4 WWE stars who are nothing like their TV gimmick in real life

It is often said that the best WWE Superstars are the ones whose characters are an extension of their real-life personality, but it turns out that there are many people on the WWE roster who have proven themselves to be an exception to that unwritten rule.

In the 1990s, Steve Austin became arguably the greatest Superstar of all time when he turned into “Stone Cold” and began to add even more personality to his over-the-top WWE gimmick, while the same can be said for Dwayne Johnson when he transitioned from Rocky Maivia to The Rock.

On the flipside, however, we have seen plenty of other performers succeed in the wrestling business when their character is clearly very different from their personality outside of the squared circle, most notably Mark Calaway, who would find it difficult to communicate with fellow humans if he was anything like his Undertaker character

In this article, let’s take a look at four current stars who are nothing like the characters that they portray on television.

---

#4 Alexa Bliss

Alexa Bliss began life in NXT as a babyface who wore bright colors and blew sparkle on her way to the ring during her entrance.

The “Glitter, Glitz, Sparkle, Bliss” phase did not last very long, though, and she became the villainous “Little Miss Bliss” character in 2015 when she aligned with heel tag team Blake & Murphy and regularly used questionable tactics to help them win matches.

Her WWE persona has evolved a lot since then, especially over the last few months when she has shown both babyface and heel traits to her character as the host of ‘Moment of Bliss’.

The five-time women's champion elaborated on how she perceives the Bliss character during an interview with ESPN:

"When it comes to the Alexa Bliss character, everyone says the character has to be an extension of yourself turned up. But I feel like I am the complete opposite of Alexa Bliss. When I came up with the Alexa Bliss character, I wanted to be the girl that everyone knew. There was always that girl in high school who was mean to everybody. She was mean and rude but everyone still voted for her to be homecoming queen. That girl. And I wanted to portray that girl. Because I knew that girl in high school. I knew girls like that."

#3 Charlotte Flair

Charlotte Flair’s “Queen” character is confident, cocky and often brags about her family legacy in the wrestling business and how it has made her “genetically superior” compared to the rest of the women on the WWE roster.

In real life, however, Flair regularly mentions in interviews how she has lost confidence throughout her career, especially when she turned babyface in 2017, and WWE Network footage in the build-up to WrestleMania 35 showed how she struggled to come to terms with the fact that she might not be in the first women’s ‘Mania main event.

She told ESPN in 2018:

"I wish I was more like my character. In character, I am the queen. I am strong. I am confident, sometimes cocky. I'm hard to beat. Out of character, I am a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a best friend and just the girl next door that likes Ben & Jerry's ice cream."

#2 Braun Strowman

For the sake of humankind, it is probably a good thing that Braun Strowman is nothing like his “Monster Among Men” character when he steps outside the squared circle and has a few days off from WWE.

Inside the confines of sports entertainment arenas (and parking lots), Strowman wreaks havoc by destroying vehicles, Superstars, weapons and even entire ring canvases. In real life, however, he is just a country boy from North Carolina who prefers to spend his free time outdoors when he is not traveling the world with WWE.

He revealed in an interview with Channel 24:

"I love that I can portray someone that I’m not. I’m easy-going, keep to myself and quiet-like. It’s always a challenge to push myself, but I enjoy it. I spend my days in cars, buses and airplanes, so on my off days I like to get away from the city life and disappear to the woods."

#1 Stephanie McMahon

Not too dissimilar to her father, Stephanie McMahon has become one of the most despised WWE stars of all time thanks to her various positions as an authority figure over the last two decades.

The former Raw Commissioner played a key role as a member of The Authority in the build-up to Daniel Bryan’s World Heavyweight Championship triumph at WrestleMania 30, while she was also instrumental in the first few months of Ronda Rousey’s WWE career between the 2018 Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 34.

Writing in a column for Ad Age, McMahon spoke about her behind-the-scenes role as WWE’s Chief Brand Officer and clarified, if there was any doubt, that her WWE character is very different to how she is in real life.

"The louder the crowd boos, the more I love it, because it means I'm doing my job. That is to say, I'm doing my job in the ring: I'm portraying the villain and setting the stage for our heroes to rise up and overcome the adversity I so eagerly put in their paths."