 Music Makes The World Go Round I said Music Makes The World Go Round And it's such a key component of pro wrestling that I can't possibly imagine the business without it. Throughout its history, from honky tonk to heavy metal, entire characters have been developed from musical trends that either rock really hard or make fans roll their eyes. I'm Kevin and welcome to Wrestling Behind The Themes and here are 10 wrestling gimmicks heavily influenced by popular music. 10. Michael Saxon You know, if Michael Saxon was compiling a list of the worst wrestlers of all time, he would take some advice from his namesake and start with the man in the mirror. Hailing from Never Never Land, Saxon definitely looked like he was ready to be starting something in the mid 80s WWF. I'm just not sure what that was because once the bell rang, this jobber was bad. Like, really really bad. A blatant ripoff of Michael Jackson, Michael Saxon certainly looked apart with his outfit, glitter glove and jerry curl juice drip. However, while Michael mooned walk through his matches, he ultimately failed to thrill the WWE universe with his terrible impression of the king of pop. 9. Van Hammer Welcome to WCW Heavy Metal Hell. In Mick Foley's best-selling book Have a Nice Day, he would write that Van Hammer, not Van Halen, had two things working against him. Numero Uno, he was given a push well before he was ready for it and B, he was given the gimmick of a guitar player even though he couldn't play a lick. Now, the size and look of Hammer made him the ideal wrestler WCW was hot for in the early 90s. But unfortunately, it wasn't the best of both worlds because Hammer lacked the in-ring skills and charisma to get over, thanks in part to his horribly outdated headbangers ball-sucking Rockstar persona. 8. Man Mountain Rock To quote Vince McMahon, Man Mountain Rock is a mountain of a man who loves to rock the house. Now, I kinda debated whether or not to include Mr. Mountain Rock on this list because I couldn't tie any specific musical influences to him. But then it finally hit me. Just look at his outfit. It's like the head WWF seamstress went straight to Vince and said, What would a rock and roller wear? And Vince, being his out-of-touch self, said, Well, tie-dye, of course. The artist formerly known as Max Payne was a huge fan of heavy metal music and was actually a solid shredder on the electric guitar. But unfortunately, in the WWF, he was a lullapaloozer. 7. George Ringo When the Beatles formed in the 1960s, it started a musical movement that had never ever been seen before and inspired many copycat acts. And their influence was also felt inside the squared circle in the form of one George Ringo, aka the wrestling Beatle. Now, this gimmick was never meant to be a strawberry fields forever for the overnight sensation. But rather, it was Ringo's ticket to ride for a while as he cashed in on Beatle Mania. 6. The Kiss Demon To kickstart WCW's struggling ratings in the late 90s, Eric Bischoff struck a deal, not with the devil, but with the god of thunder. To create a wrestler uniquely inspired by the rock band Kiss. Now, while the creatures of the night weren't as popular as they once were, they still had a solid following that Easy-E thought would translate to an uptick in viewers. However, not only did this partnership cost a ton of cash, but the Kiss concert on Monday Nitro was one of their lowest-rated segments ever. In turn, this meant that the Kiss Demon was unfortunately DOA and had to endure a losing streak as long as Gene Simmons' disgusting tongue. 5. The Maestro Did you know that Robert Kellum, who played the ivory tickling, I mean piano playing, adorable Adriana Donis, and Liberace Love Child Looking Heel Concerto, known as The Maestro, was actually related to the original gorgeous George. Now, this gimmick was truly a symphony of destruction, as this dude was literally floating around the arena pissing away WCW's money faster than Tom Hanks can play chopsticks with his feet. The Maestro and his goofy hair conducted an orchestra of bored wrestling fans in the musical key of F for failure, of course. 4. The Artist The music industry, like wrestling, is full of larger-than-life characters, like the purple-clad, pancake-loving, guitar virtuoso Prince. So much like the WrestleCraft-tastic gimmick of the Maestro, we all know that Vince Russo is gonna Vince Russo as he repackaged the island warrior Prince Iakaia into the artist formerly known as Prince Iakaia, a not-so-subtle take on the decision made by the actual Prince to move forward as the artist formerly known as Prince. Now, since they both had Prince in their name, surely that was all that was needed for this to be a success, right, bro? This bores me. Wrong, bro. This is either what it sounds like when doves cry, or when Prince Iakaia's career died. 3. The Headbangers Real men wear skirts. At least, that's what Mosh and Thrasher claimed. Collectively known as the Headbangers, this musically-inspired gimmick came from one of the most unlikely persons, James E. Cornet. Apparently, Corny was attending a Marilyn Manson concert, and the idea for this unorthodox duo somehow spawned from his creative cranial cavity. Now, I can't possibly picture Cornet jumping into a mosh pit with a bunch of metal heads, but you have to admit this gimmick was quite progressive for an old-school kind of guy like Jim. And while they were never a top-of-the-card act due to the Attitude Era's loaded roster, the bangers were a solid mid-card team that stood out thanks to their unique look and zany behavior. 2. Johnny B. Bad It truly is a pity that I'm not as pretty as the flamboyant Johnny B. Bad, whose name was based on the classic Chuck Berry hit Johnny B. Good. With a colorful and rather eccentric personality for the time, this gimmick was heavily inspired by musician Little Richard, the extravagant 1950s rock and roll star known for such iconic songs as Tooty Fruity and Good Golly Miss Molly. And while this character would have likely flopped if anyone else performed it, the dedication of Mark Marrow made the role work. Marrow mimicked the mannerisms and the theatrics of the rock and roll Hall of Famer, making WCW Booker Dusty Rhodes so proud of this creation which came from the mind of the American dream himself. 1. The Honky Talk Man Clearly, The Honky Talk Man is not only the greatest intercontinental champion of all time, but he is also the greatest music-influenced gimmick of all time. With long sideburns and slick back hair, Honky shook up the WWE in the 1980s and was obviously inspired by none other than Elvis Presley. The Honky Talk Man walked, talked, danced, and dressed like the king of rock and roll. Despite being cool, cocky, and bad, Honky was too easy to boot because his Elvis impersonation was ain't nothing but a hound dog. And that's it for our list. Have any other musically inspired wrestlers we might have missed? Then let us know who they are in the comment section right down below and don't forget to like, share, and click on that subscribe button while you're at it. I've been Kevin from Wrestling Behind The Themes, and thank you very much for watching.