When Art Imitates Art: 11 Amazing Wrestling Gimmicks Inspired By Pop Culture

Professional wrestling is narrative performance art unlike any other. While it presents unique stories and introduces the audience to larger than life characters like film, television, and literature, it's also a living and breathing entity. The script isn't locked in for each performance like theatre. Injuries can keep the performers off of an episode and throw off their character's whole arc, and outside influences like current events and pop culture trends often affect how things play out in the ring.

Wrestling promotions (or sports entertainment companies) have always embraced the cultural zeitgeist to draw inspiration for their characters or storylines, for better (like Tiger Mask and Jushin Thunder Liger) or for worse (like The Demon or The Zombie). Even arguably the most famous professional wrestler of all time, Hulk Hogan, derived his persona from an Avenger. And since we here at /Film embrace all corners of pop culture and entertainment, we thought that we would take a look at some of our favorite professional wrestling gimmicks that were inspired by pop culture in honor of the 35th annual WWE Summerslam event.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of the greatest wrestlers to be inspired by the characters and personalities from various corners of the all-encompassing pop culture universe, as we've decided to focus solely on the major televised American promotions. This list will only include acts from WWE, WCW, ECW, or AEW. After all, the less said about Kazuchika Okada's TNA gimmick the better. We're presently looking at those that are blatantly and obviously incorporating their fandom into the core of their characters, not just their ring gear, and then putting their own spin on them. Break out the face paint, raise your Jolly Roger, work on your Blue Steel, and let's get into it.

If it wasn't for this pop culture inspired gimmick, Prince Pretty might not have ever even had a career. Originally wrestling under the name "Mike Dalton" while in developmental, WWE was unhappy with his work, and was ready to let him go. In a last ditch effort with the help of his bestie Xavier Woods (Austin Creed) the character of Tyler Breeze was born. Breeze is a self-centered pretty boy with a love of selfie sticks and faux fur, and fans immediately drew comparisons to "Zoolander." While Breeze wasn't initially inspired by Derek Zoolander, he began incorporating memorable elements (like the "Blue Steel" pout) to the character. As he told Afterbuzz TV, "Everyone thinks it must have been inspired by 'Zoolander,' but the funny thing is it really wasn't until later."

Breeze originally based the character on the actors and models that would show up to WWE trying to give it a go. His Mike Dalton character was a true-to-form professional wrestler, and since that wasn't working, he went in the total opposite direction. "I'm going to wrestle like I don't know how to wrestle, I'm just this outsider looking in and from there it kind of turned into that he was a model ... from there, I did this face at the end of interviews and then I started watching some 'Zoolander' stuff and switched my voice a little bit." Ironically, Breeze said that the character pulls inspiration from Ben Stiller in "Dodgeball" more than anything else. "I was this loose cannon that would get angry at anything and everything you asked me was the stupidest question I've ever heard in my life." (BJ Colangelo)

Widely regarded as one of the most charismatic wrestlers of all time, Scott Hall earned his double induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014 and 2020 with an illustrious career filled with championship gold (though not world championship gold) and memorable moments. Though he's mostly remembered for his tenure in WCW alongside the nWo with "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash by younger fans, his first career-defining run started when he arrived in the WWF in 1992 as Razor Ramon.

Using his Diamond Studd persona from WCW as a foundation of a cool and cocky heel, Hall built a character that closely resembled Al Pacino's Tony Montana from the 1983 remake of "Scarface" that was a shady and stylish Miami bully that would say things like, "Say hello to the Bad Guy" in a Cuban accent. Hall allegedly pitched this to Vince McMahon and Pat Patterson, who had never seen or heard of the movie, who were blown away by the idea. Not long after, they were in South Beach filming vignettes, recreating scenes from the movie in order to introduce the character in a big way.

Despite the problematic detail that Hall was a white man playing a character of color (an unfortunate trend in WWE history), Razor Ramon revolutionized the ladder match when he faced Shawn Michaels to crown the undisputed Intercontinental Champion at Wrestlemania X. The match also earned the WWE their first five-star rating from veteran journalist Dave Meltzer. Thankfully, he would eventually stray from the accent in favor of his popular "Hey yo" catchphrase. Even Pacino himself praised Razor's take on the cult classic character, proving that bad times don't last, but bad guys do. (Ben F. Silverio)

When people think of ECW, they often remember the hardcore matches and the gallons of blood spilled in that legendary bingo hall in South Philadelphia. Although, Paul Heyman's extreme promotion became known as a place where characters in professional wrestling thrived. People like Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Lita, Chris Jericho, and Rob Van Dam cut their teeth there, as did wrestlers like Roadkill the Angry Amishman, the beer-swilling, cane-swinging Sandman, and the homicidal, suicidal, genocidal Sabu used their outrageous characters to entertain the company's rapid fanbase.

Borrowing his ring name from the antagonists of the Beatles' 1968 animated film "Yellow Submarine," Brian Heffron became a staple of the Attitude Era of professional wrestling after he adopted the beloved persona of the Blue Meanie. While he wasn't a music-hating oppressive killjoy like his namesake, he borrowed the flamboyant characteristics, high-pitched voice, and black domino mask-esque face paint around the eyes of his cinematic counterpart. Overall, the Meanie was more mischievous than he was mean.

Blue Meanie was a flunky, then he was a flunky of a flunky, but eventually, he won the crowd over when he, Stevie Richards, and Super Nova parodied WCW's nWo with their group called the bWo (the Blue World Order). Meanie parodied Scott Hall by playing the role of "Da Blue Guy." This act would made its way to WWE in 2005 as part of WWE's ECW One Night Stand event, but not before Meanie was a fixture in WWF's lower to mid-card towards the end of the '90s as a member of the J.O.B. Squad. No matter what role he was playing on the show, the Blue Meanie always put the entertainment in "sports entertainment" by breaking out his patented Meanie Dance. (Ben F. SIlverio)

I don't know what it was about the late '90s, but there was a boom of martial arts-related content in America. Luckily, things like "Surf Ninjas," "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" were at the ready to appease the demanding public. But the craze went to a whole new level when the live-action adaptation of Midway Games' "Mortal Kombat" hit theaters. Despite mixed reviews, it grossed about $112 million worldwide and gained a cult following that persists today.

Back in 1996, WCW President Eric Bischoff thought the company would capitalize on the popularity of "Mortal Kombat" by introducing "a group of arcade-ready personas that could battle in a style right out of a Sega game." That's when journeyman wrestler Ray Lloyd became Glacier. Known for his Sub-Zero-inspired ring gear, elaborate entrance with lasers and fake snow, and incorporating martial arts moves into his in-ring work, Glacier was presented as a coldblooded kung-fu master from Japan's Shorinji Temple.

Although, all of the money Ted Turner poured into the character didn't pay off as Glacier's debut alongside Mortis and Wrath came at a time when the tastes of professional wrestling fans were changing. Rather than embracing the more cartoony characters of the medium, they were migrating towards the darker, grittier characters like Kane and Sting or more realistic characters like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and the nWo. Plus, there was no way that the Glacier character could live up to the long, drawn-out build to his debut. WCW's mismanagement of the gimmick was the major downfall of Glacier, but even that couldn't hide the fact Glacier was really cool. If he had just come along a few years earlier, maybe when "Mortal Kombat" video game came out instead of the movie, then he might have been a bigger deal than he turned out to be. (Ben F. Silverio)

After starting her wrestling career in 1995, Emi Sakura has become a major fixture in Japanese professional wrestling. Over the years, she's been a featured player in many Joshi promotions, accumulated a number of championships, and trained practically an entire generation of female wrestling stars. She even defeated WWE Hall of Fame Luna Vachon to win the American Wrestling Federation World Women's Championship.

However, when Sakura debuted in All Elite Wrestling at Double or Nothing 2019, the American audience got their first look at the ring veteran, who was decked out in gear reminiscent of the late, great Freddie Mercury. The Queen and "Bohemian Rhapsody" fan teamed with Aja Kong and Yuka Sakazaki in a losing effort against Ryo Mizunami and Sakura's former students Hikaru Shida and Riho. While it wasn't the royal welcome she was expecting, she continued to draw inspiration from Mercury by replicating his iconic looks like the yellow jacket, the crown and cape, and even Freddie's signature mustache during her ring entrances.

No matter if she's a face or a heel, Sakura tries to harness Freddie's gravitas, flamboyance, and mastery of his craft and adapt it to her in-ring persona. She'll even use the beat of "We Will Rock You" or Mercury's "Hey oh!" chant as a way to taunt her opponents. But if her foes aren't careful, the only beat they'll be hearing is the referee counting the 1-2-3 before raising the Queen of AEW's hand in victory. (Ben F. Silverio)