10 Infamously Short-Lived WWE Gimmicks

Making it to the big time in whatever your desired profession - it's a dream come true. Elation, bewilderment, astonishment, jubilation, all feelings that coarse through your body when you realize you've arrived. And then, with the snap of a mythical ogre's fingers, it's all gone. Reality hits you hard as you realize that the dream is over, before you even had a chance to settle in.

Through the years, we've seen performers on WWE television that were (to be fair) subpar wrestlers, or perhaps good wrestlers saddled with absolute duds for gimmicks. But many of them were given a little bit of time to try and right the ship, to find solid footing. Others didn't have that same fortune, disappearing faster than a six-pack at The Sandman's house.

In the land of McMahon, new acts have come and gone through the years, but these are the ones that were shown the door in record time. Some may have had better luck later on with a bit of retooling, but for the most part, this list represents the ultimate dustbin in WWE history, the most infamous one-and-dones (or close to it) to have ever graced a WWE audience.

Making it to the big time in whatever your desired profession - it's a dream come true. Elation, bewilderment, astonishment, jubilation, all feelings that coarse through your body when you realize you've arrived. And then, with the snap of a mythical ogre's fingers, it's all gone. Reality hits you hard as you realize that the dream is over, before you even had a chance to settle in.

Through the years, we've seen performers on WWE television that were (to be fair) subpar wrestlers, or perhaps good wrestlers saddled with absolute duds for gimmicks. But many of them were given a little bit of time to try and right the ship, to find solid footing. Others didn't have that same fortune, disappearing faster than a six-pack at The Sandman's house.

In the land of McMahon, new acts have come and gone through the years, but these are the ones that were shown the door in record time. Some may have had better luck later on with a bit of retooling, but for the most part, this list represents the ultimate dustbin in WWE history, the most infamous one-and-dones (or close to it) to have ever graced a WWE audience.

10. Key

At the height of the Attitude Era 20 years ago, there were many offbeat characters roaming about WWE programming. One particular tandem that didn't seem too out of place in late-nineties pro wrestling matched up the quirky, tatted-and-pierced Droz with the menacing Prince Albert, who himself was a malevolent piercist. The two were feuding with Val Venis and The Godfather in the summer of 1999 when the heels were suddenly joined by a rather large individual.

Enter Key, better known throughout the independent scene as Vic Grimes. Barely over six feet tall and weighing well over 300 pounds, Grimes developed a cult following for his high-impact matches against Erin O'Grady, the future Crash Holly, leading to both men signing with WWE. After time spent in development, Grimes became Key, an apparent drug dealer who wore all white, looking more like a demented ice cream man. Key teamed with his alternative brethren in a six-man squash match on Shotgun, and then was never seen on WWE TV again. Rumours were that Key injured Godfather legitimately during a beatdown, and that got him cast out. Others say WWE got cold feet on the "drug dealer" gimmick, and thus pulled the plug.

9. The Headbanger

No, not Mosh and Thrasher - that's Headbangers plural. This one is singular, and predates those Marilyn Manson worshippers by about eight years. In 1988, WWE brought in veteran brawler Jos LeDuc, a French-Canadian lumberjack with perhaps the most intimidating eyes that ever sat inside a wrestler's head. The barrel-chested maniac survived many a bloodbath throughout his 20 years working the territories, but his time with WWE lasted mere months.

After a few months wrestling at untelevised events, LeDuc debuted on WWE's Prime Time Wrestling in July 1988 as the brown overalls-wearing Headbanger (or Headbanger Butcher, as Gorilla Monsoon called him), managed by Frenchy Martin, and he didn't even win his match. The growling, snarling LeDuc was disqualified after two minutes for headbutting jobber Brian Costello in the corner repeatedly, refusing referee's orders to let Costello out. His only other televised match came three weeks later, a loss to Tito Santana. Not long after, the 43-year-old LeDuc was fired, with WWE being but a footnote in his long and distinguished career.

8. The Toxic Turtles

Technically, the half-shell half-wits were never seen on WWE TV, but their appearance is definitely of the "one and done" variety. And plus, thanks to the magic of WWE's Unreleased DVD set, we all got to bask in this charming idiocy a quarter-century later. Barely a year after WCW ran into some legal issues with Marvel Comics for dressing Brad Armstrong up as a yellow-and-purple Spiderman, WWE walked a rather similar path.

Perennial enhancement talents Duane Gill and Barry Hardy had the custom Turtle outfits made, thinking they'd be eye-catching enough to find more regular work. They wore the costumes once at a Wrestling Challenge taping in Augusta, GA in March 1993, defeating two prelim guys in a matter of minutes. Unofficially, their names were Timmy and Tommy Turtle, which certainly don't sound like any renaissance painters I've heard of. The crowd on hands seemed rather bemused by the antics of the green machine, and it was just as well. Figuring reps from Mirage Studios would show up to Titan Tower armed to the teeth, the Turtles went back to the sewers from whence they came.

7. Aloisia

In its original format, NXT was a reality-esque game show that pitted developmental standouts against one another in the fight for a spot on the main roster. The third season of this version of NXT was for the females, as six women (including AJ Lee, Naomi, and Lucha Underground's Catrina) took part in the competition. One of the other hopefuls stood out in stark contrast from the opposition, and it's pretty easy to see why: the 6'8" Isis the Amazon joined the field, performing under the name Aloisia.

However, Aloisia never made it into the competition, and was released from WWE prior to the first episode. Stories differed as to why she was removed from the show, with one being that she just wasn't ready for the wrestling portion of things. There's also the belief that family-friendly WWE wasn't happy to learn that Aloisia, several years earlier, had posed for some provocative photographs for a fetish website, though she reiterated that she was clothed. Aloisia's replacement went on to win the NXT competition, that being Kaitlyn.

6. Phantasio

To look at wrestler Harry Del Rios, you could see why WWE might fancy him. A musclebound 260-pounder that stood about 6'3", he certainly had the coveted superstar look. After wrestling for Memphis' USWA over the proceeding years as an evil sorcerer called The Spellbinder, Del Rios was brought to WWE in the summer of 1995, to play another character of supernatural wonder - Phantasio: the wrestling magician.

Looking like Crow Sting spent an entire weekend lying in a tanning bed, Phantasio performed a few unusual tricks, including pulling what looked like an endless stream of shrink wrap from his mouth, and shooting silly string from his fingers at enhancement talent Tony DeVito. But his finisher, *that* was a bit of trickery that would make Penn and Teller weep with envy. As DeVito was sufficiently stunned, Phantasio gave him a "magic wedgie", removing his underwear from his singlet, and then pinning the surprised opponent with a roll-up. That's how magical Phantasio was - he could create his *own* distraction/roll-up finish. Equally magical, he disappeared into thin air immediately after this match.

5. Avatar

Hang on, we're not done talking about flopped characters from 1995, particularly ones with face coverings and supposedly mystical powers. One of the top indy stars of the day was veteran Al Snow. In the time before his career was dictated by his infatuation with Head (I know what I said), Snow was an athletic marvel, stealing the show in Smoky Mountain and various NWA affiliates, as well in an ECW bout with Chris Benoit that was positively ahead of its time.

WWE brought Snow into the fold that fall to play Avatar, a character seemingly inspired by Mortal Kombat and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Wearing a colourful outfit, the otherwise plain-looking Snow solemnly entered the arena carrying a mask. When he put the mask on pre-match, he apparently gained incredible agility and world-class martial arts skills, as though the mask itself possessed otherworldly powers. Sounds like a cool idea - until Snow, unfortunately, had a few blunders during the debut match against prelim Brian Walsh, noticeably messing up on a few spots. His planned participation in the 1995 Survivor Series was scrapped, and Avatar never wrestled on TV again.

4. The Mariner

In early 1991, evil-doers such as Rick Martel and Earthquake were enjoying squash match victories on weekend WWE programming, when they were suddenly attacked by a cloaked individual. On one occasion, the man wore a mask and bodysuit adorned with fur. Another time, he wore a star print mask, while an irregular metal basket hung on him like a necklace. Whatever the costume, this intruder struck quickly, delivering a series of headbutts to the heels's skulls, before fleeing into the night.

He was never officially named on WWE TV, but the character was reportedly supposed to be called The Mariner. And it's portrayer was none other than Brutus Beefcake. Six months earlier, Beefcake was catastrophically injured (and very nearly killed) in a parasailing accident that destroyed his facial skeleton to a horrifying degree. It wasn't clear that he'd be able to wrestle again, but come 1991, he was apparently going to give it a try, obscuring his possibly still-disfigured face with a mask. However, other wrestlers (and apparently Beefcake himself) didn't have the confidence that "The Barber" was going to be completely safe wrestling so soon after the accident and subsequent surgery. As a result, Beefcake's return was put on hold, following those few brief appearances.

3. Hade Vansen

You must be a pretty big deal if your first angle on the main roster is a feud with The Undertaker, right? So many others on this list flamed out in mostly-cold squash matches, but English wrestler Hade Vansen was fixing to go to the head of the class. The seven-year pro had spent the previous year-plus in WWE developmental before he appeared in a foreboding vignette on an episode of SmackDown in December 2008.

Vansen warned that he and a collection of followers were coming to WWE. According to Vansen some time later, they were supposed to be a gang of X-Men style mutants, which he would dispatch at The Undertaker one by one, leading to "The Dead Man" facing Vansen himself in a final showdown at WrestleMania 25. But after that lone video aired, the storyline was scrapped, and weeks later, Vansen was suddenly released from the company. Granted, few are going to sneeze at the match Undertaker *actually* got at WrestleMania 25, but it's amazing at how fast somebody could go from "positioned for a big spot" to "yesterday's news".

2. Mad Maxine

Though shorter than Aloisia, the woman behind the Mad Maxine character still managed to stand out for her uncharacteristic height. At 6'2" tall, the German-born athlete was introduced to professional wrestling in her late teens, and it wasn't long before she took the furious road toward life in WWE. Introduced as a protege of Fabulous Moolah's (who also trained her), Maxine seemed to be ideal villainous to challenge Women's champion Wendi Richter, providing a great physical challenge to WWE's resident heroine.

In all, Maxine wrestled only two matches for WWE in the spring of 1985, both sub-three minute squashes. After that time, the real-life Jeannie Mjoseth opted to leave the company, wanting to pursue a career as a journalist. Reportedly, Maxine was also unhappy with the percentage Moolah was taking of her earnings, a claim that others would echo three decades later when Moolah's namesake was initially used for a WrestleMania battle royal. WWE were reportedly going to include Maxine as a character on Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n Wrestling (as Richter's foil there as well), but that spot went to Moolah after Maxine's exit.

1. The Jinx Brothers

It's a peaceful Sunday morning in 1996, you've got USA Network on, catching some low-impact WWE Superstars as you plot out the remainder of your weekend. Here come the Harris twins under a forgettable short-lived name, nothing out of the ordinary when - wait, what the hell is *this*? Why are there demented red and green marionette puppets on your TV screen? Are they evil manifestations of NyQuil bottles? It's only 11:30 in the morning, and you haven't done acid yet today - what's going on?

Meet Wildo and Ingus Jinx, two men whose names are the least of our concerns here. They danced around and bumped like crazy for their larger opponents, who themselves seem rather nonchalant about the fact that they're being attacked by some intermediate Thundercat species. You'd think with such elaborate costumes, we'd be seeing much more of Windex and Iggy, or whatever the hell their names are, and actually, we would - just not as Wildo and Ingus Jinx, that's all. With the costumes left at home, the two found much greater success inside a WWE ring as Jeff and Matt Hardy. And you thought The Broken Universe was twisted.