History Wrestling / TheGobbledyGooker

The character was rumored to be something of a mascot for the WWF, and Gooker segments with Wrestling/KokoBWare, [[Wrestling/FredOttman Tugboat]] and Wrestling/TheBushwhackers were taped around the same time. Almost immediately after this reception, however, the Gooker gimmick was canned by the WWF, and not mentioned again except as a bit of SelfDeprecation on the part of the company. The Gooker made a return at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania X-Seven'' for the Gimmick Battle Royale (played once again by Hector, who was the second wrestler eliminated, after [[Wrestling/BarryDarsow Repo Man]].) Website/{{WrestleCrap}}'s yearly award for the worst gimmick/storyline in wrestling [[MedalOfDishonor is referred to as the Gooker Award]], and RD Reynolds made the whole incident the first chapter in the inaugural ''[=WrestleCrap=]'' book.

* EnemyMine: Was the second wrestler eliminated from the Gimmick Battle Royal at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania X-Seven'', after Repo Man, with all of the ''17 other guys'' all lifting him up to eliminate him, with the honors going to Tugboat. Made even funnier by the fact that he was a fairly normal sized guy, since in battle royals the usual approach is to get the biggest guys out first.

The character was rumored to be something of a mascot for the WWF, and Gooker segments with Wrestling/KokoBWare, [[Wrestling/FredOttman Tugboat]] and Wrestling/TheBushwhackers were taped around the same time. Almost immediately after this reception, however, the Gooker gimmick was canned by the WWF, and not mentioned again except as a bit of SelfDeprecation on the part of the company. The Gooker made a return at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania X-Seven'' for the Gimmick Battle Royale (played once again by Hector, who was the second wrestler eliminated, after [[Wrestling/BarryDarsow Repo Man]].) Website/{{WrestleCrap}}'s yearly award for the worst gimmick/storyline in wrestling is referred to as the Gooker Award, and RD Reynolds made the whole incident the first chapter in the inaugural ''[=WrestleCrap=]'' book.

* BlatantLies: ''"They didn't know what to think of him at first, but I think he's won the heart of Hartford!"'' Uh... sure, Piper.

At ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 1990'', out from a gigantic egg that had been carted to WWF events for weeks - which fueled tons of rumors about a new wrestler debuting, or something even bigger - came Hector Guerrero (Wrestling/EddieGuerrero's brother) dressed in a gigantic turkey costume, complete with googly eyes and a muted, garbled speech upon being interviewed by Okerlund. The crowd response was a StunnedSilence, followed swiftly by a section of boos. Okerlund carried on with the segment by dancing in the ring with the Gooker (to "Turkey in the Straw") while Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon and Wrestling/RoddyPiper tried to remain enthusiastic on commentary, which did little to conceal the awkward silence from the Hartford, Connecticut crowd. Perhaps they were expecting the egg to hatch out anything other than a poorly executed segment that was poorly conceived in the first place. Or maybe just anything that was less of a turkey than a dude in a turkey costume coming out of an egg. To the Gooker's credit, some people did join in for Okerlund and Gooker's dance, though that did little to actually improve the situation.

* NonActionGuy: Many of the men who have donned the suit in the years afterwards for one-shot gags have been great wrestlers, or at least intimidating ones not afraid to get physical. The Gooker itself has no wrestling ability.

** TheBusCameBack: Given a relatively triumphant return at ''Survivor Series 2020'', where he was able to briefly become the 24/7 champion.

During ''Survivor Series 2020'', thirty years after his debut, the Gooker returned to a much more positive reception, briefly managing to win the 24/7 title from [[Wrestling/RonKillings R-Truth]] during the pre-show before losing it to
Wrestling/AkiraTozawa later in the event, who in turn immediately lost it back to R-Truth.

-->-- '''"Mean" Gene Okerlund''', ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 1990''

->''"Everybody has speculated as to what might be in the egg. Is it a dinosaur? Is it a rabbit? Balloons? Is it the Playmate of the Month? Heh, who knows? Well, the way it sounds to me right now, the speculating is all over! Oop, stand back! I think that egg is ready to blow!!"''[[labelnote:*]]And blow it did.[[/labelnote]]

At ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 1990'', out from a gigantic egg that had been carted to WWF events for weeks - which fueled tons of rumors about a new wrestler debuting, or something even bigger - came Hector Guerrero (Wrestling/EddieGuerrero's brother) dressed in a gigantic turkey costume, complete with googly eyes and a muted, garbled speech upon being interviewed by Okerlund. The crowd response was a StunnedSilence, followed swiftly by a section of boos. Okerlund carried on with the segment by dancing in the ring with the Gooker (to "Turkey in the Straw") while Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon and Wrestling/RoddyPiper tried to remain enthusiastic on commentary, which did little to conceal the awkward silence from the Hartford, Connecticut crowd. Perhaps they were expecting, for instance, the egg to hatch out dozens of frozen turkeys that would be donated to families of servicemen stationed in what was then Operation: Desert Shield, or some other charitable activity, rather than a poorly executed segment that was poorly conceived in the first place. Or maybe just anything that was less of a turkey than a dude in a turkey costume coming out of an egg. To the Gooker's credit, some people did join in for Okerlund and Gooker's dance, though that did little to actually improve the situation.

->''"Everybody has speculated as to what might be in the egg. Is it a dinosaur? Is it a rabbit? Balloons? Is it the Playmate of the Month? Heh, who knows? Well, the way it sounds to me right now, the speculating is all over! Oop, stand back! I think that egg is ready to blow!!"''

And blow it did: Out from a gigantic egg that had been carted to WWF events for weeks - which fueled tons of rumors about a new wrestler debuting, or something even bigger - came Hector Guerrero (Wrestling/EddieGuerrero's brother) dressed in a gigantic turkey costume, complete with googly eyes and a muted, garbled speech upon being interviewed by Okerlund. The crowd response was a StunnedSilence, followed swiftly by a section of boos. Okerlund carried on with the segment by dancing in the ring with the Gooker (to "Turkey in the Straw") while Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon and Wrestling/RoddyPiper tried to remain enthusiastic on commentary, which did little to conceal the awkward silence from the Hartford, Connecticut crowd. Perhaps they were expecting, for instance, the egg to hatch out dozens of frozen turkeys that would be donated to families of servicemen stationed in what was then Operation: Desert Shield, or some other charitable activity, rather than a poorly executed segment that was poorly conceived in the first place. Or maybe just anything that was less of a turkey than a dude in a turkey costume coming out of an egg. To the Gooker's credit, some people did join in for Okerlund and Gooker's dance, though that did little to actually improve the situation.

The character was rumored to be something of a mascot for the WWF, and Gooker segments with Wrestling/KokoBWare, [[Wrestling/FredOttman Tugboat]] and Wrestling/TheBushwhackers were taped around the same time. Almost immediately after this reception, however, the Gooker gimmick was canned by the WWF, and not mentioned again except as a bit of SelfDeprecation on the part of the company. The Gooker made a return at ''[[Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} WrestleMania XVII]]'' for the Gimmick Battle Royale (played once again by Hector, who was the second wrestler eliminated, after [[Wrestling/BarryDarsow Repo Man]].) Website/{{WrestleCrap}}'s yearly award for the worst gimmick/storyline in wrestling is referred to as the Gooker Award, and RD Reynolds made the whole incident the first chapter in the inaugural ''[=WrestleCrap=]'' book.

[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gooker.jpg]]

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gooker_3989.jpg]]

And blow it did: Out from a gigantic egg that had been carted to WWF events for weeks - which fueled tons of rumors about a new wrestler debuting, or something even bigger - came Hector Guerrero (Wrestling/EddieGuerrero's brother) dressed in a gigantic turkey costume, complete with googly eyes and a muted, garbled speech upon being interviewed by Okerlund. The crowd response was a stunned silence, followed swiftly by a section of boos. Okerlund carried on with the segment by dancing in the ring with the Gooker (to "Turkey in the Straw") while Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon and Wrestling/RoddyPiper tried to remain enthusiastic on commentary, which did little to conceal the awkward silence from the Hartford, Connecticut crowd. Perhaps they were expecting, for instance, the egg to hatch out dozens of frozen turkeys that would be donated to families of servicemen stationed in what was then Operation: Desert Shield, or some other charitable activity, rather than a poorly executed segment that was poorly conceived in the first place. Or maybe just anything that was less of a turkey than a dude in a turkey costume coming out of an egg. To the Gooker's credit, some people did join in for Okerlund and Gooker's dance, though that did little to actually improve the situation.