BY MIKEY MIGO
I'm a huge professional wrestling fan. I love it as much as I love music and movies. It's been a part of my life since growing up, starting and closing my own indie fed, and watching RAW religiously. When life has it's ups and downs, I can always count of wrestling to be there to help me escape or to waste my time.
Since I can remember, there have always been characters in wrestling whose gimmick is musically inspired. I'm not talking about "Triple H comes out to Motorhead, so he's Metal" or "Undertaker wears black so he's Goth". I won't even go into "The Godwinns are farmers so they're country and western characters", "Goldust was glam!", or anything like that. No generalizations. I'm talking about blatant characterizations that are based on famous musicians, genres, or styles.
I'm working off memory here. I'm sure I'll miss a few, but please feel free to drop a comment and tell me how wrong I am for listing someone you don't like or not including your favorites. I'm not including "Johnny B. Badd" JUST to give you an easy one to complain about.
The Maestro
Gimmick: Classical
Robert Kellum took on this gimmick in WCW. I don't recall much development for this character. He feuded with Evan Karagias over the Cruiser Title, but his biggest claim to fame was probably his Ernest Miller feud that featured THEE James Brown. I wasn't an avid WCW fan at the time, but I remember this character just coming out to classical music with a classical look. The musical side of the character wasn't really worked with other than the feud with The Cat.
Man Mountain Rock
Gimmick: Rock
He was originally "Maxx Payne" in WCW. He would go on to WWF and have a "rockstar" gimmick. He'd play his WWF logo shaped guitar as pyro went off and use cliché's like "If it's too loud, then you're too old!". Yeah! That's telling ‘em! Rock would have been a lot better in this character with his Maxx Payne look instead of the tye-dye nonsense he wore. I think this gimmick was a casualty of the mid 90's gimmick marathon. He at least had a small program with Bob Backlund.
Demon
Gimmick: KISS
This guy had the crazy entrance, the Kiss make up, and the huge build up leading to his debut. His wrestling skills were horrible, he looked like the lost Demolition member, and the Kiss crowd didn't cross over. They just never pushed him.
Cryme Tyme
Gimmick: Modern Hip Hop Parody
This is the first of a handful of current music related gimmicks out there today. Grills, gold chains, boots, and all of the cliché rap characteristics that are out there today come together to form Cryme Tyme. They both seem to dress like a mix of 50 Cent and Nelly. They're pretty over with the crowd despite the majority of wrestling fans not understanding that these guys are willingly and knowingly doing a parody. That in itself makes them a lot more enjoyable.
Van Hammer
Gimmick: Heavy Metal Superstar
He would come out with a guitar and stammer around. He couldn't play the guitar nor could he get over for the life of him. I had to cave in on this one particular case because I couldn't remember Hammer outside of him being a member of "The Flock" and a "Misfit in Action" jobber. Apparently he was involved with a lot of arm wrestling matches and stories over his early career.
Men on a Mission
Gimmick: Early 90's Hip Hop
They came out in gear that looked like "Cross Colors" made it. If you don't get that reference then you're not old enough to drink and I feel for you. Men on a Mission were Mabel (Vis/Bid Daddy V), Moe, and their MC manager "Oscar". They came out, raised the roof, partied like they just didn't care, and did everything an early 90's hip hop party involved. They had a good amount of success as they won the Tag Titles and worked a Wrestlemania or two.
R-Truth
Gimmick: Rapper
He comes to the ring and raps about the "truth" of the streets and his really "real" troubled life. He gets in the ring and then dances as if he's been watching too many "Silver Spoons" episodes. He's a fine wrestler and has charisma, but his character annoys and bores me. He's basically K-Kwick again, but now with a "troubled past". I can't think of ANY character archs or storylines that'd make this character something I want to watch. Then again, I'm probably not the demographic they want as I'm not a tweenage boy.
The Disco Inferno
Gimmick: Disco
Disco Inferno somehow got over pretty well. Not over as in popular, but as in getting good heel heat. He won a few mid card titles, I believe joined one of the nWos, and had a nice run in TNA as an agent. The formula for making it work was pretty simple; parody Disco music and make fun of John Travolta.
Jillian Hall
Gimmick: Pop Star/?"Brooke Hogan"?
I think it might have been said in the past, but I am still convinced that Jillian Hall's horrible singer character is a jab at "Brooke Hogan" in the same vein as "Virgil" was a jab at Dusty Rhodes. The idea and in joke came from a specific source, but after time the character developed into their own style. Jillian comes out belts out a few recognizable pop lyrics mixed in with some of the worst singing ever. The crowd HATES her and she gets some of the best heat in the company when she does this. They even went as far as releasing a Christmas download album last year. This gimmick is fun and a very long way from being the chick with the unpleasant facial growth on Smackdown.
Three Count
Gimmick: Boy group
It was 1999 and Shane Helms(Hurricane), Shannon Moore(Shannon Moore), and Evan Karagias(jobber) all formed a group called "Three Count". They'd have choreographed dances to accompany their horrible renditions of Jimmy Hart written songs. Besides being very entertaining to watch in and out of the ring, the storyline about Tank Abbot wanting to join up with them made for some great television.
West Texas Rednecks
Gimmick: Country Group
It was again 1999 and this time it was Curt Henning, Barry and Kendall Williams, Bobby Duncum Jr., and "Curly Bill"(Virgil!) to form a group to battle Master P and The No Limit Soldiers rap stable. With WCW having a huge southern fanbase, these guys were actually face part of the time. I think they're most famous for their song "Rap is Crap (I Hate Rap)", which is still a great memory even to this hip hop enthusiast.
New Jack
Gimmick: Gangsta Rap
I believe New Jack (and with Mustafa as The Gangstas) was the only person to ever have his music loop the entire time they were wrestling. I thank New Jack for me STILL knowing the lyrics to "Natural Born Killaz". If you're a fan of wrestling, you've heard his stories. New Jack was and still is a crazy man. In a time when gangsta rap was still gritty, violent, and real New Jack lived up to that ten fold.
"Double J" Jeff Jarrett
Gimmick: Country
Who could forget (even after years of medication) "That's J-E-DOUBLE F J-A-DOUBLE R-E-DOUBLE T… ha ha ha That's Jeff Jarret". They did the country music character fairly well with Jarrett. They even went through the trouble of making a video for the "Hit Single" titled "With My Baby Tonight". We'd later find out that "Roadie" (another music related gimmick) was the one behind it! Shenanigans!
John Morrison
Gimmick: Jim Morrison/Celeb Rockstar
The dude looks a lot like "The Lizard King" and his mannerisms and attire is how I'd like to imagine a young Jim Morrison dressing in modern times. He doesn't out right talk about music, but in many of his promos he'll recite cryptic poems that are blatantly Morrison-esque.
John Cena
Gimmick: Hip Hop
When Cena started with the hip hop rapping character it was pretty hot. He'd cut rapping promos on pretty much everyone and was pretty unique with his deliver. You'd almost be able to consider this the most successful musical gimmick of all time, but he sadly stopped doing his raps once he got to Main Event face status. We fast forward a few years and there's not really anything unique about Cena's clean cut "GI Joe in the Hood" look that he's sporting.
Honky Tonk Man
Gimmick: Evil Elvis
It was started off in promos as a face Elvis impersonator, but the crowd hated it and they pushed Honky Tonk as a heel. It's safe to say, it all worked out. With an untouchable record of 64 weeks as the Intercontential Champion, a sure shot in the Hall of Fame, and the innovation makes the Honky Tonk Man the most successful musical gimmick of all time. The character itself rocked. With the use of the guitar smashing, the Wrestlemania entrance with the Cadillac, and how ridiculously over the top he'd be at times he's probably one of the top 20 or so WWF wrestlers who never won the World Title.
Raven
Gimmick: Grunge
This one might be a stretch by the criteria I set, but it's also one of my favorite gimmicks ever. He dressed in all the grunge clothing and a few casual friends who would say he looked like Eddie Vedder. He won titles in ECW, WWF, WCW, and pretty much every company he's been in. After WCW and when he came to WWF he dropped the Grunge gimmick and just started wearing a skirt and randomness. I'm sure everyone will agree he was at his prime during his "Seattle-look" days.
I'm sure I hit most of the important ones, but which music related gimmicks did I miss?
I didn't cover the Rock and Roll Express of the Rockers because it felt a little redundant. I don't follow ROH really at all outside of reading about it and I barely follow TNA. I know I missed a handful there with the "Special K" raver gimmick, Jimmy Jacobs being emo, etc etc. I don't hate either company, but there are only so many hours in a day. What kind of music related gimmicks am I missing there?
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