The Contentious Ten 02.13.12: Top 10 Wrestler Transformations

Hello, and welcome to The Contentious Ten! My name is Nick Bazar, and I thank you for clicking.

If there’s anything I’ve learned in my years of watching wrestling, it’s that chances are, you will not end up with the same gimmick you started with. Sometimes the change is for the better, sometimes the change hinders that wrestler’s career. This column looks at those changes that were the most drastic. I’m talking about drastic changes in either style, look or personality, and in some cases, even a combination of the three. And so, the Top Ten Most Drastic Wrestler Transformations…

X color=red>size=8>
Isaac Yankem – Kanesize=6>

It’s strange to think about because we’ve become so accustomed to watching Kane perform as the “Big Red Machine” for so many years, but at one point in time, he was a dentist. Not only that, but he was an evil dentist named Isaac Yankem. Keep in mind, this was the WWF during the mid-90s, so the character was right in line with the other stuff they had going on at the time. Evil garbage men, evil racecar drivers, evil hockey players, evil clowns- it’s all apples and apples. Clearly, none of those gimmicks were destined to have long shelf lives, and an evil dentist wasn’t immune to that. Luckily for him, he was eventually repackaged as The Undertaker’s long lost brother named Kane. Let’s be honest here, a huge guy decked out in a black and red mask with long hair is much more menacing than a huge guy in scrubs. It also helps that he was introduced the right way with weeks and weeks of hype, and the payoff was fantastic once be made his debut, ripping the Hell in a Cell’s door open and costing Taker the match. It led to a Wrestlemania match and the rest is history.

IX color=red>size=8>
Bradshaw – JBLsize=6>

After failed runs as Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw and “Blackjack” Bradshaw, John Layfield finally found his spot on the WWF roster after joining Ron Simmons in The Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness to form a tag team known as The Acolytes. Although they were originally dark and mysterious, they eventually made even bigger names for themselves when they let loose and took on characters that more closely resembled “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. They would drink beer, play poker, get paid to beat people up and of course, beat people up. As you can imagine, at the time, Bradshaw seemed like the kind of guy you wouldn’t mind hanging out with. However, that all changed in 2004 when Bradshaw was repackaged on Smackdown with a new Republican/Wallstreet/wealthy businessman gimmick known as John Bradshaw Layfield. He swapped his sleeveless t-shirt and baseball cap for a fancy suit and ten gallon hat. He went from being the badass that wrestling fans could feel comfortable cheering, to the obnoxious suit those same fans began to hate. In the end, it turned out to be a fantastic transformation that gave the Smackdown brand a much needed heel and elevated JBL to main event status.

VIII color=red>size=8>
Scott Steiner – Big Poppa Pumpsize=6>

Scott Steiner was always a jacked up guy, but I don’t think as many fans realized it in the early days because he wore a colorful singlet, had a brown mullet and didn’t call himself “Big Poppa Pump.” In other words, he wasn’t calling attention to his “largest arms in the world” by constantly flexing and kissing them. In the mid-90s though, he started going through the same thing Sting was going through- he had to get edgier to keep up with the times. Interestingly enough, he basically inverted the Sting transformation, going from flowing brown locks to short, bleached blonde hair. He changed his attitude too. Gone were the days of him touting his amateur wrestling background; gone were the days of teaming with his brother Rick Steiner. In its place was “The Big Bad Booty Daddy”- a badass heel who talked trash before, during and after his matches. It’s because of the gimmick change that he became one of the most entertaining acts in WCW in the late 90s and early 2000s. It’s also because of the gimmick change that he became the World Heavyweight Champion. Too bad it came so late, because his look and character were absolute money.

VII color=red>size=8>
“Surfer” Sting – “Crow” Stingsize=6>

In the late 80s and early 90s, WCW’s biggest babyface attraction was the blonde flattop, “Surfer” Sting. It’s easy to see why, what with his natural charisma, easily marketable look, eye-catching colorful facepaint and athletic ability in the ring. He was always hyped, always with a smile on his face and never failed to get a crowd up and off of their feet. By the mid-90s, he stopped bleaching his hair and started to let it grow- you could see something starting to change. With the arrival of the New World Order, the WCW was quickly shifting their product to more edgy/less cheesy material- it was becoming clear that the Sting of old wouldn’t fit well. And then it happened. Sting cut a promo in the middle of the ring venting his frustrations with those who doubted his allegiance to the WCW- it would be the last time we would see the “Surfer” Sting. After that, he began showing up with black and white facepaint, black trench coats and a black bat. He wouldn’t speak, he would just stare from the rafters and make sporadic appearances. It takes guts to change a character you perfected so drastically, but he made it work and became even more popular than before.

VI color=red>size=8>
Connecticut Blueblood – Triple Hsize=6>

When Hunter Heart Helmsley first debuted, his story was quite similar to that of “Ringmaster” Steve Austin. He left WCW, and upon debuting with the WWF, was given a gimmick that seemed destined for the midcard. In this case, his character was that of the Connecticut Blueblood- a snobby, uptight villain with a big nose. He was clearly talented in the ring as he moved around with a certain finesse that’s hard to teach. It was enough to win him the Intercontinental Championship, but if he wanted to really make a name for himself in the wrestling business, it was clear that the confining gimmick he had would be his kryptonite. Fortunately, like many of his fellow wrestlers at the time, he began to gain a bit of an edge. He stopped wearing fancy clothes to the ring and curtseying, and joined up with Shawn Michaels. Slowly but surely, he started developing a different heel persona. Instead of being snobby and uptight, he was now rebellious and a little cooler. Once Michaels left in 1998, the ball was in HHH’s court. He had one of the hottest heel groups of all time in his hands, and he used it to make himself “The Game.”

V color=red>size=8>
Papa Shango – The Godfathersize=6>

Charles Wright’s transformation from Paper Shango to The Godfather had everything a drastic change has to offer: a completely revamped look, style, personality and persona. He went from being the facepainted voodoo freak who once made the Ultimate Warrior puke green stuff to the freaking Godfather! He traded in his potions and spells for hos and gold necklaces. What’s even more impressive is the fact that both characters have their own respective places in the history of wrestling. You can’t consider either a bust or unmemorable, and it’s a testament to how talented Wright was as a performer. He took two completely different gimmicks and made them work. Granted, he was never considered a main eventer with either gimmick, but he didn’t need to be. His success was based off of the fact that people looked forward to watching him, and were always entertained by his antics regardless of whether he was overcome by voodoo or overcome by a pimp limp (let’s ignore the Supreme Fighting Machine for now).

IV color=red>size=8>
Stunning Steve – Stone Coldsize=6>

We all know the story here so I’ll make it brief. Steve Austin started out with the long blonde hair, flashy robes, flashy tights and cocky personality. It got him to a certain position in the wrestling world, but it never seemed to be enough to really break him through with a statement. WCW didn’t see anything in him, so the WWF took a chance. After a year or so of being saddled with the “Ringmaster” gimmick, it seemed like his story in the WWF would end the same way it did in the WCW- a talented midcarder, but nothing more. Fortunately, the WWF was smart enough to drop the cheesy nickname and contrived gimmick and let him be himself. He started talking with a rebel attitude, moving around the ring with more purpose and developed a unique presence that was different from anything else the WWF had at the time. It was something you couldn’t keep bottled up, and eventually things started going his way. He became a King of the Ring winner, began a legendary feud with Bret Hart and eventually elevated himself to superstardom. He wasn’t “Stunning” Steve Austin anymore; he was The Rattlesnake, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

III color=red>size=8>
Rocky Maivia – The Rocksize=6>

The Rock could have easily been a casualty of the cheesy mid-90s (and almost was), but management’s trust in his ability to turn things around saved him. Once he debuted as the goofy haired, bright blue outfitted Rocky Maivia at the 1996 Survivor Series, he was almost instantly met with jeers from the crowd. The times were changing and people didn’t want the goodie two-shoes, “all smiles all the time” type babyface. They wanted their heroes in wrestling to be badass rebels who stuck it to the man. The WWF and Rocky both soon figured this out and dropped him as a good guy. Upon his return, he was a heel with an edge who had an ax to grind with the fans for booing him. Crowds bought into the shitck, and eventually bought into him as a heel and gave him the boos he was now looking for. As is the case with many heels in wrestling, the fans ultimately turned him babyface once they learned to love his catchphrases, mannerisms and overall aura. Instead of going down as a bust, he became the People’s Champion and arguably the most well-known professional wrestler of all 0time.

II color=red>size=8>
Dustin Rhodes – Goldustsize=6>

You know those stories of seemingly normal, everyday people who live secret lives as kinky dominatrixes or serial killers? Well, that’s comparable to the story of Dustin Rhodes. In the beginning, he tried to make his name on a relatively generic wrestling persona- “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes. He had a famous wrestling name on his side, and the business was in his blood (really, all he needed was Hulk Hogan declaring him the future of the wrestling business). That gained him a decent amount of success, but it wasn’t until his debut in the WWF that he really made a name for himself. Instead of resting and relying on his family history and name, he went in the opposite direction with a character we all know by the name of Goldust. It could have gone one of two ways: (1) people don’t connect with it because it’s too “out there” and it flops, or (2) it captivates audiences and leaves them wanting more. Luckily for him, the character was done in a way that it wasn’t at all cheesy. Instead, it was just the right amount of mysterious and bizarre. You didn’t know what he was, but you wanted to watch what he would do next. Simply put, it worked. In fact, it probably worked better than anyone ever expected it to. I mean, here we are in the year 2012 and a good chunk of fans are still clamoring for a Goldust match at Wrestlemania.

I color=red>size=8>
Hulk Hogan – Hollywood Hogansize=6>

No other wrestling transformation in the history of this business has resulted in two more supremely successful characters than Hulk Hogan’s legendary runs as “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan and “Hollywood” Hogan. The world of wrestling is ultimately a battle of good vs. evil, and it doesn’t get any more different or distinct than the polar opposites of Hulkamania and Hollywood Hogan. On the one hand you have the ultimate “good guy” character who brought pro wrestling to the mainstream in the 1980s and grew it like no one else had before. On the other hand you had the ultimate “bad guy” character who helped WCW defeat the WWF in the ratings for 80+ weeks and brought in the era of edgy/controversial gimmicks and angles. Fans can hate on Hogan all they want in the year 2012, but that doesn’t erase the fact that he played both the heel and babyface role as good, if not better, than anyone else in the business. There aren’t many wrestlers out there who can say they changed the business dramatically under two completely different characters; Hogan is one of them. His change from Hulk Hogan to Hollywood Hogan is, in my opinion, the biggest wrestler transformation of all time.

I’ve posted a few videos for my good pal Michael Ornelas here in the past, but let me tell you, this next one is the best he’s shown me. It’s his very own TELEVISION SHOW called Shenanigans. Here’s the very first episode, it’s hilarious: