10 WWE Wrestlers Who Survived Awful Gimmicks To Become Huge Stars

6. John Cena

Awful Gimmick: Having no gimmick can be just as bad as having a terrible gimmick. In OVW, Cena played a character called 'The Protoype', a half man/half machine that had the ability to cut promos backwards. It was cheesy, yes, but it made Cena stand out and got him noticed. It's a gimmick that probably would have made for some entertaining television, but clearly the WWE powers-that-be didn't see it that way. Instead, they brought Cena in as a white meat babyface, who had no discernible characteristics. He was basically just a guy in spandex shorts who sold and won matches with a rollup. It was as generic as they come. Cena even referred to himself as 'Johnny boots and tights' during this period, since the only distinguishable thing about him was the ever-changing colour of his ring gear (tailored to the home town's sports teams). How He Survived It: Cena was caught free-styling by Stephanie McMahon, Paul Heyman and other members of the on the tour bus during one of WWE's international excursions in late 2002. Clearly liking what they heard, they decided to run with it from the Halloween edition of Smackdown onwards. Cena went from one of the next names on the future endeavoured list to being one of the most talked about performers in the company, having PPV matches with the likes of Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker. He's doing alright these days, might have made some money and headlined a WrestleMania or five.