10 Most Shocking 2023 Wrestler Transformations
2. Von Wagner
Von Wagner was a joke when he first arrived in NXT.
This was literally the case: he became a meme when, threatening Kyle O'Reilly, he tried to say the day of KOR's demise ominously. "Come Tuesday," Von said. A lot of people online isolated the video to make it seem that Von did something other than wrestle on the second day of the week (ejaculate).
NXT 2.0 was a show that featured a mafia boss (Tony D'Angelo) and a legitimate serial killer character (Dexter Lumis), and yet, ironically, Wagner looked the most likely to murder somebody. He was so green and uncomfortable on camera that he came across as blank, eerie void of a man. Reports surfaced around the time of his debut that WWE saw him as a potential WrestleMania headliner.
What?
The guy looked like he'd never encountered a fellow human being, much less possessed the ability to enthral thousands and thousands of them.
Incredibly, Von turned babyface earlier this year when his real, horrifying backstory was revealed to the NXT audience. Wagner endured 14-hour brain surgery at just 15 months old. This admission, coupled with a glimpse into Wagner's willingness to candidly speak from the heart, was so much more effective than it had any earthly right to be. Von was a nice and misunderstood dude with a gentle giant quality.
Von even showed a certain comedic charm as a potential enthusiastic sex-haver, and while most everybody is over in front of that NXT crowd, they are really and truly into his table-wrecking, ass-kicking act.