The history of WWE is full of countless bad gimmicks since the company has been around so long. Many great gimmicks were used, but there were plenty more bad ones in the creative process. Almost every noteworthy wrestler will have to overcome some bad ideas and/or a bad gimmick or two.
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WWE has proved that wrestlers can outlive the disappointing character and survive with the right changes. However, that situation can also fall apart with the talent not being able to come back from it. Each side of the coin is worth exploring the drastic differences from similar stories. The following WWE wrestlers either survived bad a gimmick for success or had it define their entire careers.
10 Survived: Cody Rhodes
The Stardust chapter of Cody Rhodes’ career was a huge mistake that inspired him to request his release. Cody was worried that his career would be defined by a failed gimmick of his brother’s act, but WWE wouldn’t end it.
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The time away from WWE in Ring of Honor, New Japan and AEW proved that Rhodes was indeed a top star. Cody has returned in a massive role as he heads into the WrestleMania 39 main event vs Roman Reigns just a year into coming back to WWE.
9 Defined: Eugene
Nick Dinsmore was considered a great in-ring worker during his developmental stint, but that all went out the window for his gimmick. Eugene was the character WWE wanted when calling him up to essentially get cast into the role.
WWE booked Eugene as a lifelong fan with a mental handicap that was Eric Bischoff’s nephew becoming part of the show. Eugene did have matches or moments with names like Triple H, Kurt Angle, and The Rock, but it pigeonholed him into that act forever even after WWE lost faith.
8 Survived: Kane
Glen Jacobs received some of the worst gimmicks in wrestling history before things more than evened out for his legendary run as Kane. Isaac Yankem was a gimmick no one could have made work as Jerry Lawler’s evil dentist that tormented his patients.
WWE tried to give Jacobs another chance as the Fake Diesel since they loved his potential as a talent. Unfortunately, the Fake Diesel and Razor Ramon characters upset fans more than anything when WWE teased Scott Hall and Kevin Nash returning.
7 Defined: Adam Rose
WWE tried to push Adam Rose in both NXT and on the main roster with the same gimmick. Rose got over huge in NXT with the crowd engagement working to enhance his Exotic Express group of local talents coming to the ring with him.
Things were drastically different with Rose on the main roster. A combination of weaker booking and a flawed performer not being able to adapt made it a disaster. This was the end of Rose’s career since fans only viewed him as that gimmick no matter what he did.
6 Survived: The Godfather
Charles Wright had to experiment with a few different gimmicks before finding his biggest success as The Godfather. Papa Shango was the worst gimmick given to him as his WWE introduction could have easily killed most careers.
WWE loved the work ethic of Wright and gave him another chance as Kama Mustafa. A strong run in the Nation of Domination saw him adopting The Godfather nickname. WWE then pushed Godfather with his pimp gimmick that still is used on the WWE reunion shows today.
5 Defined: Paul Burchill
Paul Burchill was a talented prospect that WWE viewed as a potential future star. Unfortunately, this era of WWE featured their top prospects getting placed in the roles they wrote more than coming up with ideas for the talent.
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The pirate gimmick was a bad start, but it was the incest angle with Katie Lea Burchill that ruined his career. WWE introduced the brother and sister act with an implied romance, but they dropped it after a few weeks when going PG. Katie Lea rebounded in TNA, while Paul never was able to bounce back.
4 Survived: Batista
WWE booked Batista perfectly in Evolution and in his split with the group to feud with Triple H. However, there is an often forgotten chapter of Batista’s career that started things off rocky as Deacon Batista backing up Reverend D-Von.
The Dudley Boyz splitting up in the first brand split draft saw D-Von getting pushed as a heel on SmackDown with the new Reverend gimmick. Batista looked foolish doing his bidding until turning on D-Von and eventually joining Evolution.
3 Defined: Brodus Clay
The WWE career of Brodus Clay was a huge disappointment in the results vs the expectations. Clay originally debuted on the NXT brand with Alberto Del Rio as his pro and became his bodyguard for a short time.
WWE aired a lot of vignettes hyping up Brodus returning from an extended break portraying him as a tough villain. Clay instead returned as a dancing fan favorite with the Funkasaurus gimmick. The WWE run was so bad that NWA has been mocked for putting their world title on Brodus today.
2 Survived: Steve Austin
WWE lucked out that their original plans for Steve Austin did not define the rest of his career. Austin was originally the latest client of Ted DiBiase and adopted the new name of The Ringmaster. The hope was that DiBiase’s heat as a top heel would help Austin get over.
Fans saw through the act and couldn’t care about The Ringmaster. DiBiase leaving WWE allowed Austin to break away and get more time on the microphone. Austin cultivated his new Stone Cold gimmick to become arguably the biggest star in wrestling history.
1 Defined: Perry Saturn
Perry Saturn was one of the rare wrestlers to have noteworthy runs in WWE, WCW, and ECW. The WWE run featured Saturn jumping ship with three other wrestlers from WCW as The Radicalz. WWE even placed Terri Runnels as Saturn’s manager to help him stand out.
A bad gimmick was given to Saturn after hitting his head during a match and falling in love with a mop.
Saturn ditched Terri to start dating Moppy as a comedic face gimmick. The character ended up failing to take him off television and never get another relevant run after his release.
