10 Wrestlers Who Visibly Hated Their Own Gimmicks

9. The Un-Americans

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Just look at Christian's face in that promo picture. Lance Storm always looked like that, admittedly, but really look at Christian.

You can almost see his nostrils flare, like it's a GIF or something. This was a performer who had revolutionised WWE's stipulation overload era, and possessed the charisma to set him apart as a compelling midcard heel, if not more, and here he was packaged as something promoters would palm off on far more limited workers.

According to Bruce Prichard, there was a more sinister, unprofessional element to this visible frustration: Christian, Test and Lance Storm feared the xenophobic heat such an act ostensibly generated, and refused to commit in a post 9/11 climate. The Canadians all lived in Florida, identified as American, and allegedly complained to Prichard that any professional benefits were offset by the strain on their everyday lives.

Prichard credits William Regal with his conviction, but claimed on Something To Wrestle that the gimmick was short-lived because the Canadian trio "didn't give a sh*t."

Christian's promos support this (contested) take; his eyes shifted as he bemoaned the average American's ability to name Britney Spears songs over the bill of rights, but perhaps he was simply as bored with the derivative material as they were.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!