[FattyBoomBoom]

at first on shows it seemed like doink wrestled everywhere, in multiple cities on the same nights. it became apparant that wherever someone had the money to buy a doink costume, they would have shows that advertise doink on them. this has become very commonplace and pretty much accepted by fans. now it is done more widely with other characters. what is your general opinion on how the same thing is being done with other characters now like the fake ultimate warrior, la parka, max moon, the patriot and others? i noticed that someone in new jersey has a golga fake called goal-duh but plays him off as one of the original wwf oddities. what do you think of these companies essentially purposely misleading fans?

[eastman]

That fuck-tard Dale Gagner advertised Golga on a show in Milwaukee last month. Gagner is the king of carny shit like that. I remember him advertising the Mean Street Possee and then presented Brad Bradley in Khaki pants and a sweater vest.

Doink isnt as bad because the E doesn't have him on tv, nor does any other fed, nor is he dead. Guys like Laparka still need to make a living down in Mexico, Golga is dead, Warrior is back working. Those guys still make a pay day off of their gimmick. Doink doesn't and if guys have the gimmick then it's fine by me.

[FattyBoomBoom]

good response joey. i think we all agree doink is fair game and the local one in boston is pretty good. what about the warrior guy or la parka that are trying to confuse fans or that guy who outright lied to say he was vader in nj?

[eastman]

I remember when IWA EC was going to book Vader. They call up the guy in Jersey and ask him how much he charges and if he still worked. The guy said yeah yeah yeah I do everything Vader does.

Pondo get's a little confused because he thought he was talking to Vader.

The guys response "Yeah brother, I'm Big Slam Vader, I look just like him"

Needless to say the guy was never booked and they ended up booking the real Vader.

Point being, never confuse the fans. They are all smarter than they look.

[Adam]

The Gol-duh thing honks me off because they are making money off a dead guy's gimmick. (Well, the gimmick Vince McMahon gave a guy who has since died.) Somehow I doubt Tenta's family gets any of that money either. It's technically probably not illegal but it's just low class. That said, the typical NWS audience are such marks that probably think it IS the original guy.

The Patriot doesn't really belong in this category as Tom Brandi bought the gimmick from the original guy (Del Wilkes), and afaik is the only one who uses it. Again, in the Northeast he mostly works NWS, where the crowd is all kids and parents and they literally do not know and don't figure out that The Patriot and Sal Sincere are the same guy. Which, if it's working, then good for him. No harm no foul.

WWE used a million different guys as Doink, so they arguably set that particular precedent themselves.

[enforcer]

Adam wrote:

It's technically probably not illegal but it's just low class.

High class and pro wrestling do not mix.

[The Big Shill]

This is something that has gone on for decades. Many years ago - actually, the mid 60's - Tony Santos used to promote a circuit of towns around Boston and New England. He had a old-time promoter helping him by the name of Jack Pfefer.

One of Pfefer's calling cards was the use of sound-alike names for the wrestlers her used. Instead of Lou Thesz, you got Lou Khez. Instead of Bruno Sammartino, you got Bruno Sanmartino. Istead of Bobo Brazil, you got Hobo Brazil. I have some of the old programs from those days. Pretty amusing stuff that you could never get away with these days, because it was the whole card and not just one of two names.

I think it's cheesy when I see it done today, because it's an attempt to hoodwink people. I don't think that does our business any favors.

[enforcer]

I remember reading about this fed called PWF, run by Italian Stallion out of the Carolinas, that would hold raffles and they'd always be fixed.

The Big Shill wrote:

I think it's cheesy when I see it done today, because it's an attempt to hoodwink people.

That's because pro wrestling has allowed kayfabe to die, which is one of the reasons that I think most wrestling these days suck.

[Michael_R_Giusti]

So... should I not work a show as Bastian Booger?

[MAV]

I run a gimmick with a couple of guys who'm we've dubbed "The Alternate Warrior" and "Link". I do so completely for parody and humor value rather than to dupe people into thinking they are about to see the Ultimate Warrior and the Missing Link. It may be a fine line...but handled correctly, I have no problem putting it out there as a goof. If anyone believes I'm trying to fool them, one look at any promotional material with the Alternate Warrior where I crudely draw in abs and muscle tone with a sharpie tends to erase any belief that someone is buying tickets for the Helwig experience.

The Doink rip off thing started right in Boston years ago when they did a Wrestlmania here. They used to do a fan fest before the event, and at the Boston one they had several "Dunk the Doink" tanks set up, and used guys from the area to be "Doink" while people threw baseballs and tried to sink them. Problem was...most of the guys didn't give the suits back. Phil Apollo used to rent his out rather than get dressed and do the gimmick himself. At this point...it's so prevailent, it's almost at the who gives a shit level.

[Unibrow]

Let us not forget the "Fake Doink Battle Royal" and all the fun we had with that!

[Tauron Nox]

Unibrow wrote:

Let us not forget the "Fake Doink Battle Royal" and all the fun we had with that!

Didn't "John Wayne Gayce" Doink win that?

[jd]

Tauron Nox wrote:

Unibrow wrote: Let us not forget the "Fake Doink Battle Royal" and all the fun we had with that! Didn't "John Wayne Gayce" Doink win that?

Actually it was "Best Doink Mask Ever" Doink when Bob Backlund interfered by throwing in a banana peel causing "Evil" Doink to slip and go over the top rope eliminating himself. "Best Doink Mask Ever" Doink was later reveled to be Savio Vega.

I know my wrestling history.

[eastman]

I even forgot who won the damn thing. You guys have way too much time on your hands

[neo blastin]

I must say, that I agree with most of you on this point. If someone is not using the gimmick and there is no harm no foul. I don't see why it hurts to you another character. I mean think about it back in the Day when Stevie Richards couldn't "Find Himself" he borrowed a few old acts. He even borrowed Mick's "Dude Love" act. Frankly I found that amusing.

I think it is all good if you are doing things in the spirt of things. But if you are out to just pawned yourself out as they real person that is just not cool. I can't stand that

[Jesse Ventura]

All I know is if I ever found out some indie level dork was stealing my name and gimmick to get over, I would be PISSED!

[Randy Orton]

Jesse Ventura wrote:

All I know is if I ever found out some indie level dork was stealing my name and gimmick to get over, I would be PISSED!

ditto