Pro wrestling is essentially made up of two equally important elements. The first is the illusion of physical combat. The second, and some would argue more important element, is entertainment. Today, many pro wrestling fans detest the word "entertainment" because they closely associate it with everything they hate about WWE.
In reality, though, entertainment is vital to the success of pro wrestling. If entertainment wasn't a part of the equation, pro wrestling might as well be a shoot. To entertain, some performers develop larger-than-life personas. While some have become iconic, other larger-than-life characters have found it difficult to be relatable to audiences.
10 Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake
The 80s was full of larger-than-life characters. It seemed like every performer in that era was bursting with intense charisma. However, not every performer could translate that into sustained popularity. That was certainly the case for Brutus Beefcake. After parting ways with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Beefcake, who previously played a male stripper role, transitioned into a barber character.
The gimmick fit the 80s like a glove yet Beefcake didn't exactly level up after adopting it. He undoubtedly became more popular, but that popularity eventually plateaued and dwindled. Things wouldn't get much better for Beefcake when he followed Hulk Hogan to WCW in 1994.
9 Simon Dean
ECW during the 90s was like a haven for outcast wrestlers. Paul Heyman had an incredible ability to get the best out of his limited performers. One of the performers who enjoyed success under Heyman's watch was Nova. He, Stevie Richards, and The Blue Meanie would form the popular parody stable known as "The Blue World Order." The gimmick would eventually run its course but it was great while it lasted.
In 2004, Nova arrived in WWE as a new character, Simon Dean. Dean was a fitness guru who was determined to whip WWE back into shape using his "Simon System." Not surprisingly, the character never caught on. Dean would be used mostly as enhancement talent until leaving WWE in 2007.
8 Val Venis
WWE's Attitude Era was a time where the creative envelope was pushed further than it had ever been pushed before. During the time, WWE touched on more mature topics with regularity. Such was evident by the introduction of the Val Venis character in 1998. The character was supposed to be an adult film star who repeatedly used innuendos like his appropriately dubbed finisher, "The Money Shot."
A character like that wouldn't fly today but it was par for the course in the late 90s. Unfortunately for Venis, the character lacked any real substance. Once fans got over the initial shock factor of seeing a supposed adult film actor wrestling, it was hard for them to relate to the sleazy Venis.
7 Kwee Wee
During the mid-90s, WCW was enjoying a run of success, unlike anything the company had ever seen before. Ticket sales and ratings were through the roof. By the time 1998 rolled around though, the company would start making costly creative mistakes that would ultimately come back to hurt them. One interesting decision that WCW made in 1998 was introducing the Kwee Wee character.
Kwee Wee was a flamboyant and eccentric character who, much like WWE's Goldust character, blurred the lines between sexual orientations. Unlike Goldust though, Kwee Wee never even slightly caught on with fans. It might've been the pink ring gear or the unconventional hairstyle. Whatever the case, fans chewed Kwee Wee up and spit him back out at WCW.
6 Van Hammer
There's been a few musical gimmicks in pro wrestling throughout the years. Although, they don't seem to work as often as one would think. Perhaps the most successful musical gimmick ever was The Honky Tonk Man but even he was a failure in the beginning, as the character was originally designed to get over as a babyface.
Despite the bad track record, WCW still decided to introduce the larger-than-life rock star, Van Hammer, in 1991. The character's name was a play on the wildly popular heavy metal band, Van Halen. Van Hammer was given an initial strong push but fans never fully bought in. His push would eventually disappear and Hammer would go through a few more bad gimmicks before being released from WCW in 2000.
5 Stardust
Today, Cody Rhodes is one of the biggest stars in the wrestling business and a hero to many wrestling fans for playing a pivotal role in launching AEW. Back in 2013 though, Rhodes was just another talented performer in WWE with no real direction. Rhodes had been successfully teaming with his brother, Goldust, but that pairing was starting to lose its sizzle.
In response, Cody made the drastic decision to completely alter his character and become Stardust. At first, the Stardust character seemed like the shot in the arm that Cody's career needed. Unfortunately, WWE would eventually lose interest in pushing it. This made it very difficult for fans to relate to the character any further. Luckily, the silver lining to Stardust's lack of success was Cody leaving WWE and eventually helping build AEW.
4 "Adorable" Adrian Adonis
Some gimmicks and performers come a bit before their time. That was certainly the case with "Adorable" Adrian Adonis. Adonis originally started as a brawling biker character, complete with a leather jacket. In 1985 though, Adonis' character began going through massive changes. He would ditch his black hair, leather jacket, and brawling style. In their place would be bleach blonde hair, pink ring gear, and an effeminate flamboyant attitude.
Today, the role gets a lot more praise than it did in the mid-80s. Back then, kayfabe prevented some fans from truly appreciating his performance. In the end, the role might've cost Adonis his job in WWE, as he was fired in 1987 for what was described as "dress code violations." Sadly, Adonis passed away tragically in July of 1988 before ever getting to return to WWE.
3 Marc Mero
Marc Mero is an extremely interesting case when it comes to larger-than-life characters catching on with fans. In WCW, Mero played the larger-than-life Johnny B. Badd. The character was an homage to Little Richard and caught on big with the WCW audience. As a matter of fact, Vince McMahon was also a huge fan of the Johnny B. Badd character and that's why he wanted to sign Mero in the first place.
What McMahon wasn't counting on was WCW owning the Johnny B. Badd character. When Mero jumped ship to WWE in 1995, he wouldn't be allowed to take the character with him. Instead, he'd develop a new gimmick as "Wildman" Marc Mero. Sadly, the only person named "Mero" who got over in WWE was Rena, aka Sable.
2 Rico
By 2002, flamboyant characters weren't anything new in WWE. Goldust had already shattered the glass ceiling for controversial characters back in the 90s but that didn't stop the company from trying it again with Rico. Rico was originally a stand-out prospect in OVW. After being called up to the main roster though, he took on a very different role as the stylist to Billy and Chuck.
The role heavily implied homosexuality, although WWE never came out and said it outright. In 2003, fans were already struggling to relate to Rico when he ramped up the flamboyance and started tagging with a reluctant Charlie Haas. The pairing had their brief moments but was a disappointment overall. Rico would be released by WWE in late 2004.
1 Jeff Jarrett
There's never been a performer in wrestling history that was able to have sustained heat quite like Jeff Jarrett. As the son of Memphis promoter, Jerry Jarrett, "Double J" was born with critics. Despite that, Jarrett was extremely talented and eventually became a star in his father's USWA promotion. In late 1993, Jarrett arrived in WWE, bringing his iconic country singer persona to life.
The character was always designed to be a heel and get heat. However, Jarrett was so disliked that he had what many in the wrestling business refer to as "go away heat." The audience simply wasn't fond of him. Some fans think that kind of heat made Jarrett an excellent heel but there is such a thing as too much heat.