In the larger-than-life world of WWE, it takes more than in-ring skills to make it to the top. The pro wrestling juggernaut has seen stars come and go for as long as its been around. While the likes of Bret Hart and Eddie Guerrero made a name for themselves due to their sheer work rate, others like Steve Austin and The Rock became huge draws for their charisma and mic skills.
That being said, sometimes it takes more than just charisma to get the crowd behind you. A gimmick name can break a wrestler’s future provided the person can get them over themselves. Though most of these 5 men were/are great in-ring workers, their current/former ring names sound quite awful.
Val Venis
The Attitude Era allowed wrestlers to experiment with bolder and edgier gimmicks. The result was a completely different product from the New Generation Era. Superstars became more expressive in their portrayal of gimmicks.
Val Venis had one of the most infamous gimmicks of the Attitude Era. The character was that of an adult film. (His last name rhymes with penis, get it?)
To promote the gimmick, the former Sean Morley) filmed a vignette with prominent real-life porn star Jenna Jameson. The gimmick got over at first, sure, but the name itself was yet another bad pun that ensured a short shelf life and a low ceiling.
The adult film star gimmick would be scrapped for a censorship-based persona as part of the Right to Censor stable.
Max Dupri
LA Knight was a massive Triple H project in NXT. Hunter booked the real-life Shaun Ricker to be an important player on the former Black and Gold Brand. However, things completely changed on the main roster.
Vince McMahon stripped the LA Knight gimmick and replaced it with the infamous Max Dupri. Ricker has gone on record saying he never liked the gimmick but tried to get it over many times.
Fortunately, the stars aligned, and Ricker got his LA Knight gimmick back. Who knows, we might not have seen the tremendous rise of the Megastar had it been for WWE under Vince.
Honky Tonk Man
Wayne Farris’s biggest success came when he became the Honky Tonk Man in WWE. Think of the Honky Tonk Man as Elvis Presley if he was a heel in professional wrestling – minus the great voice and charm, of course.
The Honky Tonk Man was a superb heel who knew how to draw the ire of the crowd. After setting record as the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion, the Honky Tonk Man would drop the title to the incredibly popular Ultimate Warrior.
Flash Funk
2 Cold Scorpio was the coolest worker to work an ECW event. The real-life Charles Scaggs was pushed to the moon in both WCW and ECW, where he won the television title four times. However, he failed to replicate the same success in WWE.
The 2 Cold Scorpio gimmick and ring name was dropped for Flash Funk, the dancing archetype for black wrestlers at the time. The awful ring name, coupled with real-life addictions, would lead to his downfall in WWE.
Fortunately, Scaggs managed to turn his life around.
Brutus Beefcake
Edward Leslie was a prominent tag team player with then up-and-coming Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan) in the territories. He arrived in WWE during the eighties and got repackaged as the heel Brutus Beefcake.
While the name may not sound imposing, Leslie’s heel tactics were. He’d bring garden shears to the ring to cut the hair of his opponents after matches. The gimmick would earn him a WWE Hall of Fame induction in WWE.
Also read: 5 Naughtiest WWE Superstars Ever
