10 WWE Wrestlers Who Survived Awful Gimmicks To Become Huge Stars
Including the story of Dave Batista, demon vampire to WrestleMania main eventer.
It's hard to imagine Dave Batista, one of the true WWE success stories from the 2000s, headlining WrestleMania 21 under his former 'Leviathan' gimmick, isn't it? Had The Animal been instructed to continue performing under that oppressive gimmick, it's more likely that he would have been sent packing before 'Mania 21 rolled around. A bad gimmick can be a career killer. Usually, WWE will only give their ridiculous ideas (and don't be fooled - they do realise they're ridiculous) to midcard talent or those whom they don't believe are long for the WWE. Oftentimes bad gimmicks are designated to a wrestler as a rib or a punishment for some backstage transgression. WWE don't tend to give clearly crappy gimmicks to people they see main event potential in. There have been times, however, where supposedly midcard talent (at least in the eyes of the company at the time) have managed to surpass expectation and break through the glass ceiling, becoming bona fide stars. In order to do this, they've had to overcome the stigma that was attached to them thanks to their awful gimmicks. It might have taken them a while to do so (fans still chant 'Sexual Chocolate' at former World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry) but through sheer determination, drive and ambition (or a quick gimmick change), they managed to do it.