10 Awful WWE Gimmicks That Only Lasted One Night

2. Phantasio

At 6’ 3” and a muscular 260 lbs, it’s easy to see why WWE felt like they could have something in Harry Del Rios, who wrestled for the Memphis-based USWA promotion as The Spellbinder. 

He didn’t bring that gimmick with him to WWE, however. Del Rios instead tried out a new character called Phantasio. 

His one and only televised match – a quick victory over Tony DeVito on the July 15, 1995, edition of Wrestling Challenge – was notable for the various tricks Phantasio performed before, during and after it. 

Like his finisher, which saw him remove his opponent’s boxer shorts without tearing them in a magic wedgie. 

Perhaps his greatest trick was disappearing forever afterwards. Outside of one more dark match against Rad Radford, that was it for Del Rios, who was duly sent back to Memphis.   

Though the gimmick was utterly rubbish, another strike against Phantasio was the fact he almost burned down the backstage Gorilla Position (with Bruce Prichard in it) before his lone televised outing after dropping something flammable he planned to use in his act, something big Prichard revealed decades later.