10 Strangest WWE Gimmicks Of The 1990s
Were the WWE creative team ever subject to random drug tests? Asking for a friend...
The late Mike Shaw would have turned 65 today, had he not passed away in 2010 at the age of 53.
Who is this Mike Shaw I speak of? Well, you probably know him better as either Bastion Booger or Friar Ferguson, two ghastly inventions that are often pointed at as low points of WWE's mid-90's creative nadir.
Ferguson was a mad monk (which inevitably ran afoul of religious organisations), while Booger was a gluttonous hunchback who wore what looked like duct tape lingerie for his matches.
Both were awful, both were strange and yet, amazingly, neither one really looked out of place during a decade that birthed many questionable characters.
The 90's saw the tail end of the cartoon era, the emergence of the New Generation and then the raucous Attitude Era, all three of them having their fair share of off-the-wall creations that certainly wouldn't be accepted today.
From villainous dentists to insane Santa Clauses and every half-baked idea in-between, WWE threw a lot of outlandish ideas out there during the decade. Some were hits, most were misses but, at the end of the day, all of them were interesting (and funny) in their own ways and worth looking back at.
Apart from Phantasio.
Let's never talk about Phantasio.
10. Isaac Yankem DDS
Kane was deservedly inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, but Glenn Jacobs certainly suffered for a while before having that winning character bestowed upon him.
The Undertaker's kayfabe brother had to endure the indignity of portraying the fake Diesel after Kevin Nash left for WCW but, odder still, had a spell as the wrestling dentist from hell.
Yes, it was the mid-90's, a time where occupational wrestlers were all the rage. Jacobs was brought onto our screens for the first time as Isaac Yankem, DDS, the personal (and very evil) cavity cleaner of Jerry Lawler.
The King employed Yankem to get rid of Bret Hart, the tooth driller facing off against The Hitman in the highest-profile matches of his so-so one-year run.
The character was cartoonish and completely over-the-top and, sadly, came about before Jacobs was truly ready for prime time. It also came about, supposedly, because of a joke Bobby Heenan used to make about going to see his dentist 'I Yankem'.
He yanks 'em (teeth). Geddit? Not all of the Brain's zingers were winners, I suppose.
The Mayor of Knox County had the size thing going for him and gave it his all trying to get the gimmick over, but it didn't resonate and he quickly fell down the card and out of sight, as he and WWE went back to the drawing board.
Written by Lewis Howse
Features journalist for Cultaholic.com and script writer for the Cultaholic YouTube Channel.
