Some wrestling ripoffs are downright weird, whereas others are downright terrible.

The Renegade, for example, was a poor man's ultimate warrior who did nothing to distance WCW from WWF Light claims in the mid-1990s.

Nope, he did not. Not every knockoff is a wonky misfire, though. In fact,

there are wrestling rip-offs that actually bettered what came before. No, seriously, it's true.

It's damn true. I've got a whole list that proves it. So I am, Gareth, you're watching

What Culture Wrestling, and here are 10 wrestling rip-offs better than the original.

Number 10, Damien Sandow, the genius.

Anyone who has ever caught some shoot interview footage starring Lanny Poffo could tell

you that Randy Savage's sibling was a unique dude.

Sometimes it seemed like Lanny was still working interviewers just because he could.

And it was clear that he carried a cerebral quality that actually made him seem zany.

Pofo was obviously a pretty intelligent fellow,

so the genius character that he played on TV wasn't exactly a stretch.

It was, however, less than compared to Damien Sandow's own

intellectual savior's gimmick. Sandow took the genius blueprint as his own in 2011, honed it

in WWE Developmental, and then brought it to the main roster in 2012. He was verbose in vignette,

and delighted in ridiculing those who followed standard pop culture

rather than educating themselves like he had.

Now, sure, Sandell was a stereotypically snooty pro wrestling heel,

but he rode the genius 2.0 thing all the way to the top of the WWE cards.

Or nearly to the top of the WWE cards.

So Damien won money in the bank in 2013, and that seemed like his ticket to permanent

...