The Fall of Berlyn: The Cursed WCW Gimmick

Posted on May 25, 2021 by bdamage1

Brian Damage

Sometimes in professional wrestling, a wrestler needs to get “freshened up” and receive a new look or be completely overhauled to take the next big step in their career. Being repackaged under a new gimmick can really help elevate a performer, but it can also backfire and fail miserably. It all depends on the gimmick, how they are presented and how much support they receive from the bookers and other talent. In the case of Alex Wright, he got his repackaging and given the ball to run with. The only thing was, nobody wanted to play ball with him.

“Das Wunderkind” Alex Wright was signed by WCW in 1994 at the age of 18 years old. He was young with pretty boy good looks and a wealth of in ring skills. When hired by WCW, he was signed by Time Warner and not on a WCW contract. ‘The Nature Boy’ Ric Flair was a huge fan and supporter of Wright’s and helped push him early in his WCW career. Alex Wright would also receive strong ratings for his segments on television…which helped further his push in the company.

Wright would be a fixture on the mid card winning Cruiserweight and TV championships along the way. By 1999, however, Eric Bischoff wanted to take Wright’s career to another level. He was pulled off TV while Bischoff and company developed Wright’s new persona. After months of being out of WCW’s spotlight…vignettes began airing touting his return. The thing was, he was no longer the pretty boy, techno dancing wrestler he once was.

Alex Wright was given a darker image complete with a mohawk dyed black, long trench coat and a cane. His name was changed to ‘Berlyn’ and he became a completely different character. Unfortunately, Berlyn’s debut would be pushed back for a while after the infamous Columbine high school shootings which saw the teenage shooters wear long, black trench coats. Time Warner feared the comparison and held off on Berlyn until things calmed down a bit.

Berlyn finally made his long awaited debut in August of 1999. He was flanked with what looked like security and a female interpreter named Uta Ludendorff. Berlyn refused to speak English during his promos and interviews and only spoke his native language of German. Uta Ludendorff then translated what Berlyn said which was basically how America was a horrible place and Germans were superior.

He was also accompanied to the ring by a huge man named ‘The Wall’ as his personal bodyguard. Berlyn’s debut match was booked for Fall Brawl against Buff Bagwell. The match didn’t happen because Bagwell claimed he missed his flight, but in reality refused to do the job to Berlyn. Bagwell was instead replaced with ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan, who wasn’t at all pleased that he was now in line to lose to the repackaged Alex Wright. Duggan “no sold” all of Berlyn’s offense, but still got pinned…making Berlyn look weak in the process.

Years later in interviews, Wright said the backstage politics were off the charts and many WCW stars refused to work programs with him. The death knell for the Berlyn gimmick really occurred when Bischoff was fired from the company and Vince Russo was hired. Wright claimed that Russo wanted to distance himself from as many of Bischoff’s creations as possible…Berlyn being one of them.

His bodyguard The Wall was pushed instead of him. The two split up and a brief feud happened between Berlyn and the Wall with the Wall getting the upper hand. Berlyn languished once again on the mid card and soon faded away completely. Alex Wright would return months later under his old dancing gimmick with no mention of his past persona of Berlyn.

Alex Wright is convinced that the Berlyn character could have been very successful if it were given the proper chance. He also noted that he felt the Berlyn gimmick would’ve worked well in WWE. Alas, that never came to be and we will never know just how big of a success or flop Berlyn could’ve been if given time.