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57-488: The final champions, PG-13, holds the record for most championship reigns as they held the belts on 15 different occasions across the years, in addition each member also held the championship with a different partner, making them tied for most overall reigns for an individual. The Moondogs ( Spot and Spike ) reign as champions lasted between 123 and 152 days, the longest of any championship team. In April 1992 Moondog Cujo replaced Spike, but records are unclear as to what date

114-674: A WWF Championship title shot against Hulk Hogan . In 1987, Rex was repackaged as Smash of Demolition , along with Ax . However, fans easily recognized him and gave him chants of "Moondog," leading to him being quickly replaced by Barry Darsow . Rex and Spot then teamed together until 1990 in various promotions. The Moondogs had two runs in Memphis. Their first run took place in the Continental Wrestling Association in 1983, where they were managed by Jimmy Hart and feuded with The Fabulous Ones . They captured

171-628: A character based on an authority over other people. These include non-wrestlers like managers , and wrestlers like The Mountie , Big Boss Man , "The Alpha Male" Marcus Cor Von , Consequences Creed , "The Man" Becky Lynch , "The Boss" Sasha Banks , Sean O'Haire 's devil advocate gimmick, and David Otunga 's legal adviser character, ECW 's 911 , and stables New World Order , Right to Censor , The Truth Commission , The Acolytes Protection Agency , 3-Minute Warning , and most recently, The Authors of Pain , The Shield , and The Authority . The evil billionaire/millionaire tyrant character works well as

228-414: A dead wrestler who returned for vengeance. Raven was the leader of five stables; Raven's Nest , The Flock , The Dead Pool , The Gathering , and Serotonin . The Brood was a vampire stable, composed of Gangrel , Christian and Edge . Alexa Bliss was also given a different gimmick after her alliance with Bray Wyatt in late 2020s, appearing suddenly and sometimes attacking the other wrestlers,

285-1984: A demonic but somewhat-bumbling figure in horror face paint who claims to be "very nice, very evil" and attempts to put curses on his opponents. Exaggerating the characteristics of a wrestler's (on occasion fabricated ) origin is one of the most commonly exploited gimmicks, in which overarching characteristics of a character play up to clichés and stereotypes . A long list of wrestlers in this category includes: Arab ( The Sheik , The Sultan , Muhammad Hassan ), African ( Kamala , Abdullah The Butcher , Akeem ), American ( The Patriot , Hulk Hogan , 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan , Jack Swagger ), Australian ( Outback Jack , Nathan Jones ), Austrian ( Walter ), Bulgarian ( Rusev ), Canadian ( Team Canada (TNA) , Team Canada (WCW) ), Chinese ( Xia Li , Boa ), Cuban ( Razor Ramon ), English ( William Regal , Lord Alfred Hayes , Gentleman Jack Gallagher ), French/Québécois ( La Résistance ), German ( Fritz Von Erich , Baron von Raschke ), Hawaiian ( Crush , Leilani Kai ), Indian ( The Great Khali , Jinder Mahal ), Iranian ( The Iron Sheik , Ariya Daivari ), Irish ( Finlay , Sheamus ), Italian ( Full Blooded Italians , Santino Marella ), Jamaican ( Kofi Kingston ), Japanese ( Yokozuna , The Orient Express , Mr. Fuji ), Mexican ( The Mexicools ), Native American ( Chief Jay Strongbow , Tatanka ), New Zealander ( The Sheepherders ), Nigerian ( Apollo Crews ), Pacific Islander ( Jimmy Snuka , The Wild Samoans , The Headshrinkers ), Puerto Rican ( Carlito Colón , Primo and Epico ), Polish ( Ivan Putski ), Russian ( Ivan Koloff , Nikolai Volkoff , Lana ), Scottish ( Drew McIntyre , Roddy Piper ) and Swiss ( Claudio Castagnoli ). Masked wrestlers made their appearance in Europe ( Theobaud Bauer in France, 1865) and

342-408: A joke, dancing and finding out his opponent to win the 24/7 Championship in a strange and funny way. Characters who do charity are depicted as a heroic gimmick due to real-life charity . Wrestlers who used this gimmick include Sweet Daddy Siki , Brother Love , "Make a Difference" Fatu , Dude Love , and most recently, "The Doctor of Hug-o-nomics" Bayley , and tag-team Men on a Mission . Usually

399-605: A minority of the roster, with most shows containing an abnormally high proportion of clean sportsmanly matches between two "blue-eyes" (as faces were known backstage in the UK). This would remain the case for several decades to come. Gimmick matches were a rarity, midget wrestling failed to catch on, while women were banned by the Greater London Council until the late 1970s. During the Golden Age of pro wrestling in

456-500: A more individualistic and narcissist form of character. He was one of the first pro-wrestlers to use entrance music, " Pomp and Circumstance " which always played as he made his way to the ring. In Britain, television took British wrestling to the next level when in 1964, it went full-time as part of the World of Sport show. The style of wrestling at the time was unique with strong emphasis on clean technical wrestling. Heels made up

513-446: A real-life Hollywood actor/actress. These include "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan , The Rock , and most recently, Batista , John Cena , The Miz , and David Otunga 's A-list character, and tag-teams The Hollywood Blondes , and MNM , and most recently, The Bollywood Boyz , despite being of Indian descent and being billed from the famous Indian filming district of Bollywood , Mumbai ( Bombay ), instead which they were named after (although

570-489: A sidekick companion during segments while addressing the fans. And recently, The New Day pursued a joyous gimmick, giving them a character heavily associated with the fans. Damien Sandow also falls under this category due to his 'stunt double' gimmick in late 2014 where he copied whatever his on-screen mentor The Miz did, due to the latter using a gimmick of an arrogant movie star. R-Truth also influenced his character with some of his comedic activities, such as breaking out

627-418: A superhero, into Nikki A.S.H. (Almost a Superhero). TNA 's Dean Roll's ring name, Shark Boy , became the inspiration for the 3D film, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D . Similarly to superheroes and supervillains, supernatural characters add to entertainment value. Most famously in this category is The Undertaker , considered one of the most respected wrestlers in the business, whose gimmick

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684-1858: A villainous gimmick, initiated by Gorgeous George , due to the jealousy of the good looks the fans want to have for themselves. Wrestlers that followed on with this trend include Sonny Kiss , Angel Garza , "The Untouchable" Carmella , Lana with her catchphrase, "I am the best in the world", "Dashing" Cody Rhodes , "The Black Machismo" Jay Lethal , "The Artist Collective" Sami Zayn , "The Masterpiece" Chris Masters , Byron Saxton , "The Swiss Superman" Antonio Cesaro , Dolph Ziggler with his "perfection" gimmick, The Miz with his catchphrase, "AWESOME", Randy Orton , "The Glamazon" Beth Phoenix , Carlito Caribbean Cool , "The Phenominal" AJ Styles , "Glorious" Bobby Roode , "The Almighty" Bobby Lashley , "The Golden Standard" Shelton Benjamin , Scotty 2 Hotty , "The Rated R Superstar" Edge , The "Great One" Rock , "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry , Val Venis , "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels , "Big Sexy" Kevin Nash , Lex Luger 's "The Narcissist" character, "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton , Ravishing Rick Rude , "The Model" Rick Martel , "Adorable" Adrian Adonis , Hulk Hogan , "Macho Man" Randy Savage , Jesse "The Body" Ventura , "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair and his daughter , "Handsome" Harley Race , "Classy" Freddie Blassie , AEW's "Pretty" Peter Avalon , and Powerhouse Hobbs , TNA's Mr Pec-tacular , Brian Christopher's Grand Master Sexay , Billy Gunn's Mr Ass , Curt Hennig's Mr Perfect , Paul Orndorff's Mr Wonderful , NXT's Tyler Breeze , Lacey Evans , and "The Finest" Kona Reeves , and tag-teams The Mexicools , and Too Cool , as well as women's tag-teams The Beautiful People , LayCool , Fire and Desire , and The IIconics . Hollywood movie stars are occasionally villainous due to fame outside of wrestling as

741-416: A wrestler to perform as more than one character for a variety of wrestling promotions. In Mexico, a masked wrestler's identity is often not even a matter of public record, and being unmasked, usually as a stipulation of losing a match , is considered a great humiliation. It is a major taboo for a Mexican wrestler who has lost his mask to start wearing one again, though this has occasionally been violated, as in

798-419: A wrestler uses a gimmick as a tribute to another worker; such is the case of Ric Flair 's Nature Boy persona which he took on as an homage to the original Nature Boy, Buddy Rogers . When a wrestler acts outside their gimmick this is known as 'breaking kayfabe ', a term showing pro wrestling's linkages to theatre , where the more common term " breaking the fourth wall " is used. Gimmicks are annually rated for

855-758: Is a horror-themed character of an undead, macabre and paranormal dark presence prone to scare tactics. He was managed by the ghostly character that was Paul Bearer and tagged with his half-brother Kane in The Brothers of Destruction stable. Other wrestlers displaying supposed supernatural powers include Matt Hardy (as his Broken/Woken persona), and his younger brother Jeff Hardy (as his Brother Nero/Willow character), Mordecai , Waylon Mercy , Jake "The Snake" Roberts , Papa Shango , The Boogeyman , Abyss , and most recently Asuka , Aleister Black , and Bray Wyatt's The Fiend , and stables The Three Faces of Fear , and The Dungeon of Doom . Japanese Onryo portrays

912-623: Is also an ex- amateur wrestler , NFL player and UFC champion. Welsh wrestler Mason Ryan is also a former Gladiator and football player. English wrestler Wade Barrett was also a former bare-knuckle fighter as well as Elijah Burke who is also a former amateur boxer . Former MMA fighters Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler also uses their MMA background as part of their characters as well as former American Ninja Warrior competitor Kacy Catanzaro , former kung-fu fighter Xia Li , and Matt Riddle , who always wrestles barefooted during matches, presuming that he had an MMA background career in

969-414: Is often a rare gimmick in professional wrestling due to its controversial nature. Wrestlers who used this gimmick include Friar Ferguson , and most recently, "Bolieve" Bo Dallas , and "The Monday Night Messiah" Seth "Freakin'" Rollins . Whilst being way beyond over the limit from some sheer violence is scary in some matches, hardcore technician gimmicks are also another popular choice for gimmicks, due to

1026-501: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards by the publication's owner, professional wrestling journalists, and various industry insiders, such as Dave Meltzer , promoters, agents and performers, other journalists, historians, and fans. The two awards are given to the best and worst gimmick of that year. Pro wrestling's history has been tied to the use of gimmicks from its infancy. From its circus origins in

1083-754: The AWA Southern Tag Team Championship from the Fabs on April 4, 1983, and lost it back to them on April 25, in a no-disqualification match. The feud continued throughout 1983 and ended when The Moondogs lost a leaves town match to the Fabs on January 16, 1984. In October 1987, the Moondogs wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling . Moondog Spike and Moondog Spot faced opponents such as Jumbo Tsuruta , Mighty Inoue , Haruka Eigen and Tiger Mask II . In late 1991, The Moondogs returned, this time managed by Richard Lee. Spot and Spike captured

1140-709: The Batman comics have inspired wrestling attire for Sting and Alexa Bliss respectively. Finn Bálor 's Demon King persona is visually based on Spider-Man villains Venom and Carnage . Sandman's character name is also based on Spider-Man villain Sandman as well as Rhyno , whose character name was based on a pun on the Spider-Man villain Rhino . Raven's character name was based on DC Comics superhero, Raven . Kenny Omega 's taunts were inspired by video games since he

1197-707: The Clash of the Legends show in Memphis on April 29, 2007, where he defeated The Barbarian . Gimmick (professional wrestling) Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s In professional wrestling , a gimmick generally refers to a wrestler's in-ring persona, character, behaviour, attire, and/or other distinguishing traits while performing which are usually artificially created in order to draw fan interest. These in-ring personalities often involve costumes, makeup and catchphrases that they shout at their opponents or

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1254-745: The USWA Tag Team Championship on November 30, 1991. In early 1992, The Moondogs gained a new ally in The Big Black Dog, whom they would later feud with. Moondog Cujo was added to the group in April 1992, teaming with both Spot and Spike separately. The New Moondogs of Spot and Cujo recaptured USWA Tag Team Championship and traded the title with Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Lawler throughout 1992. During October 1992, The Moondogs gained another ally in Moondog Fifi , who won

1311-522: The USWA Women's Championship from Miss Texas . The feud between Jarrett/Lawler and The Moondogs was voted the 1992 PWI Feud of the Year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated . Cujo left the group during September 1992. On December 28, The Moondogs lost the title to The Harris Brothers , managed by Bert Prentice and Mike Samples. The teams traded the belts back and forth until the Moondogs captured them for

1368-732: The leprechaun Hornswoggle , El Torito and other various dwarfed versions of other various wrestlers . Education is a rare gimmick in wrestling due to the fact that, most times, the wrestler is a former real-life student or scholar of a school , a college , a university , or a TAFE , who also worked as a cheerleader , a coach , a dean , a librarian , a teacher , or even a principal . Wrestlers who used this gimmick include NXT wrestlers, e.g. Alex Riley etc., Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , Sgt. Slaughter , Dean Douglas , Jonathan Coachman , Michelle McCool 's "sexy teacher" character, The Miz 's and Jack Swagger 's "student" amateur background characters, Damien Sandow 's "Intellectual Savior of

1425-420: The 1830s, showmen presented wrestlers under names such as "Edward, the steel eater", "Gustave d’Avignon, the bone wrecker", or "Bonnet, the ox of the low Alps" and challenged the public to knock them down for 500 francs. During the late 19th century-early 20th century, when wrestler Frank Gotch rose to prominence, the focus became on contests largely legitimate (see catch wrestling ), which largely resulted in

1482-596: The 1980s–1990s, a rise of cartoonish, outlandish gimmicks became popular with the increase of the World Wrestling Federation's popularity. The WWF contributed to the explosion of gimmicks by becoming the most colorful and well-known wrestling brand because of its child-oriented characters, soap opera dramatics and cartoon-like personas. Most notable was the muscular Hulk Hogan , who marked the 1980s with his "Real-American" gimmick and made his main events into excellent ratings draws. His dominant role in

1539-1094: The 1994 movie The Crow , based on the comic book of the same name . Other wrestlers with superhero and supervillain gimmicks include late WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes ' sons Gold and Stardust , Big Van Vader , Bam Bam Bigelow , Pierre Carl Ouellet , Dr. Luther , the magician Phantasio , Icarus , Super Eric , Dexter Lumis , Samoan Rosey during his "the Super Hero in Training" (the S.H.I.T.) phase and his tag-team partner The Hurricane and valet Super Stacy , Earthquake/Avalanche and his tag-team partner Typhoon in The Natural Disasters stable, and tag-teams The Road Warriors , Demolition , KroniK , The Assassins , The Super Assassins , The Machines , and most recently, The Ascension , and The Viking Raiders/War Machine . Some of these characters are brought during very short periods of time for entertainment value. The Joker and Harley Quinn from

1596-934: The 80's, The Honky Tonk Man worked with a Elvisesque character. Elias also works well with his musician guitar character. Rapping was demonstrated by R-Truth / K-Kwik 's original rapper character along with Road Dogg and John Cena worked during the first years of his career with a rapper gimmick. AEW tag team The Acclaimed also begin each of their matches with a different rap. Other music genre types were demonstrated by CM Punk 's straight edge iconoclast hardcore punk , party boys No Way Jose and Adam Rose , Cameron Grimes , Rick Boogs , Rockstar Spud , Heath Slater , Lance Archer , Chris Jericho , Jeff Jarrett , Marty Jannetty , The Honky Tonk Man , Disco Inferno , One Man Gang , Buck Zumhofe , WWE's Brodus Clay and his fun-loving, funk dancing gimmick "The Funkasaurus" and Fandango who includes salsa dancing in his routine, and AEW's Jack Evans who usually does breakdancing in

1653-535: The Giant (7 ft 4 in), The Great Khali (7 ft 3 in), Big Show (7 ft 2 in), Awesome Kong and Nia Jax (123 kg). Similarly to juggernauts, since its beginnings in the circus circuit, the professional wrestler's stereotype has been that of small, but powerful and strong like those of dwarves of Norse mythology . Various wrestlers have banked on the small size which has influenced their in-ring style and persona. Notable examples of these kind include

1710-531: The Ruthless Aggression era following the Attitude era, the emphasis of gimmicks became more realistic with wrestlers portraying themselves or actual people without wild exaggeration, freakishness or fantastical qualities. It is also more common for the wrestlers to use their actual names. Wrestlers like Randy Orton , Batista , Bobby Lashley , John Cena , and Brock Lesnar are prime examples. All

1767-637: The United States (Mort Henderson as "Masked Marvel" in 1915) considerably earlier than in Mexico, but it was the latter that popularised the use of masks. This, in some cases to signify a high-flyer style, influenced by Lucha Libre . A specific masked gimmick may be used by more than one wrestler at a wrestling company's request since their identity can be permanently concealed. This is the case of Mexican Sin Cara and Japanese Tiger Mask . Masks also allow

USWA World Tag Team Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

1824-610: The Unwashed Masses" character, and "The Librarian" Peter Avalon and his manager Leva Bates , and tag-teams The Steiner Brothers , The Spirit Squad , and most recently, Team Rhodes Scholars , American Alpha , and Chase University . Bad News reporter characters are a villainous gimmick; due to any "bad news" reported to the fans by a "bad guy" (heel); but is quite rare since that fans are not quite interested in it either. Wrestlers who used this gimmick include Bad News Brown , and most recently, "Bad News" Barrett . Religion

1881-472: The abandoning previous character gimmicks. It was not until the First Golden Age of Professional Wrestling in the United States during the 1940s–1950s, when Gorgeous George created pro wrestling's first major gimmick. His heel character focused on his looks and quickly antagonized the fans with his exaggerated effeminate behavior, drawing jealousy to the fans. Such showmanship was unheard of for

1938-432: The angle or the wrestling promotion that they are working for at that time. Promotions will use gimmicks on more than one person, albeit at different times, occasionally taking advantage of a masked character which allows for the identity of the wrestler in question to be concealed. Razor Ramon was portrayed by both Scott Hall and Rick Bognar and Diesel was portrayed by Kevin Nash and then Glen Jacobs . Occasionally,

1995-584: The case of Rey Mysterio . Other wrestlers who have used masks in their performances include: The Masked Superstar , Mexican-American Kalisto , Lince Dorado , Gran Metalik , or Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger . A high number of wrestlers who start their careers in another sport incorporate their athletic abilities as part of their act. That is the case for Olympic medallist Kurt Angle , who previously competed in freestyle wrestling and alludes to it in his attire and wrestling style. Brock Lesnar

2052-428: The change was made. The teams of Jim and Ron Harris , Tommy Rich and Doug Gilbert , and Flash Flanagan and Nick Dinsmore , all lost the championship on the same show that they won the championship, tying them for the shortest reign. As it is a professional wrestling championship, the championship was won not by actual competition, but by kayfabe to a match determined by the bookers and match makers . On occasion

2109-480: The crowded independent circuit by adopting absurdist comedy gimmicks intended to be understood by post-kayfabe fans as purely fictional characters. Two such wrestlers whose independent-scene popularity got them noticed and eventually signed by the internationally televised promotion All Elite Wrestling are Orange Cassidy , an emotionless slacker who puts as little effort as possible into his matches and frequently wrestles with his hands in his pockets; and Danhausen ,

2166-802: The fans being over with getting used to watching sheer violence as they don't shy away from it either. These include Abdullah the Butcher , and Bruiser Brody , which came popular into other professional wrestling companies like ECW wrestlers, e.g. Terry Funk , Hardcore Holly , New Jack , and Mick Foley/Mankind/Cactus Jack , etc., CZW wrestlers, e.g. John Zandig , Necro Butcher , Wifebeater , Nick Mondo , and Nick Gage , etc., AEW wrestlers, e.g. The Blade and The Butcher , etc., Japanese Wrestlers Atsushi Onita , Toshiaki Kawada , and Jun Kasai , and tag-teams The Motor City Machine Guns , and most recently, The Mechanics , and Heavy Machinery . Music influences are another popular choice for gimmicks. In

2223-403: The fans. Gimmicks can be designed to work as good guys/heroes ( babyfaces ) or bad guys/villains ( heel ) depending on the wrestler's desire to be popular or hated by the crowd. A tweener gimmick falls between the two extremes, such as wrestlers who manifests many heel and face traits such as Randy Orton 's viper gimmick. A wrestler may portray more than one gimmick over their career depending on

2280-657: The gimmick in Portland, Texas, California and Georgia. He died in 1978 after an automobile accident. In 1980, Moondog Hawkins wrestled in the WWF, in which the gimmick was short-lived. Hawkins became Moondog Rex. Moondog Rex and Moondog King joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in October 1980, where they defeated Rick Martel and Tony Garea for the WWF Tag Team Championship . After winning

2337-592: The industry at that time led to this era to be also known as "Hulkamania". Around this time, wrestling became a form of entertainment rather than an official sport. Other wrestlers from this era with similarly vivid and outlandish characterization include The Iron Sheik , The Ultimate Warrior , Randy Savage , The Undertaker , Sting , Goldust , Roddy Piper , Ric Flair , "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels , Big Daddy Cool Diesel , Kwang , The Bushwhackers , Big Boss Man , Tatanka , Razor Ramon , Sgt. Slaughter , Irwin R. Schyster , among many others. Beginning with

USWA World Tag Team Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

2394-537: The last time on February 22, 1993. The feud ended in March 1993, when The Harris Brothers beat The Moondogs in a manager's hair vs hair match with Samples' hair vs Lee's hair on the line. On January 30, 1993, the Moondogs gained another ally in Moondog Splat, who replaced Spike. On March 8, 1993, Brian Christopher teamed with The Big Black Dog to defeat The Moondogs for the tag team title. The Moondogs won it back

2451-527: The name "Bollywood" was borrowed from the word "Hollywood" but with a "B" instead of a "H" to describe a famous filming district in Mumbai (Bombay), in India, which it was named after). Authority figures are apparently villainous but sometimes as heroic characters as wrestlers and non-wrestlers (e.g. referees , general managers, security , police , etc.) as well depending on the storyline. Some wrestlers also use

2508-708: The next week. Moondog Cujo and Spike replaced Spot and Splat in July 1993. August 1993 saw the Moondogs meet one of their noteworthy rivals, The Dogcatchers, which played off of the Moondogs' name. The teams feuded throughout August and September 1993. From November 1993 to March 1994, the team appeared in Smoky Mountain Wrestling , feuding again with The Harris Brothers and The Rock 'n' Roll Express . Spike and Splat also appeared in W*ING's 1993 Most Dangerous Tag War Tournament, finishing with 0 points. 1994 saw

2565-616: The nickname from the 1940s. His instrumental song "Moondog Serenade" inspired DJ Alan Freed to use the Moondog moniker in the 1950s until legal action from Hardin resulted in a judgement in Hardin's favor. Had album was used under his name in 1969 called Moondog The Moondog gimmick in wrestling was born in 1973 when Lonnie Mayne became Moondog Mayne in the World Wide Wrestling Federation . He continued using

2622-535: The old USA Tag Team Championship belts that was originally used in the short-lived USA Championship Wrestling promotion in 1988, before Continental Wrestling Federation used them to replace the NWA Continental Tag Team Championship belts to represent their title. In 1996, USWA changed the red straps to black and repainted the red design on the centerpiece and the blue design on the sideplates to black. The USWA Tag Team Tournament

2679-448: The past before debuting in WWE along with Mojo Rawley 's "hyperactive" wrestling style due to being a former NFL player before debuting WWE as well as the stable The Four Horsemen . The theatrical nature of professional wrestling easily blends with comic hero and villain characters , made popular in the 1980s by legend The Ultimate Warrior and Sting , whose character was inspired by

2736-541: The promotion declares a championship vacant, which means there is no champion at that point in time. This can either be due to a storyline, or real life issues such as a champion suffering an injury being unable to defend the championship, or leaving the company. The original belts to represent the title were the WCWA World Tag Team Championship belts. In 1990, the WCWA belts were replaced by

2793-540: The ring during entrances or when he's won a match, and tag-teams The Public Enemy , Badd Company , The Rockers , The Rock 'n' Roll Express , The Rhythm and Blues , and most recently, The Vaudevillains . AEW 's Adam Williams is also a professional wrestler and a real-life guitarist. Whilst humor has long been present in professional wrestling matches and many wrestlers incorporate elements of comedy in their act, full-on comedic gimmicks are not commonly seen. These are sometimes reserved for wrestlers who not always have

2850-456: The said wrestlers are depicted as less-exaggerated average people. Although rare, colorful and cartoon-like characters remain in the WWE, such as Shinsuke Nakamura (a wildly random, erratic mixed martial arts enigma, emotionally charged by the sound of violins) and Matt Riddle (a stereotypical carefree, barefoot surfer Valley boy ). Outside WWE, some wrestlers have made names for themselves on

2907-528: The same things that Bray Wyatt would do. Since its beginnings in the circus circuit, the professional wrestler's stereotype has been that of large, powerful and strong, most notably Kane upon his arrival to the WWF/E. Various wrestlers have banked on the larger size which has influenced their in-ring style and persona. Notable examples of these kind include Swede Tor Johnson (181 kg), Gorilla Monsoon (182 kg), Giant González (8 ft 0 in), André

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2964-794: The stereotypical physique required in the industry and instead exploit their entertainment abilities. Initiated by English wrestler Les Kellett , wrestlers who fall under this category are Doink The Clown which was majorly portrayed by Matt Osborne until his death in 2013, which inspired others like Scottish comedian and actor Grado , Ring of Honor 's Colt Cabana , Santino Marella , James Ellsworth , and Eugene's "mentally disabled boy" character, Japanese Wrestlers Stalker Ichikawa , Gran Naniwa , Kuishinbo Kamen and Toru Yano , Charlie Haas during his impersonations run, and WWE 's 1990s turkey character Gobbledy Gooker , and rooster character Red Rooster , WCW's Brian Pillman , and Al Snow along with his mannequin prop called "Head" which he used as

3021-483: The team change again with Spot and a new Moondog Rex taking up the Moondog name until Moondog Rover replaced Rex in 1996, before the team disbanded. In the latter part of 2003, the Moondogs (Spot and Puppy Love) began working in Memphis Wrestling , with April Pennington acting as their manager. On November 29, 2003, Moondog Spot died in the ring during a battle royal in Memphis. Moondog Cujo appeared at

3078-430: The time; and consequently, arena crowds grew in size as fans turned out to ridicule George. Gorgeous George's impact and legacy on wrestling gimmicks was enormous, demonstrating how fast television changed the product from athletics to performance. Before him, wrestlers' gimmicks imitated "ethnic terrors"—Nazis, Middle Eastern Muslims (Arabs, Turks, Persians, Afghans, etc.), Japanese, Russians, etc.—but his success birthed

3135-516: The title, Moondog King was replaced by Moondog Spot after King—a Canadian—was denied entry into the United States in 1981. Rex and Spot's gimmick consisted of them carrying chewed up bones to the ring and wearing cut-off blue jeans. While in the WWF, the Moondogs feuded with Tony Garea , Rick Martel , Bob Backlund , Ivan Putski , Pat Patterson , and the Wild Samoans . In 1984, on an episode of Maple Leaf Wrestling , Moondog Rex earned

3192-408: Was a big fan of them. Mantaur 's character name was also based on a pun on the word Minotaur , a half-man, half-bull creature from Greek Mythology . Luchasaurus ' character name is a portmanteau of " lucha libre " and " dino saurus ". Tag-team The Super Smash Brothers 's name was based on the video game franchise Super Smash Bros. Nikki Cross also changed her gimmick and name like that of

3249-918: Was a one-night single elimination tag team tournament held in Dallas, Texas on December 1, 1989, for the vacant USWA World Tag Team Championship. The Moondogs (professional wrestling) The Moondogs were a professional wrestling stable in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and in the Memphis promotions: the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), which became the United States Wrestling Association (USWA). They were known for wrestling in frayed blue jeans, sporting shaggy blond hair and beards and carrying animal bones around with them (which they chewed and used as weapons). The name " moondog " seems to have originated with American musician Louis T. Hardin (1916–1999) who used

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