Wrestling can often remind one of William Goldman’s old line on Hollywood: “Nobody knows nothing.” Promoters and bookers can push so hard for things they want to work but somehow the fans are the final choice so often. As RD Reynolds once noted, ideas that sound great on paper will bomb while the stuff that sounds incredibly dumb goes on to draw huge money. It really comes down to the person behind it, often channeling their own feelings and doing their best to make something work. But it can also be the timing, how fans respond and making things that sound so dumb work out so well. It’s truly amazing to see how many times writers attempt to get something over that fail yet the wrestler makes a dumb thing they came up with on their own click.

It’s telling how many of these come from folks who were often ignored, showing how they can come up with stuff better than the writers. However, it comes down to the fans and how they feel and amazing to see just how these things click over so well. From gimmicks to a character, they are able to take stupid things and make them highly successful to the point WWE has to take notice. Here are 15 seemingly stupid things that WWE stars managed to turn into huge hits and show how it’s hard to tell what will and won’t work in wrestling.

15 The Godfather

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Charles Wright had bounced around WWE for years with gimmicks like “shoot fighter” Kama and evil witch doctor Papa Shango. Joining the Nation of Domination in 1997, Wright slowly adjusted his act, taking on the name of the Godfather. When they split, Wright took the act to the extreme, making it obvious he was a pimp by coming out to the ring with a pack of hot ladies he openly called his “hos.” He would even offer his opponents a night with the ladies in exchange for forfeiting the match.

Today, this act would be way too much and even in 1998, it was pretty extreme.

But damned if it didn’t work, Wright going full-out dancing and living up to this persona. He even had a run as IC champion to get fans behind him. Later appearances kept up the fun before his recent appearance at RAW’s 25th anniversary show to reveal he was married. But The Godfather finally got Wright the success he long wanted, against all odds.

14 The Hurricane

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One of the bright spots of the dying days of WCW, Shane Helms was a good high-flyer with a fun attitude. When the Invasion began, Helms knew he needed something special to stand out. So he began coming out in a full-scale superhero costume as the Hurricane. At first a total joke, it caught on with fans thanks to how much he got into it with his funny promos and such. He got a run as European champ and Cruiserweight too. He also took off as a tag champion with Kane and later with Rosey and even had a feud with The Rock. He would have a few appearances afterward to make it click nicely. His return at the 2018 Royal Rumble was to a huge pop, fans still loving how Helms got into the entire act and thus made this gimmick truly fly.

13 The Million Dollar Belt

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When Ted DiBiase entered WWE in 1987, he was given a huge push. The Million Dollar Man was a brilliant heel boasting of his wealth, offering bribes to people and even trying to buy the title. By 1989, he was in a tough place as he was no longer in the main event but too over for the lower cards. So in a TV bit, DiBiase announced that since he couldn’t win a title, he’d just buy his own. He then got a gorgeous gold and diamond belt with dollar signs linked together.

While a vanity bit, the Million Dollar Belt soon became a great part of DiBiase’s character, showing his arrogance on full display.

It was even made the center of feuds with Jake Roberts and Virgil. It proved DiBiase’s power and remains one of WWE’s most beloved props that gave him new life.

12 King Booker

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Booker T has proven himself capable of surviving some bad stuff. In WCW, he had some rough storylines as well as a period as GI Bro. In WWE, he had ups and downs like a partnership with Goldust but managing to make it work. In 2006, Booker was getting a new push by winning the King of the Ring with the traditional crown and cape. He threw himself into it, taking the name of King Booker. The sight of a streetwise black guy talking in a broad “English” accent and carrying on like royalty could have been a disaster. But Booker made it work by going whole-hog for it with his mannerisms, the suits and the whole thing was a hit that led to another World title run. Booker would revive the act in 2016, as fun as ever and showed how a guy with a great persona can make anything work, even something as dumb as this.

11 IRS

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In 1991, you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting a stupid cartoonish character in WWE. Many guys were just given acts of occupations and hampered by them badly. Mike Rotunda had been a former tag team champion but fallen to the wayside since with rough stuff in WCW. He returned to WWE as Irwin R. Schyster, an evil tax agent. His promos had him boasting of taking on cheats and slamming the fans while dressed in a suit minus jacket.

It should have been stupid but Rotunda’s skill and how he embraced the character made it click.

He even impressed by wrestling with his tie on which deserves kudos. It really took off when Rotunda and Ted DiBiase were tossed together and upset the Legion of Doom for the tag titles. The two totally clicked as evil heels and Money Inc would dominate the tag scene for over a year and a half. Rotunda still shows up now and then as IRS to show this gimmick wasn’t taxing at all for fans.

10 Walk With Elias

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Musical-themed acts in wrestling have a so-so record (just look at the Honky Tonk Man). Which is why it’s so impressive that Elias has taken off the way he has. He started it out in NXT but it was felt that it would be the classic case of an NXT character that would fail on the main roster (think of Emma’s dancing). However, WWE actually played it smart with Elias walking around the background of matches and interview segments strumming the guitar and people giving him weird looks. Attacking Finn Balor was a good way to sell him as a threat but he really did click with his pre-match musical performances.

True, it was cheap heat of him insulting whatever city he was in but his fun playing and inventive lyrics won folks over. The Royal Rumble proved his popularity, playing on his way to the ring and having the entire arena chant “Who wants to walk with Elias?” His character is just fun and helps make this an act to sing about.

9 Broken Matt Hardy

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Okay, technically it began in TNA but it has carried over into WWE to get attention. Matt Hardy was always a bit in Jeff’s shadow in WWE and TNA, a good worker but not the same charisma. In 2016, the brothers were in a feud when cameras showed Matt at his home with white hair and suddenly talking in a bizarre sophisticated accent. At first, no one knew what to make of it as he and Jeff fought it out and Matt declared himself “Broken.” Slowly but surely, his wild promos had folks responding as he would call out about “deleting” opponents.

Before anyone knew it, the Hardy antics made TNA must-see TV with Jeff joining as “Brother Nero” and some truly wild antics.

It got wilder as Matt surprised ROH fans by showing up on video and the Hardys soon taking the act to various smaller promotions. Of course, TNA had to blow it as they walked out on the company while still the tag champions. After a brief ROH title run, the Hardyz made their epic return to WrestleMania under their usual names. But with legal stuff settled, Matt is using the Broken/Woken gimmick and proven how this insane act could be a surprise smash.

8 The Cobra

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When Santino Marella debuted in 2007, he had the gimmick of a “fan” in Italy coming out of the crowd to beat Umaga for the IC title. But fans didn’t take to him as this babyface and a heel turn wasn’t much better. But Santino improved with the antics of himself as a total buffoon who would mangle English and fans responded more. Still looking for a way to get more attention, Santino started to work on something he’d learned in Japan of an arm strike. He showed it to John Cena, who laughed at it. Rather than be upset, Santino realized he could work with this and the Cobra was born.

At first, the joke was how Santino would make a big show of it but have it fail. But it was soon sold as an effective finishing move for surprise wins. Santino added on the snake-themed sock to it and it was soon a popular part of his act. Now retired due to injuries, Santino showed how his funny antics could serve him well.

7 Steampunk Becky

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For years, Rebecca Quinn had been a good star in the indies but a bad neck injury seemed to end her career. But she retrained herself and soon becoming one of the linchpins of the NXT women’s division. However, she was given the cliché gimmick of an Irishwoman in green tights and even doing a “jig” in the ring, holding her back. She wanted to be taken more seriously yet her look just seemed to be hurting her. At Takeover: Unstoppable, Lynch challenged Sasha Banks for the NXT title in a big match.

For her entrance, she debuted her brand new look, her dark red hair now colored a bright orange and her costume changed to a steampunk inspired style, complete with goggles. She lost the match but won over the fans and her look clearly sparked her more. It helped that she was allowed to use her trademark quirky humor and soon leading the charge of NXT ladies in the main roster. It paid off as Lynch was the first SmackDown Women’s champion and still one of the best out there to show how a good makeover can remake a career.

6 Fashion Files

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Tyler Breeze is often cited as the best NXT guy to never hold the NXT title. With his arrogant persona and great ring work, he was a star there and high expectations when he got to the main roster. But it didn’t work out as he was ignored and pushed down, not helped by his attitude. Meanwhile, Fandango had managed to make the stupid-sounding “ballroom dancer” act work thanks to fans loving his theme music and his commitment (such as how he sold the pain of a beating while still insisting on the correct pronouncement of his name). By mid-2016, both were in bad slumps and tossed together for the heck of it.

Somehow, these two found common ground with their outrageous characters and clicked very nicely.

The “fashion police” stuff could have been so utterly stupid but somehow, the “fashion files” segments soon became wildly popular. The sight of the two bumbling around like cops backstage and mocking popular movies and TV shows were far more interesting than their stuff in the ring, both given a chance to shine well. It shows once more how letting guys just cut loose can lead to some surprising success.

5 Mr. Socko

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In his first book, Mick Foley is forced to give credit to Al Snow for thinking this up. In 1998, Mankind had the gimmick of sucking up to Vince McMahon which drove Vince totally crazy. When Vince was laid up with a broken leg, Foley showed up with balloons and a clown. He then pulled off one of his socks and put it on his hand as a puppet to talk to Vince. Finally having enough, Vince screamed at him to get out and muttered “Mr. Socko” under his breath. To Mick’s shock, the very next night he was informed there were at least a hundred Mr. Socko signs in the crowd. Realizing he had something, Mick soon started taking the sock off more. He then changed it up to pulling it out of his pants for attacks and fans loving it.

It led to such things as The Rock n Sock Connection or when he would wrap barbed wire around it for a hardcore match. Foley continues to use it anywhere he goes as he managed to make this dumb idea part of his great legacy.

4 Rusev Day

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A recent interview confirms that creative had no real plans when they tossed Aiden English with Rusev. English and Simon Gotch made the Vaudevillains a fun act in NXT but faltered on the main roster with Gotch soon let go. English was soon pushed with the idea of an opera-like opening on the mic for his matches which was okay but nothing major. WWE then put him with Rusev, figuring to just fill time.

It was English who started serenading fans with songs boasting on how every day was “Rusev Day.”

At first, it was just a lame bit, given Rusev’s win-loss record. However, fans soon got into it and before long “Rusev Day” chants would echo in arenas. That’s despite how Rusev was booked as a heel as fans just loved the catchphrase. They finally unveiled a shirt for it and it took off huge. Both men credit it to the chemistry that just burst when they were teamed up and giving WWE one of their best recent shirt/chants around.

3 The Undertaker

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It may be the best example of a gimmick that sounded utterly stupid but turned into a mega-hit. When The Undertaker debuted in 1990, he was the standard weird character of the time. An undead zombie type in funeral clothes led to the ring by a guy with a mystical urn? This should have been two, three years tops of use before it faded away. But somehow, someway, he made it work.

His aura, his good ring work, his great style and how he never broke character, all won fans over to turn him into an icon.

There was also his loyalty as never once did Taker want to jump to WCW and Vince appreciated that.

He also proved himself able to shift it when it seemed to go stale, adjusting it to the “American Badass” biker guy and having a great run at that. When he returned to the Deadman persona, it was fresher and once more wowing fans with some great matches and feuds. His status as one of the most famous faces in WWE is set in stone and proving how Taker could make this character work beyond anyone’s expectations.

2 The List of Jericho

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Chris Jericho is a master of reinventing himself and managing to make changes to his act work. He proved it going from Y2J to a more serious side and bouncing back and forth. In 2016, Jericho was snapping about Raw GM Mick Foley pushing him around and doing some stuff that angered him. He thus announced Foley was “on the list” of people who ticked Jericho off. The crowd reacted well and Jericho instantly saw gold. Before long, he was carrying around a clipboard that he soon changed to his own personalized notepad. His every promo was soon centered around him yelling out “You just made the list!” Opponents, allies, announcers, Renee Young, Tom Brady, folks in the crowd, anyone was fair game.

It was wonderful how folks sold it, either annoyed or reacting like making the list was something to be horrified about. It also played into Kevin Owens turning on Jericho with his “List of KO” before laying him out. It proves what a genius Jericho is in wrestling and thus deserves a spot on this list.

1 Anything By The New Day

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In 2014, Kofi Kingston, Big E Langston and Xavier Woods were on the bottom rung of WWE. All three were talented but lost, ignored too often and the company just tossed them together. At first with the gimmick of an inspirational group, the trio just decided to be themselves as goofballs who could impress in the ring. It paid off as the New Day have the record for the longest tag team title reign in wrestling history.

They also have won over fans by their nutty antics as these three are capable of taking stuff that should be utterly idiotic and making them all hits.

A trombone named Francine. Booty-Os. Their own ice cream. Anime-inspired outfits. Unicorn horns. Power Pancakes. With anyone else, it would be messy and stupid but when they do, it somehow becomes utterly magic and the crowds go wild for it. It’s that wild charm that keeps the New Day together and still in the tag title mix as they have a magical ability to make the dumbest-sounding things soon best-selling merchandise to be a success in WWE and prove themselves at last.