point. Scottie’s fav wrestler like everyone else of a certain era and body type.

[@flippy7035]

You know they say all gimmicks are created equal

[@julezjohn5785]

I don't remember Dan Spivey ever being in WWF. Thanks for this!

[@stonecuttr4948]

Also, Jesse Ventura.....

[@howereqpw]

Look at Scott and look at Billy and you will know that this statement is not true

[@justafanofnerdculture7602]

How ironic that Ric Flair is sueing WWE over "The Man" but, yet, he copied Buddy Rogers entire gimmick for most of his career!

[@MrLeo135334]

Haha yeah. It would be like Oreos suing Hydrox for ripping them off.

[@MrTrueCaller619]

Difference is Flair got the permission, do some research first .

[@jasoncinema]

@@MrLeo135334that’s so well and succinctly put! 😂

[@lilspliffster88]

If ya think bout it that’s just him being Ric Flair.. MJF would do the same low key part of there gimmick

[@trapjaw7253]

Ric Flair is a goof

[@QoQabai658]

Jay Lethal was friggin' 'possessed' by the Macho Man....damn!

[@TheGreatAbaddon]

its still real to me, dammit!

[@williammccollom6847]

There was that brief period where Chris Jericho became very serious, wore a suit and talked very eloquently, a clear homage to Nick Bockwinkle.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

You mean the No Country for Old Men gimmick that actually didn't look or sound like a gimmick inspired by that movie in any way but that Jericho always brings up in interviews and podcasts?

[@Supervillain725]

@@fuzzydunlop7928 I've seen that movie, Friend-o, and you're right.

[@johnstrika9170]

Total Bockwinkle homage. Good call.

[@ed2kou1]

William McCollom Flair! Wooo

[@jwebby85]

And then was ripped off by The Miz.

[@21stcenturyschizoidmana29]

Stone Cold Shark Boy is kinda entertaining even if his time was short.

[@rare5312]

Shark boy was the GOAT

[@DiabolikSilhouette]

From the deep blue sea... 🦈 SHAAAAARRRK BOOOOOYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!! 🦈

[@jamesgentry13]

OH SHELL YEAH

[@BraddahSpliff]

Back when TNA was watchable.

[@andreaschlapek9208]

Shell yeah! Thats the fishing liiiiiine cause shark boy said so.

[@davidalexander3320]

In between Steve Austin's firing in wcw and debut in the wwf, he worked in ecw where he fueded with 2 guys. The sandman who walked to the ring drinking beer, and Mikey Whipwreck who used a stunner as his finisher. Steve would later incorporate both into his stone cold persona. While not a complete ripoff there's no denying influences.

[@MichaelPuterbaugh]

Stone Cold was a Bad News Brown ripoff

[@Supervillain725]

To me, SCSA WAS a rip off of the Sandman, except Austin did the character better, and could wrestle.

[@Irgendeinervonunten]

naa not better because austin played the role sandman was the roll in real life. How can stone cold played it better?

[@DDS029]

Too me he will always be "Stunning" Steve Austin, another Gorgeous George rip-off.

[@stacyhamilton2619]

feuded*

[@pulsarstargrave256]

I'm surprised no one brings this up but how about when TRIPLE H started wearing a goatee and called himself "THE GAME"? I immediately saw him as trying to ripoff SHANE "THE FRANCHISE" DOUGLAS' look in ECW at the time! When Stephanie McMahon turned heel and joined him I thought "Oh, Steph's trying to be FRANCINE!"

[@SpookySkareflow]

Wish you didn't forget to mention Kevin Nash saying Bullet Club is NWO with talent and the fact Kevin Nash and I believe Scott Hall passed the torch to Bullet Club giving them the full okay for the too sweet hand gesture and saying.

[@leevelllesure-jones5629]

Plus Scott Hall own son was apart of them bullet Club

[@SSKACG]

bischoff was inspired to make nwo from watching what masahiro chono was doing in new japan. He actually contacted chono to start it (also have collaboration), but he refused as he was not confident. Then few months later, Bischoff started his version, which was nwo. And chono agreed to collaborate after seeing its reaction

[@shawncalley9994]

@@SSKACG I thought it was Nobuhiko Takada not Chono.

[@SSKACG]

@@shawncalley9994 invasion part was, yes. About the black white looks, anti establishment were from chono. On how chono created the image, can be seen here kzbin.info/www/bejne/g166YaZ-gZaBr7M

[@wgsmeister]

The Man Servants (Virgil, Orlando Jordan & Riccardo Rodriguez) sounds like a great king of the trios team

[@chuckhouse5179]

I'll ask Virgil if he's interested net time I'm at the swap meet.

[@FrankASmith-lj8pd]

Sounds like a stable that could feud with Billy and Chucky

[@Supervillain725]

Nobody would come to see them, but they'd have a great intro.

[@696190]

uhmmmmm... wont work, 2 of them are black

[@satan3959]

There is only one C in Ricardo, moron

[@TheRobobuck]

Going back to the Beautiful People and Laycool II was expecting something a bit more IIconic.

[@matthewpunk2012]

IKR

[@jrcarter9175]

I see what you did there

[@Acerthorn]

The IIconics at least have someting unique about them: They're possibly in a lesbian relationship together but there's no solid confirmation.

[@purodeathcore]

@@Acerthorn >unique Velvet and Angelina were much more lesbianish than Peyton and Billie soooooo yeah not so unique

[@Acerthorn]

I saw the Beautiful People in their prime. They were not lesbians. They were slutty. Big difference.

[@megamarsonic]

Triple H ripping off "The Franchise" Shane Douglas' 1998 heel run. Right down to the ponytail, hat, voice, promo style and mustache strokes.

[@nujeru99]

Thank You!!! It’s about time somebody said it. Triple H is a direct ripoff of The Franchise, and that NEVER gets talked about

[@MrCubFan415]

Didn’t HHH’s “Connecticut Blueblood” persona come first, though?

[@megamarsonic]

Yeah but that one was nothing like Douglas' '98 persona or his own '99 persona. There's at least two promos on KZbin right now featuring Douglas in his '98 heel run. One where he dares Taz to break his arm and one where he talks up how Bam Bam Bigelow is going to "put Taz through the ring again" at Heatwave '98. Watch both of those and then watch any promo of Triple H's from his '99 Sunday Night Heat interview with Jim Ross (where he first calls himself "The Game") all the way through the entirety of the McMahon-Helmsley era and you'll see that the resemblance is ridiculous.

[@robertclark2253]

Mr Cub Fan 415 Direct copy of Lord Steven Regal , William Regals gimmick in WCW.

[@EzraDair]

here comes the ECW crybabies

[@Acerthorn]

Actually, Gorgeous George wasn't even the "first" wrestling gimmick! He got the inspiration for that persona by reading about another wrestler named "Lord" Patrick Lansdowne, who wore a velvet robe to the ring. George took that idea and cranked it up to (at the time) eleven, but even he could be considered a ripoff. So that begs the question ... was Landsowne the original "wrestling gimmick?" Well, since his career has since been lost to history save for being the inspiration for Gorgeous George, we may never know, since he's no longer around to verify his gimmick was inspired by someone else.

[@frankbonini9128]

Lord Lansdowne & Dizzy Davis (an Actual Friend of George's) Helped Inspire the Gorgeous George Gimmick. Dizzy, of Course, Was More Hands-on in Helping Create It

[@TubbyJ420]

does Shark Boy waking from a coma talking like stone cold count? OHH SHELL YEAH!

[@MrBlockice22]

Yeah I got thrown off when he was cussing at that doctor. LOL 😅😅

[@chuckhouse5179]

Man for my money Shark Boy and New Jack as a tag team was THE high point of TNA.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

@@chuckhouse5179 Hell yeah. The mic skills of New Jack, the raw ferocity of shark boy.

[@DCTrumpet04]

And that’s the fishin’ line...

[@JD-dt7py]

Nothing beats finishing off your opponent with a stone cold chummer.

[@chrishoskavich2435]

Buddy Landel was another fairly successful "Nature Boy" who ripped off Rogers and Flair.

[@thekidfromiowa]

Big omission

[@olschoolTonyCarter]

Oh my God Buddy Landel succcccked!

[@olschoolTonyCarter]

@Simply Ravishing what the Sam Hill are you talking about?

[@satan3959]

ol' school Tony Carter Don't feed the troll

[@robertclark2253]

Buddy Landel was fairly successful in the independent leagues towards most of them shutting down and in a lot of Southern NWA territories before the WWF went national but somehow just couldn't cut it in larger promotions .

[@Chronicthekid]

You forgot to mention that Triple H's "The Game" gimmick is copy of Shane Douglas "Franchise" gimmick.

[@TheeKingRayzor]

It is now I think about it.

[@EzraDair]

😂 😂

[@SmithCommaBenjamin]

Yeah, but Shane Douglas' Dean Douglas gimmick(ripping off the genius) negates it

[@dannyhipolito817]

Jay Lethal as “The Franchise” in ROH (but as a popular babyface) is and still great

[@Misterkennedy04]

Naw

[@thatpart]

Vince Russo ripped off the gimmick used by the Port-A-Potty after a day at Coachella.

[@gb6710]

Jay It took me a while to stop laughing.

[@jerrymorganjr]

Bro

[@thatpart]

@@gb6710 glad to be of service 😁

[@ianmeadows3527]

Yeah that piece of vile garbage blocked me from his twitter

[@chadwickwhite2735]

Vince Russo BELONGS in a PORT-A-POTTY tied up with Hacksaw Jim Duggan

[@DanVillainFilms]

Jesse Ventura was around for every important moment in wrestling history. If you believe his made for TV movie, that is.

[@christopherr3676]

No x-pac was

[@chuckhouse5179]

He also single handedly won Vietnam stopped 9-11 and revealed the truth about aliens. Can we get him elected president already?

[@christopherr3676]

@@chuckhouse5179 I for one welcome our new x-pac overlord

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

@@chuckhouse5179 He's also the most successful proponent of the Green Party - somehow. He said he was going to vote Libertarian, then after the election he was like "yeah, I lied, Jill Stein ftw" and I instantly grew to like him a bit more. He also helped expose Chris Kyle for the fraudulent sadist he truly was, so big ups for that as well.

[@richardtheconquerer]

@@fuzzydunlop7928 I'm no fan of Jesse these days but I did appreciate his takedown of Kyle. Too much blatant lying going on anymore and it was nice to see someone actually have to answer for it for once

[@brianleve1171]

"I am here, brother, i am here in living color" *filmed in black and white, lol*

[@nickhudson163]

Does suit Jericho from 2008 count ? Because Jericho stated in his book that he straight took idea of that gimmick from Nick Bockwinkle

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

The problem is that a majority of wrestling fans have never heard of Bockwinkle. And WWE is not going to mention him, since EVERYTHING that WWE does looks like the drizzling shitz compared to Bockwinkel's personality, style, promos, and yes his wrestling and psychology.

[@BIG_Carl1]

I felt like that was more Miz as of late

[@wstine79]

Would Kevin Thorn be a ripoff of Gangrel?

[@jodieslattery6984]

I think so. Because both had female manger which were Luna and Ariel. And they were vampire gimmicka

[@TyMarshall007]

don't forget his first gimmick

[@jodieslattery6984]

@@TyMarshall007 oh yeah and his rip off of the undertaker if he was a religious priest. Thank for reminding Ty Marshall

[@TyMarshall007]

@@jodieslattery6984 anytime

[@DasKame]

No, but he was "The White Mark Calloway"

[@christopherr3676]

This could easily be a 20 part video What about Kevin Nash and a street light ? Exact same move set

[@stoplyinn]

Lame

[@ZacharyShow]

I've never seen a street light tear a quad.

[@christopherr3676]

@@ZacharyShow good post sir

[@TadRaunch]

I'd like to see a street light do a hair flip that's as half as good as Nash's.

[@Supervillain725]

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks he's overrated.

[@darkashtar]

I thought you were gonna throw in the short lived Dean Douglas when you brought up Poffo and Sandow.

[@darkashtar]

@Necroglobule I stand corrected, thank you

[@Hamptino]

@John Volken Fuck off. I didn't want to disappoint you... lol.

[@LesterLaoagan]

Best rip-off not failed Rip-off

[@Nate102986]

I love Jay Lethal's Ric Flair, and his Macho Man as well. Flawless.

[@chayden153]

Black Machismo is absolutely iconic

[@IamMrLebanon]

For some reason and despite my considerable knowledge of pro wrestling history, one thing I did not know was that Ric Flair fought Buddy Rogers! I cannot wait to research this further! Thank you so much for this video Brian!

[@johncollins7423]

I still remember that "passing the torch" match between Rogers & Flair...

[@esbatmusic6119]

Demolition ISN'T a ripoff...Powers of Pain are the ripoff. Why no one gets that. LOOK AT THEM.

[@ItDoesntMatterReally]

They were both ripoffs. Powers of Pain was just more blatant about it.

[@kpllc4209]

Spikes and Leather... check. face paint ..check. Hell Demolition even would stick their tongues out.. Powers of Pain were two single wrestlers thrown together to go against the Road Warriors in the NWA, where everyone knew they were rip offs. Since the WWF could not have the Road Warriors in the 80's they created their own version while many WWF fans had never seen the originals.

[@ItDoesntMatterReally]

@paul316us Nah, if I wanted to take jabs at them I'd say I didn't enjoy watching out of shape 40 year old men in BDSM gear. No idea how that got through in the most PG of PG eras in wrestling. I'm not knocking their ability as a tag team or denying how much better they were booked than LOD outside of Crockett/WCW. Their gimmick was post-apocalyptic, paint wearing, Mad Max villain and that's what LOD was. Even Demolition realize they were a ripoff.

[@zakrowe1301]

paul316us demolition are a rip off of the road warriors, they where created to be the WWF equivalent to the road warriors. Road warriors was far superior to demolition

[@ItDoesntMatterReally]

@paul316us Being old fatsos doesn't differentiate them. Buddy Rogers never had a mullet, it doesn't mean Ric Flair didn't nick his whole gimmick. Vince wanted LOD. Vince couldn't get LOD. Vince made his own LOD. It's pretty common knowledge that the only reason Demolition came to fruition was because the Road Warriors didn't or couldn't go to WWF yet. When the WWF got LOD, they pushed the imitators to the wayside.

[@Acerthorn]

Fun fact: There are only three people in history to have held both the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Championship, and all three of them held the gimmick of "The Nature Boy" at some point in their careers.

[@BrendanSlob]

AJ Styles? kzbin.info/www/bejne/opWpZK2jbbuipbc

[@Acerthorn]

AJ briefly took on the "Nature boy" gimmick during TNA for a short time while Ric Flair was his manager.

[@zakrowe1301]

Acerthorn that's an interesting fact

[@Unlitedsoul]

Buddy Rogers, Ric Flair, AJ Styles, and Christian have all held both titles. Christian never went by "The Nature Boy."

[@mattford6848]

Unlistedsoul Wrong Christian never won the WWE championship

[@edh286]

You’re Jim Cornette without a fivehead

[@mydogsnameislucy768]

@Mike Keller lmao.

[@mofrigga6683]

Cornette endorsed him and calls him his illegitimate son

[@tommyjohnson4855]

And the douchebaggery

[@robertclark2253]

Fivehead ? Explain !

[@edh286]

robert clark you know what a fivehead is right?

[@wstine79]

Don't forget the ripoff of Stone Cold Soap known as Hulk Hairspray.

[@lazybacon7520]

N O W Y O U W A R S H U P

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

BEET DEBRARH

[@diegoreport5475]

Shark boy

[@OikPoinFive]

wstine79 are beverly bros ripoff of mario bros?

[@OikPoinFive]

Diego Oregon are beverly bros a ripoff of the Bastion booger???

[@darrenkemp6323]

When I met Ted DiBiase Sr, in 2015 I asked him why he didn't win the Main Event at Wrestlemania IV, as he was a better technical wrestler on the day than the Macho Man and deserved a Title Reign. He shrugged and said that it was better for him to stay the Heel.

[@lafan423]

I respect that

[@SimonWarren28977]

Chief Jay Strongbow - Wahoo McDaniel - Tatanka perhaps? The gear, the gimmick, the chops, the Warpath ‘Hulk Up’

[@IAmKillEveryone]

Pretty much every native wrestler ripped their gimmick from Wahoo. None could do it even half was well as the big chief. Tatanka and Strongbow felt watered down and boring compared to Wahoo.

[@RFSpadeDan]

Kill Everyone Tatanka was an actual native so I don’t really consider him a rip-off.

[@IAmKillEveryone]

@@RFSpadeDan Are you implying that Wahoo wasn't native?

[@haljordan3961]

@@RFSpadeDan So you're saying Tatanka was a rip-off of Wahoo, but not a rip-off of Jay Strongbow? Wahoo and Tatanka were both actual Native Americans and Tatanka borrowed a lot from Wahoo such as chops(Ric Flair borrowed the chops from Wahoo too but not his gimmick). Jay Strongbow was an Italian.

[@RFSpadeDan]

Hal Jordan I actually agree with you there. My rule of thumb is if you’re a Native American portraying a Native American gimmick, you’re not a ripoff, period. That goes for any ethnicity for that matter.

[@Chris.3791]

Probably pointed out elsewhere in these comments, but where is the Ultimate Warrior/Renegade, other than a brief visual snippet I think I saw? Great video, BROTHER. LOL

[@robertclark2253]

He'll probably turn up if Brian does a worst rip off video.

[@AverageAsianMe]

Renegade and Ultimate Warrior

[@Eternally_Sardonic]

*_Best_* Ripoffs.

[@AverageAsianMe]

@@Eternally_Sardonic right...

[@Supervillain725]

He's already talked about that.

[@theyamo7219]

Renegade was still more believable than One Warrior Nation. What an idiot that guy is. At least Renegade was still a competent worker. OWN is just horrible.

[@ClementePR21]

Chyna (wwf), Asya(wcw), Nicole bass(ecw) Lex luger(wwf), Chris masters(wwe)

[@connorkinsman3164]

And then bass went to the then WWF :')

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

@SN A The blue cross has yellow trimming.

[@BrendanSlob]

You forgot about Midnight in WCW as well. She was black but still a big musclebound woman.

[@raw1981]

Hercules Hernandez Lex Luger Chris Masters

[@robertclark2253]

Now , Wait A Minute Matt , Nooo When he tagged with Paul Roma in Power & Glory both played arrogant heel bodybuilding types managed by Slick the feuds they had with The Rockers and Legion of Doom were a mixed bag of entertaining to absolute dross the excrement really hit the fan when they feuded with The Bushwhackers but by then everyone was past caring .

[@mrkipling2201]

Whatever you think about Ric Flair, to come back from a plane crash and a broken back and to do what he’s done is unbelievable on its own. He gets my respect just for that.

[@TrenchReynolds]

Kevin Sullivan's and Raven's cult leader gimmicks come to mind. Although both were brilliant.

[@christophercarl1774]

Trench Reynolds and NXT Corey Graves seemed to be heading down that path - always saw him as Raven-ish. Good ring skills, excellent mic/psychology work.

[@jamaladdison7965]

Christopher Carl he was a CM Punk ripoff

[@crisistian_]

Just, well, doing what Punk did with SES years before him (at the same time of TNA's Serotonin stable)

[@Strathaczar]

What, no Curt Hawkins/Brooklyn Brawler comparison? ;)

[@Strathaczar]

@GBProductions84 True. But after that, he became a pure job guy. Hawkins was one of the Major brothers (with Zack Ryder) and apart of Edge's La Familia stable and became a job guy just like Brawler did. They mirror each other fairly well.

[@BraddahSpliff]

Curt Hawkins current character is more like Barry Horowitz, a jobber with his own merch.

[@Strathaczar]

@GBProductions84 that he did. And to make the parallel even more apt, mark my words, Hawkins will get a fluke win over a high profile superstar as well. History has a way of repeating itself. The 123 Kid over Razor Ramon. Barry Horowitz over Skip, Brawler over Triple H, and Hawkins over ??? We'll find out sometime soon, I'm guessing as he's starting to get over as a lovable loser. Vince likes to pay back loyal workers he tasks with being gatekepers with occasional (if not fleeting) success. Hawkin's job is to go out and get people over, so as thanks for that, I'll bet Vince will give him a feel good moment.

[@robertclark2253]

Sean Waltman 123 Kid , Syxx , X Pac or whatever moniker he used is a former cruiserweight champion in WCW , lightheavyeight champion , 3 time tag champion and 2 time European in WWF/E so calling him a jobber is a little harsh wouldn't you say ? I'd say jobber to the stars would be more fitting and that is a gimmick that has been given to many a talented athlete who deserved better . For example check out Brady Boone v Randy Savage from a WWF Wrestling Challenge taping on KZbin . While I'm here Barry Horowitz has a total of 9 wins in WWF just check his record . Horowitz has 4 pay-per-view appearances to his credit namely Survivor Series 1993 (as the Red Knight ) , SummerSlam 1995 against Skip who he beat 2 times previously , the second match was a 10 minute challenge Horowitz lasted the 10 minutes so he offically he won , Survivor Series 1995 teaming with Marty Jannetty , Bob Holly and Hakushi in a losing effort against 123 Kid , Skip , Rad Radford and Tom Prichard and a spot in Royal Rumble 1996 not bad for a jobber .

[@Fixxer315]

The story of the "Nature Boys" could have used a brief mention of "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel.

[@jackji2325]

Next Halloween, the New Day should dress up as the 3 Skyscrapers: Dan Spivey, Sid Vicous & Mean Mark Callous!

[@mequetrefe413]

I have a very good one to bring to the discussion. Many people in the industry state Carlito (Carly Colón) is a copy of Razor Ramon. Ironically, there were a few matches between them in WWC a few years ago, and during the promos, Scott Hall calls Carlito "little Razor Ramon."

[@SamuraiLeo]

The great kabuki spawned great mutants as well as Taijiri.

[@lb2.0.45]

Speaking of Nature boys I guess an honorable mention goes to Buddy Landel and as far as females go you mix the beautiful people and Lay-Cool together and what do you get? The IIconics of course.

[@HardcoreGamer4Ever]

I would mention Stone Cold as well. His gimmick was pretty much Bad News Brown meets Sandman.

[@robertclark2253]

Well said . Have a like .

[@theteddy1487]

Black Machismo was one of the best tributes ever

[@fiadhearthpony6177]

Ooooooooh YEAAAAAH! DIG IT!

[@joeyzapata6786]

Broken Matt and Michael Jackson Nakamura were original gimmicks.

[@YChromosome99]

Jay Lethal NAILS Randy Savage and Ric Flair LOL 😂

[@CMBlue]

Even though this seemed to be a short video on derivative gimmicks, I did enjoy that it touched on major ones without seeming judgmental on wrestlers who made the ideas ‘their own’ so to speak. I shutter to think what pro wrestling would be without trailblazers like Adrian street, gorgeous george, superstar billy graham, buddy Rogers and the road warriors but people like Ric Flair, hulk hogan and demolition made their mark in an equally impactful way. I also know the Bullet Club/NWO comparison is too obvious to not include but it’s important to note that their unapologetic adoption of ‘Attitude Era’ factions imagery and mannerisms like the Kliq, DX, and NWO is part of their appeal and open and honest. I can appreciate that. At least they’re trying to carve their own path on the indies and worldwide. And their brand has survived through multiple leaders and also led to All In, which was excellent

[@wyattrussell7496]

Val Venus was a rip-off Rick Rude

[@FieldofScreams4Life]

Wyatt Russell now we got Robert rude and rowdy shitty ronda

[@technounionrepresentative4274]

Nah one was a male stripper the other was a male pornstar, big differance

[@ricardonb6375]

Possibly, though I think Bobby Roode is a rip-off of Rick Rude.

[@wyattrussell7496]

@@ricardonb6375 Coming out to antogonize the crowd with a hip shake in a slow sultry voice? Did he bring a female fan up to give him a kiss too?

[@ricardonb6375]

@@wyattrussell7496 How the heck should I know?

[@sham1903]

But Gorgeous George was influenced in his gimmick by Dizzy Davis and Danny McShain, among others.

[@joelewis4711]

Robert DeNiro ripped off the original and superior Robert Mitchum 's Max Cady !

[@zakrowe1301]

joe lewis the original is superior in every way, I never liked the remake

[@dougbennett8592]

Robert Mitchum was the man!

[@robertclark2253]

This all well and good but they're talking about wrestlers who ripped off other wrestlers Bray Wyatt ripped off Waylon Mercy who did not rip off another wrestler but the Max Cady character played by DeNiro and Mitchum as for who played the role of Cady better I can't decide .

[@robertclark2253]

Really ? I guess I learned something because I'd never heard that 'til now . Thanks . Oh have a like .

[@MrBlockice22]

How about Vince and Kevin Nash. They both rip their quads out in the ring, Ouch.

[@duncanwelker7450]

What about the South Eastern's Indy scene favorite Nature Boy ripoff "The Real Nature Boy" Paul Lee?

[@johnavery9103]

Lol. I wrestled on the same show with him

[@Phoenixbrand95]

noone actually likes him

[@rexsexson5349]

S🤣 true

[@duncanwelker7450]

Robert Harmon he gets booked a lot places so he must be doing something right. #WMBDBM

[@Musiclover19]

This video is clearly titled wrestling BEST ripoffs. As in ripoffs so good, you actually FORGET they’re rip offs. Paul Lee is a sad yet still blatant rip off of Ric Flair

[@egagnard]

Very educational. I actually learned alot about wrestling history with this one

[@LuckyDT]

If Shawn and Marty did a fusion dance would the resulting wrestler be a midcarder?

[@Acerthorn]

Gorgeous George is kind of like the original customes on Let's Make a Deal. When one guy wore a costume on LMAD, and got picked by Monty Hall to play a game, that opened the floodgates for everyone to wear costumes to the show. Gorgeous George getting over because of the fact that he had "a gimmick" essentially solidified that everyone needed a gimmick to get over.

[@jeffnettleton3858]

Kind of missed one there, when talking about Lanny Poffo,as the Genius. His father, Angelo, wrestled in singles and tag matches as the Graduate (the team was the Graduates, plural, both in caps and gowns) in the WWA, in Indianapolis. Kind of surprised Lanny had to go buy the cap and gown, since I would have figured Angelo would have hung onto it, in case he could make a buck off of it (he was the Miser).

[@Nemowrestling]

rybak and Goldberg.....

[@jewggerz]

Not sure how he missed this one.

[@mattford6848]

jewggerz Maybe because Ryback wasn't very successful or he's saving him the worse wrestling ripoffs video

[@alexandremilliard4726]

Hope he won't come back .... he is a dangerous wrestler to work with.... injuries

[@MrJon76]

@Curtis Deierling - Goldberg ripped off Nikita Koloff circa 1984 - 1986!

[@NeroPiroman]

in my opinion billi graham and hulk hogan as well as buddy rogers and ric flair definetly should be no 1 and 2, by far most relevant and imortant in the bussiness

[@jewggerz]

This wasn't a countdown.

[@IAmKillEveryone]

Gorgeous George, Buddy Rogers, Buddy Landell and Billy Graham are more or less the progenitors of "the gimmick".

[@lyylski]

Lanny Poffo probably got the genius thing from his dad, Angelo Poffo. There's a Big Time Wrestling episode from 1975 where Lanny teams with his dad and his dad is wearing the genius outfit - with the hat, cape & all.

[@manfredaxcore]

8:58 Still pop for this theme. One of the greatest.

[@IAmKillEveryone]

Steve Austin was more or less Arn Anderson 2.0. And I say that with 100% respect because I love both.

[@antonjames6187]

Kert Angel how about him ripping off Ken peteras gimmick

[@robertclark2253]

Perhaps it's because Kurt Angle was not a gimmick he actually won heavyweight freestyle wrestling gold medal at the Atlanta Summer Olympics 1996 whereas Patera only competed at the Olympics he was always adverised as an Olympian but never as a winner and not as a wrestler either he was a power lifter. Another Olympian was Bad News Brown who won a bronze medal in judo in 1976 oddly enough nothing was mentioned about it in WWF/WWE until much , much later

[@lewisaino]

Kurt Angle actualy had proof

[@LordJeet2]

Superb presentation. I have been looking for such one from quite a long. Thanks Bryan

[@GranthamStreet]

Ministry of Darkness-era Undertaker and Kevin Sullivan.

[@leraya4356]

are you gonna do wrestling's worst ripoffs next

[@FieldofScreams4Life]

leonrock84 yeah Rhonda and Viking experience lmfao experience. I must be playing d&d for my experience

[@crisistian_]

Viking Experience is not that bad, considering their time as War Machine in ROH (which was a more moderate version of their actual gimmick)

[@MrBoboliciousness]

Who loves Wrestling With Wregret? I do!!!! Keep up the great work Mr. Zane. You're reviews are the best on youtube.

[@ShowMeMy0pponent]

Onita is the one that started the invasion angle in New Japan back in the early 90s that was copied by the nWo and today by Bullet Club which also led to DX back in the day. Onita also put hardcore on the map with FMW. Guy innovated so much in the business but is almost completely unknown in the USA.

[@ONShypnos]

NJPW had done invasion angles prior to that. In addition to the UWF-I invasion (which took place not long before the NWO got started, with Bischoff being in Japan for some of those shows as part of the usual NJPW/WCW dealings) they'd previously done a ton of other ones - IWE, Ishingun (although that'd end up also being an invasion angle in AJPW after Choshu switched promotions) Heisei Ishingun (which actually promoted its own shows), and probably a few others I'm blanking on. Plus more afterwards. Onita issued a bunch of grandstanding challenges and such - like all good indy aces of the era - but he never actually worked with NJPW until 99.

[@zilvinaszuravliovas2931]

Where's Heath Slater unsuccessful try at early Jericho?

[@robertclark2253]

They were looking at best rip offs , ones who were better or more wel known than the original if they do a worst rip off video who knows maybe Slater will be on it but only because of that gimmick failure nothing to do with his in ring talent , in the mean time have a like .

[@ThomasMink]

The one I remember picking out years ago was Val Venis being kind of a bit more edgy of a Rick Rude type... and he also used a jazzed up version of Rick Martel's model theme.

[@lewisaino]

Rick Naughty lol

[@celtixballa]

I can't believe no one has noticed this one..... Enzo Amore (rip off) → Road dogg (original)

[@EzraDair]

not even close from a ripoff . the only similar thing between them that they do promo on their way to the ring .

[@FMecha]

"If WCW was going to hire the Nature Boy No.2, why wouldn't they hire the Nature Boy, the original Nature Boy, Buddy Rogers?" - Scott Steiner, 2000

[@wil8740]

In Chikara Pro for a couple of years there, they had the "Devastation Corporation" which was basically a version of Demolition, complete with the face paint, masks, and attitudes.

[@ItDoesntMatterReally]

Devastation Corporation was more of a combination of Road Warriors and Demolition. It was definitely done in tribute more than an attempt to rip them off though.

[@roban1012]

Savage owned the copyright for Gorgeous George btw

[@ComedianBobFarrell]

Maestro in WCW went by Gorgeous George III in Memphis.

[@BrendanSlob]

@@ComedianBobFarrell Yeah but he made a deal with Savage for the name, if he gave it to Randy he would get signed and receive a push. I would have personally kept the name in hindsight.

[@Supervillain725]

Did he own the copyright to her giant, fake, boobs?

[@haljordan3961]

@@Supervillain725 No, but he paid for them.

[@kenofdarkmachines8415]

Dolph being a combo of hbk, Billy Gunn, and mr. Perfect

[@FieldofScreams4Life]

Ken Of Darkness you forgot Chris Jericho the way he plays his character calling himself the best, and just the way he carries himself

[@johngaleazza3652]

Oh man soo many missed. On Gorgeous George, Goldust, Adrien Adonis, the WWF version of Dino Bravo, and the entire wrestling robe aestetic. The repeated evil foreigner gimmicks that began with the original sheik, and the iron sheik extending that with insulting the locals (partially attributed to George) The Executioner or Warlord copied elements of Bruiser Brodie's style The Renegade Lanny Poffo's intellectual gimmick has been done a number of times. Triple HHH's initial blue blood gimmick was a copy of the million dollar man to an extent

[@1980Triumph]

Superstar Billy Graham has gone on record as saying that Jesse Ventura was a carbon copy of his character, more so than Hogan and Steiner.

[@cybervenom2001]

This is one of the best written episodes you've done to date, Zane! Great job! One minor nitpick though. It's not The Bullet Club. It's just Bullet Club.

[@darrelavery9809]

Kane and Mankind = Abyss.

[@supa250]

Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannety doing a fusion dance...I've heard it all :)...thanks again for writing gold Brian :)

[@tycalvert7322]

I forgot the original was Waylen Mercy WWE actually experimented with changing Brays character to Dr.Mercy.

[@jayfresco2118]

The iiConics are Beautiful People knockoffs as well

[@guillermosierracuellar9812]

R.I.P Dynamite kid

[@chayden153]

2018 killed a lot of wrestlers this year

[@ama-ri_vox]

@@GeneralCodeBlue you saying like everyone should be perfect

[@barlotardy]

Great wrestler. Horrible human being.

[@ama-ri_vox]

@@barlotardy HOW?!?!

[@zakrowe1301]

MORTAL KOMBAT PS2 FAN #1 physical and emotional abuse of his, even holding a gun to her head on more than one occasion. Breaking his nieces legs and Being a bully within the industry.

[@theabberration]

Great vid. Have you done a "Wrestlers who created second alter egos" video? E.G. Curry Man, Midnight Rider, Mr. America etc.

[@iandude1]

LOVED the Curry Man character.

[@TMC1982Part2]

Randy Savage also got his catchphrase "Oh yeah!" from Pampero Firpo.

[@SonicTheHedgeRat]

Cenas U can't see Me......Is just Booker Ts 5x pose minus the spinarooni and waving his hand instead of shaking it....Just Saying...😐🤘👌

[@chuckhouse5179]

However Cena did that as a kid to piss off his brother.

[@SonicTheHedgeRat]

@@chuckhouse5179 K

[@dennett316]

So, apart from the many fundamental differences, totally the same? This is a bit of a stretch...a lot of a stretch actually.

[@jsmpsnn]

K-Kwik ripped off R-Truth

[@whaduzitmatr]

Lol

[@robertclark2253]

Unless you're joking , which I think you might be , K-Kwik and R-Truth are the same person . Have a like either way .

[@dannypenaloza4160]

1:41 That little kid in the background trying to imitate Gorgeous George, so cool.

[@Dr.Quarex]

I just found my Always Pounding Ass shirt a few months ago and am once again delighted in my ability to identify memorably awful merchandise

[@liviolangella2777]

The biggest ripoff who wasn't mentioned is probably Abyss. He clearly was Mankind but taller.

[@jhinpotion9230]

With a bit of Kane thrown in for good measure.

[@chuckhouse5179]

I would say he was Kane in a mankind mask, but now it's hard. Abyss became it's own thing and god damn if it isn't great.

[@Hyde_Hill]

Yeah he is more a mix of Kane and Mankind plus some of his own. Thus becoming a pretty good unique thing.

[@EDifyer881]

He was the lovechild of mankind and kane lol

[@whaduzitmatr]

@@EDifyer881 thanks now theres an image in my head of Kane and Mankind having sex, Kane talking in his old voice box and Mankind squealing like a pig

[@markbarlow3275]

History repeats itself they say lol

[@jeffreycoogan09]

@Wrestling With Wregret Even before the tag team of Demolition were formed in WWE in 1987. There were several promotions that were attempting to capitalize on the success of The Road Warriors during the 1980s . (PWA) had The Terminators (Riggs and Wolf). The the (Mid-South) had future superstars The Blade Runners Sting and Rock (AKA The Ultimate Warrior). And for a brief period of time the AWA had the Maxx Brothers (Mad Maxx and Super Maxx). Who appeared in the AWA only a few months after The Road Warriors departure.

[@notarmani2347]

Speaking of Jay Lethal, the whole thing about Jay calling to Randy, they actually recreated that in a cutscene in TNA Impact, from my memory. (Made no sense I know.)

[@DiabolikSilhouette]

2 words... 🦈 SHARK BOY 🦈

[@deucespades9416]

So vince made million dollar man, no wonder his servant was black

[@thefuzzman]

No, he was the Million Dollar Man LONG before he was with WWE/F.

[@barryfields2964]

It doesn’t really fit in these parameters, but the biggest ripoff in professional wrestling history is Razor Ramon, stealing is entire identity from Tony Montana.

[@juanc1328]

80s territories’ Tommy Rich and Terry Taylor ripping off the Ric Flair image. Chuck and Billy ripping off WCW’ Lenny Lane and Lodi. We need a hour long doc on just Randy Hogan alone!

[@TheMistahWooseNetwork]

What do JBL and GWB have in common? . . . . . They're both Texans that came from different states! 🤣

[@frankf684]

Wesley Landon Woolsey JBL is from Texas.

[@TheMistahWooseNetwork]

@@mysticbazuso36 George W. Bush

[@ENJ4321]

JBL is from Texas.

[@TheMistahWooseNetwork]

@@ENJ4321 So?

[@ENJ4321]

@@TheMistahWooseNetwork Why did you reply to me, when I wasn't the first to point that out? What do you mean so? You are wrong is what.

[@sheriffkimbo]

I'm waiting on Stone Cold Becky Lynch to drive a Guinness truck down to the ring.

[@Supervillain725]

If she did that I would be in love.

[@dbzdezz1]

wtf we compare becky to Austin now yall need to stop with this

[@manuelper]

@@dbzdezz1 The Becky/Stone Cold comparisons is one of the funniest shit I've seen in many years watching wrestling. It's basically a group of horny men that guffaw at anything Becky does.

[@darthpenguin3320]

Wife material

[@jamesgentry13]

@@manuelper But it is something that Austin himself said he would give his blessing to. It's already happening kind of

[@TheHive616]

Hey I know I'm late and this is a tiny detail, and I'm sure Brian knows by now, but the Ric Flair plane crash (when Mr. Wrestling Tim Woods saved kayfabe in the Carolinas) happened on Oct. 4, 1975, not 74. Minor detail, I know, but just in case someone wants to look it up, it really is a cool story.

[@SirPunzalot]

11:33 Michael Shawn Hickenbottom faceplanted HARD ASF there lmao