Flamboyance is defined as a person or their behavior that tends to command attention due to their exuberance, confidence, and style. That being said, pretty much every wrestler has a bit of quirkiness, especially at a major company like WWE or AEW. So figuring out which ones are really wacky can be a chore.
Do you choose the most striking? The most braggart? The best and smoothest workers? Maybe a swath of fighters that have most of those traits and a whole lot more. That’s what extravagant means as far as the wrestling industry is concerned. And when you have to make it in a stage sport like wrestling, you have to be flamboyant to stand out.
10 rick the martel model
As a solid manager who traveled the world and even won the AWA Championship before heading to WWE, Rick Martel is a model (no pun intended) of how to take a career and make it better. After facing off with Tito Santana and disbanding Strike Force, the Quebecer experienced a completely different change in character.
It became El Modelo, an egocentric and arrogant work. He even wore his own cologne called Arrogance, which according to the babyface announcers stank in the arenas, and even his heels smelled fantastic.
9 Vince McMahon
The WWE owner flaunts his stuff whenever he can, consequences be damned, which is kind of the embodiment of flamboyance. Whether as the Mr. McMahon character or the real-life Vince McMahon, there’s nothing the President wouldn’t do in life without a dash of whimsy.
Every announcement, every decision he had made, even when facing scrutiny, he stood right in the middle of the ring and made an appearance. He has always lived his life with a ton of bravado.
8 Charming Rick Rude
Heading to the ring in gorgeous velvet robes immediately indicated that Ravishing Rick Rude was anything but extravagant. Then, just before stripping to reveal a physique not seen in wrestling at the time, he would taunt the out-of-shape crowd for his lack of one.
Rude would not only reveal his washboard abs, but would also have the audacity to put his opponent (or his opponent’s wife or girlfriend) on his team for some added extravagance.
7 shawn michaels
From the very moment Shawn Michaels kicked out Marty Jannetty, he had only been flamboyant for the rest of his WWE career. From the very beginning, with crazy-looking guys and ladies like Sherri, and even Luna by his side, to his never-backing-in-the-ring style, Shawn Michaels doesn’t know how not to be flamboyant.
Brash and swaggering about pushing the needle forward, he almost single-handedly lifted WWE out of the Next Gen Era and into a new attitude.
6 johnny b badd
As one of WCW’s early standout gimmicks, perhaps Johnny B. Badd’s saddest problem is that Marc Mero wasn’t allowed to explore the character further when he came to WWE. But the wackiness factor certainly rose to the next level of entertainment and excitement.
Johnny B. Badd’s glitter gun, sometimes interesting robes and masks, and even makeup helped make him appear much less badass than he actually was. Which caught some opponents off guard, paving the way for The Kiss That Don’t Miss.
5 Goldust
Sure, Vince McMahon and other commentators threw adjectives like ‘androgynous’ or ‘weird’ around when describing Goldust, but flamboyance was also a trait he embodied.
Even after he stopped attacking his opponents, he and Marlena were still able to show how extravagant they were, constantly covered in gold, while gold dust literally dripped from the ceiling.
4 Adrian’s Exotic Street
In the department of being flamboyant just to catch opponents off guard, Exotic Adrian Street might not have been the first to do it. But he certainly did crack the template and pave new ground on it.
Wrestlers like Goldust, Sonny Kiss, Velveteen Dream, Dalton Castle, and pretty much every androgynous/wacky superstar is just a derivative of Street: they’re all tough as nails, but they all act like they’re scared of a baby horsefly.
3 The Macho Man Randy Savage
For many fans growing up during the Golden Era, The Macho Man Randy Savage was their introduction to the world of wacky superstars. WWE could do an entire ten-season series about bringing back every outfit Savage wore in the ring.
The guy even had Michael Braun, who designed costumes for the likes of Jimmy Hendrix, make his clothes as well. Macho Man also did his best to rarely wear the same tunics, jackets, and cowboy hats for too long.
2 Seth Damn Rollins
The first and thus far only man to own the NXT, WWE, Universal and World titles has taken extravagance for extravagance’s sake to new levels. The Architect and Monday Night Messiah became The Visionary – Seth Freakin’ Rollins.
That same instant also became the moment when almost everything he does is quirky for quirkiness’s sake and to catch his opponents off guard. Imagine if all he wanted to do was intimidate a guy like Seth Rollins, and he showed up wearing Safari-meets-Sephora gear and then just started laughing in his face.
1 ric style
Seth Freakin’ Rollins could think of himself as The Drip God. But there’s only one superstar who has a song named after his drip. The Ric Flair Drip is real and has been for almost forty years. Even though he was the biggest badass in the world, fans showed up in his best suits, showing four fingers in salute to The Nature Boy.
The man (The Man?) who coined the phrase “style and profile” even now at 74 should have his picture next to extravagance in the dictionary.