10 Wrestlers Who Were REJECTED For Famous Wrestling Gimmicks
The first cut is the deepest, but things were better second time around for MJF, Bret Hart & others.
Rejection's not always a bad thing even if it might feel like it in the moment.
At the very highest level of film and television, there are still major names being turned down for major roles despite enormous status and bankability, and those very same performers publicly stating just how tough the industry can be even when starting from the very highest level. Enjoy The Office (US) during its lockdown bingeable renaissance? Then you might have seen YouTube clips from the old DVD extras revealing the likes of Bob Odenkirk, Kathryn Hahn and Seth Rogan trying and failing to nail Michael Scott, Pam Beesly and Dwight Schrute respectively.
In some cases, the actors still make the show but just belong elsewhere. Courtney Cox auditioned to be Rachel Green(e) before those in charge she decided try for Monica Geller, and could you really imagine it any other way now?
Wrestling's not all that different, especially when there's not a single story of somebody that made their millions with the exact gimmick they started with. It's an ever-changing and often-complex road to finding what fails. Or for that matter, having it found for you...
10. Mark Jindrak
The picture above is of a faction that never actually happened, but the mere fact that it exists at very least confirms that Mark Jindrak was at one point the nailed on fourth man in Evolution when the group were were launched in 2003.
Or does it?
It's one of several glimpses of a pilot version of the stable where Jindrak has been notably kept ever-so-slightly separate from the rest of the group. According to Randy Orton speaking on a career retrospective several years ago, his over-exuberance alongside the former WCW star was something Triple H had kept a close eye on during these original shoots, and Batista taking the spot certainly implies that 'The Game' didn't like what he'd seen.
A great wrestling what-might-have-been based on the existing footage, it's hard to picture the mid-2000s quartet as anything different than what they became, not least considering that it was 'The Animal' rather than 'The Legend Killer' that became the initial breakout star.