10 WCW Gimmicks That Surprisingly Didn't Get Over
WCW was always infamous for pushing some truly horrible gimmicks on fans. So many times, they had something that was stupid from the get-go and turned out worse than expected. There were also acts that had some promise but ended up being horrible and soon in the annals of the dumbest ideas wrestling has ever seen. Now and then, WCW could have a good act that just needed time to get over, and fans slowly embraced it.
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But now and then, WCW had an actually good gimmick with every ingredient to work, yet it somehow didn’t. Some may have been too ahead of their time to click, while others didn’t appeal to WCW audiences. A few times, they involved future stars who hadn’t quite made it yet but showed promise with these ideas. These are ten WCW gimmicks that surprisingly didn’t get over but might have led to bigger success had they been embraced better.
10 Mean Mark Callous
It’s always fascinating to see the early acts of future stars. Mark Callous did stand out in WCW with his height, a biker motif and was actually good in the ring. He showed it with bits like walking the ring ropes and some good moves.
He was pushed in both singles action and as a part of the Skyscrapers team, but fans dismissed him as just another tall guy in the company. Callous left in mid-1990 to head to WWE, where he became The Undertaker. Just think how different WWE would have been had fans embraced Callous in WCW.
9 The Natural Born Thrillers
A great idea, The Natural Born Thrillers were a pack of young workers tired of being held back in WCW. Mike Sanders, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O'Haire, Shawn Stasiak, Reno, Mark Jindrak and Johnny the Bull had skills and the concept of them fighting for their breakout was good.
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Except WCW fans had been burned by this type of act before with the New Blood. Just like that stable, the Thrillers were seen as lesser to the bigger veteran stars, even with Kevin Nash in their corner. They had broken up by the time WCW failed as fans weren't thrilled by this concept.
8 The Diamond Studd
Scott Hall had always been seen as a potential star, just lacking the power to get over. After years away, he came to WCW in 1991 with a new look of a cool persona with slicked hair, toothpick and a cool-looking powerbomb finisher. He had some feuds and Diamond Dallas Page as a manager, yet never got much heat from fans.
Hall took the act to WWE and adjusted it to become Razor Ramon, becoming a megastar instantly. But that early version of the act could have become just as big had fans realized what Hall had in the ring.
7 The Blue Bloods
Steven Regal had been a fine midcard worker for WCW with multiple runs as TV Champion. In 1994, Regal began working with a young Jean-Paul Lévesque as the Blue Bloods, building on the idea of being aristocrats. When Jean-Paul left to become Hunter Hearst Helmsley in WWE, Regal recruited tag team veteran Bobby Eaton.
It was a quirky pairing, yet the two worked well together and the offbeat idea of Eaton as a “blue blood” had real promise. Despite how they shone in a rough tag team period, the pair only got a couple of shots at the belts and just not over to split up. The fans just didn’t get red hot for the Blue Bloods.
6 Team Package
Lex Luger had his ups and downs in WCW but was always best embracing being an egotistical heel. In late 1999, Luger declared he was only going by “The Total Package” and a brutal new style in the ring. He and foe Ric Flair teamed up to form Team Package, and eventually he and Buff Bagwell became a decent team.
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It was the best fire Luger had shown in a while, but fans oddly didn’t take to it. It’s a shame as this was a great late-act persona for Luger, but WCW fans of the time didn’t take to this new Package.
5 Jean-Paul Lévesque
It's amusing how some WCW acts were almost dry runs for later WWE success. Jean-Paul Lévesque was pushed as a "French aristocrat" with a goofy accent to match. He shifted it to just acting that way to get attention but did have promise.
He was arrogant, good on the mic and a fun finisher called the Pedigree. He just didn't connect at the time, so WCW didn't see any reason to keep him. He took the act to WWE to become Triple H, and it's amazing what WCW could have had if the fans had responded better.
4 Glacier
Maybe it was the timing that hurt Glacier. Had he debuted a year or two earlier at the height of the Mortal Kombat craze, he'd have been more over, poor worker or not. He had an awesome look and WCW spent a lot on his entrance but it took a long time for him to finally debut and show he wasn't the martial arts expert fans expected.
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Yet he kept trying and was looking more decent down the road before WCW pulled the plug on the experiment. Still, it's not like fans didn't take to bad worker in goofy outfits and Glacier's cool look should have won over fans a lot more instead of becoming one of WCW's more epic flops.
3 LWO
The LWO really should have worked. The concept was sound as Eddie Guerrero was tired of the focus on the New World Order and that he and other Latino wrestlers were being ignored. So he got together a group including Psychosis, La Parka, Rey Mysterio and more.
They had a cool look and a great focus making names for themselves, yet fans seemed to see them as just a second-rate NWO. They did suffer when Guerrero had his rough car accident and WCW not doing enough with them, yet the LWO had so much potential to succeed had they been embraced more by fans.
2 Berlyn
Alex Wright had overcome some poor stuff with his dancing to be a solid performer in WCW, with runs as TV, Cruiserweight and Tag Team Champion. In 1999, he remade himself into Berlyn, a serious figure with a bold look and a wicked heel style.
In some ways, it was an act ahead of its time and could have led to major success. While fans were cold at it at first, it was likely it could have continued with more support. But WCW didn’t give it to him, ending the act way too fast when Berlyn could have given Wright a good second life in WCW.
1 Blitzkrieg
WCW was packed with a lot of fantastic Cruiserweights who got over pretty well with fans. Yet one of the most talented of the bunch was undoubtedly Blitzkrieg. With a fancy mask and a terrific style, the guy was soon a highlight of Thunder and weekend shows with some great high-flying moves.
WCW did him little favors with a losing streak, yet the guy had the potential to break out with fans. As it happened, after suffering a concussion he decided to quit the whole business, but it’s still surprising he couldn’t get over as a big star with fans.
