10 WWE Character Transformations That Made No Sense
WWE has introduced numerous iconic characters to its audience over the years, some of whom went on to become the legendary wrestlers we know today. The success of a character depends on the wrestler's ability to adapt to changes and make necessary updates to the gimmick to relate to modern fans. Likewise, the WWE Universe has witnessed numerous character transformations take place on WWE television.
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While some of those transformations helped the wrestlers achieve great success in their careers, some failed to make their marks and turned into disappointments. With that said, let's take a look at ten WWE character transformations that made no sense.
10 Nikki ASH
Nikki Cross had a dark and deranged gimmick during her time in NXT, but after her call-up to the main roster, the creative slowly changed her character into a regular but hyperactive girl. It did help Cross win the Women's Tag Team Championships with Alexa Bliss and have a good run with the titles, but the character wasn't enough to help Cross branch out on her own as a singles performer.
She pitched the idea of a superhero-type gimmick to Vince McMahon and got his approval to re-establish herself as Nikki A.S.H. The gimmick did help her with the MITB contract and have a short run with the Raw Women's title, but it turned out to be over goofy for the audience, which resulted in Cross reverting to her NXT gimmick after a while.
9 Kerwin White
Chavo Guerrero made a drastic change to his character back in 2005 when he dyed his hair blond and renounced his Mexican heritage to become Kerwin White, a stereotypical, middle-class, white, conservative, Anglo-American man gimmick.
Guerrero also had Dolph Ziggler as his caddie during the storyline, and he entered into a rivalry with Shelton Benjamin. But the gimmick wouldn't last long as his uncle Eddie Guerrero's death later that year resulted in Chavo Guerrero reverting to his previous character.
8 Shorty G
Chad Gable and Jason Jordan were in the middle of a successful partnership as American Alpha and even had one run with the SmackDown Tag Team Championships when WWE took Jordan away for the Kurt Angle's long-lost son storyline.
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It left Chad Gable all alone on SmackDown, and after weeks of trying out various ideas for Gable, WWE chose to change his name to Shorty G. Gable then adopted an underdog-type role, which didn't suit him at all, and the fans also showed their dissent for the character change. It resulted in Gable forming Alpha Academy with Otis, and is doing good for himself on the main roster at present.
7 Reverend D-Von
After WWE chose to split the Dudley Boyz in the first brand split in 2002, D-Von Dudley got drafted to SmackDown and underwent a significant character change and reestablished himself as Reverend D-Von, the spiritual advisor for Vince McMahon.
WWE then paired a debuting Batista with him as Deacon Batista, but the gimmick didn't last after the latter turned on D-Von. The entire character turned out into a failed experiment, as the fans saw nothing of value with the gimmick, but it did help him pick up a singles victory over Triple H.
6 Lord Tensai
The current Head Trainer of the WWE Performance Center, Matt Bloom, is well-known for working under various names throughout his pro wrestling career. He worked under the names like Albert, A-Train, and Giant Bernard while he was an active in-ring competitor, and he introduced a new version of himself in Lord Tensai when he made his return in 2012.
The character proved to be successful in the beginning as Tensai picked up huge victories against the likes of John Cena and CM Punk. But the character had no value, and it eventually led the gimmick to become a comedic act with Santino Marella.
5 Drew McIntyre In 3MB
Drew McIntyre had all it takes to become a main event performer during his original days with the Chosen One gimmick. But his stock in the company fell like a pack of cards, which led to WWE repackaging McIntyre as a comedy act and paired him with Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal to form the 3-MB faction.
It was a total demotion for McIntyre, as the fans couldn't see a wrestler of his caliber do awkward dance moves in the ring. It eventually led to his release from the company in 2014, and he went on to reinvent himself in the indies before making a return in 2017.
4 Stardust
Following the end of the Legacy faction with Randy Orton and Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes set out on his own path and enjoyed decent success, and even captured the Intercontinental Championship. However, WWE got the bizarre idea of giving Cody Rhodes a complete makeover and gave him a gimmick similar to that of his brother Goldust's and made Rhodes debut as Stardust.
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The pointless change resulted in Rhodes acting out all crazy like his brother, and it eventually led to him leaving the company in 2016. The fact that this followed an intense, emotional storyline involving the tag titles made the transformation sting even more. He reinvented himself outside the company and made a triumphant return at WrestleMania 38 and is now all set to main event WrestleMania 39 with Roman Reigns.
3 Sister Abigail
During Bray Wyatt's original cult leader gimmick, he often mentioned his deceased sister Abigail. Wyatt started speaking about Sister Abigail as an entity that's guiding him at first, but WWE chose to make it into an alter ego of Wyatt during his feud against Finn Balor in 2017.
While the fans expected a female member of the roster to appear as Sister Abigail, WWE made it into Wyatt's alter-ego, as mentioned earlier, and even had him cut a promo with the new gimmick. The change felt completely unnecessary, and WWE felt the same way after a while and kicked out the entire transformation storyline.
2 Elias To Ezekiel To Elias
Elias went on a hiatus after teasing the end of his guitarist character back in July 2021. He returned to the company with an interesting change to his character as he shaved off his facial hair and re-debuted as Ezekiel, and claimed he was Elias' long-lost brother.
The change seemed completely unnecessary and childish, and it soon came to a crashing end after Kevin Owens attacked Ezekiel. Now Elias is back with his old gimmick, prompting the fans to ask why did he change characters in the first place, even if it was more entertaining than it had any right to be.
1 Butch
Former NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne had a good brash and tough gimmick, which he portrayed throughout his run in NXT and NXT UK. However, his main roster call-up came with a twist as WWE renamed him Butch and made him a short-tempered character, and aligned him with Sheamus and Ridge Holland to form the Brawling Brutes.
Coupled with a change of attire, the fans were perplexed to see what Pete Dunne had become on the main roster. But things changed a bit when Triple H took charge as he gave back Dunne's old attire while still retaining the Butch name.