10 WWE Wrestlers Who Survived HORRIBLE Debuts

It turns out that Dwayne Johnson wasn't the only major 'Attitude Era' star to overcome a shoddy first gimmick. 

'Stunning' Steve Austin was one of the most exciting midcard prospects in WCW. A gifted wrestler with decent mic skills, he improved his talking ability during a short stint in ECW. So, naturally, when he finally made it to WWE, they decided to make him mute. 

As 'The Ringmaster', Austin was put into an unlikely partnership with Ted DiBiase. 'The Million Dollar Man' did all the talking, and Austin just stood there clutching the Million Dollar belt (probably thinking about what he was gonna have for his tea later - raw potatoes, presumably).

By early 1996, Austin was sick of this one-note gimmick. After seeing Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction, he decided to shave his head and embrace his trash-talking Texan roots. The end result was the newly rechristened 'Stone Cold', and the rest, as they say...wait a second, we've already done that. 

Both Austin and The Rock are key examples of wrestlers 'getting good' by embracing their true personalities as part of their gimmicks. There's a reason why Rocky Maivia and The Ringmaster never main-evented WrestleMania, put it that way.