The 411 Wrestling Top 5 12.22.10: Week 106 – Occupational Gimmicks

Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling’s Top 5 List. What we are going to is take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to give us their Top 5 on said topic, plus up to three honorable mentions. Most of our topics will be based on recent events in the Wrestling World, looking at those events that make us think of times past.

So, on to this week’s topic…

Top 5 Occupational Gimmicks

What did our group of writers select? Let’s find out…

Ryan Byers

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Men at Work – The team was short-lived, but I always got a kick out of this WCW trio of Chris Kanyon, Mark Starr, and Mike Wenner decked out as construction workers. My favorite match of theirs was one in which Kanyon spent the entire bout measuring the ring with a tape measure, only to overshoot a moonsault at the finish.

The Gambler – Another entry on my list which makes it clear that I spent entirely too much time in the mid-1990’s watching WCW Saturday Night, Main Event, and {Pro}. The Gambler, who apparently made his living outside of wrestling on the pro poker tour, was a hell of a jobber.

5. The Blacktop Bully – I’ve always had a soft spot for this character, which was played by Barry Darsow, the same guy who has also been known as Krusher Kruschev, Demolition Smash, The Repo Man, and Mr. Hole-in-One. The Bully was a wrestling trucker who showed up in WCW in 1994 and, for reasons that I’m not entirely clear on, started harassing Dustin Rhodes. One of my favorite things about Darsow in this persona was that he was incredibly vocal and incredibly loud, always shouting great over the top wrestling taunts like, “I’ll break your stinkin’ arm!” That feeds into one of my other favorite aspects of the Blacktop Bully, which was his finisher, at times referred to as the “Barely Legal” and at other times referred to as the “Breaker 1-9.” It was a submission hold which involved Darsow doubling over his opponent’s arm and shoving it into his chest, which looked horrifically painful. Of course, there was the bit where he had one of the worst matches I’ve ever seen in his “King of the Road” bout against Dustin, but we’ll put that aside for now . . .

4. Dusty Rhodes – Speaking of Dustin Rhodes, here’s his daddy Dusty. Of course, when I place Big Dust on the list of Top 5 Occupational Gimmicks, I’m not putting him on the list for the the work that originally made him famous in various NWA territories. I’m putting him on the list for his early 1990s run as a wrestler for the WWF, where, in addition to wearing polka dots and being matched with an out of nowhere valet, was portrayed as a “common man” working hard with his hands. Rhodes’ pre-debut vignettes featured him in a variety of blue collar jobs, including plumber, garbage man, and pizza delivery boy. Dusty’s WWF persona was a bit absurd in that he was a proven draw as a serious wrestler and probably could have been used at a significantly higher level in the company than he actually was. However, at the same time, Dusty has such natural charisma that he took what would otherwise be lousy material and turned it into a gimmick that brought about more than its fair share of laughs. In short, Dusty probably should’ve gotten a better run that he did, but at least he was very entertaining in the run that he got.

3. The Mountie/The Quebecers – I’ve gone back and watched a fair amount of footage of him recently, and I have to say that Jacques Rougeau was maybe one of the most underrated heels of the early 1990’s. In addition to being a fine performer in the ring, he also had boatloads of charisma and was one of those guys who you could always count on to do and say the “little things” to add a little bit of extra entertainment value to the segments in which he was involved. He was going to be able to make anything that he did work, and, when he became DA MOUNTIE~! he turned it into a very memorable midcard heel act, complete with delightfully off-key entrance music, legal threats from the real RCMP, and a slightly hokey “shock stick.” Of course, the only thing that could have been better than one Mountie was two mounties, and that’s what we got when Carl Ouellet joined the act as “Pierre.” Though not as charismatic as Jacques, he brought more size and power to the ring along with an uncanny agility, adding to the act greatly.

2. The Godfather – When you write it down on paper, the phrase “wrestling pimp” sounds ridiculous, perhaps just as ridiculous (if not moreso) than “wrestling garbage man” or “wrestling dentist.” However, no matter how odd the concept sounds, when the former Papa Shango actually became a wrestling pimp, the man was OVER. He may not have been a main eventer by any stretch of the imagination, but the remarkable popularity of the gimmick lead to him receiving some of the loudest crowd reactions of any wrestler aside from the Rock and Steve Austin during the Attitude Era of the World Wrestling Federation. Many memorable angles were born of the Godfather’s opponents being offered a ride on the “ho train” in lieu of having a wrestling match, and the unusual character combined with the fun-loving personality of the man behind the character lead to this being one of the best remembered acts of the late 1990s, even if it is one that we will probably not see on WWF nostalgia shows for some time given the company’s current “PG” direction.

1. The Big Bossman – Let’s face it, the majority of Occupational Gimmicks are jokes. Nobody really cared about Tony Anthony running around as T.L. Hopper, and WCW’s wrestling pianist the Maestro was a pretty huge joke. However, if there is one person who has been able to transcend what could have been a lousy Occupational Gimmick and turn it into a very successful career, it’s been one Ray Traylor. Traylor, from Cobb County, Georgia, had been in wrestling for several years before he made his debut with the WWF, where he was repackaged as wrestling cop the Big Bossman. Originally the character was a heel who actually got very good heat in a program against Hulk Hogan thanks to an angle in which the Hulkster was handcuffed to the ring ropes and brutalized with the Boss’ nightstick. Before long, the Bossman had turned babyface, and he wound up hanging out at around the top of the company’s cards for many more years, all the while cutting appropriately themed promos on opponents about how he was going to put them behind bars, make them serve hard times, make them respect law/order/justice, and so on down the line. In fact, the gimmick was so popular that, when the Bossman jumped to WCW after finishing up his WWF run, his new employers tried as hard as they possibly could to keep the gimmick alive, first calling him the Boss and then the Guardian Angel to keep Traylor using nightsticks and handcuffs. Intellectual property lawyers (real lawyers, not wrestlers doing lawyer gimmicks) prevented that from going on for too long, but they couldn’t keep fans from thinking of Traylor as the Big Bossman for the rest of his career, no matter what name he was actually going by at the time.

LARRY CSONKA

5. The Gambler – With Pokerstars being all the rage and professional poker players making more and more money these days, The Gambler left a promising career in the ring to continue on his true and given professional as a professional card shark. We will never know how great this man could have been, thanks to his love of playing Texas Hold’Em.

4. Isaac Yankem, DDS – Who do more than 20% of Americans admit to being afraid of and avoid going too? The Dentist! Who better to freak out kids in a era of gimmickty than an EVIL Dentist? Isaac Yankem, DDS, who would go on to later have a very long WWE career as Kane, was brought in as Jerry Lawler’s maniacal dentist, and as a foil for Bret Hart. Who knew back then that he would go on to such a long, and successful career?

3. The State Patrol – The Big Bossman in all incarnations may get all the love for law enforcement, but in WCW, Sergeant Buddy Lee Parker and Lieutenant James Earl Wright were The State Patrol. They were a great jobber in the fact that they were good enough to be a threat when needed, and could just work with anyone in a believable match.

2. Arachnaman – You know, Spider-Man always gets the credit when it comes to being a webslinging crime fighter. But why doesn’t Arachnaman get the love? It it because he wore purple and yellow? DAT’S RACIST!

1. The Repo Man – With the economy being in the dumper and people looking for jobs, the one thing that we can all agree on is that we fear repossession. From 1991-1993, Barry Darsow was the sneaky heel known as “The Repo Man,” and would do his job, repossessing items such as cars from people when they were late on or unable to make their payments. Darsow was solid in the ring, and had great over the top mannerisms, that made the gimmick work. When I think back to guys like this, I do miss silly characters in wrestling. When properly used, they work well. When overused or just thrown around, they are like cruel abuse.

Marc Elusive

HONORABLE MENTIONS

T.L. Hopper – Remember the turd at the bottom of the Summerslam pool

Duke “The Dumpster” Droese – Any gimmick list needs him

5. Big Bossman – Whether it be a Cobb County prison guard or Mr. McMahon’s corporate head of security; the Bossman was the law order and justice of the WWF/E. A wrestling policeman that fits the description of occupational gimmick; especially in 1991, Bossman was one, if not the, best big man in the business for many years. The gimmick lasted as well; time is a good barometer of determining if the gimmick is good.

4. Bob “Spark Plug” Holly – I’ll give ol’ Bob Holly some love. The character was a wrestling racecar driver, granted Holly was more over as Hardcore Holly, but he tried and actually acquired a tag tea title with it, one day but still, titles did not go from person to person those days. The promos were funny as well and he was an actual good wrestler as well.

3. Henry Godwinn/The Godwinns – Hog farmers, that’s an occupation, I’m sure Mike Rowe has done it (when not plugging Ford). Henry debuted as a nasty hillbilly when all hillbillies were faces prior to him and The Godwinns (who I also preferred as heels) were a decent tag team. Anytime they were faces they were not as entertaining. I guess all good hog farmers are heels.

2. Repo Man – I loved this over-the-top character played by Barry Darsow. I find him as sort of a guilty pleasure of mine; the gimmick was wrestlecrap worthy but the way he was portrayed it was a thing of beauty. He was not Ric Flair in the ring or The Rock on the microphone but he could work a decent match and his promos were hilarious.

1. Undertaker – The occupation was a dead mortician but it morphed into one of the most legendary characters in all pro wrestling history. The character did not look like it was going to last due to the suspended belief inherited in the character; the guy is a zombie who is impervious to pain. However, the character stayed popular and has become one if not the greatest characters on of all time.

Greg DeMarco

5. The Godfather – The man played a pimp. Not a “Pimp!” but an actual pimp. His “Supple & Demand” team with Val Venis was a great idea, and his interruption of the Billy & Chuck Wedding lead to some great lines. And we all learned that “Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy!”

4. The Goon – In hockey, a goon is more than just a myth. Goons exist all over the sport, designed to go in there and be the enforcer–or to draw a penalty from the opposition’s top player. What better professional athlete to transition to the world of professional wrestling? And when he does transition, he still keeps all of his hockey gear and equipment? Perfect.

3. Gregory Helms, Mild Mannered Reporter – With crime fighting superhero The Hurricane flying all over RAW, his alter ego couldn’t be far behind. Completing backstage interviews, Gregory Helms did his best to hide his secret identity, but we all knew better.

2. Val Venis – The attitude era brought us a product universally praised by many wrestling fans. The storylines and characters, for the most part, were perfectly targeted to the audience that grew out of the cartoon era. Val Venis was the perfect character for that generation. Val was a porn star, and played the role perfectly with his attitude, promos and mannerisms. As mentioned, his pairing with The Godfather was a great match, but only after both characters had been long established. While he also played assistant commissioner and Right to Censor goon for a while, anytime Sean Morley shows up on camera he will immediately be remembered as Val Venis. With him back in the fold as a backstage agent, Morley should work with young wrestlers (both on the roster and in FCW) on how to sell their characters from a 360 degree perspective. On the mic, in the ring, every little aspect of what he did was porn star, and that’s why it was such a memorable gimmick.

1. The Repo Man – Of the many gimmicks Barry Darsow had, this was by far my favorite of his, and easily my favorite occupational gimmick of all time. I’m not sure if it was the way Darsow played it, or the look, but this just worked for me. I thought it never reached its full potential, either. Imagine the heights The Repo Man could have ascended to with the proper push. Imagine a modern day Repo Man, repossessing Vince McMahon’s limo backstage, or even repossessing the WWE rig off of the arena lot so part of the stage is missing. I have a two year old daughter who religiously watches Dora The Explorer. There’s no way in hell those creators who came up with Swiper The Fox didn’t see some Repo Man when they were younger.