10 Wrestling Gimmicks That Weren’t Supposed To Last Long
4. Chris Jericho (2008)
Losing patience with both Shawn Michaels and the wider wrestling audience in 2008, Chris Jericho's incredible heel turn saw him abandon literally every aspect of his prior persona and slip a thesaurus into his suit jacket. The motivation was sound - Jericho saw no merit in appealing to the fanbase with his tired catchphrases and 'Y2J' gimmick after they favoured proven liar Michaels regardless.
It worked a treat, fuelling one of the best programmes of the modern era and even earning Jericho himself a slot back amongst the upper echelon with a World Heavyweight Title reign by the end of the year. That their feud ended with a Ladder Match for the top prize in October completely subverted original expectations of the persona and the angle.
Michaels and Jericho have both noted that they were only expected to wrestle on one pay-per-view before moving on to new summer storylines. Their fight with management behind the scenes to clash more in front of the camera ultimately allowed the feud to blossom.
Either side of a shocking SummerSlam wife-punching by an indignant Jericho, the pair engaged in bloody and bruising battles that extracted enduring new characteristics from the long-established stars.