Sports have been around for as long as people have been huddling up around the fire together. Taking up a sport can have numerous benefits. Physical improvement, mental improvement, ambition-building, social interaction, and more are all reasons to watch and practice sports. However, the primary reason we watch sports is entertainment.
It is no wonder then that a subgenre of both sports and entertainment came about. Sports entertainment refers to any scripted and pre-planned sport-related activity. The most popular variant of sport entertainment is, of course, professional wrestling.
Pro Wrestling and Betting
Pro wrestling began in Mexico, and quickly gained popularity in the southern regions of the USA. Very soon, organizations like the WWE (or WWF as it was known in the past), began dominating the industry, and gaining international success. Today, pro wrestling fans exist in America, Mexico, South America, Canada, the UK, and Japan.
Wrestling is so successful, that even betting shops have opened their doors to it. You can take a look at an online sportsbook like Novibet, and you will find that they take bets on WWE matches, for example. Some might wonder how this can be, as pro wrestling matches are scripted.
The truth is, betting on WWE is still possible. Rather than focusing on athleticism and odds, what you should be looking at is the drama, story beats, and wrestlers’ popularity. All of those factor into who will become the future WWE champion.
Wrestling Gimmicks
Fans of WWE, or pro wrestling in general, will be aware that the world of pro wrestling is dominated by gimmicks. Some fighters dress up as animals, others base their personality on horror films, music, or a certain aesthetic. For example, one of the most beloved wrestlers, the Undertaker, revolves his personality around Universal horror films, and dark, gothic aesthetics.
However, throughout wrestling history, there have been certain gimmicks that are too strange to be real. Let’s take a look at a few of the weirdest wrestlers to ever take the stage of the WWE.
- The Gobbledy Gooker
Still one of the weirdest things WWE has done, the company laid out an egg for all to see. Pretty soon, the egg hatched, and a wrestler in a giant chicken costume came out, challenging others to a match. The Gobbledy Gooker is bizarre, but certainly funny and corny. There is something to like about it. Unlike this next entry.
- Naked Mideon
Mideon has had ups and downs in his stage career. However, the lowest low certainly came after the wrestler left Undertaker’s Ministry. The WWE decided it would be a great idea to have Mideon run around wearing nothing but boots and a thong. Short-lived though it may have been, the gimmick still went on too long.
- Eugene
The WWE certainly has a history of pushing the boundaries. They’ve made racial caricature fighters, often have engaged in queer-baiting, and much more. However, Eugene tops all of that. Nick Dinsmore portrayed Eric Bischoff’s nephew, named Eugene. One problem though, Eugene was mentally challenged. You can imagine that the fights involving him were filled to the brim with some of the most poorly-dated humor in WWE history.