Four Of The Most Memorable Gimmicks In Wrestling

Every great professional wrestler needs a great personality to match their skills in the ring, and it can take some trial and error to find the right gimmick that will stand out and connect with audiences. Few wrestlers have fully formed personas out the gate, as it takes time to find out what sort of gimmick works right for you. 

Throughout this process, we have seen some pretty embarrassing gimmicks that wrestlers attempted, but these get weeded out and the great gimmicks remain. These gimmicks give the wrestling world the character and excitement that makes it so compelling to its fans. Read on for four of the best gimmicks ever seen in professional wrestling.

“Hollywood” Hulk Hogan

In 1996, Hulk Hogan took on a new villainous persona “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan. The iconic wrestler who gave “demandments” to his “Hulkamaniac” fans totally switched it up on the audience for something entirely new, different, and bizarre. 

Becoming “Hollywood” Hogan, he ditched his signature yellow outfit for black, and he had new pronouncements to share with the audience. He would go on and on about how everybody should be grateful for what the wrestling world had achieved. His new persona was a success, bringing his career back to earlier highs and also taking the WCW to the next level as a competitor to the WWF.

Bobby “The Brain” Heenan

Bobby “The Brain” Heenan’s career has had many memorable aspects to it, from being part of the iconic feud Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant had with each other to also being among wrestling’s greatest managers. On top of all that, though, his skills in the ring spoke for themselves. He was never afraid to admit his greatness, but he also had a self deprecating side, and he had a great gimmick as a weasel.

When Heenan was in the AWA, Heenan was greatly popular, with 19,000 people showing up to watch him fight Greg Gagne with the expectation of seeing him in a weasel suit if he were to lose. “The Brain” really knew how to get fans to pay attention.

The Undertaker

The Undertaker emerged in the 1990 Survivor Series as a mystery opponent for Ted DiBiase, and from his first appearance, he was unforgettable. The look of a mortician that came out of a western movie was something totally new, and also quite the risk, potentially coming off as the epitome of tackiness if it weren’t done with total conviction. Of course, the Undertaker brought that conviction, and audiences bought the absurd but frightening character he created.

Ever stylish and iconic, the Undertaker became one of the most beloved figures in the federation. His streak on WrestleMania showed that he was more than just a gimmick, though the gimmick went a long way for the star, who was consistently captivating with his spooky entrance which he pulled off with panache time and time again. 

Goldust

Goldust is one of those wrestlers who walked the line of androgyny and managed to make it work. His persona was compelling, and even as people called him “the bizarre one,” it was always in a good way as audiences found themselves wanting more of him rather than being turned off by his antics.

The black and gold facepaint and the gold jumpsuit were all signatures of Goldust, and he often looked more like a character from Mortal Kombat than what you would expect from the WWF. He knew how to mess with people’s heads and used that to his advantage in the ring. He was one of a kind, but he had both the substance and style to make the gimmick a lasting force.