A professional wrestler’s gimmick can be the making or breaking of them. We’ve seen talent come and go based on the strength of their characters alone. Think Hulk Hogan: ‘The Immortal One’ was never the best in the ring, but when “Hulkamania runs wild, brother!”, everyone becomes an instant ‘Hulkamaniac’.
This effect is most evident in the gimmick changes, the ones who’ve been through the slump of a bad gimmick, only to have their fortune change after having their character renovated.
A couple of ground rules: they must have had their gimmick change while under the guidance of a McMahon and have had a run in the company before the change; so, no Flair, Hogan, or The Undertaker. Secondly, the previous gimmick had to have been worthy of changing, no CM Punk, as all his incarnations have been great. Also, It can’t be a return to a previous gimmick. Neither can it be just a face/heel turn.
Finally, before I get complaints, no Steve Austin or The Rock. It’s too obvious, and I know it’s what you were thinking when you read the title. Consider them a de facto number one and we’ll continue with that in mind. Let’s begin.
5. The Sultan to Rikishi
In 1996, member of the famed Anoa’I family and father of Jimmy and Jey Uso, Solofa F. Fatu Jr, was handed the gimmick of ‘The Sultan’. The silent, masked wrestler was accompanied by Bob Backlund and The Iron Sheik, which is all very odd when you look back at it. The gimmick wasn’t taken to and Fatu fled the WWF to hone his skills at Dory Funk’s wrestling school.
Upon his return, Fatu boogied his way into the new gimmick of Rikishi Fatu and was quickly joined by Too Cool’s Scotty 2 Hotty and Grand Master Sexay, because the nineties didn’t plan on dying anytime soon at the World Wrestling Federation.
The new persona of the dancing sumo was perfectly suited for the Attitude Era and it didn’t take long for Rikishi to become a fan-favourite. He had a great career of rubbing his buttocks in people’s faces, dance breaks during matches and attempting vehicular homicide against Stone Cold Steve Austin for the benefit of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
Rikishi still makes the occasional appearance as the iconic character at WWE events, always to the elation of the fans, usually backing his sons, The Usos.
4. Husky Harris to Bray Wyatt and The Fiend
Windham Rotunda was seemingly destined for failure with his initial debut as Husky Harris. I’m sure when the name was thought up, it conjured images of someone who’s burly or strong. Unfortunately, other connotations of the word “Husky” were made due to his rotund physique (pun intended). Alongside his unbecoming attire and woefully generic entrance theme, the third-generation wrestler looked to be going nowhere. A fortunate run with The Nexus gave ‘The Army Tank with a Ferrari Engine’ a moment in the spotlight, before John Cena came and ruined it.
A rebrand for Rotunda in 2012 saw the birth of Bray Wyatt, a Waylon Mercy inspired cult leader. Consider this the first great gimmick change. Bray quickly formed The Wyatt Family – alongside Luke Harper, Eric Rowan and, later, Braun Strowman – and the deranged stable soon got over, largely due to Wyatt’s incredible charisma and unique vocal style. An iconic clash with the equally beloved stable The Shield at Elimination Chamber 2014, which garnered chants of “this is awesome” before the match even began, solidified their position at the top.
Wyatt won the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber 2017. Unfortunately, it didn’t last as Bray lost the title to Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 33 in a disappointing match. The following few months kept Wyatt on the upper-card with a spree of high-profile matches, though an illness derailed his momentum. When he returned, he joined ‘Woken’ Matt Hardy as the ‘Deleters of Worlds’ and had a run with the Raw Tag Team Championships before Matt took time off to heal his injuries.
Now rebranded – sort of – again, Wyatt’s new split-personality persona alternates between the creepy kid’s show host of ‘Firefly Fun House’ and a demented monster named ‘The Fiend’, alongside a cast of puppets including Mercy the Buzzard (named after Waylon Mercy?).
After an incredible debut at SummerSlam 2019, The Fiend has quickly become the hottest property in wrestling today. Only time will tell if Wyatt can maintain his current popularity or if bad booking will ruin another wonderful gimmick.
3. Rockabilly and ‘The Real Double J’ Jesse James to The New Age Outlaws
When Jesse James pleaded with The Honky Tonk Man’s protégé, Rockabilly, on a 1997 episode of Shotgun Saturday Night, it would set the two on a path that would move them from the undercard to the main event. Rockabilly turned on Honky, hitting him around the head a guitar and aligning with ‘The Real Double J’ in the process.
Rebranding as ‘Badd Ass’ Billy Gun and ‘The Road Dogg’ Jesse James, together known as The New Age Outlaws, they were set upon a whole new path in professional wrestling.
“Oh, You Didn’t Know?” became the ever-recognisable call of the duo as they made their way to the ring, accompanied by a smorgasbord of catchphrases that quickly got over. Their quick rise saw them become a central part of the Attitude Era and of D-Generation X, accumulating five WWF World Tag Team Championships in the process.
Like a large amount of 80s and 90s superstars, the six-time tag champs made their way to TNA where they proceeded to call out DX, call themselves Voodoo Kin Mafia (or “VKM” for short, the initials of Vincent Kennedy McMahon), and declare a “war” with WWE, which led to absolutely nothing. The Outlaws made up with the WWE again in 2012 for a return.
Today, the duo still have a valued place in professional wrestling, with Billy Gunn being a coach for AEW and Road Dogg having recently left a creative role on SmackDown.
2. Deacon to ‘The Animal’
Dave Bautista started his main roster life as a lowly lackey for Reverend D’von – a naff character worthy of the ‘worst gimmick changes’ list itself. As the good reverend headed to the ring, sullying the beloved “Testify!” catchphrase of which the character was based, he was flanked by his intimidating looking Deacon.
It didn’t last, after a short – and strangely dominant – run against Randy Orton and various tag partners, ‘The Deacon’ turned on his mentor, aligned with Ric Flair, and ‘The Animal’ was unleashed. This turn led to the formation of Evolution, a stable that rocketed Batista to the main event scene, and then he was immediately injured. After spending the majority of 2003 on the sidelines, Batista returned and was immediately pushed back to the top of the card with a feud against Goldberg.
Batista was one of the ‘Ruthless Aggression’ era rookies that were given the spotlight in the early 2000s alongside the likes of Brock Lesnar and John Cena, all of which went on to shape the future of the WWE.
Today, Batista has followed the Dwayne Johnson-esque path of Hollywood and returned for a final retirement match against Triple H at Wrestlemania 35.
1. Dr Isaac Yankem DDS to Diesel 2.0 to Kane
Glenn Jacobs has had an unusual career path: a lousy gimmick, proceeding to a terrible one and finishing with one of the greatest characters in wrestling history.
Jacobs’ first major gimmick in the WWF during 1995 came in the form of Isaac Yankem DDS – Yank ‘em, the dentist — do you get it? Terrible. He was brought in as muscle for Jerry Lawler in his feud with Bret Hart. It didn’t last very long as the character was abandoned by the year’s end.
The talented Jacobs was burdened with the role of fake Diesel alongside Rick Bognar as fake Razor Ramon. It was a move by Vinny Mac that was purely out of spite and was received poorly by fans of the original duo. Thankfully, the awful storyline only lasted a few months as it was quickly retired at the 1997 Royal Rumble.
The big chance came when Glenn took up the role of ‘The Big Red Machine’ Kane. After a few months of building the mythos of ‘The Undertaker’s Biggest Secret’, ‘Taker’s kayfabe brother Kane appeared in one of the greatest debuts of all time at Badd Blood: In Your House 1997, as the first ever Hell in a Cell match came to a close. Young me is still scared of nineties Kane to this day.
The incredible debut and early push resulted in a main event run for, possibly, the greatest monster in WWE history.
So, there we have it, the five best gimmick changes in WWE history. I know everyone has their favourite that is inevitably not on the list, so let me know in the comments below.
Some of the coverage you find on Cultured Vultures contains affiliate links, which provide us with small commissions based on purchases made from visiting our site. We cover gaming news, movie reviews, wrestling and much more.
