9 Best WWE Attitude Era Gimmick Changes

What does everybody want? A gimmick that doesn't suck! What does everybody need? Creative freedom to express themselves!

Al Snow had a pretty tough time of it during his first stint in WWE. After cultivating a strong reputation as a superior worker on the independent scene, he was hired and then sandbagged with a couple of lame duck gimmicks that never really had a hope of working.

The first was Avatar, a blatant ripoff of FMW's Hayabusa. His routine of walking to the ring without a mask, putting a mask on to wrestle and then removing it after the match did little to inspire punters and so WWE changed tact. Enter Shinobi, a 'ninja assassin' that had 'opening match jobber' written all over it.

Another gimmick change soon followed, with Snow performing as 'Leif Cassidy', new tag team partner of Marty Jannetty in the 'New Rockers'. Similarly to the 'New Midnight Express', fans didn't care about the tandem, which was a poor substitute for the awesome original.

After exhausting his options in WWE, Snow was sent to ECW (the two organisations had a talent-trading agreement at the time). There, Snow came up with a new persona. Bringing a mannequin's head to the ring - which he talked to during the match - Snow was portrayed as being unhinged, years of jobbing in WWE having tipped him over the edge. It was a hit, and Snow quickly went from afterthought to ECW main eventer.

WWE were watching and they were also impressed, drafting Snow back and having him be one of the featured members of the hardcore division. Snow's personality change helped him get back to the majors when, odds are, he would have been left in ECW had he not done something quick.