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The world of WWE and that of professional wrestling mandates the usage of gimmicks to enhance entertainment beyond the pleasure of in-ring action. On many occasions, music has been used as the base of professional wrestling gimmicks. Singers and guitarists have been a common occurrence inside the professional wrestling arena.
Not all such characters have gone on to become highly successful. However, some of them are memorable owing to the amount of entertainment they provided during their WWE runs.
Interestingly, real-life singers Mickie James and Chris Jericho never prominently displayed their alternate professions as part of their WWE gimmicks. Here is a list of 5 WWE superstars, former and current, who once flourished using music as an integral part of their character.
#5 Former WWE 24/7 Champion Elias
Elias is a member of the WWE roster at this point, but his future looks bleak. He has shed the villainous guitarist persona that he perfected on the main roster and the only character development the company provides is a monotonous vignette proclaiming the end of 'The Drifter.'
Elias' NXT run was nothing special, with fans of the black-and-gold brand refusing to accept an old-school wrestler banking more on his gimmick than his in-ring skills. Elias was never the most entertaining wrestler, depending on a methodical style to punish his opponents.
When he arrived on the main roster, fans did not expect much from "The Drifter," but they were soon proven wrong as Elias became one of the most ''over'' acts on the roster. While everyone wanted to walk with Elias, they also showered them with loud boos when he managed to truly incite them, usually by insulting their city through songs.
However, WWE never used Elias to the fullest extent, instead directing him to be WrestleMania fodder for John Cena in consecutive years, before ending it altogether.
#4 Former WWE Divas Champion Jillian Hall
WWE fans still contend whether Jillian Hall's undoubted effectiveness as a heel was because of her talent to portray herself as an irritating character or go-away heat owing to fans not wanting to see her on their screens.
The gimmick of a tone-deaf singer was always going to be risky, and Jillian Hall did more with it than many expected her to do. Hall was not a great in-ring performer, but her trump card wasn't her wrestling skills anyway. Her songs, or rather shrills, were enough to make an impact on the spectators.
#3 WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett
Jarrett played a villainous country musician working his way up the WWE ladder during the New Generation era filled with cartoonish gimmicks. Jarrett was an experienced professional wrestler at that point and his in-ring skills allowed him to back up his lyrics in the ring.
Double J would often smash his opponents with his acoustic guitar named El Kabong and end his promos by pronouncing his name alphabet by alphabet.
Jarrett left WWE and joined WCW to become a multi-time world champion before founding his own company, TNA. Incredibly enough, Jarrett is a 17-times world champion across companies such as WCW, TNA and AAA.
#2 Former WWE Champion John Cena
John Cena became the franchise player of WWE under the gimmick of a classic babyface who always delivered in big matches. However, before his Big Match John success, Cena portrayed a completely different character, a rapper ever-ready to insult his opponents and break rules.
It was a villainous rapper who first won a singles championship in WWE. This version of Cena, known as "The Doctor of Thuganomics," is extremely popular to this day. Cena has occasionally brought back the gimmick.
#1 WWE Hall of Famer The Honky Tonk Man
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is commonly referred to as the title held and valued by the in-ring perfectionists of the company's roster. However, the honor of being the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time goes to an Elvis impersonator named the Honky Tonk Man.
The villainous impersonator held the title for 64 consecutive weeks before The Ultimate Warrior squashed him to end the reign. He never achieved much success in WWE or elsewhere after the loss, but continued generating considerable reaction from the spectators whenever he entered the ring.
