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The Gimmick Table: The Origin of Chainsaw Charlie

Posted: Feb 18th 2026 By: Brian Damage - RingTheDamnBell.com

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 Chainsaw Charlie

In late December of 1997, the WWF decided to bring back Terry Funk to team with Cactus Jack aka Mick Foley. The original idea, was for Funk to bust out of a box and reveal himself as Terry Funk and debut that way. Funk was less than impressed with that idea, feeling that he already debuted in the WWF as himself before, so this time he suggested doing something a bit different. Bruce Prichard asked Funk what he had in mind, and the first thing Funk thought about was going to a childhood barber. He remembered a barber from his childhood, who absolutely butchered kids hair every time they went to him and their hair as ruined until it grew out again. Funk recalled it always felt like a chainsaw went through your hair and the barber was nicknamed ‘Chainsaw Charlie.’

Prichard then asked…”Ok, but what does Chainsaw Charlie look like?” Funk really didn’t think too hard on the question and immediately drew comparisons to his friend Mike Penzel, who worked as the character of Leatherface while wrestling in Japan. Leatherface was based on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie and carried a big chainsaw with him. Funk knew that the WWF couldn’t develop a mask like Leatherface in a short amount of time, so he blurted out that he needed a woman’s stocking and some baby powder for a makeshift mask. He wore a red shirt (which he personally owned, a pair of Levi jeans with suspenders to complete the ensemble.

The WWF crew gimmicked the chainsaw by removing the blade and adding some special effects like sparks flying out of the chainsaw. Funk said he expected a huge “pop” from fans when he debuted the brand new gimmick, but as Funk stated…“I came out of that box with my chainsaw and my stocking over my head, and the crowd, expecting some great surprise, let out a sound that seemed strangely reminiscent of escaping gas. I had visions of coming out to a tremendous roar, but that wasn’t exactly the reaction I got.” The Chainsaw Charlie gimmick only lasted a couple of months before both the WWF and Terry Funk pulled the plug on the idea.