Thanks to YouTube and the WWE Network, it is easy to look back with bemusement at the corniness of 1990’s WWF programming. After all, no list of the company’s worst gimmicks is complete without the likes of The Gobbledy Gooker, Isaac Yankem and Bastion Booger. Heck, even superstars given solid pushes were written to be cartoonish caricatures, as you can see through the likes of The Mountie and Kamala. But if you think that the era of bad gimmicks ended with the arrival of the Attitude Era, then you are deluding yourself.

While you might think that Vince McMahon and the WWE writing staff would be able to learn from their mistakes after so many whiffs in bringing lame characters to TV, those in charge of programming just can’t seem to help themselves sometimes. Even now, in an era where most superstars are identified by an actual name rather than a one-dimensional characterization of their persona, there remain some on-air talent that leave you reaching for either the mute or the off button.

How many bad gimmicks have there been in recent WWE history? So many that we’ve decided to go back to the turn of the millennium and identify one for each year – and that still leaves plenty more. In going from 2000 onwards, this list still didn’t have a place for the likes of Heidenreich, Gene Snitsky, the Mean Street Posse, the Spirit Squad and Kerwin White. If those embarrassing personas didn’t make the cut, then just how bad are the ones that did???

18 2000: Mideon

During the Attitude Era, being a part of the Ministry of Darkness - and later the Corporate Ministry -was probably a good thing for your career. Sure, it meant involvement in some dark and controversial angles, but it also brought an affiliation with the Undertaker and plenty of associated TV time. Or, you know, it meant wandering around with a strategically placed fanny pack and not much else.

The heavily tattooed, 288lb Dennis Knight wasn't exactly the guy you'd most want to see in the buff, but that didn't stop WWE from deciding to green light his Naked Mideon character. The character was exactly as advertised, with a persona as thin as the thong he would wear beneath the fanny pack. Though memorable to fans unfortunate enough to have the image of Mideon's bare body burned into their mind, the actual run for the character was predictably short and uneventful.

17 2001: Diamond Dallas Page

Having Diamond Dallas Page agree to come over to the then-WWF as part of Vince McMahon's purchase of WCW should have been a big deal. After all, the larger than life superstar known as DDP had climbed the ranks in WCW, winning the US and TV titles before finally becoming world champion thanks to his mesmerizing charisma. But even with the type of buoyant personality that should have thrived in WWF, Page was woefully miscast as a creepy stalker character up against the Undertaker.

Typically known to diminish those who developed elsewhere in favour of WWF/E guys, McMahon at least recognized Page's star power enough to debut him in a program with Deadman. However, no one bought the master of the Diamond Cutter as a nefarious heel capable of terrorizing 'Taker's then-wife Sara, nor did he seem likely to pose much of a threat to the legendary superstar. As such, any momentum he may have had coming in was instantly undercut. Being repackaged as an ultra-positive motivational speaker played off of a real-life line of work for Page, thereby making it better suited for him. But his creepy, wide-eyed, manic presentation was too over the top to ever really catch on.

16 2002: Billy And Chuck

It is hardly much of a surprise that WWE has a rather checkered history with their portrayal of homosexuality in their programming. Acts like "Adorable" Adrian Adonis and Goldust have played up their homoerotic undertones to cartoonish levels, while superstars who were actually out like Pat Patterson and Darren Young weren't acknowledged as such on WWE programming. The post-Invasion tag team of Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo were just one more example of this.

Managed by the flamboyant Rico Constantino, Billy and Chuck, as they were best known, rose to prominence in the early 2000's as a 'very close' tag team with matching red trunks and bleached blonde hair. WWE picked up on the trend, giving Billy and Chuck two tag title reigns. But when finally pushed to bringing their relationship to the forefront, the company cowered and booked a wedding ceremony in which both men admitted the whole thing had been a publicity stunt. GLAAD, who had been consulted on the angle, were furious and denounced WWE for deception.

15 2003: Mr. America

Nowadays, Hulk Hogan might be most closely associated with the racist leaked tape that has kept WWE away from him. But there was a time not that long ago when it appeared that everything that the Hulkster touched would turn to gold. Superstar babyface run as the All-American hero? Check. Shocking heel turn as the mastermind behind the NWO? Check. Nostalgic late career reunion with WWE? Check. It seemed strange, then, to try an angle with Hogan that didn't work. Mr. America, it turned out, was that rare angle.

According to the storyline, Hogan had been banished from WWE by the evil Mr. McMahon, forced to sit out the rest of his contract. As such, he "disguised" himself in a blue mask and took on the moniker of Mr. America. This wasn't supposed to fool anyone, as his true identity would be regularly exposed by exasperated heels and he continued to use his "Real American" theme music. Still, putting him in a mask and giving him a silly character was hardly a great way to celebrate his legacy. Hogan thought as much, himself, legitimately quitting the company in the midst of the angle.

14 2004: Mordecai

Many of the gimmicks that have made this list scream lack of effort on the part of WWE Creative, where ideas crafted in the writer's room have made it to TV without being fleshed out or enhanced in any way. That wasn't the case with Mordecai. Introduced as a creepy religious zealot hellbent on cleansing the world of sin, Kevin Fertig's character was built up through numerous vignettes, given a heavy duty entrance and gifted with a captivating look that included bleached blonde hair and goatee along with an all-white ensemble and some sort of staff shaped like a cross.

The main problem with Mordecai was that his portrayer wasn't quite ready for prime time. Fertig looked green in the ring and displayed cheesy facial expressions that made the character hard to take seriously. Initially the biggest supporter of the gimmick, Vince McMahon soon turned his back on it - reportedly right before a major feud with the Undertaker was set to begin. Without the backing of the Chairman, the Mordecai gimmick lost steam quickly. After just a handful of introductory squash wins, the big man lost to Rey Mysterio and Fertig was soon sent back to OVW for repackaging.

13 2005: Jillian Hall

It's easy to be dismissive of the oft-celebrated women's revolution in WWE, particularly when Stephanie McMahon is essentially taking credit. But there is something to be said for how far women's wrestling has come, from the not-too-distant days of Bra & Panties matches. Look no further than Jillian Hall. A decorated indie vet, Hall's arrival on the main roster was accompanied by a rather distinct feature: a grotesque mole across the majority of the left side of her face.

The fake skin blemish was, essentially, a gag ripped from Austin Powers, but it ultimately became her whole character. As a member of JBL's Cabinet, she was upstaged at every turn by the comically large growth on her cheek. The unflattering feature hardly represented abnormal treatment for Hall, who was booked in development as a psychopath stemming from breast implant leakage into her brain. She would later take on the gimmick of an unbearably bad singer.

12 2006: Vito

They don't come much easier to book than Vito, an authentic Italian tough guy from Staten Island who was ideally suited to be the muscle alongside the mouthy and diminutive Nunzio as part of the Full Blooded Italians stable. So naturally, WWE disbanded the group so they could put him in a dress.

Amazingly enough, WWE's treatment of Vito's gimmick wasn't as ham-handed as you might think. Rather than bestow effeminate qualities upon the 6'2" brawler, he kept the same persona and even stayed straight, reasoning that he simply enjoyed dressing up. He was even afforded something of a modest winning streak but saw it cut short right before being released, thus showing that the company really didn't have plans for the character beyond a juvenile chuckle.

11 2007: Eugene

The history of WWE is littered with examples of homophobia, xenophobia and misogyny as demonstrated through the depiction of characters. But only once have they green lit a full blown mentally challenged character - and it wasn't even that long ago. At odds with good taste, Eugene even became one of the company's most popular superstars for a time.

As portrayed by Nick Dinsmore, Eugene was the "special" nephew of Eric Bischoff who just happened to be an avid wrestling fan with some surprising mat skills. At times, WWE would give Eugene just enough in-ring success to make him vaguely inspiring. Still, that hardly made up for his primary role, which was being a laughed at butt of jokes. Furthermore, even knowing that his 2004 feud with Triple H was a work did little to reduce the cringe factor when he was brutalized in a cage match with the Cerebral Assassin at Summerslam.

10 2008: The Boogeyman

It probably wasn't a whole lot of fun for fellow superstars to work with The Boogeyman. Once you got past the no-selling and shoddy in-ring work of portrayer Marty Wright, you still had to deal with likely being on the receiving end of some worms being spat into your mouth. Somehow, this grotesque and terrifying character remained a babyface throughout his entire WWE run. Though he was already winding down his time with the company by 2008, he needed to find a place on this list as one of the most unforgettable gimmicks ever - for better or worse.

There is a fine line between uncomfortable content that remains compelling and gross television that makes you want to change the channel. Boogeyman frequently tested the boundaries of that line, be it through constantly yelling out "I'm the Boogeyman!" during matches, kissing Queen Sharmell with a mouthful of worms or biting the aforementioned mole off of Jillian Hall's face.

9 2009: Kizarny

Remember when a mysterious circus freak named Kizarny arrived of the scene on Smackdown? If you answered 'no' to that question, you'd hardly be alone. The heavily tattooed wrestling veteran known on the indies as Sinn Bodhi got his shot with WWE as an enigmatic superstar well-versed in carny talk. The company believed enough in the gimmick to invest several weeks' worth of vignettes to showcase Kizarny's personality leading up to his debut. It didn't work.

Despite the introductory vignettes, Kizarny's debut on the first Smackdown of 2009 was met with deafening silence. Fans had yet to warm up to his eccentricities and weren't quite sure whether they should cheer or boo him, so they simply had no reaction to his victory over MVP or a handful of subsequent squash wins. And that was about as much rope as WWE gave him, quickly relegating him to jobber status before releasing him just over two months after his Smackdown arrival.

8 2010: Vickie Guerrero And Mickie James (Tie)

If you really want to know how far WWE has come through their ballyhooed women's revolution, talk to Mickie James. She boasts a unique perspective as the lone holdover to have truly experienced life with the company before and after the revolution. It wasn't that long ago that James, whom absolutely no one but Vince McMahon would ever consider overweight, was being derisively referred to as "Piggy" James. Sure, you could argue the name was only in the context of a bullying storyline that put her in the crosshairs of the heel LayCool tandem, but misogynistic derision of women on air wasn't exclusive to babyfaces.

For 2010, James shares the dubious bad gimmick honour here with heel authority figure Vickie Guerrero. While neither took on a new character, both had their identity intertwined with malicious ridicule. While James had pig graphics super-imposed on her face, Guerrero continued to be subjected to mocking through a tryst with Dolph Ziggler that characterized her as a cougar. Such was the way the widow of Eddie Guerrero was treated during her lengthy tenure with the company.

7 2011: Hornswoggle

Truth be told, 2011 was pretty light on bad gimmicks in WWE. While some consideration should be given to a heel Michael Cole, it seems like a good time to give the nod to Hornswoggle. The long-time WWE superstar had effective stretches as Finlay's impish leprechaun sidekick, but the creative team couldn't always help themselves when it came to the likeable little person.

He had long since parted ways with Finlay by 2011, leaving him to be a stopgap solution to be shoehorned into half-baked angles and written into hokey storylines. That year, a few removed from Hornswoggle being revealed as McMahon's illegitimate son, the one-time Little Bastard won a holiday-themed battle royal that granted him a "wish" from Santa Claus (or, you know, Mick Foley) that he used to be able to speak. The previously mute character then underwent a few weeks of bad jokes over his newfound verbal ability. If that wasn't bad enough, WWE was concurrently running the agonizing Anonymous Raw GM storyline, one that eventually revealed Hornswoggle as being behind the go-away heat-generating laptop.

6 2012: Brodus "Funkasaurus" Clay

Brodus Clay gave every indication of being WWE's next monster heel. The 375-pound behemoth had an intimidating look and already had a stint as Alberto Del Rio's bodyguard under his belt when WWE began promoting his return to TV from filming a movie in early 2012. Clay's anticipated return, which was supposedly delayed each week by then-Raw GM John Laurinaitis, offered strong suggestions that he would be portrayed as a no-nonsense monster. Then, his re-debut happened.

The "Funkasaurus" character that came back was about as far from 'monster heel' as you could get. Clay was a colorful, boogeying big man from the 'Planet Funk', coming out with a pair of backup dancers with a song bearing the tag line, "Somebody call my momma!". For a while, the character was so fun and expectation-defying that it actually got over with fans. But goofy, dancing big man was never a gimmick that had much of a shelf life and Clay deserved better. The Funkasaurus is probably owed at least some of the blame for the fact that the big man has since moved on to Impact Wrestling and the only remaining vestige from the gimmick comes in the form of Smackdown superstar Naomi, who was one of the two so-called 'Funkadactyls'.

5 2013: 3MB

There are few better uses of stables in wrestling than giving unified purpose to a group of talents who are otherwise struggling to achieve upward momentum. In that sense, the pairing of Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre served as a logical attempt to jumpstart a trio of flailing careers. Decidedly illogical, however, was the decision to package them as three rockers in a group known as the "3-Man Band".

The rock band gimmick didn't seem like a natural fit for any of the participants, though at least McIntyre and Slater had the look for it. Shortly after coming together in an attack on Brodus Clay and a subsequent initial mini-push, they reverted back to their jobbing ways. The group, which briefly included Hornswoggle, disbanded in 2014 when McIntyre and Mahal were both released. That being said, the aftermath of the gimmick for the three main members has been remarkable. Slater was half of the inaugural Smackdown Live tag champions with Rhyno, McIntyre won the NXT championship and appeared poised for a main roster run before being sidelined with a bicep tear and Mahal enjoyed an unlikely and lengthy world title run.

4 2014: Adam Rose

There is sometimes a very fine line between a talented wrestler saddled with a bad gimmick and a superstar who just can't make a good gimmick work. It's hard to know where the fault lay in the failure to make the party-loving Adam Rose character work. What initially seemed like a fun, fresh and exciting new persona complete with a colourful entourage and a mesmerizing entrance was ultimately scrapped in a little over a year.

For as intriguing a concept as Rose and his supporting cast of 'Rosebuds' were, the character never seemed like someone you'd actually want to party with. He spewed lame catchphrases ("Don't be a lemon" and "It's party time, all the time!") and was overshadowed by a Rosebud in a bunny suit to such an extent that it became a storyline and served as the impetus for his heel turn. Whether it was WWE Creative or portrayer Ray Leppan who dropped the ball, something just didn't jive for Rose.

3 2015: Stardust

For years, fans fantasy booked an on-screen pairing - or rivalry - for Dustin "Goldust" Rhodes and Cody Rhodes, the real-life sons of Dusty Rhodes. Though interactions were teased between the two, they spent years in WWE doing their own thing before coming together to oppose the Authority in a hot 2013 angle that also included a tag title reign. When the team started to fade out, the company tried to inject some fresh energy into their act by turning Cody into 'Stardust' to parallel his brother's "Bizarre One" character.

Not only did the character change rob the tag team of the authentic, real connection that made them work so well in the first place, but it took a potential main eventer in Cody and turned him into a one-note gimmick. Unsurprisingly, the odd Stardust simply didn't resonate as he spoke in cosmic riddles and employed strange facial cues and body language. Since his exit, the younger member of the real-life Runnels clan has showcased his headlining potential, winning the ROH world title and becoming one of the central figures in the Bullet Club.

2 2016: Mojo Rawley

We are mercifully in an era of WWE programming where wrestlers are, by and large, portraying some version of themselves, or at the very least a human character. For 2016, let's go with Mojo Rawley. As a kind of jocular, over-caffeinated bro, the one-time Maryland defensive lineman managed to stay babyface despite being obnoxiously pumped up and being burdened with the tag line of "I don't get hyped, I stay hyped." Doubling down on the in-your-face exuberance, Rawley was placed in the Hype Bros tag team with Zack Ryder, a pairing that went nowhere.

Out of the split of the tag team, a freshly turned heel Rawley has discovered a compelling intensity and some impressive mic skills. Before this recent run, however, the former Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals practice squad player was spinning his wheels in go-nowhere feuds and will little support beyond best friend and NFL superstar Rob Gronkoswki.

1 2017: "Woken" Matt Hardy

Rarely has there been a gimmick more heavily hyped than the recently "Woken" Matt Hardy. After countless reports and speculation about copyright issues between Impact Wrestling and WWE regarding Hardy's right to his "Broken" character, Vince McMahon went full speed ahead with the persona late in 2016, thrilling a considerable segment of the Universe that was readily familiar with its success in TNA and on the indy circuit. The early returns have not been promising.

Hardy found a well-suited counterpart in Bray Wyatt, whose deranged cult leader gimmick seemed like it would mesh well with his own "Woken" brilliance. To date, however, both men have been spinning their wheels with WWE seemingly having nothing else for them to do aside from feud with one another. This back and forth has not served either man well, taking what could be a hot "Woken" gimmick and watered it down with sporadic inclusion on weekly programming. The company never bothered to explain Hardy's transformation, leading to confusion and growing apathy. If WWE can't be bothered to care about fleshing out its characters, why should fans be fully invested?