The Wrestling home of Moondog Manson

This weeks edition of the memoirs talks about the number of gimmicks that have been reinvented and have either failed miserably or taken a whole new life of their own. This will be my attempt to resurrect the very fabric of wrestling, as we know it. Well maybe not quite the very fabric, but at the very least the entire future of wrestling imitation, as we know it is affected. We are often told imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. However when we think about it those are said by people who are probably doing the imitating themselves. So as this epic battle of innovator versus imitator is to continue we must ask ourselves will this be true? Is it based on fiction? Do I need to use the whole star wars like entrance to this column or the echo like montage of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe? So allow me to welcome the stage the men who made copycatting such an art form, and what we call the mimics...

Shawn Stasiak incognito as "Mr. perfect"

The concept of using Shawn Stasiak as replica of Curt Henning minus the chewing gum is a shame. This does nothing for Shawn, especially since this was his first run being part of the company. He was branded "the perfect one". Why? Was this the brainchild of the creative team? For what reason and what purpose did it serve. Did Russo and the boys discuss this while reading an edition of the Am-Aum's? That would be impossible because the Am-Aum's are well thought out and put together, where as in WCW they are not. Stasiak's gimmick was not well received although the title of "the perfect one" remained. So why did the company do this was the purpose to allow fans to think, the gimmick was still going on even though the feud last all but a few weeks. Hello Mcfly! No one is buying it and although the feud was sitting idol, the gimmick remained.

Please tell me for the love of all that is good and precious in this world why use Henning's music??? So now WCW thinks they are going to outsmart the fans. (Reality check, we are not idiots). Now their thinking was let's take away the feud, between Curt and Shawn and all the fans will not be able to link the two of them together. You see, let's basically insult their intelligence and actually play the music as if it were a coincidence, and all the fans will think, "Hmm, I know I have heard that music before somewhere". So as merciless as this mimic was I was thankful it was over.

Chuck Palumbo incognito as "The Total package"

This was not only an insult to the poor fans but poor chucky as well. First of all if you going to have him copy anyone why Lex? He has no character depth and his biggest claim at the time was having Elizabeth on his arm. *Thinks to himself, "Ahh, the luxury of having used goods"*. Regardless Chuck's entrance in the WCW as "the main event", sets him back right from the start. Just like Stasiak, emerging from the Power Plant and not allowing Palumbo to find his own niche is pointless. Chuck took part in these ridicules vignettes where Luger attacked him, while pushing weights. Another thing about the copying of characters that was frustrated me was the whole use of tenser bands was pointless.

Isaac Yankem incognito as "Big Daddy Cool"

When this gimmick took the stand we all knew it was a shame. It was a blatant attempt to capitalize on the WCW success at the time. I ask you why? Was this supposed to help with the WWF's ratings in some capacity? I doubt it very much. Was it just another way to create on air tension between Jim Ross and Vince McMahon at the time? If you recall it was one of J.R's infamous returns from being fired and this was suppose to be the way to do it. The creative team said to themselves, "Let's capitalize on a man that is suffering from a disease and make him appear as a heel". Wow, not only is this a wonderful job of being absurd but they also manage to alienate the sick as well. The copycat that is now "Kane" was obviously used as short term means to capitalize on the other company’s success.

Shawn Stasiak flattery of Ravishing Rick Rude

I think this to me was the most insulting of all the imitations. I say insulting because Rick Rude is no longer with us to comment on it. The entire character was a disgrace from his finisher to ring mannerisms to his mic work was a sorry attempt to be like the Ravishing one. The memory of this once great athlete should have been better remembered if we were just to reminisce about how great he was and leave it at that. The emergence of this copycat was better left to sit on the cutting room floor with the rest of the other convoluted ideas of the WCW creative team. Had Stasiak began to swagger into the ring with the rope, and tights with Jake Roberts wife plastered all over them then it would have been different. I would have thought that this was a poor cry to get attention when really all it was is simply umm, a poor cry to get attention.

The Renegade as the inexhaustible well that is the "Ultimate distraction"

This now had to be the saddest attempt to make a hero out of a zero. Ric "something" I can't quite remember his last name played the role of "The Renegade". He was the man that defeated I believe it was Paul Orndorff or Arn Anderson for the WCW television title. This was the height of his success. This is hard for me to criticize this gimmick was infringed simply because he is dead. He is not here to defend himself and I feel bad if I were to critique him. I am torn between criticizing the superhero that ran to the ring and (by the way no one will believe this but Jim Helwig bought fruits and vegetables at my friends country market outside of Toronto) shook the ropes and wore face paint and the man who was only doing what he was told to do by the those in power! The jury is out personally for me on this one so I would be better off to leave this by the side.

Shawn Stasiak makes his return as "The Real" Total Package"

So I may have criticized Shawn initially for his poor imitations of other wrestlers but here he was bang on! Stasiak's imitation of the total package as the man with 4% body fat and brain matter to match was impeccable. He the character to a T! Whether it is his imitation of screwing up an interview or simply screwing up in general Stasiak takes the cake. Now I am not sure really felt about having been imitated on television. Then again I am not sure if he realized it was even he being "copied". I don't know why of all the gimmick mimic-ites out there this one is actually justified. I do not even think it was intended to be a slap in the face of Lexy, but it was. I can still see the take after take of Stasiak in that one interview he did. To all that know what I am talking about you can see the comparison to Lex was obvious. To those that have no idea of what I am talking about allow me to explain. The information super highway we columnists call the Internet spread allot of backstage shall we call gossip about Lex. One that comes to mind had to do with interviews. It took Lex take after take after take to get his lines right. Then again, after what I have heard of Shawn Stasiak is that his recent portrayal of another wrestler was not much of a stretch, if you know what I mean.

That's it! I am done the world is a happier place again.

Marcus Madison… Incognito as Randy Savage!