5 worst impersonations of wrestlers
Imitation of wrestlers is a tool used to further a storyline that wrestling bookers jump on to when they are seemingly devoid of ideas. The parody might prove successful if executed in the proper manner, as was the case with Kevin Owens imitating Stone Cold Steve Austin on the Road to WrestleMania 38.
More often than not, the gimmick is overdone, leading to yawns from the public. Former RAW Superstar Eugene got more jeers than cheers after his initial charm wore off and his imitation of Stone Cold Stunner and Rock Bottom in the ring was greeted with loud boos.
This list takes a look at the five instances where superstars parodied others. The list is not restricted to WWE and involves other promotions as well and includes only those gimmicks with a sustained run imitating a single character. So, those parodies by The Big Show and Charlie Haas do not make it.
#5 Fake Diesel and Fake Razor
The fake Diesel and Razor Ramon. One of the WWF's worst angles? http://t.co/ePsRpeexii
Kane is a legend as far as WWE is concerned and was one of the key wrestlers of the Attitude Era. The Big Red Machine has changed his gimmick several times over the years, going from the masked mute brute of the late nineties to the maskless Kane in the mid-2000s to forming a comedy tandem with Daniel Bryan before becoming the Direction of Operations while wearing a suit.
But Glenn Jacobs had many more gimmicks in the WWE before that. He debuted as the short-lived Unabomb and then became Jerry Lawler’s personal dentist, Dr Issac Yankem.
But his most infamous gimmick came just before the debut of his Kane character. Razor Ramon and Diesel had just left WWE for WCW, heralding the arrival of the nWo. WWE chose to play a much-criticised angle, with Jim Ross portrayed as a disgruntled employee announcing Jacobs as Diesel and a wrestler named Rick Bognar as Razor Ramon.
The wrestlers teamed together and wore the attires of Deisel and Ramon and even had a world tag team title shot.
#4 The nWo Sting
nWo Sting 🦂 (aka Bogus Sting, Fake Sting, "Sting", Cobra) playing Virtual Pro Wrestling 64 (the JP version of WCW vs nWo World Tour) on #Nintendo64 using a green #N64 controller with Rumble Pak.
#NinThursday64 https://t.co/TeUvaxhJfd
While most impersonation angles end in months once the fans grow tired of the novelty act, one exception to this is the gimmick that was the nWo Sting which lasted for as long as three whole years.
Wrestler Jeff Farmer was brought in as the fake Sting to fool Lex Luger into believing that the real Sting had joined the villainous nWo. He would get beaten up by the real Sting on multiple occasions, but remained a part of the stable until the real Sting joined the nWo Wolfpac three years later.
Amazingly, Farmer would become a sort of a legend in Japan, as he would be sent to New Japan Pro Wrestling to become part of the nWo Japan stable. He would eclipse the real Sting’s popularity in Japan, taking part in a number of high-profile matches.
#3 Little Petey Pump
Today in #IMPACTHistory: Big Poppa Pump and Little Petey Pump faced off as @ScottSteiner battled @iPeteyWilliams. (Against All Odds 2009) https://t.co/rJKtywK9Xy
One of the most exciting finishing moves of the last decade – and arguably of all time – is the Canadian Destroyer, perfected by former TNA wrestler Petey Williams. Despite being a great technical wrestler and having a noteworthy TNA X-Division title reign, Williams was repackaged in his successful ‘Team Canada’ persona during his final years with TNA.
TNA management always looked at former WWE superstars in awe, and when Scott Steiner brought his freakish biceps over to the company, they immediately sought to market him as a major talent – so much so that they had Steiner mentor the young Williams onscreen.
The ensuing weeks would see Williams change his ring gear into a complete Steiner rip-off. Like Steiner, he would wear the atrocious Steiner chain mail and continually flex in the ring.
After going through so much trouble, Williams found his push withering away and eventually left the company for better pastures. Safe to say, the ‘Little Petey Pump’ experiment did no good to Williams’ career.
#2 AJ Flair - The greatest wrestler of all time?
When @AJStylesOrg debuted the Ric Flair Robe with the hood on it. 🤘 https://t.co/buYHKmXDVm
Long before coming over to WWE, AJ Styles was the heart and soul of TNA. He had been with the company for over a decade, despite TNA founder Jeff Jarrett seemingly monopolizing the world title scene. The Phenomenal One excited the fans with his great performances and won almost every title the company had to offer.
However, as more and more wrestlers started to come over to TNA, AJ’s push started taking a backseat and it was never more apparent than when Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan took control of TNA's creative.
What prompted Dixie Carter to trust Hulk Hogan with booking matches might be up for discussion on another forum, but the duo had no knowledge of how over the original TNA wrestlers were with the fans and proceeded to focus their attention on the WWE rip-off formula.
AJ was paired with Ric Flair’s stable called Fortune and was relegated to imitating Flair’s ring attire and move set – from the ring robes to the strut to the Figure Four and everything else. It seemed like Bischoff and Hogan were trampling on the legacy Styles had built over a decade ago, but luckily AJ was able to get over the angle and make it to WWE.
#1 TNA tries to make Eric Young a new Daniel Bryan
Wow.. TNA really ripped WWE off
Eric Young = Daniel Bryan
MVP = HHH
Kenny King = Randy Orton
Bobby Lashley = Batista http://t.co/1aXOWVo84y
WrestleMania 30 was a show that seriously made creative consider the opinions of the WWE Universe. Randy Orton versus Batista was originally booked to be the show's main event. However, the fans rioted so much in favor of Daniel Bryan that the company was forced to change their plans
The Flying G.O.A.T. – who connected with the fans more than any wrestler in the past decade – would beat a grumpy Triple H in his first match on the show and then make Batista tap out to capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a triple threat match. The angle proved very popular, and the delighted WWE Universe cheered like mad at the end of the match.
This seemingly gave another bad idea to the TNA creative. They decided they needed their own Bryan and chose to elevate their mid-card wrestler Eric Young. Within weeks, Young had a beard just like Bryan and won the TNA World Championship three weeks after The American Dragon won the WWE World Championship at WrestleMania.
The angle was widely panned, and Young could never capture Bryan’s popularity.