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When wrestling is done well, it mirrors the culture of its time. Be it the muscled up hero of the ‘80s in Rambo and Hulk Hogan, or the ‘90s anti-hero who did things their way. That decade had the rise of The Punisher as a bigger hero in comics, main antagonists on television like Tony Soprano in “The Sopranos,” rebellious music that required a Parental Advisory label, and in wrestling, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
Sometimes characters are inspired by a character in another medium. The Undertaker has opened up about studying the great slasher films, and emulating Michael Meyers and Jason Voorhies. You have examples of characters who were directly influenced by another medium, but you change the name to keep from being sued. Glacier in WCW comes to mind. He was a martial arts character who’s look and presentation was Sub-Zero from the Mortal Kombat game that was a smash hit bringing people back to arcades again. Looking back to Memphis, Japan, and in many indies, you’d seen someone in a mask and apron carry a chainsaw to the ring and be announced as Leatherface.
For the most part in the current era, you’ll mostly see homage to pop culture through cosplay. Usually just a one off, you’ll see Alexa Bliss come out like she’s Harley Quinn, The New Day as Dragonball Z characters, or recently Jade Cargil and the Baddies Prince tribute was fun. But you still see tribute like Will Osprey calling himself the “Arial Assassin” in a tip of the hat to Assassin’s Creed, and in AAA, El Carnicero is a blend of Leatherface, Jason, and Michael. Almost as if the booker there knows how well that character can work.
Over the years, most of these flop. Arachnaman being a Spider-Man rip off for kids, or the outdated Jeff Jarrett ideas of Rhaka Kahn or The Governor (a Sarah Palin impression, who was a former Vice Presidential candidate in the 2000s). But there were ones that became bigger than the character the homage was to. I’ll even assume there’s one or two you had no idea the origin. Are you a PWTorch VIP member? Add your favorite pop culture homages in the conversation there in the PWTorch VIP Forum.
Honorable mention, as not a wrestler – Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman began as Paul E Dangerously, an homage to Johnny Dangerously, the main character in a criminally underrated movie starring Michael Keaton. Believe it or not, at one point, there were similarities between Keaton and Heyman. Johnny was a lawyer who worked for the mob, constantly in over his head based on lies and decisions he made who kept digging a hole bigger and bigger for himself.
Mil Mascaras
The hardest part for me was choosing which Lucha legend to highlight. From Blue Demon, to El Santo, to Rey Mysterio’s early masks, to an entire promotion in Lucha Underground borrowed from the popular culture of centuries ago. If you look at many Lucha masks, you can see the designs of Aztec gods and warriors. To the degree that these early Luchadors were the heroes against the evil Rudos. They would come in, empowered by the gods to overcome the evil and stand up for what was right.
Mil Mascaras was chosen because of his name when translated was referred to as “Man of a Thousand Masks.” With his embrace of the different masks, he was able to celebrate a wide variety of influences in the Mexican culture that was given tribute.
The Road Warriors
A name taken directly from the Mad Max movies of the 1980s, Mel Gibson was in a post-apocalyptic era having to stand up against the evil people who were setting their own territories in this area of anarchy. Taking the shoulder pads and mohawk idea, and calling themselves Hawk and Animal, they road that look all the way to being one of the legendary tag teams
La Parka
Another Lucha character, La Parka again borrows from Mexican culture, and how ancestors who have passed are celebrated. Coming out as a skeleton with a Dia De Los Muertos skull as a mask, his charisma will uniquely connect to the core audience in Mexico.
Embracing truly being a character, versus just a wrestler, La Parka is technically dead. He was revived during Vampiro’s retirement match, bringing that glimpses of that feeling alive for a new generation who celebrate their lost relatives on the Day of the Dead.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Jushin Liger
The pop culture crossover in Japan with wrestling has been very connected over the years. Anime like Ultimate M.U.S.C.L.E. inspired wrestling characters and is where Somoa Joe first saw the Muscle Buster. Big Van Vader was an animated character in addition to being a large American wrestler. Then there was a show being developed called Jushin Liger.
A man named Go Nagai created this design and when New Japan partnered with Nagai, they were able to use the character likeness to co-promote both brands. While the show didn’t go as planned, the suit design was reworked to be used in a show called Kyōryō Sentai Zyuranger, which came to America under the name Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Hulk Hogan
Announced as “The Incredible Hulk” Hogan, there became a dispute between Hogan and Marvel Comics. With the popularity of the CBS Television show starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno, and the size of Hogan, he had adopted the moniker. Eventually every bit of merchandise or media that Hogan was credited on also carried a copyright for Marvel Comics.
Hulk would move away from the “Incredible” prefix for the Immortal one, but still used phrases like “Hulking up” in his presentation. Hogan outgrew his start with a name taken from comic books, but it’s still the roots of his enduring character.
Griffin is a lifelong fan of wrestling, superheroes, and rebellious music of all forms. He is the owner of Nerdstalgia, and you can shop online, learn about visiting the store in Colorado Springs, or catch him at a comic con in the Rocky Mountain area by going to http://nerdstalgia.shop
