10 Wrestlers Who Saved Their Careers By Turning Down Gimmicks

When looking back on the early days of Kevin Owens' WWE run, the thing that perhaps stands out the most is the company's refusal to completely change up the character that had worked so well for him on the independents. Aside from shifting the Steen to Owens, KO was still very much a version of himself dialled up to 11.

However, you may be shocked to hear that things were almost entirely different for the future Universal Champion upon first landing in developmental in 2014. Whilst Owens was down in NXT, former WWE star and NXT trainer Nick Dinsmore (Eugene) revealed that the company were interested in making him the new Mountie. For context, Owens had been trained by Jacques Rougeau, the OG Mountie.

Owens was said to have been overwhelmed by this truly dreadful idea, telling Dinsmore, "You can't let them do that," as he began to shed tears at the prospect.

Owens' lack of enthusiasm towards the ill-thought-out rehashing of a gimmick that would've likely gone down like a lead balloon in 2014 clearly made its way to the back and he was kept well away from red coats and cattle prods going forward.