The Best Repackaging Of The Modern Era

[abhilash81]

The concept of a gimmick change has always fascinated me as a fan.

If I ask wrestling fans who was the best repackaged wrestler of all time, many would point out to the Undertaker. It's just amazing what a small repackaging can do to a person's life. It can turn him from an absolute nobody to arguably the greatest wrestler of all time!

In this thread, I would like to hear from you people on what do you think is the best gimmick change/repackaging of the modern Era (Let's say 2007-2017)?

I'm stuck between two.

1. Bray Wyatt

When he came in as a member of the Nexus, I knew right away that he was there because of his dad. I mean, he looked like the most bland wrestler in history with no charisma whatsoever. He was overweight, had zero personality and nothing about him made me excited as a wrestling fan.

Fast forward 2-3 years.

Now, he came back with a new gimmick, a strange character called Bray Wyatt, complete with 2 very creepy and intimidating sidekicks. His promos were a thing of beauty. Also he wore a cool hat, and colourful shirts with awesome leather pants and boots. Now he's competing in the main event of Wrestlemania and is going to be a future Hall of Famer for sure. It's staggering to say the least.

2. Xavier Woods

He debuted as the sidekick of R Truth. They competed against Rusev in a 2 on 1 Handicap match, and were destroyed with ease. There was no doubt that he was going to be stuck in the lower card for a while before being released.

Last year, he competed in a 6 men tag match against a team with Rusev as a member at Wrestlemania. This year, he's hosting the event as a part of New Day, one of the most famous tag teams ever. A simple gimmick change has set him up for life and a few more years of earning money in WWE and he'll most probably have a good life ahead.

The fact that a gimmick change can turn someone's life upside down for good, and set them up for life along with good money in the bank and respect from fans and peers, will never cease to amaze me.

Who do you think had the best gimmick change in the past 10 years?

 

[FoleyIsGod]

I'm going to say Cm Punk. Going from an indy favourite to ECW non entity, but beating Cena in his home town for the title, red hot during his heel run, Summer of Punk, people STILL chanting his name.

Shame the WWE pissed it all away by not having a golden matchup at wrestle mania for a white hot Bryan the underdog vs a piece of shit like Punk, who would do what he wanted because he was best in the world.

Maybe I have rose tinted spectacles, but Punk was screwed the moment he got over when the fed wanted others

 

[abhilash81]

I'm going to say Cm Punk. Going from an indy favourite to ECW non entity, but beating Cena in his home town for the title, red hot during his heel run, Summer of Punk, people STILL chanting his name.

Shame the WWE pissed it all away by not having a golden matchup at wrestle mania for a white hot Bryan the underdog vs a piece of shit like Punk, who would do what he wanted because he was best in the world.

Maybe I have rose tinted spectacles, but Punk was screwed the moment he got over when the fed wanted others

You are right. I used to think during those times that all of this is going to end with an epic 25-30 minute main event of Wrestlemania between those two, with the match ending up being one of the absolute best of all time, complete with high spots, awesome submissions and fast paced action.
BTW we can say that this was a change from his Nexus leader gimmick to the disgruntled employee gimmick.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Wyatt is up there, but not sure you can call it a repackage...

To me a repackage is something the company gives you, rather than you create yourself or "just be yourself more". So Woods, Wyatt and Punk wouldn't quite count.

I think the best ones have been:-

Cody - Especially the masked Cody... that was stellar work, but Stardust was also very good work on WWE's part. He hated it, but the gimmick itself could have gone for years and he basically turned down a job for life...which is pretty ballsy. It's the same as how Goldust has gone for 20 years...Cody would have gotten the same

Bad News Barrett - Remember how cool Nexus Wade Barrett was and how they pissed it away? They then tried to give him this "Bad News" gimmick and eyes rolled around the world. But you could tell when he came out at that HOF ceremony that he had worked it out and suddenly it was huge... his injuries again killed any chance he had, but that was OVER and a classic case of making salad out of shit.

The Miz: I think on balance, The Miz is one of the best repackages they've done... from being the annoying guy to using him in movies as their B-List Rock has basically given him a second career. Adding Maryse was just a bonus.

Corey Graves: Ok this one was kind of forced on him by injury, but they could easily have just let him go. Corey is quickly becoming their best colour commentator, despite never really having a career to speak of and that gimmick of being the frustrated, bitter could have been will really help him down the line, just like it did Jesse Ventura.

 

[ISkye]

I mean they made Big E & Woods & Kofi the most over and relevant thing on WWE TV off and on for quite a while. From the initial debut to the introduction of the trombone and everything there were more than enough changes and alternations to call it a repackaging. They turned a heavily criticized gimmick where even the initial videos teasing had negative reception into the most must see thing for a lot of people on Raw / Smackdown. They weren't exactly over upon debut or like how they are now. Considering it's a stable and there are some other things you could say to excuse it it's fine to lean towards an individual.

Wyatt would be good if he actually had consistent booking. I do think him and Strowman had come out great in comparison to a not so distant past.

The Miz & Mizdow are both people I'd easily throw into this discussion as well. Despite the ending and eventual release of Sandow I think it's hard to ignore how over this got.

Neville possibly for the best recovery. I seriously think him being off for that injury and coming back to get the CW title really, really worked in his favor. There are a few NXT guys who can be either the worst or best side of this talk.

Just for an odd one out. Sami Zayn coming from the El Generico gimmick may not exactly be a surprise he transferred well. However, that initial friends to bitter enemies NXT feud and more great matches / Moments than people realize really is impressive. Despite not holding a belt or anything he has managed to be consistently impressive and relevant. It's a pretty huge transition and the positives on it really are surprisingly great.

 

[Alex]

Brother Nero. I knew you'd come.

Seriously how is Matt Hardy not on this list. Dude went from being the 'not as good Hardy' to one of the most popular performers currently while in his 40s. That's impressive as hell. People are so impressed with him they're wanting him to perform for them or ripping him off.

Considering he's done all this in less than a year makes it even more impressive

 

[ISkye]

Seriously how is Matt Hardy not on this list. Dude went from being the 'not as good Hardy' to one of the most popular performers currently while in his 40s. That's impressive as hell. People are so impressed with him they're wanting him to perform for them or ripping him off.

Considering he's done all this in less than a year makes it even more impressive

I wouldn't worry. Anyone who is slightly up to date on pro-wrestling outside the land of sports entertainment can really respect what Matt is doing. Can say the same for Jeff, and the whole crew involved in the Broken gimmick as well. From fans to other pro-wrestlers to the guys paying them big checks to entertain us people have been pretty vocal in support and admiration.

I feel like it'd be more discussed or already listed if it was on WWE TV. Also being in his 40's and Jeff overshadowing him for so long may hurt that. Already being in a HOF worthy career path as well I suppose doesn't exactly help people in seeing how he has been innovative, creative, and gained buzz outside the realm of "B-but, the TV Ratings". He really is up there in regards to the last 5 or so years either way, for sure.

Another one to add is Tetsuya Naito. Went from Mid to Upper mid card to a huge draw and the biggest heel in NJPW in an ongoing deal. He's become a bigger draw than S. Nakamura when he had brought the IC title to the level and even above the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He's risen very, very fast and his current gimmick is pretty easy to say he's struck gold with it.

 

[ShinChan]

Pretty good choices here.

Bray Wyatt: Husky Harris to Bray Wyatt! Just imagine the transformation. What he was as Husky Harris in Nexus and what he's as Bray Wyatt. I don't think that anyone would've thought that Husky Harris would become a world champion in WWE. And niw he has the most intriguing gimmick, awesome entrance and mediocre booking. Something unique and extraordinary. An exceptional character way different from the regular ones.

"Broken" Matt Hardy: Always overshadowed by Jeff Hardy and his high flying moves. And now he totally overshadows Jeff Hardy. Such a big transformation and that too in the late years of his career. Was more of a perennial midcard talent. But now? DELETE!

Some Honorable Mentions: New Day, Mizdow, Neville (He's just nailing it), Bad News Barrett.

No Emmalina?

 

[LBGetBack]

Going back a ways.....Kane. Isaac Yankem was going nowhere. Repackaging him into Kane was a great move. It was only 2-3 years later, and he was instantly a huge star. They made many mistakes with him after that, but he's still had a very long and good career overall.

 

[relentless1]

Hollywood Hogan - wow. for this man to dominate the landscape as perennial good guy Hulk Hogan and then dominate AGAIN as Hollywood is something that may never be replicated. The guy led two boom periods in wrestling and the characters couldn't have been more night and day while still retaining the essence of the Hulkster.

Mr McMahon - from jovial announcer who nobody knew was the owner to Austins greatest adversary, cocky strut and all. Also who knew Vince was hiding that crazy physique under his WWF golf jackets ?!?!

 

[harrythem]

One of the best repackaging jobs ever is still John cena. He took a piss take Vanilla Ice comedy thing and turned it into THE man.

More recently I'd give props to Zack Ryder....he went from an Edgehead to being given whatever the hell Woo Woo Woo is and he just embraced it and would've done even more if the company didn't become dickwads!

Or Daniel Bryan....they moved him from playing the happy go lucky loser to being more and more conceited as world champion and look how huge he became due to the change.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

If I ignore the whole 2007-2017 thing then JBL. From low level comedy act in the APA to WWE royalty.

It took him 9 years doing nothing and then he became WWE Champion overnight and he's had remarkable staying power.

 

[GhettoV1]

Jindal Majhal qualifies as the best repacking of this era.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Mean Mark, a big guy who could work in WCW. A pale redhead that really wasn't going anywhere near the main event. Goes to WWF and becomes The Undertaker.