10 Most Shocking 2020 Wrestler Transformations

Admiring the wrestling change-ups of this most strange of years.

Alexa Bliss
WWE.com/WWE.com

To say 2020 has been a year of change would be an understatement of ginormous proportions. But while the majority of people across the globe have had to make plentiful adjustments to the way we live our day-to-day lives, on a much smaller level there has also been notable changes across the pro wrestling industry.

Whether it's the presentation of wrestling shows, the availability of talent, or numerous other elements, wrestling in 2020 has been like no other year in the history of the business. It's not just the overall wrestling product that's different, of course, for, as is so often part of the process, several wrestlers themselves have undergone some pretty drastic changes and transformations.

Those changes could be cosmetically, they could be physically, or they could be an entire character switch, but there's no doubting that there have been some surprising and shocking switch-ups across the wrestling landscape when reflecting back over these past 12 months.

Taking a look at where certain wrestlers are here in December 2020 compared to this past January, then, here are ten of the most shocking wrestler transformation of this most trying of years.

10. Akira Tozawa

Akira Tozawa
WWE.com/WWE.com

From fist-pumping, sh*t-kicking babyface in 2019, to the leader of a ninja biker gang in 2020, it's been quite a year of transformation for Akira Tozawa.

It's not like WWE was particularly doing anything of note with Tozawa before this year's Backlash PPV, but to see him turn up at that show with a group of ninjas in tow was just a tad out of left-field. That gimmick change itself was jarring enough, but then the ridiculously talented Tozawa was soon inserted into the 24/7 Title picture - somewhere where he still sadly finds himself as 2020 rolls to an end.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.