7 Successful Pro Wrestling Gimmicks That Should Have Never Worked

Pro wrestling is a unique hybrid of fighting and entertainment, and a big part of what makes it entertaining is the colorful cast of characters.

We have seen anything and everything used as a gimmick over the years. People have portrayed cops, soldiers, clowns, accountants, mystical deities and even a repo man, who cleverly called himself "The Repo Man."

There is something for everybody in pro wrestling. Whether you like realistic personas or over-the-top fictional characters, there is somebody you can connect to.

Some of the biggest names in the history of the business made themselves famous by taking a gimmick that sounds horrible on paper and getting it over.

Let's look at some of the most successful characters that never should have worked in the first place. 

The most successful gimmick by far on this list is The Undertaker, but if you look back at how the character  started, it's amazing he has lasted this long.

He was a literal undertaker, but he was also undead himself...maybe. He drew his power from an urn carried by Paul Bearer, who was actually a funeral director in real life.

This is the kind of thing you would expect to work in a comic book, not a wrestling ring. Somehow, though, The Undertaker became one of the most popular stars in the entire industry.

A lot of the credit for his success goes to the man behind the gimmick, Mark Calaway. He put everything into the character and evolved it over time to appeal to each new generation of fans. 

Nobody else has been as successful for this long with such a goofy-sounding gimmick, and we will probably never see anything quite like it again. 

A common staple in soap operas is the evil sibling returning after years to seek revenge. WWE is basically a soap opera with more punching, so this storytelling technique has been used a few times.

The most notable use of this tale is The Undertaker's kayfabe brother, Kane. When he first showed up, he was silent and wore a mask with one full sleeve covering what Paul Bearer led us to believe were burns he suffered as a child when the family home burned down.

We eventually found out he had no burns and could speak just fine, but the character continued as Taker's storyline brother for many years.

Once again, the hard work and dedication of the man playing the character helped make him a success. Without Kane, The Undertaker might have lost steam during the Attitude Era. 

These days, Glenn Jacobs is the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. He occasionally returns to chokeslam somebody, but he is as close to retired as one can get.

Doink the Clown may not be on a lot of top-10 lists of the greatest wrestlers, but the character is easily one of the most memorable WWE Superstars from the 1990s.

He began as more of a Pennywise character who tormented his opponents before becoming more of a traditional clown who used whoopee cushions and seltzer to annoy his rivals.

Doink was one of the few Superstars featured in many early WWE video games, and his attire and face paint are unmistakable to this day. 

Wrestling has been more for children than adults for a long time, but even a character such as Doink sounds like it would have been a complete failure based on that premise alone.

It just goes to show that you never know what will get over with wrestling fans. After all, if we can connect to a plant named Mitch, we can connect to anything. 

There was a period when WWE seemed like it was giving every Superstar a random occupation unrelated to wrestling. IRS was an accountant, Duke Droese was a garbage collector and The Repo Man was exactly what his name said he was.

The Big Boss Man, however, was not a CEO. He was a cop being played by a man who really worked as a corrections officer in Georgia before becoming a wrestler. 

Ray Traylor spent more than two decades playing this character as both a heel and babyface. When the Attitude Era kicked in, he traded his traditional uniform for a more tactical outfit similar to what The Shield used to wear.

One of his most memorable feuds was against his Canadian equivalent, The Mountie. The two law-enforcement characters were both memorable in their own way, but The Big Boss Man had staying power.

Traylor died of a heart attack in 2004 and was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016 by his former manager, Slick. 

Pro wrestlers are the closest thing we have to real superheroes in many ways. They wear colorful clothing, have unique nicknames and their finishing moves are almost like their own superpowers. 

The idea of an actual caped crusader in WWE sounds ridiculous, but Shane Helms took The Hurricane and made himself into a comedy legend in the company. 

He would often attempt to chokeslam opponents who were much larger than he was, which usually ended in him losing. However, he was able to pin The Rock in 2003 thanks to a distraction from "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

The Hurricane was soon joined by Molly Holly under her new name, Mighty Molly. They were responsible for many memorable moments both in the ring and backstage.

People still talk about both characters to this day because they came along at a time when everything in the wrestling business was being taken so seriously.

The Attitude Era was responsible for shedding a lot of the wild gimmicks WWE used to be known for, so when The Hurricane and Mighty Molly arrived on the scene, it was a reminder of how much fun wrestling can be with the right people playing the right characters. 

Thanks to the 24/7 Championship, R-Truth is officially one of the most decorated titleholders in WWE history with 41 separate reigns. The 24/7 belt makes up 36 of those titles, with the rest being the Hardcore, Tag Team and United States Championships. 

Other than being a rapper, Truth is primarily known for being confused most of the time. He has thought he was in a different city before, had an imaginary friend and often gets names wrong.

He has somehow combined the innocence of Chris Farley in Tommy Boy, the comedy of Chris Tucker in Friday and the positive personality of Amy Poehler in Parks and Recreation to create one of the most endearing characters of the 21st century.

If you tried to explain Truth's character to a non-wrestling fan, their eyes would probably glaze over after about a minute because he is so unique. He is unconventional in the best way.

He is so liked, even Brock Lesnar reportedly requested to work with him. If The Beast Incarnate specifically asks to be in the ring with somebody, that person must be doing something right.

There was even a bet backstage about whether Truth could make Lesnar laugh during their segment, which he did multiple times. 

When you consider Truth is still going strong at 48 years old, it makes his level of consistency even more impressive.