10 Forgotten Gimmick Changes That Saved Careers

Every wrestler to endure a gimmick change is hoping to improve their career moving forward. WWE and every other major promotion have had countless talents making drastic changes. An entire character being overhauled or replaced can lead to huge success, huge failure, or anything in between. Everyone talks about the failed changes since those are more memorable.

However, there has been a list of names that saved their careers with an upgrade. Quite a few scenarios have rarely been talked about throughout the years. Sometimes an angle or booking decision will fly under the radar. Each of the following wrestlers had a forgotten gimmick change to save their careers.

10 Heath Slater

WWE always treated Heath Slater as a lower-card comedic heel character going back to the 3 Man Band days. Slater was the only one of those three wrestlers to remain employed after the gimmick failed and WWE decided to change things up.

The comedic character continued for Slater until he embraced a realer side. Slater trying to get a job after the 2016 brand split and expressing he’s got kids turned into a hot act. The new babyface passion within the comedy saw Slater teaming with Rhyno to become the first-ever SmackDown Tag Team Champions.

9 Ivory

The women’s division had much less time for the talents to get spotlighted or break out in the Attitude Era. Ivory was among the rare credible female talents when WWE was opting to hire more models without experience.

WWE struggled to find a noteworthy role for Ivory until she joined the Right to Censor faction and embraced the new heel act. Ivory changed her look to fit the faction and became a tremendous heel character to feud with beloved faces Chyna and Lita.

8 EC3

Wrestlers joining TNA after WWE had a big opportunity to rebuild their careers if the WWE run ended poorly. Derrick Bateman was the name used by EC3 in WWE when his lackluster run featured comedy moments on secondary shows.

TNA completely changed it up with the EC3 gimmick playing into being the nephew of Dixie Carter. The arrogant heel act worked, and EC3 was still able to mix in his comedic side. This ended up being the peak of EC3’s career before a failed WWE return and an embarrassing launch of his own promotion Control Your Narrative.

7 Hardcore Holly

Many fans forget that Hardcore Holly was a gimmick change after spending years with a previous character. WWE had Bob Holly playing a NASCAR driver that fit into the old New Generation Era style of having occupations as gimmicks.

The act grew quite old as WWE entered the Attitude Era and everyone had a more authentic or violent side. Hardcore Holly was a gimmick change after changing up his look and embracing violence. WWE booked Holly as a main player in the hardcore division of 24/7 rules.

6 Brandon Cutler

One of the more recent career-saving gimmick changes to fly under the radar featured Brandon Cutler in AEW. The friendship between Cutler and The Elite was always referenced as a close personal friend of the Young Bucks for decades.

However, Cutler was not standing out during his losing streak gimmick that mostly took place on Dark and Elevation. The change into a full stooge sidekick for The Elite when they turned heel made him more entertaining. Even with the face shift, Cutler is a great addition to their matches and a more enjoyable part of Dark shows.

5 Bobby Lashley

The start of Bobby Lashley’s WWE return went poorly in the first few years with a few high-profile stinkers. Lashley’s face run fell apart after feuding with Sami Zayn in a brutal program embarrassing him. The pivot to a heel turn and eventually marrying Lana was an even bigger disaster.

Lashley and Rusev both ended up worse for their love triangle with Lana. WWE thankfully changed course when Lashley left Lana to add MVP as his new manager. MVP adding that missing piece for Lashley and the Hurt Business forming led to him reaching that main event status for the first time in WWE.

4 Eric Young

TNA splitting up the hated Team Canada faction led to them all going their separate ways. There was hope for Bobby Roode and Petey Williams quickly breaking out. However, Eric Young was in an odd place trying to find his ideal character.

A gimmick change from being another heel figure to a paranoid comedic face character saved his career. Young started to get strong ovations and became a successful comedy character. TNA witnessed EY forming a connection with the audience and eventually thriving in bigger roles.

3 Santino Marella

WWE debuted Santino Marella with a huge push as a show in Italy. The Raw episode featured Santino getting picked from the crowd to challenge Umaga for the Intercontinental Championship.

Bobby Lashley helping Marella win was supposed to start a strong face run. However, fans in the United States ended up turning on Santino with boos. Umaga was even cheered like a hero for squashing Marella in future matches. WWE turned Santino heel into the hilarious heel buffoon that led to a lengthy run of relevance.

2 Faarooq

Ahmed Johnson v Faarooq Royal Rumble 1997 Cropped

WWE signing Ron Simmons after his WCW tenure had fans expecting another new main eventer. Simmons was a former WCW Champion making history as the first black world champion in either WCW or WWE at the time.

Things started off rough for his new persona of Faarooq with the awful gladiator gimmick wearing baby blue gear and being managed by Sunny. WWE realizing this was failing led to a bolder change leading the Nation of Domination. The faction became a strong part of the show and made Faarooq a top-three heel in the company at his peak.

1 Jeff Jarrett

Jeff Jarrett bouncing back and forth between WWE and WCW led to fans growing tired of him. The country music singing gimmick worked in the New Generation Era, but Jarrett played a more generic version of his heel act afterward.

WWE was the company that pitched a big change when Jarrett embraced a more crash-style of wrestling. Jarrett entering his “don’t piss me off” phase led to him using the guitar as a weapon and getting a shorter haircut. This change saved Jarrett’s career and led to his career improving in the short and long term.