Marc Mero reveals which WCW legend came up with the Johnny B. Badd gimmick
Marc Mero first made a name for himself in pro wrestling as a part of WCW in the early 90s where he wrestled as Johnny B. Badd, the gimmick being a play on Little Richard. Mero recently opened up about the origins of the Johnny B. Badd gimmick and revealed how the character was a Dusty Rhodes creation.
During a recent interview on the It's My House Podcast, Marc Mero gave fans an insight into how Dusty Rhodes pitched him the Johnny B. Badd gimmick and how the wrestling legend helped him get into the shoes of the character:
"Johnny B Badd was Dusty Rhodes' creation. As you know I was just Marc Mero back then trying to make it into the business, and when he saw me he said 'I got this gimmick - Did anybody ever tell you you look like Little Richard?' Now, I thought he meant a wrestler named Richard which I'd never heard of, you know, so he said, "you never heard [of] Little Richard?" he starts singing like, you know, Little Richard singing. 'Oh, the singer Little Richard!' I said, I've never heard that before! And the next thing I realised was he had this Johnny B Badd character in mind. And I gotta tell you, Chris, It was probably the most fun I've ever had in the business." said Mero
"When I look back on my career at the laughter the joy we had. Here he is teaching this kid from New York to be this flamboyant personality from Georgia with this outrageous character. He would show me how to walk and talk like what he thought I should do." added Mero
You can watch the entire interview below:
A quick look at Marc Mero's WCW career
After impressing in a couple of tryout matches, Marc Mero was given a WCW contract in 1991 by booker Dusty Rhodes. Mero made his debut as Johnny B. Badd at SuperBrawl 1991, introduced as Teddy Long's newest client.
Mero rose up the card and impressed with his innate athleticism, winning title gold. As Johnny B. Badd, he went on to defeat Lord Steven Regal (William Regal) at Fall Brawl 1994 to win his first title in WCW, the WCW US Championship.
Marc Mero won two more US titles during his run in WCW before leaving to sign with WWE in 1996.