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Learning to evolve is quite arguably the best ammunition that a wrestler could have in his arsenal. The Wrestling industry undergoes changes at a rapid rate and if anyone fails to adapt with these changing winds, then he or she is destined to doom. And coming up with a transformation is only half the job done.The big task is making it work with the wrestling fans. The fans will embrace some of these changes while the others will end up being disastrous. In the rich history of WWE, there has been certain such transformation that ended up changing the face of the business and we take a look at them in the list.
#11 Rebel to Authority
It is funny how the wrestling business works. Back during the Attitude Era, Triple H was a rebel in the D generation X that did everything against Authority. He was never a suit guy but look at him now.
The transformation of Triple H has been monumental and at the same time, it has been important. His first run, as part of DX was one of the most entertaining aspects of the Attitude Era while his current run as part of the Authority has been equally important to the PG era.
He did have a brief stint in power during the McMahon – Helmsley era back then, but still, it was nowhere near what he is doing now. Keeping the transformation apart, Triple H deserves some credit for staying updated in the business and of course, for marrying the daughter of Vince McMahon.
#10 Double J to Jeff Jarrett
A lot of fans out there might not be familiar with Jeff Jarrett but his transformation was extremely important to the wrestling business. He started of his wrestling career in WWE and then moved to WCW before moving back to WWE again, but it is not the wrestling career of Jarrett that matters it is what he did after his WWE run that mattered.
With the death of WCW, WWE was reigning monopoly in the wrestling business and Jarrett decided to step up to this platform. He went on to form TNA and was looking like a real threat to WWE. He deserves a lot of credit for showing the guts to do anything like that and if it wasn’t for the likes of some backstage personnel that messed up his vision Jarrett might have built TNA into a new WCW.
#9 Paul E Dangerously to Paul Heyman
Ever wanted to hear an inspirational story about making it in the WWE business? Well, Paul Heyman’s story is just that. He has done almost everything that a person could do in the wrestling business to reach where he is today. Heyman’s onscreen career started back in WCW where he was a weasel manager called Paul E Dangerously.
Though he had the screen presence, Heyman was not able to showcase how imposing he was until WCW let go of him. The split from WCW landed Heyman in ECW and from a chicken manager called Paul E Dangerously; he went on to become one of the most successful promoters in that era, Paul Heyman.
It was his concept of ECW that Vince later copied for the Attitude Era, which then caused the death of WCW. Cycle of Life? No, it’s the brilliance of Heyman.
#8 Hulk Hogan to Hollywood Hogan
Hulk Hogan was the face of WWE when wrestling went mainstream. It was an image that was hard to shed and most of the fans couldn’t even imagine seeing Hogan as a heel. Vince McMahon didn’t have the guts to pull off a Hogan heel turn; Eric Bischoff however, went that extra mile.
Bischoff saw the money in Hogan’s heel turn and banked on it with the NWo angle. It ended up being one of the biggest milestones in the wrestling business and the reason why it is not higher on the list is because Hogan went back to his true self once it was all over. The transformation however was important in the wrestling history so it deserves a spot.
#7 From Surfer to Sting
Sting, believe it or not was a surfer type baby face back in the early 90s. He was a serious baby face but there was this comic element about the surfer Sting which held him back. All these changed soon after thanks to the NWo angle.
Once Hogan and his stooges made the NWo, almost everyone in the WCW wanted to join the faction. Sting however remained neutral and soon transformed into a more mysterious figure. He started to hang around in the ceilings and kept the fans guessing what he is up to.
Instead of the surfer cloths, he also wore some dark Crow type attire that blended in with his gimmick. Sting decided to keep the gimmick for the rest of his career and it was a big hit as well.
#6 Rocky Maivia to The Rock
Rocky Maivia had a lot of pressure on his shoulders when he set foot in the WWE. He was the first ever third generation superstar and to make matters worse, WWE gave him a name which was actually a mix of his father’s and grandfather’s ring names. Do you need any other reasons to be categorized as just another Samoan?
And just like that, the babyface Rocky Maivia bombed. Maivia however decided to make a big transformation and as the leader of the Nation of Dominance, he made an image for himself.
The entertaining promos and solid in ring work soon made Rock one of the most recognized names in wrestling business. How did all these happen? He made the right evolution, simple as that.
#5 Biker to Deadman
Ever imagined what the WWE would have looked like if Undertaker was still a biker? It is an image worth a million words but since Taker decided to take up his dead man gimmick, that scenario is limited to our imaginations.
Speaking about the transformation, Taker had a lot of great matches during his biker run. This gimmick however wasn’t the supernatural stuff that Taker was known for and the fans soon started throwing in criticism. WWE soon decided to bring back the dead man persona and it was the reason why we go to see the WrestleMania Streak in the first place.
Taker soon went on to be a phenomenon in the WWE and as we started, think what would have happened if he had stuck to the biker gimmick.
#4 Dr. of Thuganomics to Cenation Leader
John Cena’s debut came against Kurt Angle back in the Ruthless Aggression era. He was a squeaky clean baby face back then but WWE somehow figured out that he was not suited for the role (yeah right). The company soon turned him heel and Cena was a rapping heel.
This heel run however didn’t last long as the fans started treating him as a babyface for all the funny lines he used in his promo (yeah, he as funny). So the Dr. of Thuganomics soon became a good guy with a twist. Cena showed some impressive rise during this period and Vince McMahon soon decided to make him the face of the company.
Cena was rebranded as the new age Hulk Hogan and just like the Hulkamaniacs, he also got his army called the Cenation.
#3 Ringmaster to Steve Austin
Being the top star of Attitude Era is never a cake walk and it is one of the reasons why Austin is considered a legend. Austin started off his career in WCW as a Paul E Dangerously guy and was soon released by Eric Bischoff. Bischoff thought that Austin didn’t have the goods to make it big and fired him through a phone call (Big mistake).
Austin then had a brief stint in ECW before WWE snatched him up and when he landed, Austin was given the gimmick of Ring master. It was ridiculous to say the least but his luck brightened up in 1996 thanks to Triple H.
Triple H was supposed to win the 1996 King of the Ring tournament but since he broke Kayfabe with his DX buddies in a house show at MSG, Hunter was punished. Austin got the pick instead and after winning the King of the Ring, Austin delivered his famous 3:16 speech. The rest ladies and gentleman, is history.
#2 From a destructive beast to a oh wait
No, he is not the top transformation in the WWE’s history, you can move to next slide.
#1 Vince McMahon to Mr. McMahon
Back in the 80s and early 90s, the fans knew Vince McMahon only as a commentator. Thanks to the lack of Internet dirt sheets, a majority of the WWE fans didn’t know what Vince really was and this remained as a secret until Vince decided to come out in the light.
The Montreal Screwjob is what acted as the catalyst for this transformation and though some fans see it as a black mark in the company’s history, it is actually the best thing that happened. Once Vince ‘legitimately’ screwed Bret, he was all of a sudden this evil boss character which had a lot of potential.
Vince took advantage of the situation and made Mr. McMahon the backbone of Attitude Era. He sparked a legendary feud with Steve Austin and just like the Austin slide, the rest is history.
