In the 1990s, it was as if you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting a wrestler moonlighting from another occupation. For some reason, WWE was obsessed with characters from another line of work as wrestlers. Some actually worked thanks to the performer like IRS (evil taxman), the Big Bossman and the Mountie (law enforcement officers), and, of course, The Undertaker. Other times, the actual act wasn’t a bad idea, just faltered at the end (evil Doink the Clown was genius).
Even today, in the right hands, something like Fandango (heel ballroom dancer) can still work. But the vast majority of them don’t. The acts themselves are stupid and make little sense as to why they would go into wrestling. There are scores of them over the years but these stand out as ten of the dumbest occupational gimmicks in WWE and the fact there’s even more to count says it all about that company.
10 Tugboat
A sailor turned wrestler may not have been a bad idea in theory but it sure sunk in 1990. Fred Ottman was a huge beefy guy so having him come in as an ally of Hulk Hogan was a good idea. Maybe if they'd played him up as some tough boat worker or captain, it could have worked.
Instead, he looked like a second-rate Popeye character in a silly little cap and making "toot toot" sounds in promos. Realizing it wasn't working, WWE had him turn heel, become Typhoon and he and Earthquake becoming tag team champions. At least Ottman didn't sink to the levels he would as the infamous Shockmaster...
9 The Roadie
It’s tempting to go with Jeff Jarrett as a country singer, but that worked out nicely with him as IC champion. Instead, let’s go with his sidekick, the Roadie. As the name implies, he was there to set up Jarrett’s “performances,” run around with towels and such and just act like a flunky catering to his boss.
It took a turn with the claims that Roadie had sung Jarrett’s theme song. After Jarrett left, the Roadie slumped around before landing his more famous name of the Road Dogg. That was a lot better than this lame act.
8 Simon Dean
Proving lame occupational gimmicks weren’t limited to the ‘90s, Simon Dean popped up in 2005 with the idea of being a heel fitness guru. He would hawk energy drinks and come out to the ring on a segway with a purple jumpsuit more inclined to working at a drive-thru.
He spent more time on promos than actual wrestling and soon became best known for being beaten up by the likes of Batista, Stone Cold Steve Austin and even the Boogeyman. Dean’s act seemed a throwback to a decade earlier and never led to real success in WWE.
7 Repo Man
Barry Darsow was a hit as Smash of Demolition with multiple tag team title reigns. After that, however, he became famous for one bad gimmick after another. The nuttiest was Repo Man, an evil repossession agent who gleefully took back property if folks missed one payment.
What made it stand out was him dressed like a cartoon character with a Lone Ranger mask. Darsow was smart to go completely over the top to make it funny and while it was better than his later WCW acts, it was still a weird occupation to turn into a wrestling career.
6 Thurman “Sparky” Plugg
Bob Holly is well respected today as a hardcore worker known for battling his way through some brutal injuries. Which is why it’s hilarious to look back at his debut in 1995 as Thurman “Sparky” Plugg, a race car driver turned wrestler.
They tried their best with him, but he just seemed ill-fitting as a face. He and the 1-2-3 Kid had a one-day reign as tag team champions, but it’s hard for fans to root for someone named “Sparky.” It took changing his look and a harder attitude for Holly to finally achieve his fame beyond bad race driving.
5 The Goon
WWE has some odd tendency to try to have guys emulating other sports. The Goon was one of the goofier as a wrestling hockey player might have worked in ECW but not in WWE. “Wild” Bill Irwin had been a star with a cowboy character in World Class Championship Wrestling and thus a bad pick for a hockey guy.
He came to the ring in a jersey with his name and a huge hockey stick which he never used. His finisher was a charge called the “cross-check” and while Irwin claims the fans loved the gimmick, it missed the goal of being a long-lasting act.
4 Isaac Yankem DDS
One can only imagine how Glenn Jacobs remembers this every time he heads to the dentist. Before he was mayor of his town or Kane, Jacobs had to put up with this act. The setup was Jerry Lawler forced to kiss his own dirty foot in a match with Bret Hart. He logically enlisted his massive dentist to attack Bret.
From the awful music of drills to coming out in a smock and mirror headband, it was pretty nutty with Yankem losing most of his matches. He would become more famous as Kane, while this act was worse than pulling teeth.
3 Phantasio
When an act is so bad that it lasts only one appearance in 1995 WWE, it’s awful. Coming out in a classic magician’s outfit but made up to look like a mime, Phanasio pulled off a few tricks like turning his cane into flowers and flash powder.
His match consisted of rough moves before his finisher, where he pulled out a pack of kerchiefs ending with his opponent’s underwear to trick him into a pin. After just one TV appearance, Phantasia pulled off a vanishing act and only reappears in “what were we thinking?” WWE segments.
2 T.L. Hopper
An infamous bit for WWE was having Dusty Rhodes come in with videos promoting him as a “common man,” including a plumber. It turns out it was just the warm-up for T.L. Hopper.
Tony Anthony was as cliche a dirty plumber as possible nasty outfits that would show off a crack at his backside and a “theme song” of toilet sounds. He also had the plunger and after a win, would stick it into an opponent’s face while the announcers screamed about how bad it was. Thankfully not lasting long, the entire act belonged down the drain.
1 Duke the Dumpster Droese
If anything exemplified 1990s WWE’s obsession with occupational gimmicks, Duke “The Dumpster” Droese was it. To be fair, he wasn’t that awful in the ring, and it was clear how WWE was pushing his “common man” aspect, which might have worked.
But fans just didn’t take to him that well as a wrestling garbage man was hard to cheer for. Maybe if WWE was more hardcore than with the garbage can as a weapon, it might have done better, but Duke’s act ended up in the dump in the end.