While moves in the squared circle are critical in wrestling, WWE wrestlers are also assigned to play gimmicks with the hopes of getting over the crowd. Gimmicks usually form a wrestler’s in-ring character as it dictates personality, behavior, attire, and even wrestling maneuvers.
Although some gimmicks get over the crowd, others are forgettable. On the other hand, some gimmicks do get over the crowd, business executives behind WWE also have a tendency to think otherwise. For this piece, let’s take a look at 10 famous wrestlers who portrayed old characters that WWE wants you to forget.
L.A. Knight: Max Dupree
Originally debuted as L.A. Knight in WWE NXT, Knight spent a lot of time in NXT wrestling with several names such as Johnny Gargano, Dexter Lumis, Solo Sikoa, and many more.
However, when he was elevated to the main roster, Knight was repackaged as Max Dupri. Dupri was in-charge of a fictional model agency called Maximum Male Models. Although Max Dupri and Maximum Male Models were over the crowd comedy-wise, when Triple H took over WWE again, he left the Maximum Male Models onscreen and was repackaged back to L.A. Knight.
Elias: Ezekiel
Aside from scrapping Max Dupri, another move Triple H made after regaining power was writing off Ezekiel. As we all know, the guitar-playing Elias was packaged as the older brother of Ezekiel on-screen. In reality both roles were played by the same person in Jeffrey Sciullo.
Triple H wasn’t fond of the character, Ezekiel. As a result, Ezekiel was placed in a squash match against Kevin Owens, who powerbombed the former on the canvas which ended Ezekiel’s run in WWE. Based on reports, Triple H gave Sciiullo time off the screen in order to grow back his beard for the character of Elias.
Umaga: Jamal
Umaga was a dominant force in the WWE. He emerged victorious over notable superstars such as John Cena, Triple H, Kane, and many more. Although he was popular as a monster heel, the Samoan Bulldozer was in WWE under a different name before Umaga.
Before Umaga, Edward Smith Fatu wrestled as Jamal as part of the tag team called 3-Minute Warning. Although these were tag teams that went over the crowd, repackaging Umaga into a monster heel was still the better choice.
Dean Ambrose: Jon Moxley
Dean Ambrose took the WWE by storm when he debuted alongside Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in the faction called The Shield. As we all know, even after The Shield’s breakup, Ambrose would still go on to win several WWE titles including the WWE championship.
However before debuting with The Shield, Ambrose appeared in WWE screens as John Moxley. Moxley was a jobber who suffered defeats against M&M and The Big Show.
Daniel Bryan: Brian Danielson
Speaking of jobber to champion, Daniel Bryan was the same. We remember how Daniel Bryan rallied The WWE Universe with the YES Movement en-route to winning the world title against The Authority.
But before Daniel Bryan, he appeared in WWE programming as Brian Danielson as a jobber. In fact, he engaged in a losing effort against John Cena in a match at WWE Velocity.
Kane: Dr. Isaac Yankem DDS, The Christmas Creature, Unabomb
Before Kane became the Big Red Machine, WWE executives were having a hard time in packaging Glenn Jacobs. Because of this, he underwent several in-ring characters such as Dr. Isaac Yankem DDS, The Christmas Creature, Unabomb, and even Diesel. Unfortunately, none of those were successful enough to get over the crowd.
Fortunately, after shifting to Kane, fans were convinced that he was a legitimate monster who possessed size and agility to match up with The Undertaker. Years later, even after his unmasking, Kane would go down as among the best monsters in WWE history.
Dolph Ziggler: Nicky
Dolph Ziggler has won two World championships in the WWE. Whether as a heel or babyface, Ziggler has elevated various superstars and has gotten over the crowd on several occasions. But long before Dolph Ziggler, he was Nicky.
As Nicky, he was part of the all-male cheering squad called The Spirit Squad. Although the faction would win the Tag titles, the team eventually disbanded. Furthermore, then-boss of WWE Vince McMahon wouldn’t want to remember the particular event of getting feces all over with the Spirit Squad while feuding with D-Generation X.
Bray Wyatt: Husky Harris
The Nexus were a dominant force from NXT that took over the main roster. Although the stable successfully pushed names such as Wade Barrett, Daniel Bryan, Darren Young, and Justin Gabriel, the same cannot be said for Husky Harris.
Because of this Harris was shelved to develop and to hone his skills, thus paving the way for the emergence of Bray Wyatt and eventually, The Fiend.
Ryback: Skip Sheffield
Speaking of the Nexus, Skip Sheffield got a lot of exposure while running with the faction. He showed us a glimpse of how dominant he can be. Unfortunately, as Skip Sheffield, it wasn’t enough leverage to get him over the crowd.
However, after being rebranded as Ryback, his powerhouse moves and Feed Me More battle cry were very much over the crowd.
Lord Tensai: Albert/A-Train
When Lord Tensai debuted in WWE, it was squash match after squash match. The WWE wanted to push him into another monster heel. However, fans can never forget that Lord Tensai is played by the same guy who portrayed Albert or A-Train in the Attitude Era. As a result, fans constantly started mock chants of “Albert”.
Despite a victory over John Cena, Lord Tensai would never go over the crowd. Fans couldn’t just buy the fact that Lord Tensai was Albert, who once held the Intercontinental title back in the day.
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