8 Wrestlers Who HATED Their Own Gimmicks

7. Steve Austin (The Ringmaster)

Steve Austin found himself at a crossroads (not a Cross Rhodes like the previous entry!) in 1996.

Having seen WCW fumble his considerable talents, constantly failing to deliver their promises of a serious singles run after his excellent work with Brian Pillman in The Hollywood Blonds, Austin went to ECW. He had a great feud with The Sandman and Mikey Whipwreck under Paul Heyman's creative, but (as was commonly the case in the Philadelphia promotion) the company's low-grade salary was not helping him keep the lights on.

As revealed in an episode of his WWE Network podcast with The Undertaker, Austin was called by Vince McMahon and told about his Ringmaster gimmick. He instantly thought it was hot garbage, but he needed the money a WWE contract would provide. The concept was as simple as being good in the ring, with Ted DiBiase as his manager and the Million Dollar Belt as a prop. It had no real direction, and as such, Austin feared he would drift into obscurity if he continued this dull gimmick.

Famously, after telling Vince that he no longer wanted to be The Ringmaster. Austin wanted to have a character influenced by hitman 'The Ice Man' Richard Kuklinski instead. WWE faxed no less than 3 pages of names for Steve to consider, including Fang McFrost, before Austin himself suggested 'Stone Cold'.

The rest is history.