Traditions can be a tricky thing to navigate. For example, Jim Crockett had firmly established Thanksgiving as his biggest show of the year, beginning in 1983 with the debut of Starrcade. Even before then, wrestling and Thanksgiving went hand in hand, with promotions like World Class out of Texas showcasing the Von Erichs in annual Thanksgiving spectaculars.
Tradition can also be fickle, as it was in 1987 when Vince McMahon (who was once quoted as saying “My philosophy in business has always been to help yourself and not hurt the other guy”) came up with the concept of the Survivor Series. By a staggering coincidence, he put it on national pay-per-view on Thanksgiving Day, at the exact same time that Jim Crockett was supposed to be airing Starrcade ’87 on pay-per-view. The cable companies sided with McMahon, and suddenly Crockett’s Thanksgiving tradition was no more.
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Which is a long-winded way of saying that by 1990, Survivor Series was firmly established as the WWF’s annual Thanksgiving tradition. To go along with that, they wanted to take their branding to the next level, by introducing a mascot. Beginning in the fall, viewers of WWF syndicated programming were treated to an egg-citing development, with the appearance of a giant, mysterious egg.
We didn’t have much information on the origins of the egg, but we knew it was hatching at Survivor Series. Sadly, the scientific and ethical implications of this egg were never really explored leading up to the show, as it was a simpler time. I, for one, immediately had some questions about the origins of this egg:
- Which came first, the giant chicken or the giant egg?
- If it was indeed laid by a giant chicken or turkey, where was Titan Sports keeping the mutant beast, and where did come from? Outer space? Was the ICOPRO nutritional program more than just a scam to trick gullible bodybuilder wannabes? Indeed, was it actually a front for developing weaponized poultry that would run rampant like in the upcoming Dwayne Johnson blockbuster "Rampage"? But, you know, with chickens?
- Was the Red Rooster somehow involved, hatching an elaborate revenge on the WWF?
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While no one stopped to ask either of these exceedingly obvious questions about the origins of the egg, people sure speculated as to the contents of the egg leading up to the show. The most popular theory was that a debuting wrestler would be bursting out and running rampant over the WWF as the next monster star, with the most popular choices coming down to three people: Sid Vicious jumping from WCW, King Kong Bundy returning from retirement, or "Mean" Mark Callous debuting as whatever his WWF character would be.
After weeks of buildup, Survivor Series finally arrived and clearly the most advertised and anticipated attraction at the show was the contents of the egg. Then we learned exactly what was in it…
Yes, after all the buildup, it was a dancing turkey, immediately dubbed the “Gobbledy Gooker” by "Mean" Gene in an effort to create a new Thanksgiving mascot. Specifically, the role was played by famous Mexican wrestler Hector Guerrero (who had last been seen in a major role playing futuristic luchador Lazertron in the NWA) in perhaps the biggest divide between quality of wrestler and quality of gimmick in history.
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It was supposed to appeal to the kids in the audience and begin a yearly tradition with the turkey, but I guess no one got the “yolk." The debut appearance was booed out of the building, and elaborate plans for touring on the house show circuit were immediately dropped, although he did make a few post-Series appearances in vignettes featuring other members of the roster.
By 1991, they hauled the Gooker out for another attempt on some Thanksgiving shows, but it didn’t work any better a year later and the concept was killed for good, aside from various callbacks on WWE DVDs where they make fun of themselves for even trying it.
Just think how different the business would have been if poor Mean Mark had been in the egg, instead of that other gimmick they came up with for him.
Yeah, that one. Poor guy would have been a shell of his other self, you could say.
