Brian Damage
A gimmick is something that is intended to hook the attention of fans to a wrestler. They may be outrageous or steeped more in reality, whatever the case may be…some have succeeded and many others have failed. The Gimmick Table takes a look at the origins of some of your favorite and not so favorite gimmicks of professional wrestlers….
Today we browse the gimmick of ‘The Portuguese Man O’ War’ Aldo Montoya
Peter Polaco was used on WWF television mainly as PJ Walker…a preliminary wrestler or “jobber” to the stars of the company in the early 1990’s. It was Jerry ‘the King’ Lawler who saw some potential in Polaco and felt that the WWF could utilize him in some way. Lawler felt that Polaco resembled famous comedian Jerry Seinfeld and suggested a wrestling comedian gimmick for the young wrestler. The issue was, Vince McMahon felt that Polaco didn’t have a very outgoing, funny personality, so the idea was scrapped.
When it was discovered that Polaco was of Portuguese descent and could speak the language…McMahon wanted to capitalize on that and make him into an international star. Polaco was given the new name of Aldo Montoya and the feeling was that many in Portugal were avid soccer/futbol fans. He was given a soccer gimmick where he be shown in vignettes playing soccer. He would kick WWF soccer balls into the crowd and wear a soccer uniform as his outfit. When it was discovered that Polaco was not a fan of the sport, let alone play it, the idea was changed again.
Bruce Prichard said he began looking for things “Portuguese” to change the gimmick and saw the name of a jellyfish called ‘Portuguese Man O’ War.’ Prichard presented the name to Vince McMahon who loved it and the two came up with a sort of Power Ranger type gimmick to fit the name. Polaco said when he met with creative and the seamstress, the drawings for his costume looked completely different. He had large shoulder pads like the Road Warriors and a yellow mask that resembled the mask Kane would wear years later.
Polaco claimed that all changed because the WWF had financial issues and couldn’t complete the outfit as was designed. Instead, the Aldo Montoya gimmick was given a cloth “jock strap” type of mask instead of a heavy leather one. Polaco hated the look of the new mask, but was apparently given the new outfit just an hour before his debut. ‘The Portuguese Man O’ War’ Aldo Montoya character lasted for roughly three years before Polaco asked and received his release from the company in 1997.
To browse other entries of the Gimmick Table, please click here.