10 Bizarre Times WWE Stars Experimented With Their Gimmick

7. Elias - Ezekiel

Cody Rhodes
WWE.com

Don't let liars tell you this was terrible!

There's a deal amongst enough fans to make it a familiar refrain that the old ways are the only ways. For a not insignificant amount of time, Elias generated a not insignificant amount of heat for his "Drifer" guitar shtick, and it didn't matter a jot that his matches weren't really that good. Name three white hot Elias matches. You can't, which really is something considering that several of his promos approached that grade.

Ezekiel was a dumb bit when the clean-shaven cut-bodied "twin brother" debuted on the post-WrestleMania 38 edition of Raw, but it was a new one, and it turned out that he had more babyface fire than slow-it-down heat in his toolbox all along.

The last good Vince McMahon idea before he resigned in disgrace, Ezekiel was the origin story for Kevin Owens' impotent rage, and though Triple H sent the gimmick packing to the hospital forever, the photoshopped image of the family with slightly different Elias-faces was a last reminder that this company is the one place where something so fundamentally stupid can actually function.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett