Great-ing Gimmicks of the Past: The Human Oddities – WWF, 1998-1999
History
This one took a sharp left faster than most gimmicks. It started on May 25, 1998, as the Jackyl (AKA ECW’s Cyrus the Virus AKA Don Callis) led Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf and Crackhead Bob (both regular guests on the Howard Stern Show) out to the ring. Jackyl went on to introduce his Parade of Human Oddities – Luna, Golga (John Tenta under a mask which made his head look deformed), and Giant Silva. Golga went on to quickly annihilate Thrasher of the Headbangers.
And that was that. Well, kind of. You see, by the next week the Jackyl had left the WWF, so a new angle was needed.
That angle would show up August 3rd. Jacqueline (Marc Mero’s current manager) had just won a bikini contest by disqualification, so Sable (Marc Mero’s old manager) came out with her new friends – the Oddities. Now things had changed. Rather than being the disturbing freaks they were under the Jackyl, now they were more “kid-friendly.” Kurrgan and Silva were dressed in tuxedoes. Kurrgan then went on to sing “Miss America,” which brought the smiling Luna out to the ring. Golga now wore a South Park t-shirt and carried a stuffed Cartman doll. Golga went on to defeat Mero easily in a match, which called the rest of the Oddities into the ring to dance to their new theme music.
The next week Luna took on Jacqueline. Luna easily won. After the match, Sable took the bikini contest trophy and presented it to Luna.
The next week we had Jacqueline taking on Sable in an arm-wrestling match. Jacqueline took the traditional heel role, by shoving the table onto Sable, then breaking the trophy over her back. Mero hit the ring, but it was only to retrieve Jacqueline as the Oddities were close behind. Oh, and it was revealed that Insane Clown Posse, who’d recorded the Oddities’ theme song, would be performing live at Summerslam.
But Sable wasn’t done. She stormed back to the ring and called out Jacqueline, but Jackie was too smart and wouldn’t join her in the ring. She did, however, offer a match for Summerslam – Mero and Jacqueline vs. Sable and a partner of her choice. Then the Oddities took out Jackie and Mero.
The next episode of Raw saw Marc Mero taking on Kurrgan. At Mero’s request, Kurrgan sent the rest of the Oddities to the back, and then he was firmly in control. The match ended when Jacqueline ran down to attack Sable, and Mero took advantage of the opportunity to hit a low blow. Unfortunately, the ref saw it – winner: Kurrgan.
That brought us to Summerslam. The Oddities (Golga, Kurrgan, and Silva) took on all four members of Kaientai (Taka Michinoku, Sho Funaki, Dick Togo, and Men’s Teioh). Easy win for the Oddities.
On Raw, Golga, Kurrgan, and Silva (now being accompanied by not only Luna, but the Insane Clown Posse) took on the Legion of Doom. Hawk joined in a bit of drunken dancing before the match (someday I may have to cover the whole drunken Hawk angle), which disgusted his partners – Animal and Droz (Darren Drozdov). Hawk easily got powerbombed and pinned, then kept trying to dance.
It took a few weeks for the Oddities to return to Raw – which happened on September 21st. The Headbangers were dancing with the Oddities and spraying Silly String, then turned on them by spraying something into their eyes. To cement the heel turn, they shredded Golga’s Cartman doll.
Mosh took on Golga on the Sunday Night Heat immediately following (which was leading into the Breakdown PPV). Golga destroyed him. Thrasher ran in to help, and Kurrgan took care of him.
The Oddities (Golga and Kurrgan) took on the Headbangers again the next night on Raw. Things were going well for the Headbangers as they double-teamed Golga, but then Kurrgan got the chance to tag in. The Bangers started the double-teaming again, but then one of the clowns grabbed Mosh’s leg and the distraction let Kurrgan get the win.
The next week on Raw, the Headbangers had had enough. They called out the ICP for interfering the week prior. They sent the Oddities to the back, then decimated the clowns and cleared out before the Oddities could make it back to the ring.
It was October 26th before we saw the Oddities on Raw again. This time it was Kurrgan, Golga, and the clowns taking on Kaientai. The clowns kept double-teaming until their team was disqualified. Luna chewed them out after the match.
The next week Kurrgan and Golga were facing Al Snow and Mankind in a tag team match. Mankind and Al were holding their own until Mankind discovered that Mr. Socko was missing. Mankind immediately began a search for Socko, which left Al alone in the match. Not even a shot from Head could even the odds, and Al was pinned.
The night after Survivor Series, the Oddities were back in action – this time taking on X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws. The match was going evenly until one of the clowns accidentally hit Golga with a leg drop, which led to him being pinned. After the match, the Oddities and the clowns got into a heated argument.
The next week the Oddities were convinced by the clowns to fight the Headbangers for them. After Golga slammed into one of the clowns (who’d climbed up onto the ring apron), he was quickly pinned. After the match, the clowns sprayed something into the Oddities’ eyes and joined the Headbangers in the beatdown. After that, they cut off some of Luna’s hair.
The next Raw was supposed to open with the Headbangers taking on the Oddities. Unfortunately, Steve Austin was on a rampage, so he laid out the Headbangers and the Oddities never even appeared.
The Oddities returned on Sunday Night Heat, when Luna and Kurrgan teamed to take on Tiger Ali Singh and his servant Babu. Luna decimated Babu, threw him out of the ring, and continued the attack there. The referee apparently counted them both out.
That brought us to the Rock Bottom PPV. Golga and Kurrgan were taking on the Headbangers. Unfortunately, the Bangers’ luck hadn’t improved, and the Oddities chalked up another win.
The next night Sable was taking on the masked Spider Lady for the WWF Women’s title. Spider Lady destroyed Sable, and then started whipping her with the belt. Spider Lady unmasked, and it was Luna! The rest of the Oddities (now including George the Animal Steele) came out and separated them, then comforted Sable in the back.
The following Sunday Night Heat (the first of the year) saw George Steele defeat Mosh.
A week later, we saw the Oddities defeat the Headbangers for the Tag Team Titles of the Universe. Since I covered that back in May, I’ll skip the details for now.
That brought us to the Royal Rumble. Kurrgan was in the Rumble match itself, but he was easily eliminated by Kane.
The next night on Raw Steele took on Droz. Steele was in firm control until he started tearing apart one of the turnbuckles. Droz rammed Steele’s head into the exposed buckle for the pin, and then kept beating on him until the rest of the Oddities ran him off.
Kurrgan took on Droz the next week. Kurrgan dominated until Droz hit him in the face with a broom handle. He continued attacking Kurrgan until, again, the rest of the Oddities ran him off.
The Oddities had a tag match against Too Much (Brian Christopher and Scott Taylor) the next week on Heat. First Droz distracted Silva and got him to follow him to the back. Then the Disciples of Apocalypse (Skull & 8-Ball – Ron & Don Harris) hit the ring to give the win to Too Much.
And that was it.
Analysis
Talk about twists and turns. The idea of the Oddities as an assembly of human freaks under the Jackyl’s twisted control would have been extremely interesting, although that plan had the brakes put on it almost immediately due to Jackyl’s departure.
Sable would have never worked as an extended manager for the Oddities. At the time, the WWF was using Sable as the central WWF Diva (much like Trish Stratus is now). Sable was too busy in the women’s division, and by the end of the Oddities, she’d turned heel.
The Insane Clown Posse were a natural fit, due to their providing the Oddities’ entrance music, but they should not have been counted on for any sort of long-term booking plans. In the past, the clowns were notoriously fickle about who they worked for (putting in short stints in not only WCW and the WWF, but also ECW).
George the Animal Steele was another perfect fit. The problem was that with Steele’s advanced age, his in-ring skills had deteriorated, and the nostalgia trip can only carry a wrestler for so long.
Overall, by the end, yet again, the Oddities were just out there to be out there – the same problem that the WWE looks likely to run into with Eugene. The happy-go-lucky gimmicks seem to have a limited shelf life (except for Steele, whose longevity was extended due to the short time each year he would tour with the company). There was nowhere for the gimmick to grow or change, and that eventually doomed it.
Where Are They Now?
Kurrgan returned to his native Canada began wrestling with Real Action Wrestling. He recently wrestled Jim Duggan at halftime of a CFL game with Jacques Rougeau as the referee.
Giant Silva went to Mexico and worked with CMLL for a while. He is now a mixed martial arts fighter with PRIDE.
John Tenta (Golga) would return to the WWF again at Wrestlemania 17 in the Gimmick Battle Royal as Earthquake. Sadly, Tenta is now battling cancer but does post often in the forums at wrestlecrap.com.
Luna Vachon was fired from the WWF after a backstage incident with Sable. Later (after Sable had left as well), Luna was rehired and paired with Gangrel, her real-life husband. After another backstage incident, Luna was released again. Today Luna still competes on the independent circuit.
From the Mailbag
Micah Distrel wrote in and picked up on something I’d missed last week. I’d assumed that the hooded character who was counseling Vampiro was the Great Muta. Instead, it turns out that the man would have been an ongoing character named Syndrome. Syndrome’s real name? Christopher Daniels.
Next Week
We stay with the same time period in the WWF as Owen Hart decides to retire from wrestling.
