Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

Gimmicks that lasted longer than you thought


Recommended Posts

I was talking with a friend today about the Attitude Era and he made a comment about Rikishi (something like seeing that fat ass more times than he cared for) and I told him that showing that fat ass was still better than being The Sultan which surprised him because he had totally forgotten Rikishi was The Sultan. I told him not to feel bad since The Sultan was only around for a couple months and he replied that the gimmick lasted a lot longer than that, so I looked it up and sure enough the character debuted in August 96 and last appeared in January 98. I could have sworn it only lasted 3 months or so. 

So what other gimmicks did you remember being short lived before finding out they actually lasted a while?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Found this match on YT a couple of months ago ... I do not remember the Quebecers returning to the WWF during the Attitude Era, and they were there six months (I vaguely recall Pierre being in Brawl-for-All, but I presumed that was a one-shot deal).

Also, per Cagematch, the Bart Gunn-Bob Holly incarnation of the Midnight Express lasted about five months, much longer than I remembered (honestly thought it was 2 months tops.)

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't remember Rick Martel's WWF heel run lasting all that long until I started re-watching late 80's/early 90's PPVs.  Was surprised to see him still getting a decent push in '93, so I looked it up and he did "The Model" heel character until 1995.  He was still getting a decent push in '93, though it looks like he was rarely on tv in 1994-95.

He turned on Tito and broke up Strikeforce in '89, so he was The Model for about six years.

I've gotten so used to seeing him as a heel it's hard to go back to AWA and watch super babyface Rick Martel.

Interesting, he and Don Callis both claim there were plans to bring them back in the late 90's as a heel tag team, and that Callis was going to eventually tun on Martel so he could become a babyface.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, colonial said:

Found this match on YT a couple of months ago ... I do not remember the Quebecers returning to the WWF during the Attitude Era, and they were there six months (I vaguely recall Pierre being in Brawl-for-All, but I presumed that was a one-shot deal).

Even stranger is that team of "Armageddon" - never seen them before! Bull looks super awkward in that outfit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I still can't get over the fact that Repo Man was played by the same man as Demolition Smash and Krusher Krushchev. That did not compute at all for me as a kid. Dorsow's hunched lurching was on point as Repo Man even if the gimmick and matches were the shits.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, The Green Meanie said:

Even stranger is that team of "Armageddon" - never seen them before! Bull looks super awkward in that outfit.

Did that gimmick even make it to Raw? I seem to remember it being 100 percent sequestered to the syndicated Shotgun shows.

And for the original question, I think the winner has to be Bushwhackers still popping up here and there in 1996, though from about 94 forward they weren't really regularly featured on Raw and were primarily in "ambassador" roles showing up for autograph appearances and non-wrestling WWF video packages, and used part-time to pad out international tours, and occasionally pop up on Superstars or WWF Mania while also being loaned out for indie appearances. It's wild to me that Hunter Hearst Helmsley wrestled a Bushwhacker at the Kuwait Cup in 1996.

Edited by clintthecrippler
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, BrianS81177 said:

I was talking with a friend today about the Attitude Era and he made a comment about Rikishi (something like seeing that fat ass more times than he cared for) and I told him that showing that fat ass was still better than being The Sultan which surprised him because he had totally forgotten Rikishi was The Sultan. I told him not to feel bad since The Sultan was only around for a couple months and he replied that the gimmick lasted a lot longer than that, so I looked it up and sure enough the character debuted in August 96 and last appeared in January 98. I could have sworn it only lasted 3 months or so. 

So what other gimmicks did you remember being short lived before finding out they actually lasted a while?

Man Making A Difference Fatu had to have been around 18 months as well then.

Instead of just 4 months of jobbing due to distractions by his mafiosi cousins (were they Rosey & Jamal years early?) that simply felt like 18

Edited by BobbyWhioux
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Death From Above said:

Darsow's golf gimmick in the dying days of WCW was phenomenal.

 

Was this when he was trying to get the world shittiest arm submission over? I remember him having a move called the Barely Legal which the announcers sold like he was going to tear some poor son of a bitch's arm off but it just looked like he was bending the arm ever so gently. This always used to make me laugh my ass off but I can't remember what point in time this happened

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Phil4126 said:

Was this when he was trying to get the world shittiest arm submission over? I remember him having a move called the Barely Legal which the announcers sold like he was going to tear some poor son of a bitch's arm off but it just looked like he was bending the arm ever so gently. This always used to make me laugh my ass off but I can't remember what point in time this happened

The "Barely Legal" submission appears to be pre-golf pro gimmick. Honestly don't remember this at all - - early 98 Darsow appears to be "talk like the Blacktop Bully while dress like Krusher Khruschev."

 

 

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I still think of gimmick ppvs as a new concept, but not that long ago, I realized Hell in a Cell and Money in the Bank are longer running ppvs than King of the Ring.

WWECW feels like a flash in the pan now, but it ran on tv for almost 4 years.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...