Wrestling is a contact sport that requires players to knock over or hold their opponent down on the ground. The players typically have a set of rules to follow, and it’s either played competitively or for entertainment. This article will mainly focus on wrestling’s entertainment side, or most known as professional wrestling.

In professional wrestling, the wrestler’s attitude is everything. The way they talk, move, and especially how they dress is critical to the whole performance. With these components, the wrestlers have the power to become a character and make the audience believe they are that.

However, some of the wrestlers put on flamboyant personalities for everyone to see, whilst some get hit by scandals, and others wager their hard-earned dollars on other sports. The word is defined as “marked by or given to strikingly elaborate or colorful display or behavior.” Read on to know the most vivid personalities in wrestling history.

Gorgeous George

Gorgeous George was one of the first wrestlers that brought professional wrestling to its fame today. He’s also one of the prominent wrestlers ever to grace the ring. Born as George Wagner, he entered professional wrestling to earn a living during the Great Depression. However, his audience impact was low due to his small build and lack of expertise and skills.

For this reason, he thought of an ingenious way to ramp up his popularity by becoming Gorgeous George. This persona was an arrogant villain with a platinum blonde-haired villain and wore lace and fur. As an addition, he always went in the ring to “Pomp and Circumstance.” On top of that, he was always escorted by a manservant who spritzed the ring with Chanel perfume.

As a villain, George loved to enrage and taunt the audience walking into an arena. If he has time and villainous energy, he will prance around and primp to provoke his watchers more. This gimmick is widely popular now, and some of the wrestlers like Dusty Rhodes and Johnny B. Badd use it. He also cringes and shouts, “Get your filthy hands off me!” when someone checked him for foreign objects.

Randy Savage

Randy Savage, or most known as the “Macho Man,” has become a household name. He typically wears striking attires, from a green sequined ensemble to a purple orange fringed one. At one point, he even wore a huge golden cape to show off his extravagance.

Like Gorgeous George, he always entered the ring while they’re playing “Pomp and Circumstance.” He also has a signature catchphrase which is “Oooh yeah!”

Savage’s career had made its way to other media forms like movies, music, and video games with his distinct personality. He is one of many wrestlers who made their way to mainstream pop culture. Even those who don’t watch professional wrestling know his name.

Shawn Michaels

Shawn Michaels helmed many personas in his career and always crushed every single one they gave him. Some are bad, but some are genuinely memorable. One of his unforgettable characters is the “Boy Toy.” This persona was one of his early villain roles or, as they call it in professional wrestling, heel. He swiftly rose to popularity as one of the best heels in professional wrestling.

The most famous of all his personas is the “Heartbreak Kid.” Everyone adored him as the “Heartbreak Kid,” a narcissistic and smug villain with a bodyguard named Sensational Sherri. The two mostly wore black, but their shticks were spotted as heels.

Rick Martel

Rick Martel is known for the teams he formed, but most especially with his heel persona, “The Model.” With this persona, like any other heel character, he was arrogant and vain. He carries an atomizer with fragrance in it he calls “Arrogance.” He sprays it to his opponents as a weapon or to the audience to taunt them.

His storyline added that he was in demand by Parisian and New Yorker designers. To boast it, he wears a gigantic pin saying, “Yes, I am a model.” This gimmick made the audience hate him more. Nevertheless, he always put on a great show. The Model was one of the best performers in the 80s and was “dubbed” as the most handsome professional wrestler.

Goldust

“The Natural” Dustin Rhodes helmed the Goldust persona. He wore a gold full-body suit with a long platinum blonde wig. This character was bizarre and weird, especially in the era he was introduced. He was arrogant, has a lot of showmanship, and very flashy. Some people would call him “The Bizarre One” due to his freakish appearance.

He was initially thought to be androgynous because of homosexual connotations in mind games he used with his opponents. Later, he changed his style to a more unusual way. Goldust wore bondage gear and lingerie, especially of women.

Johnny B. Badd

Marc Mero played the character Johnny B. Badd because he resembles the rock n’ roll star Little Richard. The name was a tip of a hat to a Chuck Berry song “Johnny B. Goode.” The character was wearing pink feather boas and was heavily caked in make-up. He also carried a Badd carried a novelty gun that fired confetti into the crowd.

As the name suggests, Johnny B. Badd (“be bad”) was initially a heel role. However, it was later reprised as a good guy or a babyface, as they call it.

Ric Flair

“The Nature Boy” was his moniker which he used in his entire four-decade professional wrestling career. Flair was very flamboyant, wearing lavish robes either adorned with gold sequins or feathers. He also showed off the women around him like trophies.

Ric Flair is famous for his catchphrases. For example, “I’m Ric Flair! The Stylin’, profilin’, limousine riding, jet flying, kiss-stealing, wheelin’ n’ dealin’ son of a gun!” Another notable one is, “All the women want to be with me, all the men want to be like me.” He also liked to shout “Woooooooo!” to the crowd.

Flamboyance is the key to success with most professional wrestlers. They need the wow factor to attract an audience and keep them glued to them. Even if it’s not a contact sport, you can try to be as vivid and extra as these wrestling personalities. Wrestling can be done for fun or for competition. Wrestlers need big egos and flamboyant personalities to compete. Therefore, getting to know these personalities would certainly amaze you.