Ghastly Gimmicks: Battle Kat

Every Tuesday, we take a look at an outlandish character from wrestling’s days gone by.  Sometimes laughable, sometimes revolting, but always preposterous, they’re part of what makes pro rasslin’ so great.  Ranging from slightly peculiar to downright ludicrous, these are the wrestlers that time has rightly forgotten.

Not every cat has nine lives.

The phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” may be cliché, but it certain applies to this shot of Dean Peters, known to WWF fans circa 1990 as Battle Kat.  Peters had wrestled for the company  for a few years in the late 80’s as Brady Boone, serving mostly as an enhancement talent.  When the decade changed, with it did Peters’ gimmick.  Donning a cat mask, he became Battle Kat.  As Battle Kat, he adopted the mannerisms of a feline, clawing his “paws” around and utilizing more jumps than your average wrestler.  Unfortunately, Battle Kat was relegated primarily to house shows, although he did have a few televised victories, most notably one over Paul Diamond.  After leaving the World Wrestling Federation, Peters maintained his cat persona, becoming Fire Cat in New Japan Pro Wrestling.  While it’s easy to laugh this gimmick off as one of the all-time worst, Battle Kat served as inspiration for many of today’s stars.  Since he was smaller than most wrestlers of his time and relied on his gymnastics background, BK heavily influenced the in-ring style of Rob Van Dam.  Many of the moves Van Dam has made popular during his career were actually borrowed from Battle Kat, to whom RVD uses them as a tribute.