WWE: What Makes a Great WWE Character Gimmick?

The world of professional wrestling has been filled with colorful characters for decades now.  Some of the characters went over really well and lasted for years, and some went down faster than...well I won't make a joke about Paris Hilton, but you get the idea.

Gimmicks have taken a backseat in recent years to people being portrayed as exaggerated versions of themselves.  This works well in the modern age, but some people miss the days of over-the-top cartoonish wrestlers.

Some gimmicks are legendary.  A few that come to mind are The Undertaker and Honky Tonk Man. 

Taker has been more or less the same kind of character for 20 years, minus the few years he was the biker.  His portrayal as a literal undertaker made him ominous, and it went over so well that he was WWE Champion within a year of his debut.

Honky Tonk Man is essentially an Elvis wannabe, but he was so much more than that when you looked closer.  He was a great heel in the 80s, and his character gimmick helped him become the longest reigning IC Champion in history.

Sting is another gimmick that has been very successful.  He started as just a bodybuilder in face paint and progressed into a crow-like outsider who took out his own brand of justice on the NWO.

Some other gimmicks have not gone over so well.  One that comes to mind is The Red Rooster.  Terry Taylor, the man behind the character, was a great wrestler, but his lame gimmick caused him to fall off the radar in WWE.  At one point, Taylor was considered for the Mr. Perfect character, but due to a missed call, he lost the idea to Curt Hennig.

Other characters who have not gone over so well have been Duke The Dumpster Drosey, Doink (in his later years), Eugene, The Ultimate Warrior in WCW, and, of course, THE SHOCKMASTER.

Who am I kidding? Everyone loved the Shockmaster.

There is something to be said about a wrestler who can get a bad gimmick over with the audience.  The Undertaker was never meant as a long-term character, but he made it work so well that fans responded by supporting him.

Dusty Rhodes once talked about how when he came to the WWE, Vince put him in polka dots, and he was miserable.  Dusty said to himself, "I'm gonna get this character over," and by God, he did just that.  Only the American Dream could have pulled off polka dots.

So with all that being said, who is your favorite over-the-top character from wrestling history?