9 Best WWE Attitude Era Gimmick Changes

When Bob Holly received his WWF contract in 1994, he thought he was being ribbed. The name his employers wanted him to wrestle under was 'Sparky Plugg'. Holly, a genuine race car enthusiast, was wrestling under a racing car driver gimmick, which was completely in fitting with the occupational-gimmick-obsessed Titan.

Tough guy Holly would cringe and squirm whenever he'd have to reveal his name to members of the general public and, inside the ring, he was struggling, too. A polished performer, Holly was tasked with getting other members of the roster over and rarely did he win matches himself.

Holly was repackaged in February of 1998 as 'Bombastic Bob', a member of the New Midnight Express team. Holly teamed with 'Bodacious' Bart Gunn and the duo were managed by former Midnights second Jim Cornette. The act elicited little more than the sound of crickets. In an era of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and DX, the tired 80s retread was understandably met with indifference if not outright derision.

After competing in the ill-conceived Brawl for All Tournament, Holly was thrown together with Al Snow and 2 Cold Scorpio, collectively known as the J.O.B Squad, a reference to their roles as perennial losers. The gimmick lasted a few months before Snow and Holly began breaking out on their own.

Shaving off his thinning mullet, hitting the gym like a man possessed and wrestling predominantly in hardcore matches, the former Sparky Plug was rechristened Hardcore Holly. The gimmick and attitude change were a major improvement and meant that Holly would be a fixture for the rest of 1999 and into 2000.