As wrestlers hone their craft in the ring, they also hone their craft outside of it too. They’re doing their very best to come up with gimmicks that will help put them on the map and a fan every eighteen inches.
Related: The 10 Best Gimmick Matches In WrestleMania History
That occasionally means different gimmicks happen to descend on The Show Of Shows. A lot can happen in a few years time as wrestlers will freshen up their presentation to keep fans invested in them. Other times, it appears that Vince McMahon will slap on a ridiculous gimmick onto a wrestler just to amuse himself.
10 Mike Rotunda / I.R.S.
Fun fact - only Mike Rotunda has worked in exactly three WrestleManias. He was one-half of the defending tag teams champions for all three! The father of The Fiend worked with with his brother-in-law Barry Windham at the first WrestleMania in a losing effort against The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. Seven and eight years later, he’d return as IRS with Ted DiBiase as part of Money, Inc taking the Natural Disasters one year and Hogan and Beefcake the next.
9 The Blue Blazer / Owen Hart
During the late eighties, there was no bigger indie prospect than Owen Hart. He came to the WWE in late 1988 and made his debut under the Blue Blazer hood against Mr. Perfect in one of the better matches of WrestleMania V.
Related: 10 Real-Life Influences On Gimmick Changes
Three years later at WrestleMania VIII, Owen and his MC Hammer pants made quick work on Skinner, and continue to have enormous success at WrestleMania, defeating Bret at X and winning the tag team titles with Yokozuna at XI.
8 Matt Borne / Doink The Clown
Thanks to becoming the evil Doink The Clown, the second generation star Maniac Matt Borne has forever been immortalized as the clown. One of Doink’s best moments was the “Double Doink” moment from WrestleMania IX. The gimmick was so over that he eventually became a face. Several other superstars were under the clown makeup as well. But he did appear as himself years earlier at the very first WrestleMania; in a losing effort against Ricky Steamboat.
7 Bradshaw / JBL
With a career that has spanned several characters, JBL has the dubious distinction of working WrestleMania as several different characters. His first WrestleMania (13), he worked as one of the Blackjacks, alongside Barry Windham (in his second WrestleMania/second gimmick).
The ornery Texan also got to stomp to the ring, alongside Farooq and Jacqueline at WrestleMania X7. It was at WrestleMania 21 that JBL made his debut at the Showcase, as the defending WWE Champion.
6 The Sultan / Rikishi
Another Hall Of Famer who has performed at WrestleMania under several different gimmicks is Rikishi. The dancing Samoan got his start as one of the savage Headshrinkers, taking on The Steiner Brothers as part of WrestleMania IX. Several years later, he’d appear as the dreaded Sultan, managed by the deadly and deranged duo of Bob Backlund and The Iron Sheik.
He would finally arrive in his final form at WrestleMania 2000, teaming up with Kane to successfully take on DX.
5 Cactus Jack / Mankind / Mick Foley
As one of the few, if only superstars who is recognized as officially having three distinct gimmicks; all stemming from the fractured parts of Mick Foley’s twisted psyche, it’s a no brainer to have several of them taking part in WrestleMania.
Related: 5 Wrestlers Who Made A Psychopath Gimmick Work (& 5 Who Didn't)
At his very first event (13), he teamed up with former rival Vader as Mankind to take on Owen and Davey Boy Smith. It was just one year later that Cactus Jack made his own WrestleMania debut in the crazy Dumpster match alongside Chainsaw Charlie against the New Age Outlaws. He would even compete under his real name Mick Foley at WrestleMania 2000, 20 and 22 as well.
4 Jacques Rougeau / The Mountie
The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers were one of the many unsung tag teams of the Expansion/ Golden Era. Jacques was able to forge a good career for himself as a singles star as well.
The brothers first made their WrestleMania debut losing to The Dream Team at WrestleMania III. As The Mountie, the former Intercontinental champion came to WrestleMania VIII to team up with the Repo Man and The Nasty Boys in another losing effort against The Big Boss Man, Virgil, Sgt. Slaughter, and Jim Duggan.
3 Smoking Gunns / Bodacious Bart & Bad Ass Billy
For several years, the Smoking Gunns, Bart and Billy Gunn, were one of the premier tag teams in WWE. They got to walk into WrestleMania XI as the tag team champions before losing them to Owen and his mystery partner, Yokozuna. Several years later, the duo split up and Bart became Bodacious Bart a member of The New Midnight Express.
Meanwhile Billy became a huge member of DX and the Attitude Era. They both arrived with their new partners and gimmicks at WrestleMania XIV and both lost their matches to LOD 2000 and Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie respectively.
2 Smash / Repo Man
Demolition’s run at the top lasted through four WrestleManias. They won the tag team titles at WrestleMania IV and held onto them for over a year. At WrestleMania VI, they had won them back, the first team to “three-peat,” defeating the Colossal Connection.
Related: Demolition Vs. The Road Warriors: 5 Ways Each Team Was The Superior Duo
As their time was winding down, Smash chopped off his hair, washed his face and became the Repo Man. Despite being nowhere near as successful as Smash was, Repo Man did make a WrestleMania appearance - losing alongside The Mountie and The Nasty Boys against Virgil, Duggan, Slaughter, and the Boss Man at WrestleMania VIII.
1 Cody Rhodes / Stardust
After getting to work several WrestleManias against the likes of Orton, Mysterio, and Big Show, Cody still wasn’t getting a lot of respect. He once vented in a promo about what the WWE has done to his family - made his dad wear polka dots, turned his brother into a bizarre freak. He was on the verge of snapping and he did.
He became Stardust. He would show up at WrestleMania 32, the first since Dusty’s passing, in Dream-inspired garb and even a humongous polka dot painted ladder.
Prior to that, Rhodes competed at multiple WrestleManias as plain old Cody Rhodes and also as "Undashing" Cody Rhodes.
Next: Monday Night War: 5 Times WWE Almost Lost (& 5 Reasons WCW Lost)
