5 Wrestlers who got a complete makeover

A gimmick can make or break the career of a professional wrestler. Even if you are a good technical worker or a good talker on the microphone, unless you have the right character, you are unlikely to be a huge hit in the professional wrestling industry.

And the funny part is; wrestlers cannot always nail the perfect character in the first go. It’s a process of learning from the mistakes and basically involves a lot of trial and error method as well. Let's take a look at five wrestlers who got a makeover!

#5 Luke Gallows

Before being a bad ass member of the Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling, Luke Gallows had a spell in the WWE where he played Festus which was a character diagnosed with a rare neurological condition. Festus had the ability to go into ‘Hulk Mode’ when he heard the ring bell and return back to normal when he heard the ring bell again.

Though the whole concept sounds ridiculous, WWE actually ran with it and unsurprisingly, found no success. Gallows was then repackaged as part of CM Punk’s Straight Edge Society. The stable was a successful one but WWE’s mismanagement brought it to an abrupt end.

Gallows later went on to achieve huge success in New Japan Pro Wrestling and returned to WWE as someone who was not mentally challenged like the last time around. He is a mainstay in the WWE’s upper mid-card now.

#4 Matt Hardy to Broken/Woken Matt Hardy

Matt Hardy is someone who experienced an early peak in his career. He achieved major stardom during the Attitude Era alongside Jeff Hardy thanks to all the ladder matches that he went through.

After this, Hardy was mostly relegated to mid-card storylines. The only stand out storyline during this spell was his real-life inspired feud against Edge.

Many fans saw Matt as a washed up veteran and his departure from WWE did him no good. He spent time in various independent promotions after his WWE exit and then went on to rise from the ashes like a phoenix in TNA.

The Broken Gimmick was his big break and it once again brought Matt under the mainstream spotlight. The gimmick broke all the boundaries of professional wrestling and it was so good that WWE is still using the idea despite it being a concept that was initially featured on TNA.

#3 Bradshaw to JBL

After starting out his WWE career in 1995 as Justin Bradshaw, JBL ended up being part of APA along with another WWE legend Farooq. The tag team had a memorable run in the Attitude Era and many fans assumed that it would be hard for Bradshaw to shed the image that he created as part of his run with Farooq.

However, he proved everyone wrong by becoming one of the top heels in the company a few years later. WWE’s SmackDown brand was facing a lack of proper heel characters during the mid-2000s and Bradshaw made use of this opportunity to reinvent himself as a Wall Street Millionaire character.

The gimmick was a huge hit and not only did it give us some memorable storyline but it also gave JBL a long WWE championship run and the main event spot.

JBL’s transformation from a hireable tag team wrestler to a Wall Street Millionaire was an extreme one. Both were completely opposite characters and to JBL’s credit, he will be remembered for both the spells.

#2 Hunter Hearst Helmsley to Triple H

Back in 1995, Triple H debuted in the WWE as Hunter Hearst Helmsley. The character came with vignettes in which he explained about behavioural etiquettes and it was mostly unrealistic despite Triple H’s ability to attract heat.

The character then went through multiple highs and lows for nearly two years before Triple H transformed himself completely by forming D Generation X alongside Shawn Michaels. As a result, Hunter became an edgier heel who would spew out popular catchphrases and break the rules whenever he could.

D Generation X was a huge success story throughout its existence and with this; Triple H’s star power went up. In the years that followed, Triple H took up various roles to stay relevant in the business and he is still a huge draw for the promotion.

#1 Dustin Rhodes to Goldust

Having the shadow of Dusty Rhodes being cast all over your career is a bad thing. And this is perhaps the reason why Dustin Rhodes failed to make it big with his initial gimmick. He started his wrestling career as a generic second-generation wrestler and had spells in Japan, WWE and WCW.

He failed to make an impact with the gimmick and it was at the start of his second spell with the WWE that Dustin finally broke out of his father’s shadow by taking up the controversial Goldust gimmick.

Aptly tagged ‘The bizarre one’, the Goldust character was mysterious and had a sexual tone to it. Goldust was so unique that it was a character that mainstream wrestling audience barely saw in the past.

The courage that Dustin had to take up such a character paid off big time. He is still portraying the character in the promotion even though it’s toned down for the PG audience.

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