10 WWE Wrestlers Who Survived Awful Gimmicks To Become Huge Stars

9. Dolph Ziggler

Awful Gimmick: Dolph Ziggler has been in the WWE system for over a decade now. The 34-year-old signed with the company in late 2004 and was brought up to the main roster (fairly quickly) in September 2005. The winning gimmick he debuted with? Nick Nemeth, caddy of the incredibly racist Kerwin White (Chavo Guerrero playing a middle class, white collar white man). Fortunately for Ziggler, the gimmick was dropped within a couple of months (after the untimely death of Chavo's uncle, Eddie Guerrero). Unfortunately for Ziggler, that meant he was without a role and after a couple of months working dark matches and house shows, was sent back to developmental territory OVW. Still, WWE had plans for Ziggler. BIG pla...oh no, wait, no they didn't. Ziggler came back into the fold as Nicky, a member of the male cheerleading group The Spirit Squad. He was one of five OVW standouts who were called up to act as punching bags for Triple H and Shawn Michaels. How He Overcame It: Although the Spirit Squad were all over WWE TV in 2006 and the group even won the World Tag Team Titles, the gimmick clearly had a very limited shelf life, which was confirmed when those DX rascals sent them back to 'OVW, Louisville Kentucky' on the November 27th 2006 episode of Raw. Following a lengthy stay in OVW, Ziggler was given another chance as, erm, Dolph Ziggler. Although things got off to a rocky start (he was jobbed out, suspended due to a wellness violation etc.) he persevered and became one of the best workers in the WWE. Ziggler became a headliner (albeit a temporary one) thanks to good old-fashioned hard work. He cemented his status as a genuine star with his World Heavyweight Title win in 2013.