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No matter how good you are with the microphone or in between with the ropes, if you have the wrong gimmick, you are destined to doom in the wrestling business. A lot of careers have been victims of such situations but there is a special category of wrestlers, who overcame the terrible gimmicks they had to become legendary names in the business.Although it is easy to read out in words, doing the same was no easy task and it take a lot of struggle and luck to turn a terrible gimmick around. So as a token of respect, here is a look at some of that stand out superstars, who turned out to be successful despite starting off their career on the wrong foot.
#5 Kane
Almost all of the other superstars who see in the list had only one bad gimmick to overcome, Kane, however, had two. After joining the WWE, the real life Glenn Jacobs was given the character called Dr. Isaac Yankem. Yankem was the private dentist of Jerry “The King” Lawler and it would have been hard to find a more stupid gimmick than this back then even though a majority of them were stupid.
The second chapter of Kane’s career was the Fake Diesel gimmick. It is still considered to be one of the worst ideas in the wrestling history. The failure forced Kane to take up something else, and then came the Undertaker’s gimmick character. It was a perfect fit for Kane and the rest is history.
#4 Goldust
Just like Kane, Goldust is an exceptional name in the list. This is because, while the other superstars in the list needed a change from their forgettable gimmicks, Goldust went on to be successful with his one. It was a risky angle from WWE to make Goldust as a sexually overloaded gimmick and since we were only at the door steps of the Attitude Era, everyone expected it to be a failure.
And to be frank, it was a bad gimmick as well. However, thanks to some brilliant performance form Goldust and the openness of the WWE fans, the gimmick clicked and it ended up being one of the mainstays during the Attitude Era.
The amount of sexuality has been toned down in the current era but we should always remember where we came from right?
#3 Triple H
Remember Damien Sandow and his intelligent gimmick? It is the same gimmick that Hunter got during his early days in the business. When he joined the WWE back in 1995, the company painted Hunter as an old school American intellect who gave lessons and carried around a cane.
With the Attitude Era approaching, Triple H’s career was sure to be flushed down the drain with such a gimmick.
Thanks to his backstage friendships that he made during the period, Hunter was soon able to shed off his intellect gimmick and soon took up the rebel one. D generation X followed and later he married Stephanie McMahon. Marrying the boss’ daughter came with its advantages, and Triple H never looked down after that.
#2 The Rock
Ever heard of the name ‘Blue Chipper’? Well, it was WWE’s idea of pushing their first ever third generation superstar. Dwayne Johnson was billed as Rocky Maivia during his early days in the business and though he was reluctant to take up the character, Vince McMahon insisted.
The whole blue chipper thing bombed on television and the fans rejected him right away due to the cheesy nature of the gimmick. The fans started chanting against him even though he was a babyface just like they are doing with Roman Reigns now.
Rocky was soon turned heel by the company and it gave him the fresh breath that he needed. Dropping the whole blue chipper persona, Rock went on to become one of the most iconic names in the Attitude Era. Speaking of which, we have our top entry in the list…
#1 Steve Austin
Steve Austin’s character was arguably the most important name during the Attitude Era. But before Austin became the beer drinking, foul mouthed anti – hero that we know him as, Austin was The Ringmaster
He was managed by Ted DiBiase and it was probably one of the weakest characters in that era. Upon Austin’s request, WWE gave him a list of names like Otto Von Ruthless, Ice Dagger and Fang McFrost. Unhappy with all of them, Austin decided to keep his Ringmaster gimmick for the time being after shaving his head bald.
Later, when he won the 1996 King of the Ring, Austin delivered his famous 3:16 speech and the ringmaster gimmick died its natural death, and Austin started his rise to the top.
