The Black Scorpion was a masked WCW gimmick meant to be a former friend/ally/partner of Sting. The Stinger was involved in a lot of proto-cinematic stuff during his surfer phase, so this wasn’t unusual. The guys who have been under the mask included Ole Anderson, Al Perez, The Angel of Death, Jeff Ellis, and eventually Ric Flair.
WCW and The Problem With The Black Scorpion
Flair mentioned that it was either going to be him or Barry Windham under the mask. He opted to do the unmasking honors because he wanted to protect Windham and could tank a hit if it wasn’t received well. Plus, creative decided “Ehhh…wasn’t Windham already a bogus Sting last month? Why would he be under a mask again?”
Which is a great question, actually. If you ran Windham under a mask again in a short period, he was going to either keep it on or be unmasked by someone else. If he kept it on, we probably wouldn’t have ended up with his sole World Heavyweight title reign.
Flair was the best last–minute pick WCW had. The Angel of Death would’ve needed at least two years time in WCW and some crispy booking in those two years for it to be a great unmasking. Imagine pulling off the mask in 1990 and it’s the Angel of Death. Who?
Al Perez would’ve probably gotten a similar mixed or dead reaction. If you’re going to unmask someone, make sure they’ve been recently in the company or are on the roster currently.
Salvaging the Gimmick
So, after Flair is unmasked in the cage at Starrcade, the Black Scorpion gimmick is sealed. No one picked up the mask. The gimmick will be 30 this year. That said, the Black Scorpion gimmick could’ve worked down line in two ways. First off, the gimmick deserved better gear. Remember Black Blood who wrestled in WCW in mid-1991? Black Scorpion deserved that.
Beyond that, the Black Scorpion could’ve either returned as a masked successor gimmick—like a heavyweight version of Black Tiger, the nemesis of Tiger Mask. This would allow for up and comers to develop their own characters with the protection of the Black Scorpion. Once they’re unmasked, that wrestler is ready to rock.
The gimmick could also be used as the heel version of the Dusty’s Midnight Rider. If a heel gets put on suspension or banned. Just slip on the mask and resume terrorizing the ring. Sure, WCW and the fans know it’s that guy but part of the fun of these gimmicks is seeing if they get busted for rocking a weak disguise.
New Scorpions
Finally, the Black Scorpion could’ve been the main heel of the WCW cruiserweight division. My vote would’ve been Jerry Lynn. Other wrestlers I would’ve gone for under the mask include Stan Lane, Pat Tanaka, Bobby Eaton, and Brad Armstrong. Actually, in an interview, Armstrong said that he was more comfortable playing masked characters than himself.
Kanyon or Devon Storm/Crowbar are also strong picks later into the 90s. Then again, would we have gotten that cool Mortis character? Could late 90s Black Scorpion have also been a martial arts character and not gotten a lawsuit about Mortal Kombat?
What are some names that you could’ve seen as the Black Scorpion? Let us know in the comments!
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