10 Ridiculous Wrestling gimmicks that worked anyway.

Sometimes, the ridiculous becomes sublime, as in the case of these gimmicks.

It has been said that professional wrestling is the only place you can watch a wealthy aristocrat face off against a zombie. That's true enough when Ric Flair takes on the Undertaker!

The wild, unconventional world of pro-wrestling has produced some pretty outlandish gimmicks over the years. Everything from space travelers (Max Moon,) to Time Travelers (the New Breed.) While the term 'mash-up' is relatively new in the public lexicon, the fact is pro-wrestling has been doing 'mash-ups' since its inception. Where else can you see post-apocalyptic warriors face off against black separatists?

Nation of Domination member Rocky Maivia (The Rock) prepares to plant Road Warrior Hawk with his finisher.

There have been many ridiculous pro wrestling gimmicks which were poorly received and quickly abandoned, but then there are those that seem to have massive staying power, and even become insanely popular past the point of reason.

Here are ten ridiculous wrestling gimmicks that still managed to work.

#1 The Hurricane

The Gimmick in a nutshell: A superhero made flesh.

One of the few things WCW got right during its fading years was the creation of a 'boy band' wrestling trio known as three-count. Far and away, the most impressive member of the group was "Sugar" Shane Helms.

When WCW was purchased by WWE in 2001, they acquired Shane Helms's contract, but they didn't want to use the Three Count gimmick. Instead, they made the curious decision to make him into a superhero. These days, superheroes are quite popular, but back in 2001 the only superhero movies to make any money had an X in them.

Why it managed to work: First and foremost, Shane Helms's unbridled charisma sold the gimmick. Also, it was unique at the time, so he ended up getting two sidekicks to join in the fun. The gimmick was so successful that Helms still uses it to this day.

Despite languisihing in the mid card/lower mid card range, the Hurricane made the most of his superhero stint, winning the Hardcore title, the European championship and the world tag team titles.