Who made the biggest transition to their gimmick?

[DaBadGuy]

Their have been many wrestlers in the history of wrestling to have a certain gimmick that didn't go over so well for them then they finally changed their gimmick and their know as one of the biggest stars of all time. A few I can name are Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and Triple H. These 3 men had what you would maybe say terrible gimmicks when they first started wrestling for the WWF but then they made a transition to their character and now have some of the most idolized and memeroble gimmicks in wrestling histoy. And at the same time their were guys who were already over but made a change in their gimmick and was still great like Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash etc... So my question is who in your opinion do you think made the biggest transition to their wrestling character.

For me this is kind of hard I want to go with The Rock but I like the transition from Hunter Hearst Helmsley to Triple H. The reason I picked him is because he started off with a blue blood gimmick and talked with an English accent. Looking back on that it looks funny to see because were used to seeing Triple H doing crotch chops as a member of DX and being one of the most bad ass heels of all time, IMO that was a hugh transition for Triple H. I wouldn't exactly say this was the best but my favorite transition.

 

[Attitude_Raven]

- Hulk Hogan, i just fotta go with him as the #1 spot, nothing shocked the fans more than Hogan turning from the all american super hero to the bad-ass SOB.
Austin as the Ringmaster was an utter failure, when Russo took control and said "let him be himself" everything went upsidedown.
- Sting, no doubt about it, for years he was a cookie cutter blond haired babyface, then nWo took over, Sting took some time off WCW and suddenly reappeared as one of the best characters in history, i just loved that.
- Undertaker's original gimmick allways seemed too gooffy to me, but the transition from "the Deadman" to the "Lord Of Darkness", altough slow was consistent, then the Attitude era started and Taker started to play a really evil character, i just loved every moment about the Ministry.
- Raven, before being Raven, went through a lot of cheessy gimmicks, he used to be Scoty Flamingo in WCWs first steps, then in WWF he came out as Johnny Polo. after parting ways with WWE he appeared in WCW with a totally different and innovative character, he looked like a thypical metalhead/grunge guy, but behind that he was a dark mastermind, brainwashing Sandman's son, wrestling intense brawls with Dreamer, if you take a Wrestling Dictionary and look up the word "Edgy" i'm sure you'll find Raven's picture
- Rocky Maivia started as the clean cut baby face, but it wasn't the 80s anymore, Stone Cold was the new archetype of a hero, the crowd just booed the fuck out of him, a lot of "Die Rocky Die" chants, then one day he did the unyhinkable and turned heel, then a new look and a new attitude, brash and cocky, talking in third person, so the legend of The Rock was born...
- Scott Steiner, no doubt it was a drastic change, nobody thought he would turn on his own brother after all those years, then he turned, joined the nWo and presented a look that just screamed BadAss, and outshined his own brother, who stayed in the midcard until the demise of WCW

 

[The Brain]

How about JBL? He went from a bar room brawler who would always drink and gamble to a wallstreet tycoon. He went from jeans and ripped t shirts to custom made suits. From driving a pickup truck to riding in a stretch limo. And most importantly from forgotten midcarder to WWE champion.

Also Dustin Rhodes to Goldust was quite a transformation.

 

[razerp]

One of Jerry Lawlers Knights, to a Wacky Dentist then to The Big Red Machine. Kane is by far one of the biggest transitions of gimmick. Heck Kane is one of the top gimmicks of all time. Takers brother, a tormented soul, reluctant Face and dammit just one of the best most consistent workers for the WWE in the past 15 years.

 

[El AlcoHALLic]

Steve Austin comes to mind. Taker and Diesel come to mind. They had horrible gimmicks in WCW.

Triple H kinda eased into his role and it worked very well for him. The Connecticut Blue Blood couldve easily been a world champion but HHH's gradual transition into "The Game" was very well done and very well recieved by the fans.

I know he hasn't reached the level of the maineventers we've all been listing here but an honorable mention should go to Dolph Ziggler. He's completley transformed himself from a Spirit Squad cheerleader into what we see today. Hell most of the mainstream fans don't even know he was in the Spirit Squad.

- Scott Steiner, no doubt it was a drastic change, nobody thought he would turn on his own brother after all those years, then he turned, joined the nWo and presented a look that just screamed BadAss, and outshined his own brother, who stayed in the midcard until the demise of WCW

No doubt about that one man. Anyone remember his first match on Thunder post Superbrawl heel turn where Buff Bagwell introduced him as the nWo's newest member "White Thunder?" classic


But yeah keeping on topic Steiner made a drastic change in appearence, attitude and to a lesser degree wrestling style. He went from a Mullet haired college wrestler to one of WCW's biggest draws of the Monday Night Wars.

 

[Tastycles]

Without question, this is Kane. Kane went through dodgy gimmick after dodgy gimmick and then turned into The Undertaker's brother, and instantly became a main event success. I suppose it is possible that Luke Gallows will go away and come back in the same fashion, it remains to be seen, because so far, that man has had a range of gimmicks that'll never get over.

I think its a common thing for big men. Nash and Taker both had a couple of boring gimmicks before finding their feet in the characters that caused their popularity to grow.

 

[pyrusane]

I can think of one guy right off the top of my head: John Cena. When he debuted he was pretty much a clean-cut generic face, answering Kurt Angle's gold medal challenge. Failing to get over that way, he transitioned into the thug rapper heal, and gained immense popularity. He then got turned by the fans, abandoned the hip-hop and became the SuperCena we know today. Ironically enough, his current gimmick is very similar to the original gimmick that got him nowhere at the beginning of his WWE tenure.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

This guy went from being a long-haired, pretty boy to a loudmouth bragigart then he was dubbed a ringmaster and finally he is arguably the best known gimmick of all time as a tough S.O.B.

That man is Stone Cold Steve Austin.

No other guy that I can think of has turned into such a mainstream superstar the way Austin did with his transition.

Others that cross my mind-

Big Daddy V. He was King Mabel before turning into the goth-Ministry of Darkness member Viscera. Later on he would adopt an odd "playboy" persona somewhat like The Great Khali And then into The Mastadon Big Daddy V.

Undertaker. In NWA (I think) he was "Mean" Mark Calaway and then adopted a somewhat melodramatic character in the Undertaker. But years would help push Taker from being the Head honcho of Ministry of Darkness to the American Badass and now The Phenom himself.

 

[PEP3]

Honestly, the first person to come to mind was Dustin Rhodes becoming Goldust. For years, Dustin tried to live up to the image of his "American Dream" father, and he was about as interesting as toast. Yes, he was popular enough with audiences, but that was mostly because the Southern fans wanted to cheer for Dusty 2.0.

However, when Dustin debuted (the 2nd time) in WWF as Goldust, spouting lines from classic movies, wearing his long, blond wig and wearing the gold catsuit, he was suddenly intensely interesting, creepy, brought incredible psychological warfare and undeniably, amazingly over with the fans. He provided one of the best heels in the WWF for quite a while and to this day is STILL over with fans.

Seriously, despite WWE's best efforts, Goldust was so over with ECW fans during the last months of that broadcast, I seriously believe they should have given the guy his due and a run with the title. If they could do that for Tommy Dreamer, who was jobbed out for a solid two years before his "comeback" victory for the belt, surely they could do the same for Dustin!

After all, the guy accepted what could have been a disastrous, career-ending gimmick and made it completely his own. And, as a result, went from star to superstar. Brilliant!

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

One I thought of right away was "The" Brian Kendrick. When he was tagging with Paul London they always came out in a sort of giddy manner running all over the place, wearing those masks. When they got separated by the draft Paul London pretty much disappeared while Kendrick adopted the "The" persona, became a heel and started bringing Ezekiel Jackson around as his bodyguard.

 

[SonicReducer]

I'll suggest two names: 1- Adrian Adonis, 2-One Man Gang.

1- Adrian Adonis went from being brawling biker character, to "Adorable" Adrian (homosexual character).

2- One Man Gang also went from being a brawler ... an awesome character that I fondly remember from the UWF days, to Akeem The African Dream (yuck). .... from the South Side of Chicago to "the deepest darkest parts of Africa". 'Nuff said.


Two very drastic gimmick changes.

 

[Dwayne_Jason]

Great gimmick changes:

'Taker: He's the dead man, and the evil zombie guy but then he comes on a bike? If I saw that today I'd be like "You're ******ed." But he pulled it off masterfully and you know what? I like the evil bad ass guy better.

Orton: Not his biggest fan but hey you have to admit he came a long way from his crappy babyface. I'm talking pre-evolution days when he was a fan favirorite then started talking about his injuries and became an unnoticeable heel. After he won the world champ he became a babyface and went back to the midcard. Then he radically changed into the viper.

Cena:I like Cena, a great wrestler and everything but from a generic babyface to a sucessfull heel to a sucessfull tweener and then the worst gimmick we've seen from him. Very disappointing Creative Team...

Rock: What can I say? From a good ol' Rocky Mavia he came the pie eatin, jabroni beatin, brahama bull, THE ROCK!

SCSA: He did a radical change as well, but not in the same company and over a long period of time. I'd have to say that during the Attitude Era he's the best but only because the attitude era needed his gimmick.

 

[The Con Volt]

The Pope D'angelo Dinero: Went from basically just playing himself in WWE under his real name, Elijah Burke, to becoming possibly the most distinct character of the last few years. Someone actually had to tell me that was Elijah Burke. That's a testament to how drastic a change his character saw.

Eric Young: I know he's probably not everyone's favorite wrestler in the world, and it's become evident that his friendship with "higher-ups" has been instrumental in his most recent push, but Eric Young has at least tried his hardest for years to earn the respect of fans by becoming less of a joke. And he is now considered a legit threat to anyone at any time it seems. So for that, gotta give him a brief round of applause.

Chris Jericho: Look, I love "Y2J" as much as the next guy, but Chris Jericho in recent years made a career for himself without the help of being " the ayatollah of rock n rolla" And I applaud him for it. He was over as hell when he came back to wrestling and used that huge pop to make an even louder boo out of his current character. I mean, come on. He calls the fans gelatinous tape worms. So not only are the fans parasitic worms, but they're made out of jello. Sick burn.

 

[Dan E. Inferno]

I think the biggest transition would be Kane. The difference that a couple of years made for Glen Jacobs was just astounding. From Lawler's dentist to the fake Diesel to the enormous success of the big red machine. Dr Isaac Yankem must be one of the worst gimmick ideas ever. I mean, a wrestling dentist? Fake Diesel was just a plain stupid idea too. Then, Kane arrives during the first Hell in a Cell match and within a year he was WWE champion, albeit for one day. Although the character lost something when he unmasked, I still remain a fan of Kane to this day.

The biggest gimmick transition from the "modern era" would probably have to be Bradshaw to JBL. I loved APA and was somewhat suprised to see Bradshaw turn into this rich, pompous New York City businessman. I didn't take to it at first but when he became WWE champion, he won me over with his great mic work and entertaining title reign. Bar room brawler to self made millionaire and it worked out great.

 

[goldbergiswrestling]

I have to say Kevin Nash, but I dont mean Kevin Nash changing from deisel to Nash, those are essentially the same gimmick just with a different name.

Nash was Oz in WCW and that gimmick just nobody cared about, and then he went to WWE teamed with Shawn michaels where he became Big Daddy Cool Deisel. alot of people dont remember Oz because it was that insignificant.

 

[mral82]

I say Latest WWE Hall Of Fame Member Gorgeous George (I know alot of us young fans might not know who he is) but according to The 'E' he went from George Wagner and transformed into something wrestling has never seen back in the Golden age of Wrestling. He i say was the original gimmicked thing and he and his wife Betty came up with that. From a straight no-nonsense technical wrestler to the most flamboyant thing of that time. Goldie reminds me of Gorgeous George in a way Dustin a technical brawler in to thing he is now as Goldust. If you looked at or asked him if he was going to be around now, Goldust a year ago probably would said no (I just guessing). But he's now in the best shape of his life and him and his dad are buds again. Go watch his match with Jericho from Superstars that match was awesome and made sure "Nobody Ever Forgot The Name Of (Achhhhhhhhhhh) Goldust. So theirs my opinion of who made the best transition into their Gimmick Virgil Runnels the 3rd otherwise know as Dustin Rhodes and George Wagner.

 

[NaturallyPricele$$]

Many of the well known changes have been mentioned. I'm gonna go with one that only a true wrestling fan would know. Alex Wright. He debuted in WCW as "Das Wunderkid" a European techno dancer. He disappeared for a while then came back as "Berlyn" wearing a black trench coat, black mohawk, and goatee.

Of course both gimmicks failed. Alex Wright had no talent and no ability to get over. But he does have a PPV win over HHH. Great booking WCW you really had an eye for talent.

 

[jsanders78]

Don't forget Nash was Vinnie Vegas - another pretty insignificant character.

Owen's change into the King of Hearts was drastic - going from a no name mid-carder to KOR in about 8 months.

1-2-3 Kid to Syxx/X-pac another pretty drastic change.

Lex Luger's gimmick change from WCW to WWF was pretty big too - as was his change from the Narcissist to the All-American.

 

[NaturallyPricele$$]

Honorable mention to the gentlemen in my sig and his brother. Edge and Christian went from blood drinking, goth vampires to the Rated R Superstar and Captain Charisma respectfully.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Interesting that no one has picked up on this one yet but hey I get to make the post first:

Eddie Fatu: This guy debuted as part of a tag team called Three Minute warning who were two heavys for Eric Bischoff who would show up and take out whoever Bischoff wanted. Fatu (as Jamal) was released only six months later only to return in 2006 as Umaga. Umaga was undefeated from April until January and looked good doing it. Umaga went on to succesfully capture the intercontenetal championship twice and was involved in the marquee match of WrestleMania 23, the Battle of the Billionares. He along with his manager, Armando Estrada, went on to have a succesful run before Fatu was released in 2009 after failing a wellness policy test and of course died late last year.

 

[Unsold Bacon]

Isaac Yankem DDS to Kane this is one I'm thankful for as Isaac would probably be released in the late 90's. And him coming back as Taker's brother the demented twisted Kane was just sick. It also helped Undertaker out with his career a little bit in my mind. Too bad Kane is a Semi-Jobber now.

 

[wushady]

When I first seen the title of this thread I thought that's easy Triple H. It's always funny to go back and see him as the blue blood. However when I started thinking back and saw some of the other post. There were so many it's so hard to pick one.

Austin went from a Hollywood blond to a Texas rattlesnake.

Kane was a dentist now a monster.

Edge and Christian were vampires now Edge is the rated r superstar and Christian is caption charisma.

The Hardy Boyz were also in the Brood. Matt's gimmick couldn't be further from that gimmick. Jeff has almost come full circle from that gimmick. With his goth/emo gimmick.

The Rock went from a happy smiley babyface to one of the greatest of all time.

I'm sure there is many more, but if I had to pick one It would be The Undertaker. Not only has he slowly evolved that gimmick dramatically over the years. He went from Mean Mark to the phenom if that's not the biggest transition. I don't know what is.

 

[Orphius]

I have a few that come to mind first is the Undertaker changing from WCW as Mean Mark had he of stayed there as Mark he would not of been anybody.Also Stone cold going from stunning Steve to the Ringmaster to winning King of the Ring becoming Stone Cold.John Cena has done more with his Rap gimmick then he did when he first came in as the prototype gimmick from OVW

 

[ramblinroy68]

How about Road D-O-Double G? Jesse James went from Jeff Jarrett's roadie and country music singer to D-X. He had one of the best entrances with Billy Gunn.

Or for that matter Billy Gunn. Part of the cowboy group smokin gunns,to rock a billy, to the ass man, to a gay couple with palumbo. He should have stopped at the ass man.

Brutus Beefcake had some drastic changes as well. Going from cocky bad guy to Brutus the Barber. Did a lot for his career.

 

[Decarow]

I think of Booker T

He went from Kole in Harlem Heat to eventually Booker T, becoming a 5 time WCW champion. Then went to WWF in the invasion. Once they became the E, he competed in main events but never won the title. He quickly took part in the mid-card and tag teams. He then won KOTR and became "King Booker" and finally won the WHC from Rey Mysterio at the GAB '06. "King of the World". He then beat Cena and Big Show to be the "Champion of Champions." Now he's back to Booker T in TNA.