Listen up!

A few weeks ago, I threw out what I thought were some of the worst gimmicks in wrestling history. I also asked you to come up with a few of your own. As usual, the response was overwhelming, so if I don't print your e-mail, don't go Doink The Clown on me. Here's the best of your worst:

O.K., how about Loch Ness in WCW? Or Booker T in his "G.I. Bro" outfit? -- Alfred

Podcast: 'Old School, New School' -- Episode 89

It was it lame when Vince McMahon "died" when his limo exploded on "Monday Night Raw." -- Amy

Charlie Hass. This guy was good when he was with Shelton Benjamin. Now? Impersonating other superstars. What a waste of talent. -- Matt

I remember a guy named Bastion Booger. He was big and hairy and wore one of those one-piece over-the-shoulder tights. He was just gross. -- Debbie

Where to begin? The Great Kahli. The Boogey Man. Gangrel. Nailz. Ric Flair as the Black Scorpion. Vince McMahon as the leader of the Ministry of Darkness. -- Dan

The one that make me want to change the channel is Sting. I remember him and the Ultimate Warrior as the Blade Runners. When he became the WCW Sting, blonde, colorful, and loud -- it was one of the best characters ever created. The black and white "Crow" paint and baseball bat gimmick is not exciting visually and ran its course a long time ago. He also seems to have either lost his mic skills or he is following a script word for word written by someone with no sense of theater at all. The "New Coke" was a mistake and holding on to this version of the character is as big a mistake. -- Dan S.

The Missing Link, from the early '80's. His wrinkle was that he inflicted pain on himself, made no attempt to win matches, and only spread chaos. -- Harry

First I will start with the Red Rooster, aka Terry Taylor. Here was a perfectly talented wrestler who needed something, but not to have Vince McMahon make him act like a chicken and strut around the squared circle. I figured he was going to lay an egg at one point. The second was what Vince did to one of the greats, Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat, by putting him in a dragon costume. I don't know who was more humiliated, Ricky for wearing the costume or the fans who had to actually watch that debacle. -- Brian

Mae Young as a geriatric nymphomaniac was pretty bad. -- Cliff

Worst gimmick of all time was Robocop in WCW. They actually put forth a storyline that Robocop was a real person. Even in pro wrestling, this was as absurd as they come. -- David

Robocop! Forgot about that one. All terrible gimmicks, agreed.

We close things out with a response to a previous column (June) about Hulk Hogan and his clan.

Professor: Having read and reread your article about the Hulkster and parenthood, I have a few thoughts. First, it is very easy to agree with you on just about every point you bring up about this dysfunctional family. I despise all reality TV, but I did watch a few episodes of Hogan's show -- enough to be convinced that they are ALL screwed up.

That said, the show was but a sad reflection on our society in general. The indulgence by some parents of their children's every whim has created a generation of young adults that simply have no concept of boundaries.

I am sure when Nick Hogan crashed his car, his first response was to believe that everything would be fine. After all, his parents, like too many, would make that little 'problem' go away. Hogan and clan are just that pathetic example of everything that has gone wrong in this country.

I am not a pessimist. Look at all the fine young men and woman serving our nation overseas. They came from the right stock. There are a majority, I belive, of families and young people in our nation who know right from wrong.

Sadly, the dopes of the world get all the headlines. After all, it makes better TV. -- James

Well said, James. Thanks for the thoughtful letter.

That'll do it. Only one more piece of business this week, and that's the plug of the "Old School, New School" podcast. We're already on Episode 89, and you can get it right here. This week, Dr. Mike Lano and George Schire focus on great tag teams, go thumbs up/thumbs down on Rhodes and DiBiase and give their thoughts on Sting as TNA champ.

Time to scram, because class is ... dismissed!

(Professor Wrestling is a masked employee of Internet Broadcasting, hailing from Parts Unknown. Got a question, comment, complaint? E-mail him right here. )