20 Original WWE Character Concepts You Won’t Believe
The Rock, Shawn Michaels and Triple H go back to the drawing board...
Chilly McFreeze. Ice Dagger. Fang McFrost.
Everybody knows these names - if they can generously be referred to as such - from the times Stone Cold Steve Austin has told the story of WWE's responses to his request for a brand akin to serial killer Richard Kuklinski's 'Ice Man' nickname. Though pleased with the company taking the time to invest in his future, he sat at home depressingly mulling over what the next few years would even look like when his wife told him to drink his "stone cold" tea.
It was the first of three crucial acts of happenstance in mid-1996 that changed his life. Austin wasn't supposed to win the King Of The Ring, and wasn't supposed to draw comparisons to the bible in his victory promo but one begat the other thanks to Triple H's 'Curtain Call' naughty and a Michael Hayes nod that Jake Roberts had invoked the bible in his own promo.
Austin's story isn't unfamiliar. There are many that don't get the best from the creative machine and still manage to prosper in spite of it. Stars of tomorrow can be assured that the first draft doesn't have to be the final one...
20. Yokozuna
Like several others on this list, WWE were remarkably close to their end product with the first drafts of the Yokozuna gimmick, but the mawashi-only look wasn't trotted out until Rikishi donned the gear permanently in late-1999.
Even at his largest in the role in the mid-200s, the former Headshrinker never approached Yoko's 800lb frame - the added tights protected the future WWE Champion's integrity as well as adding a splash of colour to his ultra-serious original persona.