What’s in the egg? This was the question for weeks building up to Survivor Series 1990. The result was arguably the worst moment in Survivor Series history – perhaps in WWE history – the debut of the Gobbledy Gooker.
But why was it so bad? Could it have been worse? Here, we bring you the full story behind the Gobbledy Gooker.
Look! You’ve all seen the moment a man dressed in a cheap turkey costume hatched out of a giant egg at Survivor Series 1990.
If you haven’t, here it is. Get it watched and we’ll continue with our look back at the Gobbledy Gooker.
Gobbledy Gooker Debuts at Survivor Series
Yes, that was ridiculous. But so is all of wrestling really.
Plus, for context, Survivor Series 1990 opened with three half-naked gimps (Demolition) walking to the ring to face three deranged men with painted faces (Ultimate Warrior, Road Warrior Hawk, and Road Warrior Animal). The Warriors had also just delivered an incoherent shouty promo.
It’s pretty clear the Gobbledy Gooker was just a silly moment to appeal to the younger audience. So why did the Gobbledy Gooker get such a hard time?
If the Gobbledy Gooker had appeared earlier in the show perhaps it would have been better received.
The Deadman Raises Expectations
It was fear and disappointment – in equal measure – that led to such a negative reaction to a man in a turkey suit.
Fans had been anticipating who would be the mystery man on the Million Dollar Team. The Undertaker was the mystery deadman. ‘Taker was unique, menacing, and a pleasant surprise for the audience.
It helped that he had Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, Dusty Rhodes, and Koko B. Ware to bump for him. The four men were the literal Dream Team facing the Million Dollar Team that night.
The Undertaker beat and stalked Rhodes through the crowd and out of the Hartford Civic Center. He was counted out in the process. This seeming lack of interest in the rules made The Undertaker even more interesting.
It gave fans a new Phenom and a legend. It also gave them hope that inside the egg could be something just as exciting.
Many fans were scared to death of the otherworldly The Undertaker. Some were simply intrigued by the non-selling Western mortician. Others saw beyond the hat and dead stare and recognized him as WCW performer Mark Callous.
This added fuel to the fire that WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair was going to make the switch to WWE and appear at Survivor Series. What’s in the egg? Halfway through Survivor Series, many thought it was Ric Flair.
There was so much uncertainty and intrigue in the egg that even Mark Calaway thought his character might debut by hatching out of it as Egg Man. So it could’ve been worse.
Mistimed Egg at Survivor Series
Another reason the Gobbledy Gooker got such a bad reaction was the fear that this turkey could be about to perform in the main event. In 1990, WWE experimented with having the survivors from each Survivor Series match meet in a main event of heels vs. faces.
Unfortunately, the entire Visionaries team had outlasted Jake Roberts’ Vipers team. This means that Power & Glory, Rick Martel, and The Warlord all made the Heel team, along with Ted DiBiase.
The Faces team was outnumbered with just Hulk Hogan, Tito Santana, and The Ultimate Warrior qualifying. Hulkamaniacs hoped the hatched egg would even the teams up for the Grande Finale Match of Survival.
So, to clarify, the moment a giant egg hatched to reveal a man in a cheap turkey costume, fans had raised expectations from The Undertaker’s debut, hoping they might be about to see Ric Flair and wishing someone would appear to save their hero Hogan from a handicapped beatdown. What they got was the Gobbledy Gooker.
Add to this the fact that the Gobbledy Gooker got in the ring and showed off some fancy flips and moves, there was a genuine fear this guy could be added to the active roster.
1990 Survivor Series was a PPV that had Hogan, Hart, Mr. Perfect, Texas Tornado (Kerry Von Erich), Jim Neidhart, Jake Roberts, Jimmy Snuka, Shawn Michaels, and Marty Jannety. Proper wrestlers. This was also well before the debut of some of wrestling’s more questionable characters such as The Mantaur, Giant Gonzalez, The Goon, and Repo Man.
Hardly blame the boos now, can we?
Gobbledy Gooker Legacy
Like the leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwich you forget about at the back of the fridge, the Gooker stuck around a little longer than anyone hoped. He appeared at some live events and in backstage promos. WWE gave up on the character pretty quickly.
But the character could have worked solely because of who was in the suit. Hector Guerrero agreed to play the role despite not being able to really see inside the costume and was committed to the bit.
He has spoken about how he would’ve liked more time to try and get the character over. His brother Eddie and Uncle Chavo were huge hits in the WWE. Hector, in his own right, was a fantastic competitor who held multiple NWA titles.
11 years later, he made a second appearance in the WrestleMania X-Seven gimmick battle royal. The character has been brought back for various backstage skits with everyone from Xavier Woods, R-Truth, The Boogyman, and Drew Gulak donning the suit. The Gobbledy Gooker even won the 24-7 Championship at WWE Survivor Series 2020.
Today, the Gobbledy Gooker’s costume is available in the Create-a-wrestler section on WWE 2K24. So you can create your own Gobbledy Gooker. Perhaps you can see how far the character can go in WWE with Guerrero’s moves.
There’s a Gobbledy Cooker action figure too. So despite a negative reaction, the Gobbledy Cooker really will live forever.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – WWE – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the WWE Network and Peacock.
