10 WCW Gimmicks That Went Too Far

When it comes to gimmicks, World Championship Wrestling has certainly delivered its fair share of misfires. Over the years, fans have seen sub-WWE occupational gimmicks (Men At Work), timely pop culture references (The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea), and light trademark infringement (Arachnaman). On top of those, there have been a number of gimmicks that crossed the line.

While some of the below gimmicks are offensive or in poor taste in one way or another — enough for the network to intervene — others were the result of WCW going overboard on a concept and failing miserably. Let’s take a look at 10 of these gimmicks.

10 Oklahoma

Oklahoma wearing the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.

When Attitude Era WWE writer Vince Russo arrived in WCW in the fall of 1999, he didn’t come alone — he also brought his writing partner, regular TV writer turned wrestling TV writer Ed Ferrara. Just like Russo, Ferrara made his way from backstage to television as well, portraying the role of Oklahoma.

An obvious, mean-spirited parody of WWE commentator Jim Ross, Oklahoma saw Ferrara donning the iconic black cowboy hat and mocking JR’s Bell’s Palsy affliction.

9 Johnny B. Badd

WWE fans know “Wildman” Marc Mero for being overshadowed by Sable, but before that he spent about five years as a very different character in WCW. Upon arriving in WCW in 1991, Dusty Rhodes noticed that a young Marc Mero had a vague resemblance to legendary musician Little Richard.

As a result, Johnny B. Badd was born, with the notably Caucasian Mero portraying a flamboyantly gay black man, complete with makeup and an unfortunately affected voice. Initially a heel, Badd ended up becoming a surprisingly popular babyface, but it’s tough to justify racial and sexual masquerade.

8 Seven

Upon returning to WCW after a stint in WWE as Goldust, Dustin Rhodes was seemingly given another high-concept gimmick in the form of Seven. A spooky, possibly supernatural persona, Seven was introduced in a series of weekly vignettes that saw Seven saying ominous things to a sleeping child.

While obviously intended to be creepy, to some these vignettes seemed creepy in the wrong way, suggesting that Seven was some sort of child molester. When Seven finally debuted, he immediately dropped the gimmick in a worked shoot promo and reverted to Dustin Rhodes.

7 Scott Hall

It’s far from uncommon for a wrestler’s real life to become part of the story, but in 1998 WCW may have gone too far with Scott Hall. Turning heel on partner Kevin Nash, Hall began displaying some of his well-known alcoholism in kayfabe, coming to the ring with a beverage in his hand and filming vignettes in bars.

Referred to as “Last Call” Scott Hall, this gimmick didn’t even lead to a good match, as his big bout with Nash at Halloween Havoc ended with Nash walking out on the match in kayfabe disgust.

6 Yoshi Kwan

Chris Champion was a British-born wrestler who proved to be a standout cruiserweight in the NWA territories, but when arriving in WCW in 1993 he was given one of the more wrongheaded gimmicks in the promotion’s history.

Rather than wrestle as something resembling himself, Champion debuted as a fake Asian wrestler named Yoshi Kwan, decked out in martial arts gear and with eye makeup to appear more Asian. It was an odd choice given the number of Asian wrestlers in WCW that could bring it and didn’t yield much success as Yoshi Kwan was out of the promotion by the end of 1993.

5 The Ding Dongs

One of the more controversial figures in WCW’s early years was Executive Vice President Jim Herd, who in 1989 sought to replicate the success of WWE by making the newly rebranded promotion more kid-friendly.

Herd’s big idea was The Ding Dongs, in which a tag team called The Rock ‘n’ Roll Rebels were repackaged as masked men in orange bodysuits who wore bells all over their bodies. This is a gimmick that went too far in terms of being geared toward kids — so much that it seemed condescending and cynical.

4 The Renegade

Before his heel turn and the formation of the New World Order, Hulk Hogan’s WCW run mostly amounted to rehashing Hogan’s WWE successes — both rivalries and partnerships — albeit not as good as the first time. In the build to Uncensored ‘95, Hogan promised to introduce an “Ultimate Surprise,” which fans expected to be The Ultimate Warrior.

However, when it came time for Uncensored, the surprise turned out to be a rip-off of Warrior called The Renegade, complete with face paint and armbands. It was a bridge too far for many fans, however, and Renegade was eventually relegated to jobber status.

3 Dave Sullivan

WWE’s Eugene was an all-timer in terms of controversial gimmicks — a comedic parody of a mentally disabled person who was a wrestling prodigy when the bell rang. But Dave Sullivan was a similarly questionable precursor when he was introduced over a decade prior.

The kayfabe brother of pseudo-supernatural heel Kevin Sullivan, Dave Sullivan seemed to have the mind of a child and was also dyslexic, so he pronounced his name as Evad even though that’s not how dyslexia works. To make this gimmick even stranger, Dave was a Hulkamaniac, which resulted in Kevin Sullivan starting a feud with Hulk Hogan that would lead to the Dungeon of Doom storyline.

2 nWo 2000

Introduced in 1996, the New World Order was a game-changing gimmick for not only WCW but professional wrestling overall, as this invading faction of (mostly) ex-WWE stars was imitated and replicated by countless promotions in the decades since. However, after the gimmick ran its course in WCW, the promotion couldn’t help but roll out rehashes and imitations, the last of which was nWo 2000.

While the lineup was fine — it included Bret Hart, Kevin Nash, Jeff Jarrett, and others — most fans saw it as yet another attempt to milk the nWo idea for all it was worth. The gimmick only lasted a few months, too, as poorly timed injuries forced WCW to eventually abandon the concept.

1 The West Hollywood Blonds

In 1999, disregarded undercarders Lenny Lane and Lodi decided to band together as The West Hollywood Blonds, a duo of gay stereotypes with a name playing off of the original Hollywood Blonds tag team.

Given that they were heels used for cheap homophobic heat, the gimmick proved to be controversial, so much so that GLAAD issued a statement about it and TBS’s own Standards and Practices demanded they be taken off of television. WCW acquiesced, and Lenny and Lodi had to be repackaged.