Thanks to Jim Ross and other commentators using every descriptive adjective besides the obvious offensive ones, WWE fans in the mid-nineties learned the word “androgynous.” Since then, fans have come to know all sorts of androgynous characters over the years. Most of the time, they’re a template for faux-glam rockers, other times a wrestler can push the boundaries of good taste.

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Some of the most popular sports entertainers of all time have had huge success playing a character that irks the fans in a certain way. Sure its cheap heat to play off the fans’ emotions and perhaps pre-conceived notions, but it also has helped sell a ton of tickets over the years.

8 Goldust

Goldust

Now a part of AEW, the first ballot Hall Of Famer, Dustin Rhodes spent the majority of his career as The Bizarre One, Goldust. Goldust’s initial run contained a ton of gyrations and innuendo and is the very reason that plenty of fans learned the meaning of androgynous to being with. Once he was paired with his wife, Marlena, the duo began to climb new heights in the company. In later years, the androgynous side of Goldie was dropped in favor of a more comedic character.

7 The Velveteen Dream

Velveteen Dream

Debuting on the last season of Tough Enough, Patrick Clark showed he had a lot of heart and desire to be a WWE Superstar. While he didn’t win the competition, he was signed to NXT. He would eventually debut a gimmick inspired by the legendary Prince - The Velveteen Dream; and as far as music goes, it doesn’t get much more androgynous than the Purple One.

6 Exotic Adrian Street

Adrian Street And Miss Linda

As a precursor to both Goldust and the Glam Rock genre of the late seventies and eighties was Exotic Adrian Street. Touring the world with his longtime girlfriend/valet Miss Linda only helped to further tick off the paying fans - who was this pretty girl hanging out with this weird freak?

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He even had a few glam rock songs he recorded, one of them became his entrance music and the name of his WWE documentary- Imagine What I Could Do To You. Street perfected the art form of getting under opponents’ skin by making them uncomfortable. But underneath all of the makeup and theatrics, Adrian Street was way before his time and a tough as a nails wrestler. In North America, he was able to defeat Terry Taylor for the Mid-South TV title by planting a big kiss on the former Rooster.

5 Dalton Castle

Dalton Castle And The Boys

Between several big promotions in America right now, Dalton Castle might be the biggest unsigned name out there. While other guys on this list played up the glam rock and the androgyny to be a heel, Dalton Castle and The Boys are actually big babyfaces, or at least they were all throughout his tenure in Ring Of Honor. Most recently, he returnted to ROH at Death Before Dishonor with The Boys to capture the ROH 6 Man Tag Team Titles

4 Johnny B. Badd

Johnny B Badd

When you look like the original rock and roll superstar, Little Richard, it certainly was easy to play the part of an androgynous and flamboyant Johnny B. Badd. Marc Mero would make his mark in WCW using wild colorful outfits, a glitter gun, and The Kiss That Don’t Miss - his version of The Shooting Star Press. It was the kind of gimmick that's ready-made for the WWE. The company loved the gimmick, but since it was a WCW creation, the gimmick fell by the wayside in favor of The Wild Man.

3 Adorable Adrian Adonis

Adorable Adrian Adonis

In the mid-eighties, when Aqua Net and hair bands were running as wild as Hulkamania was, Adrian Adonis changed his style to meet the times. He adopted the Adorable tag line as well as some makeup and even had his own talk show, The Flower Shop. The gimmick change worked wonders and pushed Adonis straight to a huge WrestleMania 3 showdown with Rowdy Roddy Piper in a hair vs hair match. The Rowdy One was able to defeat Adonis in what was originally thought to be his last match.

2 Sonny Kiss

Sonny Kiss

For plenty of people on this list, the androgyny and flamboyance is just a gimmick. But for AEW’s Sonny Kiss, it is part of Sonny Kiss’ lifestyle. The New Jersey native identifies as a gender-fluid athlete.

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She changes in the AEW women’s locker room and has helped train the female competitors. Meanwhile, he wrestles on the men’s side of the roster, most notably in a tag team with Joey Janela on AEW Dark.

1 Gorgeous George

Gorgeous George

Several years into his in-ring career, George Wallace caught wind of fellow wrestler Lord Landsdowne, using the gimmick of two valets and being ensconced in velvet. Wagner knew he could take a money gimmick like that and take it even further. He would become Gorgeous George and in the 1940s, an effeminate man in any wrestling ring was sure to garner a ton of heat. The Human Orchid and his lavish robes and theme music, Pomp And Circumstance influenced a generation of wrestlers, including The Macho Man, who had purchased the rights to the gimmick from Wagner’s wife years later.