WWE has seen its fair share of ridiculous gimmicks over the years and quite a few of them have failed before they even got off the ground. It takes a special type of performer to take a gimmick that seems ridiculous on paper and make it legitimate. These are the wrestlers that we think deserve a little more credit for stepping up to the plate with an over the top gimmick and hitting a home run.
#5 – Rusev
Rusev has come a long way since debuting on the main roster in 2014. He’s taken a gimmick that seemed cheesy and dated at first and found a way to make it contemporary. The Cold War has been over for a long time but this man has still found a way to use his allegiance to Russia to generate massive amounts of heat. Lana and Rusev tow the line between wrestling characters and cartoon characters and they do it very well. This act still has a lot of gas left in the tank and it’s obvious by the fact that he’s still undefeated on the main roster that WWE has big plans for this man.
#4 – Bad News Barrett
Wade Barrett has always had massive amounts of charisma but he just needed the proper gimmick that would allow him to channel it. The Bad News Barrett gimmick does just that and fans all around the world have latched on to the character. You would be hard pressed to find a fan that doesn’t like saying the words “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.” because it’s hard to resist. This gimmick could have easily been a dud but Barrett has not only made it his own, he’s made it a lot of fun in the process.
#3 – Stardust
There was a time when we all thought Goldust was bizarre but Stardust has managed to take bizarre to a whole new level. The truth us that this gimmick in general was a pretty big risk. Cody Rhodes was already established in the WWE and turning him into Stardust could have been a failure but the gimmick has seen nothing but success since making its debut. Stardust has both honored the legacy of Goldust and made it his own all while keeping us entertained in the process.
We’re happy that Stardust has worked out so far but we hope he’s lying about Cody Rhodes being dead because we would like to see Cody again at some point in the not too distant future.
#2 – Damien Mizdow/Sandow
Damien Sandow deserves some sort of award for taking the steaming piles of turds WWE has handed him and turning them all into pure gold. Sandow drifted for much of 2014 taking terrible location based gimmicks that sounded like awful ideas and somehow made them must see TV. Eventually he ended up working as a stunt double for The Miz which was another idea that sounded stupid and ended up becoming one of the highlights of WWE programming.
His time with The Miz looks to be coming to an end soon but Damien has proved over the past year that he can succeed with just about any gimmick. Hopefully the WWE recognizes his talent and figures out a way to keep his momentum going when he inevitably breaks out on his own.
#1 – Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt is not only one of the most unique characters in the WWE at the moment, he’s one of the most unique characters to ever step foot in a wrestling ring. In the hands of anyone else this gimmick could have easily failed, but the man behind Bray Wyatt has managed to make it something truly captivating. From his signature promo style to his creepy mannerisms, Bray Wyatt really can’t be compared to anyone else in the business right now. He makes himself a mystery but there’s one thing about him you can be sure of, when this man talks, he will make you listen.
The sky is the limit for Bray Wyatt as he’s become one of the most valuable members of the WWE roster in a short amount of time. We don’t know what’s next for this man but we can guarantee we’ll be tuning in to find out.
