10 Wrestling Gimmicks That Were NOTHING Like The Wrestlers Who Portrayed Them

1. Broken/Woken Matt Hardy

vader before and after
Impact Wrestling

Matt Hardy's career-saving reinvention in 2016 saw him 'Broken' from a particularly violent clash with his brother Jeff, but the man behind the madness had never been so whole by the time he found his jagged new edge.

For several years, Hardy was beginning to look like another lost cause in the industry - banished into irrelevance by WWE and trapped in lifeless TNA run doing nothing to help his cause, Matt's increasingly odd raft of drunken/otherwise influenced YouTube videos were creating serious concern for his physical and mental health.

It was only by defeating these demons that Matt could overcome a career hex of getting more over than his brother. Alongside wife Reby and son 'King' Maxel, Matt was a force reborn and reenergised by the bonkers universe he was given free reign to create from the confines of his own 'compound'.

Deeply unsettled as a performer, things have never been better underneath the gimmick for the multi-time tag team champion. A glorious WrestleMania return in 2017 vindicated every outstanding move he's made since.

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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