Professional wrestling is already pretty silly, with good guys and bad guys, over-the-top acting, and rigged matches. But the “sport” outdid itself when it introduced these really silly wrestling characters.

THE GOBBLEDY GOOKER

He was a giant turkey, complete with feathers, a beak, and wings. When the character debuted, he popped out of a huge egg.

SERGEANT SLAUGHTER

At the peak of the first Gulf War in 1991, the WWF brought in this villain, an Iraqi-flag-waving Saddam Hussein sympathizer.

GIANT GONZALES

A failed NBA basketball player, Gonzales was a lanky 7’7″ and not muscular enough to wrestle. Solution: He wore a rubber suit covered with fake hair and painted muscles.

DOINK THE CLOWN

Since 1993 “Doink” has wrestled in a full clown costume, with face makeup and bright green hair. (In tag-team matches he’s assisted by “Dink the Clown,” an identically dressed dwarf clown.)

THE JUICER

A steroid addict? No—the Juicer was introduced in 1989 to capitalize on the movie Beetlejuice. Like the movie’s title character, the wrestler sprayed “death breath” (green mist) and attacked with Silly String.

RED ROOSTER

A guy with dyed scarlet hair who flapped his arms like wings and chicken danced around the ring, screaming “cock-a-doodle-doo!”

THE GENIUS

Coming to the ring wearing a graduation cap and gown, the Genius appeared to be highly intelligent, speaking in a haughty accent and peppering his sentences with big words…and then he beat people up.

ISAAC YANKEM, DDS

An evil dentist, dressed in a white smock and face mask, who threatens to remove his opponents’ teeth.

IRWIN R. SCHEISTER

Somebody everybody could fear: an IRS agent. He wore glasses, a shirt, and a skinny tie, and hit people with his briefcase. As sportswriter Mike Stokes put it, the tax collector came across as “a cranky math teacher.”

THE POET

He read poetry at the beginning of fights…and then he beat people up.

AKEEM THE AFRICAN DREAM

Akeem dressed, talked, and acted “black.” He wore a traditional African dashiki, spoke in 1970s jive, and had a street pimp named Slick as a sidekick. And he was portrayed by a white guy.

ROADBLOCK

He looked like a road. He had a yellow “dead end” sign painted on his stomach, hit opponents with a barricade, and dressed in a black bodysuit (to look like pavement).

GOLDUST

He wore a sparkly robe and a long blond wig and intimidated opponents by licking their faces. His skin was spray painted gold and he’d stop matches to cry about how his father didn’t love him enough.

BROTHER LOVE

A stereotypical Southern evangelist who preached “the word of love”…and then beat people up.

SEXUAL CHOCOLATE

A deep-voiced, smooth-talking ladies’ man, like 1970s soul singer Barry White. The character was based on South Park’s Chef—a parody of deep-voiced, smooth-talking 1970s soul singers.

THE BOOTY MAN

On his way into the ring, he dropped his pants and shook his bare buttocks. (He was actually wearing a flesh-colored prosthesis.)

AMISH ROADKILL

Inspired by the 1996 Amish-themed movie Kingpin, Amish Roadkill wore plain black Amish clothing, a black hat, and a long beard. He usually lost matches, because the Amish don’t believe in fighting.