10 WWE Wrestling Storylines That Turned Badasses Into Wimps
From beating asses to running scared, these badass wrestlers quickly changed their tune.
You can be the finest performer to ever lace up a pair of wrasslin' boots, without an effective storyline to catapult you up the card and grip an audience's attention, the chances of you ever becoming an out-and-out star in the business are relatively small.
Get a programme right and a once ignored, stale, or downright weak character can grow into something truly special, adding new-found layers of grit, charisma, and all-round badassery along the way. Get it wrong and a persona that folks once flocked to see will soon find themselves floundering in the pro wrestling ocean.
And while the concept of "don't make hard-as-nails or genuinely chilling wrestlers look like fools/wimps" seems like a relatively simple one to stick to, you'd be surprised just how often Vince McMahon and the gang opt to scrap what was once seriously captivating in exchange for some unwanted cowardice.
From blood-thirsty forces of nature being spooked by demented dolls, to hard-hitting, old school tag teams being made to run around an arena clutching their burning nether regions, these unfortunate folks went from awesome rebels to limp weaklings during just one fateful storyline.
10. Dean Ambrose - Lunatic To Lacklustre In A Heartbeat
The shift between the characters of Dean Ambrose and Jon Moxley was a hugely welcome one by the time the one-time WWE Champion showed up at Double or Nothing 2019. But this was largely due to the horrendous way the once-formidable persona had been presented in the months leading up to his dramatic departure from Vince McMahon's company.
After seemingly re-igniting his WWE career with a comeback pre-SummerSlam 2018, Ambrose looked set to take the company by storm and a top title by force. Yet, things took an unexpected turn as The Shield man turned on his brother Seth Rollins post-tag title victory. Instead of transitioning Ambrose into a diabolical heel who would stop at nothing to torment and make an example out of all who had wronged him in the past, Ambrose was quickly shuffled into obscurity on the back of a forgettable IC title reign.
Before long, Ambrose was being cheap-shotted by Nia Jax and fed to just about every other up-and-coming star on Monday nights. Sure, his desire to leave likely had a part to play in his poor WWE conclusion, but at least he was eventually given a respectful send-off via The Shield's Final Chapter.