Hit or Miss Gimmicks

[TheOneBigWill]

Basically, take any individual who's had multiple gimmicks.. and explain whether or not their gimmick change was for the better or the worse. (ex. Chavo Guerrero changed to Kerwin White, or Isaac Yankem changed to Kane)

That's pretty much all this thread is designed for. Do you remember guys you loved to watch so much, then they got a crap gimmick and soon became discarded? Do you remember anyone you never thought would make it, then you later found out they became someone huge? Explain it here, give your thoughts on it here. As I used for my two examples, I'll explain my thoughts on them as well.

Chavo Guerrero/Kerwin White: I completely hated this gimmick change for Chavo. Not only did it nearly destroy everything about him, but it more or less showed that for a price, Chavo would disgrace his own heritage to stay with the company. Chavo literally turned heel on the Mexican nation and became "a white guy" with the slogan.. "White is Right".

Now Chavo never got far as Chavo Guerrero before this time, and this gimmick change was apparently actually suppose to support giving him a decent push, but in the end all it did for him was nearly push him out the door. In the end, I remember one feud with Shelton Benjamin, in which Kerwin White had a bodyguard for a week or two, then lost.. and that was about the highest profile victory he ever had. This gimmick change was meant to help him to a degree, I do believe.. but as I've said in the end almost destroyed his wrestling career completely.

Isaac Yankem/Kane: There was also one other missed gimmick in between these two, but as a whole the "King's Dentist" Isaac Yankem was brought in to destroy Bret Hart. That feud ended at Summerslam, in which he slightly served his purpose. After that, Yankem had no purpose and was slowly discarded. That had to be one of the worst gimmicks the W.W.F. had from the 1995 era, as Yankem couldn't even take his gimmick and use it on anyone other than Bret Hart, and that was only because of the connection Jerry Lawler had.

From there, a Fake Diesel was introduced and to be honest, I think Glenn Jacobs played a better Kevin Nash, than Kevin Nash did. The Fake Scott Hall didn't last too long, but the Fake Diesel was one of the last 4-5 men in the 2007 Royal Rumble, and became a rather decent go-to guy for Raw Main Event matches with the likes of Bret Hart and others. Unfortunately, the gimmick was once again holding him for ever being anything, as he was blatantly ripping off someone else's gimmick, and more or less only meant to make fun of it.

Then we got the debut of the Undertaker's 'little' brother, Kane. This has to be by far one of the best gimmicks and storyline introductions ever. Kane debuted by destroyed the Undertaker with a tombstone, helping Shawn Michaels win the first-ever Hell in a Cell. That lead to a very impressive winning streak against Vader, Mankind and others.. on route to just barely losing to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 14, after THREE Tombstones!

Kane's debut and original gimmick was the best thing to happen to Glenn Jacobs, and he was a very great player throughout all of 1998. He was behind a mask, which gave him a huge amount of 'mystique' and he had Undertaker-like abilities and power, which was unreal to see.

Now then.. those are the two examples of one bad gimmick change and one good gimmick change. Everyone else can now give their opinions on good and bad gimmick changes. Be sure to add detail and depth, explain why you liked or disliked the move and explain what it did to help, or hurt that individuals career. Thank You.

 

[jayo133]

I'm not sure if this counts or not. But how bout the way Batista debuted. He came in as the deacon (or some crap) with Brother Devon while he was split from Bubba Ray. He basically just stood around the ring with a box, pretty pathetic. Come to think of it, he hasn't improved very much so maybe this one shouldn't count.

 

[Father:_Polley]

My choice for the bad gimmick has to go to the former partner of Umaga... Rosey. In 3-Minute Warning, you had a bad-ass gimmick that a man the size of Rosey was able to pull off with the greatest of ease, the same sort of gimmick that Umaga retains, but instead, WWE pair him up with Hurricane and make him a 'Super Hero In Training'. Ironic because the initials on his 'disguise' spelt out exactly how good the gimmick was. If you want to be able to pull off a humourous gimmick change, show him Viscera. At least he was able to go out by himself and go for some humour. Rosey was just sad and whenever, as a big man, you become a Cruiserweight with delusions of grandeur's bitch, well you know there's just something wrong.

For best gimmick change, I think Kane hits the nail on the head. An evil dentist gimmick is not the best way to start your WWE career, and then you manage to invent a pseudo-Undertaker gimmick, making him the sadistic kid brother of a monster...instant heat. Add in an outstanding WM match and you have a monster created with a legitimate credibility. Granted, he was never able to make it to the really big leagues. A Grand-Slam champion yes, but for a whole day.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

I'm not sure if this counts or not. But how bout the way Batista debuted. He came in as the deacon (or some crap) with Brother Devon while he was split from Bubba Ray. He basically just stood around the ring with a box, pretty pathetic. Come to think of it, he hasn't improved very much so maybe this one shouldn't count.

Actually, that's a very good subject, but your views of it are just awful.

Batista, upon debuting was nothing more than a "bodyguard" who was hired to hold the collection box. He didn't speak, he didn't wrestle (much) and he barely did anything. He had a large chain (ala Hercules) around his neck, that held the box with him. In the end, when he did get repackaged, he dropped the "Decon" from his name.. picked up "Dave" and became Ric Flair's pet project on Raw.

They ran promos of him debuting as a powerhouse, and in his debut matches on Raw, he squashed the likes of Kane. He joined Evolution almost instantly, and even before that point was sided with Ric Flair anyways.. so yes, Batista definately came into another situation completely from being Devon's collection guard.. to Flair's Animal.

 

[jayo133]

my views are awful? I think you meant to say my articulation is awful because you pretty much just rehashed what I said in a more elaborate way. point still being he pretty much just stood around the ring in the begining, but you did sound a lot better saying it. (that's one way to encourage people to respond to your posts)
I did think of another one though. Hardcore Holly and his Spark Plugg gimmick. They actually put some time in building him up as this race car driver turned pro wrestler. I personally don't really like his hardcore gimmick all that much better but it looks like he's on his way out anyways so don't really matter.

 

[Kane666]

Oh god there's been alot of bad gimmicks in the history of the WWF/E.The Red Roster,Max Moon,Duke The Dumpster,Akeem,Papa Shango,Kama,i could go on forever.WWE had a few hits but hundreds of misses.

 

[klunderbunker]

First to come to my mind is Cowboy Bret Hart. Can you imagine Bret riding to the ring on a damn horse? It was just all wrong for him. Bret is one guy that's never really had what you'd call a gimmick. The closest thing ever was the Border War storyline and that was just being a proud Canadian. Trying to stick him with one of their themed gimmicks just failed miserably and thank goodness he got out of it as fast as he did.

Second is Bret's old rival Stone Cold Steve Austin as the ringmaster. Austin may be a lot of things in the ring but one of them certainly isn't a technical master which is what part of the gimmick was. It was the saving grace for the WWE when Dibiase left and the Bionic Redneck was born. He got to just be himself, a beer drinking foul mouthed southern hick, which is what he needed to do all along, and the rest is history.

 

[Davi323]

How about Stone Cold? He wasn't going to go anywhere significant as a Hollywood Blonde, or as the Ringmaster...Let him be an amped up version of himself? PURE GOLD.

Similar deal with the Rock...remember how terrible his original gimmick in the WWF was? Maybe its not so much a gimmick change as a personality change in his case, but when he came out originally, in those Polynesian colors, and was Rocky Maivia, 3rd generation superstar, he was booed, hated, and chanted "Rocky sucks" at. Insert the Nation of Domination, and Rocky became the Rock, and the rest is history.

Triple H started out in the WWF as the Connecticut blue blood, Hunter Hearst Helmsley. (when was the last time the WWE called him his full character name?) one of the most worthless gimmicks ever. Gee, a wealthy snobby character from New England. Brilliant! NOT. Let him join DX, turn him into Triple H, and despite the punishment he received for the clique's actions as Hall and Nash were leaving, He is the 12 time Worlds' champ. Hunter Hearst Helmsley was a terrible, never ever get above midcard gimmick. Triple H, on the other hand, is a champion.

To me, those are some of the best examples of a positive gimmick change. For negative gimmick changes, I think of Barry Darsow. How the former Smash of Demolition ended up being the Repo man, and then whatever that golfing thing was he was doing in WCW, I will never know.

I think of the nWo unmasked Rey Mysterio, who went from being the single most exciting wrestler on Nitro to watch, to just being one of 50 nWo members, and getting lost in the background. I was overjoyed when Rey came to the WWE wearing the mask again.

Lastly, I think of poor Ed Leslie. Childhood friend of Hulk Hogan, he became a very popular wrestler in the WWF as Brutus the Barber Beefcake, then, in WCW he became the Booty Man, and finally, the Disciple. Things just got worse and worse for Bruti.

 

[simpsons_fanatic742]

I'm gonna go with the Undertaker changing to the American Bad Ass. I am a HUGE mark for the deadman, the phenom whatever you want to call him now, so I was not a fan of the Bad Ass. What I did like was that Callaway got to actually speak and cut promos. It was a change that was made because I think they wanted to see if the fans could get over the WWE and to give Callaway a break from the Undertaker gimmick. I guess it didn't work out and I'm happy it didn't.

Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad gimmick, I just didn't like seeing the deadman gone and it was weird having Callaway come out in a biker uniform, on a bike, and with different music. Plus he had to cut his long hair.

 

[Mr. TM]

Well either his dad or himself would make great candidates, but ill go with Dustin Rhodes. His dad turning from a rough and tough texan to a polka dot chunkster. But with Dustin, He had the great character of Goldust, where he feud with some of the top names. The gimmick was good, and fitting for the time. He then went off to TNA and became a horrible character of Black Reign. A horrible switch of characters.

 

[MachoManiac]

What about Raven?! He started out in WCW as Scotty Flamingo, playing a surfer dude that brought a surfboard to the ring with him. Then he went to WWF as Johnny Polo, a spoiled rich kid that managed Adam Bomb and the Quebecers. He finally found his place in wrestling when he went to ECW in 1995, became Raven and became top heel of ECW for a good 2 years before he went back to WCW to lead his flock.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Charles Wright - He was Papa Shango, and that was "fun while it lasted". He became "Kama Mustafa", wherein the biggest thing he was a part of was melting down the Undertaker's urn and making a chain out of it. Then he became just "Kama", and was introduced to the Nation of Domination, wherein he was one of the two jobbers of the group (along with D-Lo) whenever someone was in a fued with them. FINALLY, he hits it right when he becomes The Godfather, a gimmick that is still rather popular today despite his absence from the WWE.

John Layfield - Justin Hawk Bradshaw was terrible. Blackjack Bradshaw was terrible. He becomes involved in the APA and the fans actually like him. Then, he becomes JBL, the gimmick he'll be sticking with from now on, which you could argue was a good shot for him as he was able to hold the title, but no matter what, Layfield himself has always just been a subpar wrestler lol.

Adam Copeland - He started out as simply an "enraged young man", took a plunge when he was involved with Gangrel and the whole Brood angle.....insert years worth of changes...finally we hit the Rated-R Superstar, and boom, springboard to becoming one of the top men in the company.

 

[DeadmanInc.]

Bradshaw/JBL
Two very different gimmicks: a barroom brawler and a wealthy businessman, but he did a great job playing both these characters. Lets face it, he wouldn't be where he is today if it weren't for his businessman gimmick. Bradshaw was just a generic tough guy that really never got anywhere outside of the tag team division. JBL, however, is one of the best heels today and possibly of all time. He's essentially the modern day "Million Dollar Man".

 

[theanarchypanda666]

How bout Foley. He went from Cactus Jack a hardcore maniac to Mankind a mentally insane patient then Dude Love a hippie then back to Mankind then to the Commissioner then to a hardcore heel with Edge.

So almost every gimmick change Foley went through worked so they were all hits.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

How about Vinnie Vegas/Oz/Diesel/Kevin Nash.

The first two gimmicks were absolutely horrible. He then went to the WWF, got a decent gimmick and ran with it, and eventually had a year long title run. Then went to WCW as Kevin Nash and got even more recognition. Rode with arguably one of the biggest groups of all time in the NWO and got some titles under his belt. He went from to shitty gimmicks, to having two good gimmicks. He may not be the best ever. But he worked with what he had.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Hm even though it's not exactly a "good gimmick / bad gimmick" thing, more "good gimmick / good gimmick" thing - how about:

"Real American" Hulk Hogan - "Hollywood" Hogan

I mean, even though he had the greatest career in the 1980ies, his gimmick was growing stale and people began to lose interest in the 90ies... and then he just pulls of the heelturn of all heelturns in pro wrestling history, creates a new gimmick (and more so, a new type of gimmick) and that way enables WCW to hold their ground against and even dominate the WWE for a while.

So I'd say - a very necessary move for Hogan at the time, one that took a lot of guts from him, and one that was pulled off just the right way and worked perfectly in order to maintain him an established and credible star even after Hulkamania's heyday.

My second pick would've been The Godfather, but someone named him already. Papa Shango was not exactly a great gimmick (especially some of his Voodoo magic was just made really, really bad), but Kama was a disaster - but everyone loves The Godfather.

 

[WrestlingDude]

There are alotta hit and miss gimmicks. BUt one of personal favorites is Kevin Fertigs.

As Mordecai, Kevin Fertig was a religious zealot here to punish all sinners. Frankly i thought this gimmick was pretty cool and couldn't for his feud with the Undertaker. But he was then released.

Now he is Kevin Thorn, a vampire in ECW. He's not even being used anymore! I think he should've struck with the Mordecai gimmick, not turning from the light to the dark side.

 

[Father:_Polley]

I agree with Kevin Fertig as Mordecai. The gimmick had potential as a hypocritical zealot, beating those who he felt had done wrong. Eddie Guerrero and Undertaker were prime examples of great feuds he could have had with the gimmick. I thought it was a reasonably over gimmick, but it would appear I was wrong, given creative repackaged and then buried the gimmick.

Fertig as a Vampire and a regular guy just dont work as well as the zealot character.

And now...for the best gimmick change ever. Ladies and Gentlemen, this man went from aristocracy, to a 'Real Man's Man', and finally became a sadistic englishman, Commissioner, the 'Naughty One', GM and King of the Ring

Lord Steven Regal was ok, it worked and helped build up The Conneticut Blueblood, Paul Levesque. But the 'Real Man's Man' was awful...wood chopping, squeezing orange juice. It's one of the rare times you're glad someone checked into rehab.

Modern Regal is a far better gimmick though. He still comes across as aloof, but with a nasty streak to reflect his fighting still...with the added bonus that when he wants to be funny, he can get away with it as part of his 'Naughty' gimmick

 

[Mr_billy]

Bad to worse, Tugboat-Typhoon-Shockmaster, at least kids liked tugboat, heels are fun, then of course one of the worse debacles in wrassling history.

Best change Sparky Plug- Hardcore Holly, Hard core was always fun, especially during the "super Heavyweight" era.

And of course Dwayne Gill to Gillberg, absolutely hilarious.

 

[ThePhenomenalAlexSlack]

Best ever was from brutal englishman to...PIRATE!

I liked pirate paul birchall, at a time when smackdown was full of over the top characters I thought he fit in perfectly. He played the part great and his finisher was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

For the record though I like what they're doing with him now.

 

[Davi323]

Regal reminds of what might have happened had Chef Gordon Ramsey become a wrestler...I enjoy the current character/attitude of Regal immensely. The Real Man's Man thing was utterly craptastic, but, as mentioned, the "naughty" Regal is entertaining.

 

[bigleo74]

There are quite a few gimmicks that totally missed for me and right now there is one that stands out totally. I am really sick of Jimmy Yang Wang(I hope I said that right. That shows you how much I dislike it) An Asian Redneck? Come on! I mean I know that they had to kill the Akio character because of Tajiri's departure was warrented but they could have repackage him way better. As far as a gimmick that works I would have to say that Brian Kendrick's current gimmick is cool I like it. It is very remenicsent to Brian Pillman and was one of my favorates. But if the WWE will maintain it Kendrick will definitely get over.

 

[RendarSelin]

I would say a hit gimmick was, oddly enough, Muhammad Hussan. He came in and instantly became a huge heel. The gimmick was simple enough - a Muslim American who was pissed regarding his treatment after 9/11...and would let us all know about it...people instantly hated the guy. He was easily in line for a main event push...until a combination of bad timing and a very bad decision by writers/management ensured he'd never have a spot on WWE TV again (the whole Daivari sacrifice to Taker angle the day of the London bombings...).

 

[Joepjr92]

Chuck Palumbo- His first major success in WWE was when he portrayed a homosexual along with Billy Gunn. Now he's a tough biker. Sadly, i think he'll be most remembered as a gay guy.

Gregory Helms- He starts out in WCW as Sugar Shane Helms, a boy band singer. In WWE, he becomes the Hurricane. A few years later he drops that and becomes Gregory Helms, a serious crusierweight heel. I think this gimmick gave him his most success as he was the longes reigning CW champ and was featured in a high profile fued with Matt Hardy and shared the ring with guys like DX, Benoit, and Undertaker.

 

[PysChoViSiOuS]

I think Mike Awsome falls in this, he was nothing short of badass when he was just plan ol' mullet sporting big man that had it all but then he hit WCW and that all changed. I dont think he ever had a gimick that wasnt lame while he was there. That 70's dude, the fat chick lover, and wasnt he in team Canada for a lil bit. I really think he couldve been the man if just not turned into what he was in WCW