The Gobbledy Gooker

Concept and creation

The World Wrestling Federation wanted a turkey mascot, similar to the San Diego Chicken, and called it the Gobbledy Gooker. Vince McMahon also planned for the character to wrestle, so he looked for a talented performer. Dusty Rhodes suggested Héctor Guerrero, and the WWF first reached out to him in early 1990. Guerrero auditioned in person a few months later, got the part, and was scheduled to debut at that year’s Survivor Series, which aired on Thanksgiving night.

Before the event, the WWF teased the character by showing a large egg at various shows. Fans speculated wildly about what was inside, with the most common guess being that Ric Flair—a multiple-time world champion from rival promotion WCW—would hatch from it. Mark Calaway, who had just joined the WWF, worried that the egg was meant to hype his own arrival. Instead, he debuted as The Undertaker in a separate segment at the same Survivor Series.

History

At the 1990 Survivor Series, announcer Gene Okerlund stood beside a giant egg and guessed it might hold a dinosaur, balloons, or even the Playmate of the Month. The egg then cracked open, and Hector Guerrero emerged wearing a turkey costume. When Okerlund tried to interview him, Guerrero only responded with gobbling sounds, leading Okerlund to dub him "the Gobbledy Gooker." As the Hartford Civic Center crowd began to boo, a rock-and-roll version of "Turkey in the Straw" played, and both Okerlund and Guerrero danced in the ring. Despite the negative reaction, commentator Roddy Piper claimed the character had "won the heart of Hartford," while Gorilla Monsoon called it a "big smash."

Guerrero stayed with the WWF for a few more weeks. During a Madison Square Garden appearance, he attempted a handspring but could not see through the costume's head, causing him to fall into the ring. Plans for the Gobbledy Gooker to serve as a company mascot were abandoned, and the character vanished after about a month. It did not resurface until WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001, when Guerrero reprised the role for one night in the Gimmick Battle Royal. He was eliminated quickly by Tugboat.

Since 2008, WWE has brought the Gobbledy Gooker back occasionally during Thanksgiving week. At the 2008 Survivor Series, The Boogeyman wore the costume in a skit with The Bella Twins and The Colóns. On the November 23, 2009, episode of Raw, Maryse Ouellet disguised herself as the Gobbledy Gooker to attack Melina Perez. In 2013, WWE released a series of comedic YouTube videos titled "The Gobbledy Gooker Goes To Work." For the character's 25th anniversary, Xavier Woods of The New Day wore the turkey suit on the November 26, 2015, episode of SmackDown. Later that same episode, Jey Uso put on the costume to attack his New Day partners.

Legacy

The Gobbledy Gooker is remembered by many as one of the biggest flops in the history of the professional wrestling industry. The satirical wrestling website WrestleCrap named its annual booby prize the "Gooker Award" after the character. Furthermore, in The Wrestlecrap Book of Lists!, R. D. Reynolds listed the Gobbledy Gooker as the second worst wrestling character of all time, behind The Red Rooster, while The A.V. Club placed it on a list of wrestling's most regrettable gimmicks.

Muscle & Fitness similarly described the character as being the worst dressed wrestler of all time, writing: "having a WWE Superstar compete in a full Turkey suit is perhaps the most ridiculous concept ever". Bleacher Report and 411Mania each ranked the character as having the second worst debut/reveal of all time, second to the Shockmaster (portrayed by Fred Ottman, who also wrestled as Tugboat and eliminated the Gobbledy Gooker at WrestleMania X-Seven).

During a 2008 episode of Legends of Wrestling, Dusty Rhodes, who had previously written for WCW and was responsible for creating the Shockmaster, revealed that he and McMahon would joke about which character was worse. WWE describe the debut as an "unmitigated disaster", but add: "Like an Ed Wood movie, The Gooker was such a terrible persona that it eventually endeared itself to the WWE Universe". However, Guerrero has defended the character, stating: "The Gobbledy Gooker is called the biggest flop in professional wrestling history, but it wasn't meant for the adults.

It was for the children. Vince wanted to do something noble, which I take my hat off to and respect." Okerlund addressed Guerrero during his WWE Hall of Fame induction in 2006, saying: "Héctor, we had a lot of fun, but all of this is forgotten". Paul Debendetto of Mental Floss disagreed with Okerlund's assessment, given the character's enduring legacy, writing: "the Gooker lives on. And Héctor wouldn't have it any other way."