WWE Superstars Who Survived Humiliating Gimmicks

A gimmick change saved their WWE career
Topics Discussed In this Video:
1. WWE Wrestlers Who Survived Horrible Gimmicks
2. WWE Wrestlers Who Survived Humiliating Gimmicks
3. Gimmick Changes That Desperately Saved A WWE Wrestler's Career
4. WWE Wrestlers Who Started With Horrible Gimmicks
5. Wrestlelamia

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Batista getting Animal gimmick easily saved him

[@cliffordjackson3]

FACTS dude.

[@zanethind]

Yeah

[@Uohhhh777]

Or is it?

[@khesipresents1885]

Wwe struggles. To find new guys like Batista Brock....buff bulging top guys

[@gertpacu3926]

That tattoo on his bellybutton needed to go. That is a woman's tattoo.

[@rahulmcintyre2553]

After so many years Decan Batista looks like a cool character now. Lol.

[@md.mazedulhaquerefat8585]

You read my mind, bro. Just shows how bad is pg era 😂.

[@kimmolaine8069]

I remember Deacon Batista fondly. Bodyguard of that huckster priest. D-Von: Testify!

[@kingwokester7324]

Mcintyre being a jobber band member would count as well.

[@SW51299]

Jinder was the first wwe champion from that group and the lead heath slater won nothing significant

[@kingwokester7324]

@@SW51299 But Jinder’s still a bum. He shouldn’t of been WWE champion in the first place.

[@SW51299]

@@kingwokester7324 I agree. My point is drew wasn't the 1st or only successful member of that group

[@JakeThatMan]

McIntyre being The Chosen One is a stronger pick.

[@jeremiahsmith2037]

There will only ever be 1 Golddust, but you gotta hand it to Cody for trying.

[@kaylabradshaw5972]

Stardust was actually good and it could still be al alter ego for cody, the dark side. Just like Fin balor has the "demon " side.

[@tovolume]

@@kaylabradshaw5972 Or TJP's dark side alter ego from NJPW in his Aswang gimmick (based on The Philippines mythology) is another one besides, Suicide and Manik

[@kaylabradshaw5972]

@@tovolume Spot on!

[@DJDoubleCee]

Did anybody know that Stone Cold’s name was originally gonna be Chilly McFreeze? That would have been hilarious to see 😆

[@fredtott4684]

I kinda wanna hear Jim Ross screaming: "McFreeze, McFreeze, McFreeze!!!".

[@jaycerrito3142]

Chilly McFreeze sounds like a McDonald's version of a slurpee or a fruit smoothie

[@caribbeanpharoah9269]

Don’t be silly, hang out with Chilly

[@tovolume]

Other names are Otto Von Ruthless, Fang McFrost, Ice Dagger

[@irishspagetti6565]

it's the most genius character name ever in wrestling Stone Cold Steve Austin that is

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Bray Wyatt was way better off as Cult Leader one . RIP

[@ko-rp7ge]

I liked the cult leader gimmick and that's the one I grew up with. I stopped watching wrestling and came back to him as the fiend and was confused.

[@BuckyJordan-lt4di]

@@ko-rp7ge literally me i love him as the cult leader

[@elijahlizinho7384]

His Cult Leader persona was amazing and I kinda enjoyed his Fiend character, but I wasn't into Firefly House. Imagine Bray Wyatt The Cult Leader once in a while in a big match bring up the Fiend

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Kane was clearly Jim Cornette's creation . Kudos to him for saving Kane's career

[@cliffordjackson3]

FACTS.

[@ajboss924]

​@cliffordjackson3 Only person in this video who should've stayed ruin was la trash. Because his current character is no better

[@Makainternational]

@@ajboss924with everybody saying L A Knight YEEAAAAAAH

[@joshdelagarza231]

Bruce Prichard created the Kane character, including the name and backstory. Jim Cornette helped Glenn Jacobs form the mannerisms and in ring persona.

[@ajboss924]

@Makainternational Oh please! La trash is nth but a overhyped shi*ty wrestler. And that dumb catchphrase is just a ripoff of Daniel Bryan's yes chant. The only is is he just says yes differently. Ps And no nobody hurt me. I'm just stating facts

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Cody Rhodes easily reinvented himself as main event player

[@zanethind]

Yeah same with Drew McIntyre

[@zanethind]

Same with Triple H too

[@thegameking3931]

​@@zanethindno triple h was always destined to be main event guy he wasn't jobber or mid card one half his career like drew and Cody were in early 2010s and late 2000s

[@zanethind]

@@thegameking3931 but the aristocrat gimmick felt like he was in the midcard and the he lost to Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania with that gimmick too

[@thegameking3931]

@@zanethind I mean he was just a beginner at that point and it was 90s what you expect even Rocky malviya was looking like jobber that time I watched 96 rumble where he got eliminated like how a midcard or jobber eliminate from rumble and no one cares but who knows he would've become biggest name of the WWE in future the rock. Problem with drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes were they already treated as superstar but Cody was midcarder and drew was jobber until they leaved WWE repacked themselves as top guys in other business then coming in wwe again as rebranding to become top guy of company.

[@oscarj.velasco3998]

i'm glad batista ditched the deacon gimmick. if he had stuck with that persona, he would've never achieved the success that he would recieve in wwe.

[@BeyondDaX]

His return run didn't work all that well though

[@tovolume]

@@BeyondDaX Nope, but his second run in the WWE when he returned from 2018-2019 is better, and he got a massive cheers this time around so, Dave Batista was happy and satisfied he concluded his wrestling career after Wrestlemania 35

[@LumisKnight]

Had no idea that Bray had used the sister Abigail as Husky

[@TheDCGuitar13]

Deacon Batista was probably when he was his most massive but 2004-2005 was when he was the best combo of lean and ripped

[@ryuno2097]

I totally forgot Batista played that decon character. I've always remembered him starting in Evolution . When i saw that Decon Batista match, the memory started coming back because I did watch those matches. 😂

[@jona3180]

i remember when they separated the dudleyz and paired d-von with deacon batista. i was like, this dude is jacked and looks scary as f*ck, but you could tell the entire time he looked so uncomfortable doing that gimmick. Glad it ended up working out for him in the long haul.

[@user-em6ie2be7x]

Honestly John Cena as The Doctor of Thuganomics was his All Time Greatest Gimmick.

[@BeyondDaX]

Pretty much, he should have kept the gimmick

[@davecalderdalelufc8173]

I agree 👍

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Dolph Ziggler is underrated star

[@balabak221]

wrong...the worst wrestler

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

John Cena needs to bring Dr of Thuganomics character for one time only

[@Chocolatesauce._]

He brought it back at wrestlemania a few years ago but it didn’t get a good pop pretty sure most people at the time had just completely forgot about it

[@thaigei3538]

Will forever appreciate Steph for helping cena

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Stone Cold 3:16 catchphrase is still iconic

[@SIR562]

D-Con Batista as you pronounce it was memorable to me lol I always remember when he would come out as that character

[@mindfreaktsa7680]

Wish it was only the Husky Harris character that died and not the man... R.I.P Bray, Future Hall of Famer for sure!!!

[@parakeet8157]

Some of the STRANGEST storylines. BTW....Vince Russo still on that staff????

[@thebasketballhistorian3291]

Though a tag team legend, it's crazy that D-von Dudley as a singles wrestler was beating Cena while having Batista be his assistant.

[@zinniaq3020]

What about Mark Henry’s Chocolate gimmick?

[@cubah1]

Sexual chocolate was kinda over I feel

[@zinniaq3020]

It was meant to humiliate him into terminating his contract

[@JT-jt420]

​@zinniaq3020 It didn't work........

[@ragharan3383]

Batista's deacon character was pretty lame but later finding out he was Leviathan in OVW some demon type character I could see them slowly turning the preacher gimmick into some sort of demon but hanging out with flair as a cool badass was definitely a better move.

[@ceegk3071]

Honorable Mentions: 1. Sting going from Surfer Sting to The crow Sting 2. Hulk Hogan’s Hulkamania persona ( was becoming stale) to NWO Hollywood Hogan

[@chibinya]

Not humiliating gimmicks, but hot ones that had run out of steam.

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Rock as Nation character was underrated

[@constablekennedy7705]

The Natalya Farting gimmick should have lasted longer 😂😂😂

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Lol

[@Chichimee]

Based

[@PoeticProphetic]

D-Con Bautista??? It’s pronounced Dee-Kin

[@WhackedoutCookie]

10:26 whoever did the captions for “didn’t want” and “did want” completely backwards

[@craigcarlock8910]

Hats off to Batista for getting over because his original gimmick was absolutely dreadful

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

LA Knight is still huge over with fans . He needs to win this years MITB this time

[@judeelaman1902]

I agree. He can do the RVD cash in.

[@Matthew-oq1hx]

😂😂nah his downfall needs to be studied ever since the feud wit Roman wwe don’t know how to book him

[@Kritacul]

LA Knight is clearly one of the best to get out of that sort of stuff.

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Yep

[@cliffordjackson3]

FACTS.

[@ajboss924]

@Kritacul La trash sucks and is overrated asf. Even his catchphrase is just a ripoff of Daniel bryan yes. Only difference he just says yes differently. So I really wanna know what's so great about that guy

[@DevanteMcDaniel]

Yeah, now he's just a copycat of The Rock & Stone Cold! 🙄

[@ajboss924]

@Kritacul La trash is nth but a overhyped shi*ty wrestler. Even his dumb catchphrase is just a ripoff of Daniel Bryan's yes chant. The only is is he just says yes differently

[@RecordGuy2024YT]

what about people who didn’t surrive

[@andrewmoore7927]

List would be too long to cover.

[@ryuno2097]

​@@andrewmoore7927he better cover it then. Make it in multiple parts, doesn't need to be in 1 video . Chop chop.

[@mistasofly]

Modecai Mantaur Paul Burchill's "Pirate" gimmick Kizarny Beaver Cleavage Rob Conway "Look At Me" Kevin Thorne "Vampire" and for good measure "The ECW Zombie." Feel free to add to this list...

[@NorthWolfRising]

​@mistasofly Paul Burchill's pirate gimmick was the best thing he did. The whole incest angle he did after that wrecked his career.

[@ghxst2051]

Shock master

[@JamesNelson-j4j]

Dolph Ziggler said he absolutely hated The spirit squad gimmick

[@MKDrums22]

I didn’t even realize that was him!

[@davecalderdalelufc8173]

RIP Bray. 1 of the best gimmicks ever!

[@Bzzy225]

R.I.P Bray Wyatt. Gone too soon man

[@NecromancyLabz]

As someone who watched the Ruthless Aggression Era in my teens, I can honestly say I don't remember anyone hating the Deacon Batista gimmick back then. If anything we were all excited to see where he'd go/if he'd be pushed.

[@emmanuele7441]

Vince really be having his wrestlers do the humiliation ritual 🤣🤣🤣

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Chad Gable is wrestling machine

[@Cooljohn760]

True I Honestly the Shorty G gimmick. I thought it was a mix of Kurt angle and Rey mysterio combined.

[@cubah1]

They should just present chad the way they did Kurt angel. He has the the skills to do it.

[@MichealHeckman-m2r]

They originally stuck bray Wyatt with a backwoods hillbilly gimmick. In the first place bray Wyatt isn't a hillbilly. They just wanted to make fun of him and I don't think that was nice.

[@BeyondDaX]

It worked for him anyway

[@DJDoubleCee]

Back when Cody was Stardust, I would’ve never believed that he’d be headlining WrestleMania one day 😆😆😆

[@EugeneKennett-xl4nj]

Cody wasn't Stardust...his brother Dustin was

[@patriciawatson-roberts81573]

@@EugeneKennett-xl4nj Cody was Stardust and Dustin was Goldust

[@BeyondDaX]

@DJDoubleCee You can thank Tony Khan, the Cucamunga kids and Kenny Olivie for treating him so bad that he returned to the WWE

[@EugeneKennett-xl4nj]

​@@patriciawatson-roberts81573ty for correcting me..I was wrong

[@aaronmcclellan12345]

Laugh it up Vince McMahon

[@jeffv4969]

As a Chad Gable fan, especially since his NXT "Ready Willing and Gable" days, I HATED the Shorty G character change.

[@Sorrus-B4lyfe]

The idea of Rikishi and Rey sitting on the back of the bus rapping… then John Cena makes his unofficial debut.

[@joemomma3208]

Hunter Hearst Helmsley was another horrible gimmick before he became HHH!

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

DX really saved him

[@jaycerrito3142]

How random yet funny that Triple H went from a sophisticated fancy man from Connecticut to a jean wearing crotch chopping green wearing delinquent

[@BeyondDaX]

@@tamzidmohsinkhan3333 That and he 'hulk hogan' his way into his success and into marrying Stephanie

[@AustinDickerson2001Tiger]

Some people in the business still refer to or address him as Hunter.

[@user-em6ie2be7x]

Natalya calling herself The Boat...how she didn't die of Cringe is beyond comprehension.

[@Pablo-p9y2f]

Deacon Batista was pretty cool though 😂

[@Dr_1212]

Can't believe all the bs WWE has done & still survived there million scandals

[@Dr_1212]

@MizoGkuk 🤦‍♂️

[@joseph906]

Undertaker survived a ridiculous gimmick. But in all fairness, it was a cool gimmick. But still... They really made it work for over a decade. I don't think anyone else could make it work like that.

[@cagv7297]

Who's the diva standing next to Cody @ 9:42? Haven't watched WWE in almost 15 years

[@mandabathiram407]

Brandi Rhodes , His Wife 😮

[@kazallroberts]

Here's my list 10. Batista: Deacon Batista 9. Kane: Dr. Isaac Yankem DDS & Fake Diesel 8. "Badass" Billy Gunn: Rockabilly 7. Bray Wyatt: Husky Harris 6. LA Knight: Max Dupri 5. Dolph Ziggler: Nicky 4. R-Truth: K-Kwik 3. Chad Gable: Shorty G 2. Headbanger Mosh: Beaver Cleavage & Chaz 1. Roman Reigns: The Big Dog Honorable Mentions 1. John Cena: Power-Hungry Babyface Rookie 2. The Rock: Rocky Maivia 3. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin: The Ring Master 4. Cody Rhodes: Stardust 5. The Godfather: The Goodfather

[@Omarfitzroy]

The Goodfather was pretty…good

[@kazallroberts]

@@Omarfitzroy No it wasn't

[@kenterminateddq5311]

I'm surprised Wrestlelamia didn't mentioned Natalya's laughing gimmick or her bizarre farting gimmick. Luckily, Nattie Neidhart is regarded as one of the most respectful superstars in the women's locker room for years.

[@larrymarshall8900]

But she treated like an afterthought she's definitely should have some more title runs before she retires. Nattie deserve better!

[@tovolume]

I think her other gimmick is not that bad, where she is a mean cat vibe to her

[@gerrygarvey6792]

De-con is mouse poison.

[@ThatGingerGamerr]

Is it me or does it seem like I’ve always seen different versions of these lists. I always know what’s gonna be in the video

[@zanethind]

Honourable mention: Drew McIntyre. His first run didn't work and he has to be apart of 3mb but once he got released and reinvented himself on the indies when he returned to WWE in 2017 he was like a million bucks

[@amphetamean66X]

I'm glad Cody never gave up. I always thought Golddust wasn't really for him. I hope as the American Nightmare he wins the championship this year.

[@user-em6ie2be7x]

Austin Theory taking Selfies.

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Lol that selfie was lame . Tyler Breeze ripoff

[@ajboss924]

@user-em6ie2be7x Austin Theory sucks in general. He needs to leave wwe

[@ajboss924]

@tamzidmohsinkhan3333 Exactly! I always said that too. Im glad someone has the same opinion of him just being nth but a Tyler breeze ripoff. And he's also shitty wrestler

[@HyperActive7]

You forgot the Undertaker getting Mean Mark Callous which threw him out of WCW and there was no guarantee the mortician gimmick was going to work, but somehow he made it his own and the rest is history!

[@ultimatejoshiewoshieness]

why was there nothing between the Kane & Rock segments?

[@Gunnar-knox]

I actually remember being scared of a Dr Yankem promo. I was 5 or maybe 6.

[@user-em6ie2be7x]

Cody Rhodes - Stardust

[@Stv101streamer]

I STILL don't understand how they can make these decisions as gimmicks. Million dollar, publicly traded company, ppl

[@23Revan84]

Thanks god for Kane, we could have nearly missed out on a great character. I will be honest I would be embarrassed to have played a fake Diesel.

[@salsathemonkey22]

1:09 me losing an online argument

[@TheMan_BigBeef]

Based

[@LindelweMavimbela]

Vince always made it clear that he didn't see light sized and short guys as superstar material...First with Rey not being allowed to take the title home and then Gable with the Shorty G thing....look at them now 2 big names

[@MrMG-il5hv]

The Stardust gimmick seems like a type gimmick that would’ve been pretty fun if it had only lasted like about a month or two but because it got dragged on the gimmick became just bad

[@donedeald8882]

Imagine the guys with crappy gimmicks that they didn’t give a second chance too

[@HeroToxiko]

it's wild how steve went to ecw, returned and came back with the personality of sandman with the wrestling ability of mikey whipreck.

[@BryanBrown-z5z]

Best "overcoming a stupid gimmick" award winner is.....Damien Sandow.

[@chibinya]

What did he do after? I think just got fired.

[@jacobhicks3016]

I liked husky Harris when he was in nexus the were just way too big of a faction so not many of them really got much mic time

[@07kilswitch]

We need reverse video of this 10 superstars starting with amazing gimmicks that didnt cut it

[@dpg154]

Cody doing that Stardust cartwheel when he returned was so good 🤣👏

[@PrettyboyAshtun]

think about all the good wrestlers who suffered through bad gimmicks and could’ve went on to be the next batista

[@Bino9898]

Legit took me the entire segment to realize he was saying "deacon" Batista, not "D-Con" 😂

[@Sunprism]

Batista COMMITTED to that Deacon gimmick though, I loved watching him obsessively protect the alms

[@SquizbarDeAlienOfficial]

Love your lists Mr Lamia 😂.

[@jbrone1965]

Had no clue Bray Wyatt used Sister Abigail back in the Nexus days.

[@warriorjgamer]

John cenas gimmick was probably one of the most needed changes at that time there was no one doing what he was doing as the dr of thuganomics i also feel like thr rocky maivia gimmick would have worked more now then back then

[@drakusmero104]

1:38 is that supposed to be Husky Harris in front of Bray? If so, that's pretty badass

[@Sam-fp1cd]

Although he didn't have a humiliating gimmick per se, Drew Mcintyre is a honorable mention. Dudes comeback is on the same level as Cody Rhodes tbh.

[@stevegallo8483]

Mark Henry being "Sexual Chocolate" definitely qualifies. So does Triple H's time as "the Greenwich Blue Blood" Hunter Hearst Helmsley before becoming part of Degeneration X.

[@jesseramirez1342]

The DE KAHN Batista killed me haha.!!!! Maybe in Europe y’all pronounce it that way.

[@robbjohnsonmedia]

Survived is a strong word. It's the Superstars who pay their duos and work hard to get that money gimmick.

[@MrNiceVoice]

I'm surprised Triple H isn't on this list. Going from one of the goofiest and most loathed gimmicks in Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Jean Paul Levesque to being The Game, the Cerebral Assassin Triple H and one of the leaders of D-Generation X is quite a feat.

[@Hostile2430]

Seth Rollins has been best in ring worker in WWE in New Era or whatever it's called He delivered some of the best matches against Reigns,Cody,Orton,Cena,Brock and Triple H.

[@mrjayk1982]

I’ll give you one you forgot to mention. A zombie mortician aka The Undertaker. Turned what should have been dreadful into arguably the greatest character in wrestling History. But if you think about it, it really should have been dreadful

[@Azymyth]

Looking at Bray Wyatt's "feud" with Undertaker as positive is being generous. I was one-side as Bray was promoing to a brick wall because Undertaker wasn't there. It really should have Taker's retirement/passing the torch

[@johnleslie8174]

“Evilution”😂😂😂bruh how do you BUTCHER that word so hard

[@AnEternalEnigma]

We went to a Smackdown house show in May 2002 when he was still Deacon Bautista (yes, with a U). He wrestled Hugh Morrus. In the first minute, his slacks completely ripped in the crotch and we could tell it threw him off. He wanted to get out of there ASAP.

[@RoofboxCamping]

Kane was the best changeover 🔥

[@IceSkull5]

The best thing Husky did, was his feud with Jacob Cass....

[@Rockhound6165]

Not for nothing but when Glen Jacobs was Unabomb it could have worked with a different name as he was essentially Kane in different gear. He had a decent match against Undertaker when he was in SMW but yeah he took the Kane gimmick and ran with it. There are others you missed like Fatu, Making a Difference then the Sultan which both flopped. Remaking him as Rikishi was great. And the WWF really tried to kill Mike Shaw's career with gimmicks like Bastion Booger and Friar Ferguson. But he'll always be Norman the Lunatic to me.

[@marcrichardson517]

REALLY surprised HHH wasn’t on this list somewhere…

[@HeelSection3825]

Just Husky Harris? I never figured out what ANY of Bray Wyatt's gimmicks were supposed to mean.

[@Stinkycur]

It says 1 view when I clicked on this video

[@Adam5boro]

40 years of wrestlemania edition still shows the standard edition Cody cover art on Xbox, not sure if PS and PC have the same issue.

[@thebasketballhistorian3291]

A lot of bad gimmicks came from the "New Generation" era: Rocky Maivia, isaac Yankem, The Ringmaster, Hunter Hearst, etc. Razor Ramon was one of the few good ones, half of which was cuz he was an anti-hero.

[@Those_Weirdos]

There needed to at least be SOME acknowledgement of Stunning Steve Austin.

[@IamLegendaryguy1998]

👍 original host guy

[@ZeeshanRFQ]

Props to Stephanie for low-key saving John Cena.

[@AustinDickerson2001Tiger]

Cody Rhodes is always the best as The American Nightmare. It definitely fits his wrestling style without a doubt.