10 WWE Stars Who Desperately Need New Gimmicks

8. Johnny Gargano

Johnny Gargano Takeover Punisher — WWE Network

For years, fans have feared the day when Johnny Gargano’s stint in NXT comes to an end and he finds his way to the main roster. The first-ever NXT Grand Slam Champion has become synonymous with the brand, but his general lack of size has many convinced that Vince McMahon will Gargano as little more than feed for the giants. Without being too pessimistic, they may have a point.

Even if Gargano manages to avoid the inevitable and stays on NXT for the foreseeable, the man is in serious need of a freshen-up. Gargano turned heel in costing Tommaso Ciampa the NXT Championship at TakeOver: Portland, but is that going to see him embrace a new character? Gargano has flirted with the dark side in the past, but it didn’t really change too much. He simply went from ‘wrestler who likes comic book heroes’ to ‘wrestler who likes comic book villains’.

Johnny Gargano needs a gimmick change, but that isn’t to say that he requires a wholesale overhaul. He doesn’t need to become an actual superhero or start wearing a cape, for example. Sticking with that idea and giving an example of someone that Gargano might take some ideas from, one only has to look at the evolution of PAC from athletic WWE babyface to ultimate bastard villain. If Gargano is going to embrace the darker side of the ledger, he needs to go all the way.

John Bills

Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.

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