Marc Mero (born July 9, 1963) is an American retired amateur boxer and professional wrestler who competed in WCW from 1991-1996 as Johnny B. Badd and for WWE from 1996-1998. His original gimmick as Johnny B. Badd was a very over-the-top Gorgeous George whose Catchphrase was "I'm so pretty, I should have been born a little girl!" He would eventually outgrow the gimmick. He made his PPV debut in a DQ loss to The Yellow Dog (Brian Pillman in a mask) at WCW The Great American Bash 1991. He would feud with Maxx Payne, Steve Austin and Diamond Dallas Page before leaving for WWE. He made his WWE PPV in-ring debut with a DQ win over The 1-2-3 Kid on the "Free For All" before WWF In Your House: Good Friends Better Enemies. On the September 23, 1996 WWE RAW, he defeated Faarooq in a tournament final for the Intercontinental Heavyweight Titlenote He lost the belt to HHH a month later (see The Farmer and the Viper below). He suffered an injury in February 1997 that put him on the shelf for months. He came back in September and turned heel on his valet (and then-Real Life wife) Sable. After sending Sable out of the company at WWF Over the Edge 98, he introduced Jacqueline as his new valet. This led to a feud that ultimately became more about the women than it was about him, and he was gone in December 1998. (See Tempting Fate below.) He returned to the Johnny B. Badd persona for some tapings for Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart's failed XWF promotion in 2001, and then for TNA in 2004.
As Badd, he was a 3x WCW World Television Champion
and as himself he was a 1x WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion. He also won the The Wrestling Observer Newsletter "Rookie of the Year" Award for 1991, and its "Most Improved Award" in 1995. He also won the Pro Wrestling Illustrated "Rookie of the Year" Award.
"Badd, Wild, Marvelous Tropes":
- Alliterative Name: Johnny B. Badd and Marc Mero.
- Arch-Enemy:
- (in WCW): Maxx Payne, "Stunning" Steve Austin, Diamond Dallas Page
- (in WWE): Triple H, Sable.
- BFG: A confetti gun called the "Badd Blaster".
- Camp Straight: Johnny B. Badd was very campy, but never showed any attraction to men a la Goldust.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: His heel run came as a result of him being jealous of the attention Sable got.
- Disco Dan: A gimmick based on Little Richard and named for a Chuck Berry song.
- Domestic Abuse: Heavily implied in his initial heel turn on Sable in late 1997.
- The Farmer and the Viper: Fell victim to this on the October 21, 1996 WWE Raw. Mr. Perfect had been making trouble for HHH by always leading HHH's valets away from the ring, setting up a match. HHH "injured" Perfect earlier in the night. Mero volunteered to take the match instead...leading to Mr. Perfect turning heel on Mero and costing him the belt.
- The Fighting Narcissist: He was based on Little Richard, what else would you expect?
- Finishing Move: In WWE, a shooting star press that was called the Wild Thing when he was known as "Wildman" and Marvelosity when he was known as "Marvelous"; and the TKO (Fireman's Carry Cutter), which outlived Mero's career and has become the common name for that variation of the move, mainly because it's a lot easier than having to say "Fireman's Carry Cutter."
- Game-Breaking Injury: A torn ACL caused the hiatus that saw him transform from "Wild Man" to "Marvelous", which ultimately led to the heel turn that destroyed his career.
- Gimmick Matches: Defeated Arn Anderson in a "Boxer vs. Wrestler" match at WCW Uncensored 1995.
- Gorgeous George: A rare Face example.
- I Was Beaten by a Girl: Guess who? Specifically, Sable and Edge defeated Mero and Jacqueline at SummerSlam 98 when Sable pinned Mero.
- Megaton Punch: Used one as Badd called "Tutti Frutti."
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: For Little Richard.
- Perky Female Minion:
- (in WCW): The Diamond Doll (Kimberly Page)
- (in WWE): Sable, Jacqueline
- Punny Name: His stage name is an homage to the Chuck Berry song "Johnny B. Goode."
- Race Lift: Caucasian (albeit darker skinned) Mero playing decidedly black Johnny B. Badd.
- Red Baron: "Wildman", "Marvelous"
- The Resenter: His whole turn seemed to be based on his being angry about Sable getting popular on her own while he was out much of the year with an injury.
- Shout-Out: Crossing with Borrowed Catchphrase; he made his WWE on-screen debut being interviewed at WrestleMania XII when HHH, who had been squashed by the Ultimate Warrior earlier that night interrupted him, and Marc said, "Hey, I'm doing an interview here!"
- Tempting Fate: On the November 30, 1998 Raw, he said he would retire if WWF World Light Heavyweight Champion Duane Gill beat him. He had Gill down and was about to go for Marvelosity when Gill's The J.O.B. Squad ally The Blue Meanie pushed him off, leading to Gill pinning Mero, who would then go on to the UK PPV Capital Carnage six days later to lose a mixed tag match with Jacqueline to Sable and Christian.
- Un-person: He doesn't have an Alumni profile on WWE.com for some reason,note so, while weirder things have happened, don't expect to see him again.
- Villain Team-Up: With Goldust, dressed as Marilyn Manson, against The Headbangers in early 1998. It fell apart once Sable and Luna Vachon started having their own problems.
- Worked Shoot: His Crazy Jealous Guy run led to weird moments like when he was supposed to face Salvatore Sincere on the December 8, 1997 Raw, where Mero straight-up called him a "jobber" and acknowledged that his real name was Tom Brandi. Other than insulting Sincere, what this was supposed to accomplish remains clouded in mystery.
- Wrestling Doesn't Pay: As part of his heel turn as "Marvelous", he was repackaged with a boxer gimmick.
- Wrestling Family: Was married to Sable. His brother Joel was a Jobber in WCW as Tony Vendetta.
- Xtreme Kool Letterz: Badd.
