Wrestlers Who Brought Back Their Old Gimmicks & Characters

[@timbartschwolfman]

I had a crappy day at work but thankfully this video is helping me out

[@ninjapirate47]

Always a good thing to come home to. Hope your time at work picks up, brother. Nothing worse than a shitty day at work. Still, ya home now eh and we always get to come home!

[@WickedFireBird69]

Undertaker coming back as The Deadman at WMXX is legendary, but i think the bolder move was to end his career as Big Evil. While it was never expressly stated that's what he was doing in The Boneyard, it felt like he was a fusion of ALL his gimmicks, which is what Big Evil kind of was after American Badass. It was also a fitting ending to his career and acknowledged how far he had come since his introduction.

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

You knew big evil was gonna die that Night.😂

[@rage9715]

Have to Glenn some credit he carried the hype/promos leading to the most insane returns I have witnessed live on PPV.

[@jonlester62]

The giant robot monsters forced Double J to bring back the country music gimmick just to distract Steve Blackman

[@plo2701]

We were just 6 short weeks away from Glacier being involved in the Invasion storyline 😢

[@ozzman322]

You should do a part 2…really enjoyed this episode

[@dyrr836]

That Madusa/Alundra Blaze story has such a great ending for how chaotic it was. She was definitely way ahead of her time, so it was cool to see her get to square up with the performers that carried on the torch from her.

[@robertkomninos4220]

I really appreciate this long explanation of Mick Foleys career, thank you!

[@gravitykat714]

El genérico retired to Mexico to run an orphanage. That’s where Kevin steen went to help his old rival

[@PlzTouchMEHard]

Steen went to the buffet

[@bdot187um]

While I appreciated hulk going old school in 99, he should've updated the look, a few years later he got it all the way right when he cameback to the wwf, his gear was goated (an homage to superstar) which is way better than the funky look he was going for in wcw,the presentation was better, having voodoo as an entrance theme didn't hurt & the hybrid look between red & yellow hulkamania with Hollywood's edge made it legendary.

[@NcWcN1]

Red-and-yellow Hulk did borrow a thing or two from Hollywood (his white sunglasses) on early 2000 (see his promos leading to his Yappapi Strap Match against Flair). Conversely, very early Hollywood borrowed his black weightlifting belt (with white "Hulkster") from when Hulk turned dark at the end of 1995--although this was because the nWo still did not have its trademark graphics yet.

[@RACISTHULKHOGAN]

@bdot187um I am humbled by your love dude. Luv u my brother HH

[@bdot187um]

@@NcWcN1 I hated that whole run plus the weird & constant character changes, he should've stuck with one of em & kept the look contemporary cause having him wrestle in tights in 99/2000 was crazy, & yeah i noticed those lil changes from darkside hogan to early Hollywood but that gradual change he had from 96 to 97 was great.

[@j.menapace625]

Fun fact: the original "Cactus Jack" was John Nance Garner-- the congressman from Texas who went on to become both the Speaker of the House and the 32nd Vice President of the United States during FDR's first and second terms. Not sure if Foley intended any homage to the man when he created his own "Cactus Jack" character, but at the very least it's an interesting coincidence.

[@SteelyBud]

Now that's an interesting tidbit!

[@theoverunderthinker]

cool detail!

[@BrianM_3rd]

I listened to the audiobook of his first biography a few years ago, and I think he mentioned Cactus Jack as having been taken from one of his dad's favourite Westerns.

[@matthewsmith5374]

@@BrianM_3rdthat movie is the 1979 dud “The Villain” starring Kirk Douglas, Anne Margret and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[@brandonperkins176]

Hogan has the best metamorphosis in wrestling from red & yellow babyface to the black & white heel

[@JLvatron]

Yup. He was the greatest babyface and the greatest heel in wrestling history.

[@SA-rf8zk]

He was a natural heel in a lot of ways. Also his moveset had some very heelish moves. Just gutted I only really seeing nwo via rtw but they got stale very quick

[@RACISTHULKHOGAN]

@@JLvatrondaddy I am in tears over your love brother. Love u maniac HH

[@LRM5195]

Heel Hogan >>>

[@JLvatron]

@@LRM5195 Hollywood was the greatest wrestler Ever!

[@stingrey1571]

For Vince, he wanted to induct performers under their wwf gimmicks. Debra micelli went in as “alundra blayze”. Scott hall was inducted as “razor Ramon.” Vince wanted Kevin Nash to go in as “diesel”. He said no and would only go in as himself.

[@skrounst]

Wow, 123-Kid vs El Generico is a match I didnt know existed, and didnt know I needed in my life. Whole match, including entrances is on KZbin btw!

[@DukeRhodes]

Oh wow, I too thought I seriously need to watch that match immediately when this video brought it to the surface, and thanks for pointing out that it's available on KZbin, cheers mate.

[@skrounst]

@@DukeRhodes Ofc! He brought it to my attention, and I had a good time watching it. So I thought I'd let even more people know it's ease of access =] 🍻

[@DefaultProphet]

Glacier is literally why I started watching wrestling. 30 some odd years later with a bit of a gap im still here lol

[@joncrate5944]

I thought the Blood Runs Colder stuff was absolutely brilliant. He could have been basically a heel Hurricane. Just be like Kurt Angle expressing good guy values but acting the heel.

[@millerman8720]

Let’s not forget Hollywood Rock returned this past year

[@RAD1111able]

I feel like it was more of a theme return than character.

[@Amberlynn_Reid]

I feel like it was more of a theme return than a character.

[@shinanimedubs1269]

I feel like it was more of a theme return than character.

[@ZaklnGritch]

I don't feel anything

[@machomusprime50]

It's not really Hollywood Rock. It's Final Boss Rock.

[@YoureNotReet]

Seeing Slappy happy makes me feel so crappy that I had to call my pappy then take a nappy

[@constablekennedy7705]

This doesn’t work for me Brotherrr

[@WesleyWilkins-qf2ky]

With all the steroids and at his age he probably is looking down at himself when he says that these days

[@marymary83436]

He's also like 70 and living a full life even with steroids.

[@mattmyers4924]

That's OK nwa d-rider. That works for basically everyone but you and a few "real" wrestling fans. Get over yourself.

[@Disxreet]

@@mattmyers4924huh?

[@antbanks415]

Adam pathetic?

[@sharmellkeane3924]

YES! Would LOVE LOVE LOVE PCO in TNA bring back X

[@TheOneEV2]

Here with he Bots! Hello WB! Thanks for the video! ✌️

[@17thN.O]

I love it when you talk about Glacier! I love watching your past videos on him.

[@dontbesuchamorty]

This video being released right when I get home from work?! That works for me, brother! 🎉

[@DoubleCee-kq6qd]

American Badass Undertaker was okay but I preferred his Deadman gimmick.

[@evandaymon8303]

American badass taker is really great. It's basically taker just playing as himself outside of the character. Though for us fans we can never truly forget the deadman that came before badass. Makes me wonder if he actually went through with retirement at that time. Since that gimmick was literally supposed to be the last ride. Time will tell i suppose.

[@tayojones9460]

Fun fact: HHH is the only wrestler to face all 3 faces of Foley. Mankind, Cactus Jack and Dude Love (Dude match took place during the one night only uk ppv).

[@monarched]

Didn't he also wrestle Foley(as himself)? Or am i mistaken?

[@jonezy1234]

​@@monarched If you count the fatal 4 way at Wrestlemania 2000 he definitely did. I'm not sure about singles matches though

[@roccojamison89gooker51]

Why couldn't Triple H revert back to the Connecticut Blueblood Hunter Hearst Helmsley?

[@All5Horizons]

What are the parameters? I’d assume both Road Dogg and Billy Gunn also faced all three of those

[@mikhailchugunov2964]

Rock, Mosh, D'lo and others faced all 3 faces of Foley during Royal Rumble 1998

[@zlinedavid]

10:50 Cactus Jack: Sadistic Dude Love: Hedonistic Mankind: Masochistic Mick Foley: Apotheotic

[@panoskakkavas4022]

A true legend .

[@Venemofthe888]

I was pissed when they turned Goldust heel in 2016 or 2017 and did nothing with him. It pissed me off so much cause i wanted to see the old Goldust again

[@garyv2498]

Looks like you have a lot of good ideas already for a Part 2, which of course I would love to watch.

[@jeyDsixx18]

1:20 young dustin and young Cody look exactly alike….never really saw the comparison between the 2 before but it’s definitely there in that pic…and I was at the rumble in 2011 when Nash entered as diesel and with zero hyperbole, I can honestly say the pop he got was approaching austin level. It doesn’t come thru on screen when I go back and watch it, but people lost their fn minds for him and booker t, as he returned from his stint in TNA.

[@LRM5195]

I was so disappointed when Hogan came out in the red & yellow again in 1999 😭 Was so happy to see the black and white back in 02 but dang it, it only lasted a month! 😡

[@BenedictNarwhal]

That's when I knew wwe fans would stick with the company regardless 😅 same dude would rip me for being a tna fan n them having old Nash in the mem, 3 years later he shows up in wwe and it's all fine

[@JackQSmith]

I can't help but think of the Blue Blazer, as unfortunate as that turned out.

[@PMDRODNEY]

Will patiently await part 2 😊

[@jacobbeyer1800]

Another banger of a video. Keep the quality up while staying fresh. :)

[@rickylucas6503]

Dusty creates Starrcade. Waltman-"I was there."

[@TalosFirstClaw]

Always a good day when Mr. Wrestling Bios posts

[@th3gr81]

5:23 I had no idea that Jacqueline was in the WWF in the New Generation era.

[@sharmellkeane3924]

Good idea for a video too 💓 gone off the rtw with all the "raw wins this week" no matter what stuff, but this is refreshing.

[@SA-rf8zk]

Have watched every RTW but find myself skipping thru a lot of it now , shame as well as it’s probably a slog to do and that’s why I make sure he gets my sub on patreon

[@seananthony7494]

You can put Toni Storm on this list, and I truly believe Timeless Toni Storm is gonna come back as well

[@4Redwall]

WCW Failed Glacier, Glacier DID NOT Fail WCW.

[@FusedRage]

I always laugh at how those plants with the BIg Daddy Cool sign were ashamed to show their faces. lmao

[@ShawnPhoenix]

It's kind of amazing that Sting drastically changed his look from the surfer look to the crow look, and never went back to the surfer gimmick.

[@azazaeldevile2506]

14:59 Cactus vs Randy orton was my first exposure to Cactus Jack gimmick.

[@NcWcN1]

14:54 Cactus Jack made a one-off appearance at the height of the Corporate Ministry storyline. On one RAW in June, HBK put matches together between Union and Corporate members, one of them being Foley (who started the night as Mankind) against Mideon and Viscera. One could tell that the decision was made on the spot as Cactus came out with a nondescript sleeveless black shirt instead of his trademark one.

[@burntvirtue]

Jarrett wasn't "a wrestler who was obsessed with Country music", he was a "Country music superstar who also wrestles". Remember this was the era of occupational gimmicks.

[@HardcoreRex]

I'm semi-early for a new Wrestling Bios video! I'm absolutely obsessed with your content, Ryan! Keep it up! 😊❤

[@jeremywilliams5141]

Honorable mentions: 1. Most recently, Toni Storm brought back her Rockstar persona on the Winter is Coming edition of AEW Dynamite. 2. John Cena has brought back his Doctor of Thuganomics character twice: in 2012 during his feud with The Rock and in 2019 at Wrestlemania 35 while confronting Elias.

[@tayojones9460]

Kane brought back his mask or at least a different version of the mask in 2012.

[@Bl913]

Cena also reprised the Doc role against Wyatt. For a little bit at least

[@vinnycochrane5139]

As always, a splendid and engaging video. This may be an unusual opinion, but I was very fond of Foley’s Dude Love persona, during the Austin / McMahon feud. I thought it was ingenious.

[@InTheKM]

Part 2 is absolutely required.

[@WesleyWilkins-qf2ky]

When that Rosanne theme music hit at the royal rumble I was shocked big sexy went back to that gimmick

[@smiththers2]

i always liked nash as diesel... he seemed a little too "loose" and carefree in wcw as just kevin nash.

[@NJ973201]

Note on The Kid, he used to wrestle at some indies as 6 Pac, probably because WWE owned the X-Pac name. I remember one of his appearances being at FIP in Florida, back when Gabe Sapolsky was it's booker (fun fact for original ROH fans, he was booking both at the same time).

[@KiddAlways]

i remember Cactus Jack in the 80s when WWF was using him as a jobber. didn't watch wrestling for almost a decade then i saw him as WWE champion and it was surreal.

[@RyanRumbles434]

Or it could be that Vince McMahon made them go back to their gimmick.

[@BrainDamage922]

I would like to see a part 2 to this.

[@DeadKoby]

Madusa didn't totally retire..... she does management and organization for NWA.

[@thunderstudent]

Arguably Hogan b4inging back the Red and yellow for his second WWE run was more memorable considering that it had been years since fans last saw him. So when he practically turned baby face during his match with The Rock it was the rebirth of Hulkamainia. With it after that match came the red and yellow. Granted his matches weren't anything to write home about, but it was a memorable run nonetheless.

[@buckyhate7695]

To be fair, the way Triple H sold the Cactus return cemented it. It was like he'd seen a ghost

[@chubbycatfish4573]

Did "Sexual Chocolate" Mark Henry ever make a comeback? If not, it needs to at least once.

[@derrickhaggard]

Yep during a RAW throwback Episode completed with an updated intro video with the classic Sexual Chocolate theme.

[@everythingstrength1485]

Mick Foley aka Cactus Jack is and will always be the most hardcore wrestler to ever walk this planet. Legendary status imo💯

[@BrianWoods-p2z]

Greensboro NC.. live 5 minutes from the coliseum

[@ollieduracell]

Uncle Dave chatting nonsense? 02:13 surely not

[@UncleEbenezer77]

Tbh, i wouldn’t mind if Cody eventually went back to Stardust for a run.

[@rayvenkman2087]

If Dustin Rhodes ever returns to the WWE, they could him be both Golddust, The Natural and all of his other faces for storyline reasons. Same for Cody going from his earliest iteration to his current version or in reverse. A spin on the Three Faces of Foley idea.

[@nicktaylor2657]

I would It basically killed his career If he hadn't left and came back he never would be World champ 😊

[@ginaxxgodgames9573]

I had no idea Sean Waltman brought back 1-2-3 Kid. That's pretty cool!

[@henrikschmidt3964]

I always thought it would have been a riot during the Invasion storyline, if they had the defectors from the WWF revert to their old WCW gimmicks. Imagine the heat of Steve Austin growing out his hair or having a wig. It would have been insane.

[@nicholaswidlewski8876]

Make a Part 2 to this!

[@imal25]

WILL SEE YOU ON THURSDAY FOR RELIVING THE WAR TIL THEN HAVE A GOOD NIGHT.

[@ShowTymeDollarS850]

U should do one where a wrestler never really changed at all.. same name, same look, same style.. pretty much their entire career.. like Warrior, Mysterio, Piper, Bret, RVD etc

[@MrPiragon]

Hell yeah time to do some laundry and watch some good wrestling videos

[@sukanyacole1882]

Eddie Edward’s rumored to bring back the lone wolf gimmick next year….

[@jongrella7015]

Glacier’s crowning achievement was being unlockable in an N64 game…. All my friends thought he was amazing because they didn’t watch wrestling

[@deathsnitemaresinfullust2269]

Dustin bringing back The Natural one more time before he's done would be awesome. 😄👍

[@robertlee9602]

That's the wall Brotha!!?

[@timtakhar]

“I digress” - someone’s a massive taz fan. Love the videos as usual. Merry Christmas and stay blessed

[@smiththers2]

4:22 the kid is roughing up the other guys hair just like Scott hall did back in the wwf days. i thought it was a nice throwback by waltman

[@SkylerDouglas]

Glacier returned as Glacier in Reality of Wrestling.

[@spiderphil]

The Catus Jack Theme 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@realwrighthill]

What is the song you used for Diesel?? Anyone got a link??

[@btbucks]

Nostalgia pop!

[@willsnyder4399]

Probably doesn't really count but I love the time Daniel Bryan ribbed Regal by playing the The Real Man's Man theme on Nov 11 2011 episode of Superstars

[@lavalley2018]

I think I speak for all of us when I say, WE WANT MORE GLACIER VIDEOS!!!!!!

[@jonmacintyre9905]

Yeah I don’t care what anyone says, Diesel was super cool.

[@IndianaBrad]

WWF missed the opportunity to use Jack Foley as one of Mick's alter egos. He could have done jobs to mid card guys at the start of the show, then main event as Cactus Jack or Mankind.

[@jasonmartinson7758]

Can’t wait to see Glacier return for the war!

[@Zhortac]

Tripple H kinda did this, after Evolution and "King of Kings" thing, going back to being The Game, until he retired from in ring action

[@EpiphanyCardCollector]

I still think of him as the 1 2 3 kid first always.

[@carlosv3108]

Should've also included Hogan returning to WWE in 2002 as NWO Hollywood Hogan and after the face pop he received at Mania X8, they no other choice then to switch him back to the red and yellow.

[@nicktaylor2657]

What about Thuganomic John Cena He came back at WrestleMania a few years ago to confront Elias and even though it was a watered down PG version to hear his old theme which was much better than the newer one was cool 😎

[@justbuggin67]

If only Waltman came back as the Lightning Kid.

[@dougwalker9286]

It took me quite a while to figure out that Dustin was Goldust

[@cjsher90]

I'm a Shoot fan of Glacier. Loved that guy as a kid

[@iamdb1990]

I still want to know what the point of Jeff Jarrett's strappy outfit thing was all about

[@eugenetognoli7561]

I don’t care what Dustin says “The Natural” theme song is second most catchy song a Rhodes use next to “Hee’s an American Dream”!!!

[@sloppycabi]

The secret is in the "cyclone" action, brother.

[@gerardsloan1593]

Nostalgia is powerful. Enough said. It can be profitable tapping into it. And there's nothing wrong with going what works for you. Opinions are my own. Have a good day reader.

[@MTThom-v3r]

Did you do it on your channel?

[@ricstormwolf]

I actually liked the 'Natural Dustin Rhodes' theme.

[@stevecarlisle2052]

It was a crime cactus Jack never had a wwf title run

[@NcWcN1]

Right? I would have given him the belt at No Way Out and have him lose it clean to HHH a week or two later... hell, even at Mania itself with a different take on the Fatal Four Way that happened IRL.

[@TroyDraws]

I always wanted sting to bring back his old surfer sting gimmick. But sadly he never did.

[@charliebrownnz1]

I would love to see Isaac Yankem appear during a royal rumble.

[@rickjames2.0]

Medusa was 15 years ahead of her time