Top 10 Wrestlers Careers RUINED With One Bad Gimmick 

Naw. The Boogeyman had a great look and you could tell Marty Wright was totally into it with everything he did. It was just wrong place, wrong time; weird dark gimmicks weren't gonna fly in an era of faceless Brock Lesner clones.

DDP is the most agregious loss of talent on this list

We may laugh at the Shockmaster but in my heart, Fred Ottman will always be Tugboat/Typhoon.

You tripping. The boogeyman is almost a legend.

I think that they did the whole concussion gimmick to punish him but it got over because that was a seriously entertaining gimmick until the mop. It is obvious this wasn't a punishment meant to teach him a lesson it was a punishment to destroy his career.

A little correction there buddy. Eddie and Chavo were Uncle and Nephew NOT Cousins.

DDP should have been the one to break Goldberg's Streak

if anything, Phantasio was closer to Papa Shango. the closest comparisons to Taker, the black gear , hat and trench coat, and maybe the facepaint looked very, very lightly like the phantom mask, which hadn't been seen for a couple years.

Bruce Pritchard said Fantasio’s downfall was that he set the Gorilla position on fire by accident messing around with some flash paper.

I don't think Phantasio was a bad gimmick, it never got a chance to develop. I could see all kinds of ways magic could be used during matches.

You forgot to mention Sara pinned DDP 😁

Wait you didn't like the boogie man?! I always loved him because it was creepy even to this day. I thought it was a cool ass gimmick.

What r you talking about the Boogeyman was freaking awesome

The 'Boogeyman' gimmick was brilliant

Marty Wright is still working a few matches a year as the boogeyman to this day and i imagine Conventions too i wouldn't really say it ruined his career

I liked the boogeyman character

That Shockmaster first promo was so bad it was good. At least that is fondly remembered as a classic.

The Boogeyman was actually over with the crowd back in the day.

Nothing quite hit as hard as Steve Blackman "the worlds most dangerous man" with a wedge of cheese on his head

All it takes is one bad day.

I burst out laughing when I saw the thumbnail with Saturn holding moppy 🤣

DDP being the one stalking the Undertaker's wife Sara made zero sense. DDP was married to Kimberly, the former Diamond Doll.

Honestly, given VKM’s extremely juvenile sense of humor, Taylor was given the Red Rooster gimmick just to make Vince laugh due to penis related humor.

Silly gimmicks or not at least they were tv getting paid not working a 9-5. Also Boogeyman was awesome.

Sorry man, really poor video in places 1) Del Rios was due to the Undertaker not the gimmick as you admitted so shouldn't be on the list 2) Boogeyman was literally the invention of Martin Wright himself, he was never expecting something "serious" given how old he was at the time. He literally thanks the WWE for letting him live out his dream and by the time his run ended, he wasn't interested in doing any more "full time" runs

The boogeyman still shows up in my local indy pretty often. The dude is still making money off that gimmick

"forever remembered for", id forgotten it was tugboat

I wonder if the Tensai gimmick would've worked better if they didnt hide his face in the run up and leaned more into his time spent in Japan "training" and taking a new name. Another poor Creative choice i guess.

To be fair, Saturn's whole Moppy gimmick got him more over than he ever was in the past (at least in WWE), and is pretty much the main thing that anyone really remembers him for.

Monte Brown was a dominant force in TNA, then he defects over to WWE, and Vince ruins him completely.

I'll never forgive the DDP one. He was my hero as a kid, and WWE threw him in the dumpster with that dumb BS.

Gimmicks in wrestling can be a bit of hit or miss

The only thing I remember about Typhoon is him killing Jake the Snakes , snake 🐍

It's odd that it was The Undertaker that objected to Phantasmo, he was more like Doink than anything else. I guess if Taker and Doink had a child, it'd probably be something like Phantasmo. Maybe they could have done something with it. That first match was a bit too silly for him to ever be a main eventer though, at least back then. Now he'd probably be an AEW champion as he'd fit in perfectly there.

Mike Awesome was definitely robbed

Phantasio looks like Danhausen if he took a residency in Las Vegas.

Dude the Boogeyman was an incredibly entertaining character. Not the best in the ring but I'd compare him to the Ultimate Warrior in many ways.

The boogeyman was awesome. He was a hidden gem during the downfall of wwe.

Don't forget the Boogeyman (which was actually a decent gimmick) could have been a formidable heel and opponent of the Taker, but Vince decided to ruin him by making him a face. Gene Snitzky also comes to mind, for he was misused twice in WWE. Vince and Don Callis (aka Cyrus/The Jackyl) BOTH ruined Robert Maillet (aka Kurrgan - who was unstoppable as a heel.) Too bad Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase was NOT around during the WWF Attitude Era (he was working for rival WCW at the time.) (DiBiase) would have given Maillet/Kurrgan an even huger push for title shots (Callis/Jackyl was a terrible choice for a manager.) The time we finally got to see a Kurrgan vs. Taker match is when Maillet was a face with the Oddities and Taker was the top heel as the Minister of Darkness - and that match was a complete JOKE. Taker annihilated Kurrgan in less than a minute. Would have NEVER been that way if Taker was a face and Kurrgan a heel, especially if DiBiase was still in WWF during the Attitude Era (and he managed Maillet with his Million Dollar Corporation.)

Mike Bell should've stopped working when Perry started shooting...

I heard DDP have finished his career as a wrestler due to injury from match with Hardcore Holly.

Honestly the Boogeyman could've work if they looked at more supernatural stuff

Amazing video

What if the boss tells me to wear a glittery storm trooper helmet? Then, I fall through a wall, the helmet falls off, I try to hide my face with said helmet, ALL the while Sycho Sid is yelling at me? What then? 😂

I remember as a kid being confused seeing Prince Albert come back as supposedly a whole new person. I felt like it insulted my intelligence and I tuned out for awhile

Mike Shaw was great as Norman The Lunatic (it was actually a brilliant gimmick.) He stunk as Friar Ferguson and Bastion Booger (although the latter in his debut ended Jimmy Snuka's WWF career in 1994.)

I’m very sorry that people are hostile to the Gobbledy Gooker gimmick. It was intended to be ridiculous and ironic, and was executed very well. I actually thought it was fun. Another example of this, is how people boringly denigrate the Fake Razor and Diesel stunt, presumably missing the point that it was a sarcastic riff on the trademarked gimmick ecosystem of the business, playing on the perceived credulity of perceptive fans.

"young Cody saw Shockmaster's debut with Friends at home and when he triped and lost his helmet..... Cody said " I think that was Uncle Fred"🤣🤣🤣🤣

They NEVER should’ve tried to repackage Albert. Johnny Ace was running around as the guy running raw at the time and Albert should’ve been brought in as his enforcer.

How you not like the Boogyman? He was awesome to watch. Especially his feuds with JBL and Booker T.

I remember seeing Phantasio's WWE match as a kid and i absolutely loved it. I tuned in week after week hoping to see him again and it never happened. I only found out a few years ago that he never had another match in WWE. I think he could have been a solid mid carder

I unironically and unapologetically loved the Moppy gimmick. Induct Moppy into the HOF immediately

Saturn's moppy gimmick was classic.

Vince has slapped great wrestlers with so many bad gimmicks that it is not even funny . Now we are finding out he is a trash human being in other ways .

At least today typhoon/tugboat can make a couple bucks with the shockmaster Story to entertain people on fanmeetings!!!

As far as character work goes, Boogeyman has all of the other gimmicks on this list beat even if he grossed child me out back during the Ruthless Aggression Era.

DDP IS A HALL OF FAMER and boogieman was very good! too bad

I think Boogeyman was successful, it worked.

Excellent top 10 of amazing wrestler red rooster 🐓 bastion booger doink and dink the clown 🤡 mantaur .man mountain rock 🎸

I thought Phantasio was kind of lame but he was great in USWA and they really should have pushed him in the WWF. The guy was huge and moved quickly.

They got those stupid gimmicks from vince for punishment,

What happend with shockmaster is that he Fallen over a 2 by 4, he then turned into a construction worker and then Super shockmaster

I have to disagree with you about The Boogeyman gimmick! It was great, and over with the fans. It wasnt something that was thrown on him by the WWE to bury him, the whole thing was Marty Wright's idea and creation. He wanted to eat other creatures too like Roaches and Crickets, but WWE stopped him at worms since they didnt want to risk infesting arenas and worms were easier to control. The reason why he eventually fizzled out of WWE is because of his lack of skill in the ring. But Marty loves that gimmick and he still makes money traveling around making appearences with it to this day.

What? The Boogieman was nothing but gimmick and it was a great one. Dude was a middle-aged roidhead that wasn't very good in the ring but his gimmick was awesome. They booked him horribly. First they pushed him too hard despite him not being good in the ring then they bailed on him despite his gimmick being so over with the crowd. If they had any sense they'd have accepted what he was for better and worse then ran with it, dude would have been a fun fan-fave staple of the midcard.

I watched Terry Taylor before The Red Rooster gimmick and I was an informed fan excited for his debut ...the big day came and he was Vince'd into a freaking Rooster ! It was just sad and got worse by the second!

I liked Tensai... I wasn't a fan of Albert or the A train ...

Wasn't the true ruination of Saturns career when he got shot resulting in him getting hooked on painkillers and unfortunately spiralling downhill following? 🤔

Also for mike awesome, stick with him has a badass keep it that way and the money printed

Most Of These Gimmicks Were Failed By The WWE. Yes. 2 Thank You For Letting Us Know That The WWE Ruined Mike Awesome Worse Than Vince Russo At WCW. Eric Bischoff Was Pushing Mike Awesome. Vince Russo Put Him In Midcard After Eric Bischoff Left. For Every WCW Mistake, There Are 10 And More WWE Mistakes. ✋

Never was a DDP fan. Dude was a great wrestler I just never found him that interesting idk

Otman falling down wasn’t even his fault. Someone included a cross beam to the “wall” that wasn’t there before. He didn’t see it and tripped.

If Fred Ottman hadn’t fallen through the wall I don’t think Shockmaster would be seen as one of the worst gimmicks ever, he’ll always be Tugboat and more so Typhoon to me anyway

That mike bloom gimmick is very similar to the one they used for dr death. Seems wwe likes reuses old gimmicks. Usually the ones that never work.

When The Spellbinder got zero crowd reaction in Memphis I knew he had no future in the WWF.

Best gimmick? When they made dude wear the stormtrooper helmet painted black and he tries to come through a wall, falls and the helmet pops off 😂😂😂😂

This was pretty good and the one theme that ran throughout the theme was WWF/WWE punishments. I can't wait for Vince McMahon to end up rotting in prison broke and broken.

Perry and that mop are no doubt wrestlings greatest love story!

My Oline coach in HS played at Pitt with Prince Albert

I would have to disagree with the Boogeyman on this one dude literally had or has a Legends contract because of that gimmick

9:07 Eddie and Chavo weren't cousins. Eddie was Chavo's uncle.

I'm kind of surprised to learn that Moppy killed Saturn's career because as a kid I loved it and many others did too. I would go as far as to say that it is one of the most famous props in WWE history. Do we have any further information on this? I'm not doubting so much as wondering whether we have an example of the correlation causation fallacy.

Boogeyman was a good gimmick but not a wrestler to brag about

Didn't the guy who was the Boogeyman create the gimmick himself? Who are you to take a crap on it?

Mike Awesome could have made his That 70s guy gimmick work if wcw would have let him continue to be a major force in the ring but outside have him be a doofus like Ashton Kutcher on That 70s show

7:56 Did that really ruin his career when he had so many miles.

DDP in WWE got no respect like Rodney Dangerfield

Eddie is Chavo's uncle, not his cousin.

I don't even like DDP and I would even admit that was not right what WWE did to him. That pop he got was amazing when he took that mask off though

Who are you for your opinion to be valid? Boogieman was 🔥🔥🔥

Boogeyman is in my top 5 gimmicks tbh

@Stunned By Wrestling Can you do a life and career of Melina Perez.

The Boogeyman was not lame. He was actually pretty good

100% disagree on the Boogeyman. The Boogeyman was a hilarious gimmick and he is still getting called for occasion appearances, to this day. No one else on this list can say that and just because YOU personally didn't like the Boogeyman doesn't mean most other people didn't. Even though this is otherwise a great list, you get a Thumbs Down and I am not subscribing because of that entry.

I agree the boogieman was nasty,but he definitely a memorable heel 😂. Also got his wish kinda in leprechaun sort of way lol. That whole rooster one and some of the others besides Saturn. Really show how much management likes to throw their weight around. Give a little more credence,to me anyway about the whole vince allegations. I'm sure there was more than him in on it.

How was Marty Wrights career ruined, he has WrestleMania victories under his belt even? 😂 The Boogeyman merch sold, and probably still sells, pretty good too so I'm not seeing where his career was ruined.

As a fan some were comedic relief and to degree i understand certain acts as punishment but as a person I couldn't be in that business my pride wouldn't let me go be humiliated day in day out I get it some were form of punishment but other I believe it was deliberate character assassination maybe because they were big with another competitive organizations so if we humiliate them here or make them a jobber it just show they weren't all that big after all I would hate that I don't get a push because the jealousy of another big time wrestler or boss himself.

Phantasio Looks like Cody Rhodes

Looking forward to seeing this

To be honest, in the recent climate of body positivity... And let's be real.. More guys are into big girls now... The Mike Awesome would take off now.. 😂😂

The rooster could’ve worked if it was…who am I kidding, it’s automatic career suicide.