Best and worst repackaged wrestlers

[Cookie14]

Over the years there have been many wrsetlers who have wrestled under different names and gimmicks while working for the same company.

Here are a few examples.

Before Glen Jacobs became Kane, he was 'fake' Diesel when Kevin Nash went to WCW. He was also Isaac Yankem, dentist of Jerry Lawler.
Luke Gallows was Festus, he also played 'fake' Kane.
Umaga also wrestled in WWE as Jamal, from 3 Minute Warning.
Dolph Ziggler was Nicky from the Spirit Squad
Mick Foley. Need I say, Mankind, Dude Love, Cactus Jack. (who could forget the '3 faces of Foley Royal Rumble match from 1998, where he wrestled as all 3 in the Rumble match)

I want to know who you think are the best and worst of them.

The only condidtion is that the different characters have to have been used in the same company.

 

[harrythem]

To me best repackaged wrestler has got to be Kane. He died a death twice in major roles in WWE yet turned into Kane and turned a 6 month storyline character into the second longest serving gimmick in the WWE behind Undertaker. That's one helluva turn around and, from what I can understand, a deserved one for a nice guy

Worst repackaging....man there are a few but, as a fan of The Hart Foundation I'd have to say when Jim Neidhart came out as WHO in the mid 90s, that was the lowest point as a wrestling fan I've seen.

 

[>Legacy<]

hurricane-gregory helms-hurricane helms my favourite
viscera-mabel-worse big daddy v
hunter hearst helmsly-triple h
bradshaw-JBL
1-2-3 Kid, X-Pac.

 

[Greydon]

You said same company

Best:
3 Count Helms to Sugar Shane Helms was a good one in WCW.
Glenn Jacobs from Yankem to Kane
Bradshaw to JBL
Blueblood Hunter Hurst Helmsley to Triple H

Worst:
Radical Dean Malenko to Ladies man Dean Malenko
Mabel to Viscera (good) to Big Daddy V (horrible)
Chavo to Kerwin White

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

The boring/bland Ringmaster to the ass-whippin, beer drinkin, hell raisin SOB Stone Cold Steve Austin!!! Surely the best repackaging of allllll timmmme!


Papa Shango to the Godfather was a big change, a voodoo high priest to a pimp! That was one I thought was great


Surely the WORST was Booker T to GI Bro in WCW....simply TERRIBLE!

closely followed by Kerwin White! He was simply awful

 

['Classic' Ric]

I think one that has been overlooked is when Hulk Hogan was repackaged as Hollywood Hulk Hogan during the beginning of the NWO. That was a very successful repackaging.

Smash to the Repo Man in the WWF in the early 90's was also very enjoyable.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think one that has been overlooked is when Hulk Hogan was repackaged as Hollywood Hulk Hogan during the beginning of the NWO. That was a very successful repackaging.

Can't believe I forgot Hogan! Yeah, definately one of/if not the best repackaging of all time, and probably the most important, as it kickstarted WCW's dominance when Hogan joined the nWo.

 

[razerp]

Brutus- Barber- Zodiac- The Disciple- Beefcake.. nuff = one of the worst

Surfer to Crow Sting one of the Best

Honorable and dishonorable mentions
Hugh Morrus to General Rection
Fake Kane - Festus - Gallows

 

[TheAnimal]

Kane, Umaga, Rikishi, Luke Gallows, Dolph and Hollywood Hogan. All bar Hogan had gimmicks that had mostly gone nowhere or ran their course, in Umaga and Rikishi's cases they had been part of succcessful tag teams but couldn't carry them on for various reasons, so they are all good jobs of repackaging characters. Hogan managed to reinvent himself at a time where he was going a bit stale. What about Ringmaster to Stone Cold Steve Austin!

Among the worst has got to be shockmaster, wasnt he typhoon before that? His disaster of an entrance!

 

[XgringolocoX]

One of the worst for me was Owen Hart becoming the Blue Blazer. Yes, i know HE wanted to do it. However wrestling as Owen Hart was far better, he was more dynamic and interesting. Plus, the gimmick of being lowered from the ceiling didn't work out to well in the end. Makes me sad to this day. RIP Owen.
Of the the best has to be Kane and Umaga. DDS was shit, so was Jamal. Kane needs no explanation. Umaga, though his time was short was a huge success. Just think if the difference between Jamal and Umaga. See? HUGE difference.
Foley I don't really consider a repackage as in WWE it was more of the same character with these 3 personalities....I'm taking this out of consideration for this one.
Tugboat. Yeah, out of left field huh? Ol Tuggie was the shits...Typhoon was scary. The natural disasters were a great team that seemed to be ligit bad asses.
Max Moon bacame "One half of the TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS OF THE WOOOOOORLLLD!" The Road Dog Jesse James! I LOVED the New Age Outlaws. Max Moon? Da fuck?

The greatest of them all....

The Ring Master bacomes STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN!!!! Nuff said.

 

[penguin74]

Well, stone cold, hogan, kane and I think Umaga were all really good, but are we not counting good ole Rocky Maivia becoming THE ROCK! I know Stone Cold was probably the more "over" guy, but the Rock was always more entertaining to me, so he gets my vote. Also, Oz becoming Diesel and then Kevin Nash should get an honorable mention.

Worst by far is Kerwin White, although if I had to pick a second, it would be Earthquake becoming Golga. I mean come on, really?

 

[know.your.roots]

One I see overlooked is smiling happy go lucky Rocky Maivia to one of the greatest of all times The Rock. Imagine what would of happened if they would stuck with that gimmick Rock wouldn't nearly have achieved as much as did in his career.Also one of the greatest repackage's that if not for unfortunate circumstance would of pushed him to unbelievable heights is Brian Pillman when he became the Loose Cannon. I know the rules state has to be in the same company but as a mention Johnny Polo to Raven was def. a much needed repackage.

Worse well let's see try to come up with something original here.Well for starters both D'Lo's and Shelton's repackage as people who felt they were being held down for being black. William Regal as the real man's man. Dustin Rhodes to Seven or however the hell they spelled it.Nick Dinsmore to Eugene was horrible awesome wrestler and basically went down as a joke.

 

[The Poodle]

I'm not totally sure if you will consider any of these "repackaging" but I think these are some of the biggest in WWE's history.

1) Rocker Shawn Michaels to The Heart Break Kid Shawn Michaels. Shawn went from a high flying, successful tag team, to changing his character, going Heel with Sherri, and going on to have one of the greatest and most successful careers of all time, and was certainly one of the biggest players of all.

2) Rocky Maivia to THE ROCK.

3) Vince McMahon ring announcer to jacked Vince McMahon, owner, wrestler, champion, evil, maniacal, etc...

4) Edge to The Rated R Superstar. I know this was mostly just a heel turn, but Edge had been heel before, but after the Edge/Hardy/Lita story, when he became the Rated R Superstar is when his career went from solid, with multiple Mid-Card and tag team titles, to one of the top performers in the industry, and a consistent threat to the big one.

 

[Ferbian]

I agree with XgringolocoX, Stone Cold Steve Austin was a great repackage, he went from a "wrestling machine" without beard or anything, you could still hear it was Stone Cold without a doubt, but we didn't know just yet, then he returned as Stone Cold Steve Austin later on, and became one of the biggest stars of the industry ever.

The Rock is another great repackage going from the incredibly friendly Rocky Maivia who became incredibly incredibly hated, to turn into one of the most popular heels ever, one of the most charismatic wrestlers ever, The Rock.

A bad repackage would perhaps be Chavo Guerrero turning into Kerwin White, it was entertaining at first, and it was totally against his previous style, it wasn't needed although, and it was most of all somewhat disrespectful if anything, and he was much better as the Mexican Warrior Chavo Guerrero.

 

[ratedyg]

There were many superstars in WWE locker room that were repackaged nd brought in as a new wrestler

My top 5 repackaged wrestlers
5-Umaga-Jamal:Umaga as jamal was something real stupid nd with rico managing the 3 minute warning was never fun to watch...years later jamal was repackaged as umaga...Now we know how successful umaga really was...IC champion,fued with flair,cena nd hardy he was a top mid-carder of the company

4-R-Truth-K-Kwik:A lotta ppl may not now abt Truth's earlier stint in the company...he was part of the invasion line nd did win the tag title but was never successful to impress the audience...repackaged as R-Truth...US champ need to say a thing!?!?

3-Bradshaw-John Bradshaw Layfield-Was successful as bradshaw won several titles...but what was said to be a major repackaging of a redneck to a cocky millionaire...twas amazing...nd that angle where he took out the illegal immigrants outta US did draw a lotta attention...WWE champion,US champion,IC champion now this guy was a mony spinner

2-Fake Diesel-Dr Isaac Yankem DDS-KANE-Jacobs Started as fake diesel as soon as kevin nash left the company(got no idea why the creative team came up with such a storyline)...then brought up as Isaac Yankem Jerry Lawler's dentist...now jacobs attire was much like the one great khali is wearing(khali wears pink nd kane wore blue) a gud gimmick but not quite appealing...then brought up as KANE the big red machine...the UNDERTAKER'S half brother...7.0 ft tall,320 pounds of destruction was brought in for a feud with taker but went to become the top superstar of the company

Now ppl might call Kane's repackaging the best,but i got a better one

1-The Ringmaster-Stone Cold Steve Austin-SCSA made his WWE debut in 95 as the ringmaster nd wrestled for DiBiasi....lil did ppl know what success he achieved in the b'ness...ruthless redneck...beer drinking,foul mouthing Stunning the boss on many occasions...he did what every employee wishes he could do to his boss same thing....3 time rumble winner,6 time WWE champion....if you think SCSA deserves the number 1 spot gimme a HELLYEAH!!!

ppl say TRIPLE H...now HHH never was repackaged,only his attire was changed thats it...like jericho did from tracks to shorts

Honorable mention

Dolph Ziggler
Mick Foley
Luke Gallows


My TOP 5 worst repackaging are
5-Chavo Guerrero-Kerwin White:Where the hell did this come from...a mexican wrestler talking white...driving out golf course to the ring...horrible

4-Mable-Viscera-Big Daddy V:With every gimmick this guys popularity went down....never made an impact in either ne of the gimmick

3-Festus-Fake Kane:Now i do like the Gallows gimmick as the straight edge solider...but his ealier gimmick of fake kane stupid...don't know where it came from

2-Radical Dean Malenko-Ladies man Dean Malenko:Now melenko was an amazing superstar..never used to the fullest by the company...he was ruthless nd fearsome when he made his debut...but went on to become a ladies man...really!?!?!?

1-123 Kid-X-Pac-i was watching the best of raw DVD nd did see a match between BRET THE HITMAN HART ND KID....he was amazing nd was very close of winning the championship....nd no one knows the reason why he was repackaged to X-Pac...if they gave him a few good matches he could have one the big one...too bad WWE never used its superstars too full potential

 

[know.your.roots]

Triple H actually was repackaged when he went from the blue blood triple h that he started out as to when he became Triple H and was in DX and stuff. R Truth during his first run as K - Kwik was in a tag team with Road Dogg Jesse James but they never successfully captured the tag team titles.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Best Of All Time:

1.Raven: Was a pretty boy character by the name of Scotty Flamingo but then in ECW repackaged himself as a Grunge cult character. Won gold in almost every promotion he was in with that gimmick, even WWE. One of the best promoers in my opinion.

2.Sean O'haire: I'm partial to this guy. He went from being in a good but forgettable tag team with Chuck Palumbo to perhaps the best dropped gimmick of all time; a Devil's Advocate character hellbent on making superstars do morally wrong things to get them down to his level. His vignettes are classic as well.

3.Triple H: Going from being a blue-blooded aristocratic to a party boy in DX to becoming The Game, Triple H excelled in his gimmicks. The Cerebral Assassin became the top player in the game once he dropped his royal roots.


Worst Of All Time:

1.The Great Khali: Went from being the one that wiped out The Undertaker with one hand to a "Punjabi Playboy" that got set on a shelf with Santino Marella and Hornswoggle.

2.John Cena: I said it. I found him pretty entertaining as the rapper that he was before, but now with the PG Era he's just this weird Hulk Hogan hybrid in my eyes. Not as entertaining as either Hulk or Rock in the day, he bills himself as just this "Never Quit" character that is 2 dimensional. I guess it beats him acting like a character he played in a movie and not it's sequel (The Marine).

3.Jesse: Went from being Festus's sympathetic friend to Slam Master J. Was doomed to job with that repackaging.

Just wanted to name some people I didn't see get mentioned.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

Uh.

Dolph was first Kerwin White's caddy.

Also, YOU'RE NOT COOKIE. imposter.

 

[>Legacy<]

one of the worst booker t to king booker

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Max Moon bacame "One half of the TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS OF THE WOOOOOORLLLD!" The Road Dog Jesse James! I LOVED the New Age Outlaws. Max Moon? Da fuck?

I thought Konnan was Max Moon???? If it was the Road Dogg, that is a hell of a good repackaging!

Billy Gunn as Rockabilly and then Bad Ass Billy Gunn was sweet too! The NAO were probably the best repackaged team of all time!