Highlights

• WCW had some ridiculous gimmicks, but some of them were memorable and entertaining, like La Parka with his steel chair-wielding persona.
• Ed Leslie, known for his various ridiculous characters in WCW, is still active in the wrestling scene through conventions and autograph signings.
• Despite being given a silly gimmick in WCW, Hugh Morrus, aka Bill Demott, showcased incredible athleticism and later became WWE's Head Trainer before stepping down due to allegations.

Despite being out of business for over 20 years now, WCW remains a hot conversational topic amongst pro wrestling enthusiasts. That's because, for better or worse, the promotion and many of its performers left a lasting impression on its audience. That's not to say that WCW wasn't without its share of whacky characters.

RELATED: 8 WCW Championships That Fans Completely Forgot About

Throughout its history, WCW saw plenty of ridiculous gimmick ideas play out in front of an audience. However, a handful of those ridiculous gimmicks had some redeeming qualities. Some were funny, while others were so bad they were good; regardless of whether ridiculous or not, these WCW characters were memorable.

10 La Parka

What would WCW have been during the mid and late 90s without the Cruiserweight division? When the Monday Night War initially kicked off, the division was a welcome breath of fresh air. At the time, American wrestling fans were used to seeing bigger, more muscular performers plotting around the squared circle.

The fast-paced, exciting Cruiserweights were like a shot in the arm to wrestling fans. On top of their exciting style, many of the Cruiserweights had colorful personas. One of the most memorable Cruiserweight characters was the steel chair-wielding La Parka. Believe it or not, at 57 years old, the renamed L.A. Park is still an active wrestler, performing in both Mexico and the U.S. He is still as entertaining as ever.

9 The Zodiac

There's almost no way to do a countdown of ridiculous WCW characters without including Ed Leslie in some shape or form. Leslie, who most fans remember as Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake in WWE, is like the Bill Russel of ridiculous wrestling characters. He's got one for every finger.

Whether he was The Butcher, The Zodiac, The Bootyman, or The Disciple, Lelsie always managed to appear on WCW programming. Regardless of the wackiness, Ed Leslie was memorable, which is why he's still going strong today on the convention and autograph signing circuit.

8 Hugh Morrus

Some serious wrestling fans hate when comedy is infused into the product. The reality is there's a proper time and place for comedy in pro wrestling. Unfortunately, though, in the case of Hugh Morrus, WCW went a little heavy on comedy. That's unfortunate because Bill Demott was an extremely gifted performer.

For a man his size, Demott displayed incredible athleticism. Sadly, he could never shake the silly name and ridiculous gimmick WCW stuck him with. After retiring, Demott would serve as WWE's Head Trainer from 2011 to 2015. Regrettably, in 2015, some disturbing allegations about Demott's abusive and negligent training style surfaced. He stepped down as Head Trainer and has been distant from the wrestling business since.

7 Johnny B. Badd

Marc Mero is perhaps the greatest example that there is life outside of this silly pro wrestling bubble many of us live in. In his prior life, Mero first reached stardom as "Johnny B. Badd" in WCW. The character was popular with fans, but there's no denying it was quite outlandish and a bit ridiculous.

RELATED: 10 Things Fans Need To Know About Marc Mero

Regardless, the Johnny B. Badd character landed Mero a big-money contract in WWE. Sadly, his WWE run wouldn't be very memorable. Since stepping away from the wrestling business, Mero has thrived. He's currently one of the premier motivational speakers in the country and is enjoying his life in a way many pro wrestlers could only dream of.

6 The Cat

You can't throw a cheetah in the plains of Africa and expect it not to run. Well, Ernest "The Cat" Miller was a cheetah, if there ever was one in the wrestling business. His plains of Africa? The bright lights of WCW. To say that The Cat could be a ridiculous character at times is an understatement. The Cat had personality for days and wasn't shy about it.

This was evident any time there was a microphone in his hand, or an opportunity to show off his dance moves arose. Remarkably, at 58, The Cat is back in pro wrestling. He's popped up and performed at several independent wrestling shows. Furthermore, in early 2023, The Cat appeared on Impact Wrestling to back up Santino Marella. Somebody call this man's momma!

5 Alex Wright

Ernest "The Cat" Miller might've loved dancing a little too much, but at least the man had some serious moves on the dance floor. Alex Wright, on the other hand, not so much. That didn't stop "Das Wunderkind" from dancing his heart out every time he came to the ring, though. Whether his dancing was silly or not, it was memorable.

Unfortunately, Wright's dancing was about the only memorable thing from his WCW career. He never quite lived up to his potential in the promotion, though it was hardly his fault. Today, Wright is still heavily involved in pro wrestling in Europe. He owns a wrestling school in Germany and also started the New European Championship Wrestling promotion.

4 Glacier

Today, the world seems to have become numb to video games. During the 90s, video games were a massive part of pop culture. The game Mortal Kombat, specifically, took the world by storm during the 90s. Naturally, this prompted Eric Bischoff to greenlight a blatant Mortal Kombat rip-off, Glacier.

The character was purposely designed to resemble the popular Mortal Kombat character, Subzero. To the dismay of WCW, the Glacier character would turn out to be a flop. Incredibly though, Glacier is still around on the independent scene. In 2019, Glacier even made a surprise appearance in AEW as part of the Casino Battle Royal at Double Or Nothing.

3 The Shark

This is the only performer on the countdown that is appearing posthumously. Sadly, we lost John Tenta to cancer way too soon in 2006. While he's mostly remembered for his years in WWE as The Earthquake, Tenta's WCW run can't be overlooked. If only for the fact that he portrayed one of the most ridiculous characters in WCW history, The Shark.

RELATED: 10 Things Fans Forget About John Tenta's Wrestling Career

Tenta was originally The Avalanche in WCW, but WWE took legal action claiming it was too close to The Earthquake. This forced WCW to pivot to The Shark. The character was silly and ridiculous, but Tenta put his best foot forward and tried to make the most out of the opportunity. His WCW career wouldn't be successful by any stretch, but many fans still remember The Shark.

2 Shane Helms (3 Count)

If you didn't grow up in the 90s, it's going to be hard to comprehend just how big of a fad boy bands were back then. Sure, boy bands still exist today, but they're nowhere near as popular as they were throughout the 90s and into the new millennium. Perhaps Shane Helms can fill you in a bit. You see, Helms is a living testament to the boyband craze.

In late 1999, Helms was one-third of 3 Count. The group was a parody of the popular boy bands of the time. While the gimmick was certainly ridiculous, it had its moments of being wildly entertaining. Today, Helms has hung up his crew-neck sweaters and cargo pants in exchange for a business suit. He works as a producer in WWE and does a great job of passing on his hard-earned pro wrestling wisdom.

1 Disco Inferno

We've arrived at arguably the silliest and most ridiculous WCW character ever, Disco Inferno. Much like Jeff Jarrett, Disco Inferno has been a heat magnet seemingly his entire career. To be fair, the character was kind of designed to. After all, disco music died in the late 70s. Nearly 20 years later, Disco Inferno infuriated fans by not letting disco go.

To his credit, Disco rode his nuclear heat to a nice little spot on the WCW card. He was never anything close to resembling a superstar, but he was constantly on television. Today, Glenn Gilbertti is still active on the wrestling scene. He had a highly publicized intergender match against Tessa Blanchard in 2019 and continues to make sporadic appearances throughout various promotions. Furthermore, Gilbertti is Konnan's co-host on his Keeping It 100 podcast.