The Greatest Gimmick Change Ever

[mikeRC]

Seeing the terrible change in Samoa Joe has inspired me to make this thread.

Gimmick changes can make or break a wrestler so of all the gimmick changes that worked well which was your favourite. Or you can talk about how much you hated gimmick changes that didn't work because by god there have been a lot of them especially in TNA. (can anybody resist a good bash of TNA?)


I really think that John Cena had the most success in his gimmick change when he went from being a pretty plain white bread wrestler to a rapper. Cena says that he definitely didn't want to do it forever but it turned heads which is exactly what Cena wanted to do. It lead higher ups to really take notice of the talent that they had in John Cena and after Cena became a top guy with the gimmick he decided to take away the rapper gimmick and people still loved him. That one gimmick change threw Cena right to the top where he then managed to do what he wanted to do with his character whilst keeping his fans.

honourable mention goes to Al Snow for changing into a total nutcase who started talking to a plastic Head. And by god it worked.

 

[The Rob]

When Kane returned in 2002 he wasen't the evil bastard he once was. He seemed almost human. It went on like that for the rest of 2002 and around half of 2003, where he developed a friendship with RVD and the two were a successful tag team. On screen they seemed like they were best chums... untill Kane was forced to remove his mask. Kane's gimmick up to then (from mid 2002) was a more likeable person who seemed like a badass who you could depend on. But from the second Kane took off his mask he completely changed into an utterly evil and sadistic monster (much like he was when he debuted).

Because Kane was seen as a likeable character up to then, the sudden change into an evil bastard was something of a shock and some of the things he did once he took off his masks were actually shocking to watch. Maskless Kane's gimmick really kicked off in my opinion when he Tombstoned Linda on the stage... that was just un-heard of and shocked alot of people. So in my opinion the change from the almost friendly Kane gimmick to the fucking evil Kane gimmick in mid 2003 was one of the greatest gimmick changes.

 

[CENAtion]

How can the "Greatest Gimmick Change Ever" not be the transition of The Ringmaster to Stone Cold Steve Austin.

As the Ringmaster, Steve Austin was basically a puppet of Ted DiBease's and carried around that belt, although cool, had absolutely no meaning whatsoever. If he didnt have Dibease their with him i firmly believe he would have been gone after a few months and probably back to ECW. The gimmick just didnt work on any front at all. It was a guy who had a ton of mic skill, being given a mouth piece to talk for him and for the Ringmaster to just perform in the ring. Yes, he was a very good technical wrestler back then but it was just not HIM. To me it was the WWF's version of Stunning Steve Austin becuase they had nothing for him, and now he couldnt even get over as a heel cause he never said much of anything to garner heat. What was he most memorable feud as The Ringmaster....vs. Savio Vega? I mean the strap match was a pretty good match in my estimation but this character was destined to be a life long mid carder at best. The Ringmaster gimmick was just flat out boring. If that gimmick continued i think Steve would have been out of the WWF in 6 month to a year.


"Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass" and with that the transformation began to take place before our eyes. The Stone Cold Steve Austin character was not really a character at all, it was just the real person with the dial turned up. The attitude, the language, the middle fingers, the go to all ends to whoop someone's ass really started catching on very quickly. He was given a program with Bret Hart, whcih is just slightly better than working with Savio Vega, and i think to the suprise of Vince, Austin delivered more than expected. Stone Cold was starting to get popular and i think Vince thought a feud with fan favorite Bret Hart would kill that, but it didnt. The fact that Austin and Hart gave you that real life factor to the feud, in my opinion just played perfectly into the hands of Stone Cold Steve Austin. Each week the man just got more popular and no one could figure out why, the more he did to be a heel the more people liked him. This ultimately led to him transforming into one of, if not the biggest star in the history of the business. The Stone Cold character was apart of the biggest era of pro wrestling, while being the biggest star during that time, as well as being apart of 2 of the biggest feuds of all time Austin/McMahon and Austin/Rock. It was a true honor for wrestling fans to come up during that time and get to see won of the greatest of all time on a weekly basis just transform before our eyes. I really believe that Vince and the WWF did not expect Steve Austin to get as big as he did, and i'm just glad as a fan of his that he did and gave us all one hell of a ride.

 

[agentmichaelscarn]

I agree the Ringmaster to Stone Cold is probably the best one because of the overall significance it had on wrestling. The WWE was at their low point around the time of the Ringmaster than Austin cut that famous promo at KOTR 96 and became Stone Cold and the WWE slowly got better and ultimately took over WCW, thank's in large part to that gimmick. But I'm gonna throw another one out there and that is The Rock from Rocky Maivia.

As Rocky Maivia he was just a bland goodie two shoes wrestler that even though he was a face the crowd hated. I believe there were "Die Rocky Die" chants during it that's how bad it got. Then WWE gave him the mic and let him be himself instead of the boring Rocky Maivia character that he was and he was gold. He turned heel and went with the nation of domination but slowly but surely got better. He became more arrogant, more cocky and as a result got more mic and face time and the crowd absolutely ate it up. Whether it was him talking about his $1000 Armani shirts or his rolex watches or even his beeper(they were actually cool back then) people loved it.

He eventually broke off from The Nation because he became so popular and so good. He then became the top heel in the company for a while until becoming the top face in 00 when Austin was out. He was the first 6 time WWE champion and one of the most popular of all time.

Now he is a famous hollywood actor who has played in some blockbuster films. I dare say that none of that would have happened if he didn't become "The Rock".

 

[NSL]

How has no one mentioned the change Hulk Hogan made? Does it matter which one?

When he started back in '81, he was a heel, managed by Freddie Blassie. He wasn't going anywhere. Then, he got shipped off to AWA, turned in to the Hulkster, and hit it huge back in the WWF. It made wrestling what it is today. Without that gimmick change, we'd have no WrestleMania, and possibly no WWE.

Then, when everyone thought he was washed up and done, he went to WCW, and eventually became the heel Hollywood Hogan. It gave WCW the edge during the Monday Night Wars, which sparked the attitude era, and saved wrestling again.

Without his switch to Hollywood Hogan, there'd be no Austin 3:16, or Know Your Role, or a number of other gimmicks that were huge during that time.