Gimmicks are one of the most important aspects of a pro wrestler's career, as he cannot expect to enjoy success as an in-ring performer if he does not possess a captivating character that allows him to tell a story.
However, wrestlers have to experiment with multiple gimmick changes during their careers, so they could find which one of them fits them to perfection. Sometimes, promotions also made changes to a wrestler's gimmick if the ongoing storyline required such change.
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With that said, let's take a look at ten WWE wrestlers who completely changed their characters for a certain storyline.
10 Edge
Wrestling fans grew used to seeing Edge as the Rated R Superstar as the WWE Hall of Famer reached tremendous success in his singles career with the gimmick. However, he experimented with a huge change when he debuted a new dark-heel gimmick and formed the Judgment Day faction alongside Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest.
He changed his attire, and character to fit the heel gimmick to perfection, but it didn't last long as the group kicked Edge out and had Finn Balor debut as their new leader.
9 JBL
After Brock Lesnar left the company and Kurt Angle and The Big Show got injured, WWE looked for someone to fill in the position of the top babyface on SmackDown.
WWE chose APA's Bradshaw for that role and had him change his entire character. They changed his name to John Bradshaw Layfield and had him adopt a more cocky heel attitude, which went very well with the self-made Millionaire gimmick, as JBL quickly went on to become the new WWE Champion by winning the title from Eddie Guerrero.
8 Bray Wyatt
Before he became The Eater of Worlds, Bray Wyatt's original run with WWE saw him compete as Husky Harris, a member of the Nexus faction. The gimmick didn't do much for him, and he almost disappeared into oblivion before WWE took him out of action and made him debut as the mysterious Bray Wyatt.
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Wyatt experimented with his character throughout his career and went on to achieve tremendous success by winning the WWE and Universal Championships.
7 Drew McIntyre
Drew McIntyre had a monumental start to his second WWE run in 2009 when Vince McMahon introduced him as a future world champion as the Chosen One. McIntyre took the opportunity and used it to perfection and established himself as a cocky heel on SmackDown and soon went on to capture the Intercontinental Championship.
But McIntyre faced an unexpected downfall after WWE pushed him down the card and eventually made his part of the comedic 3MB faction with Jinder Mahal and Heath Slater.
McIntyre had to change his character altogether to work with the new gimmick and went from being a top heel to a guy dancing around the ring playing air guitars.
6 Becky Lynch
When Becky Lynch made her main roster debut in 2015, she portrayed a pure babyface character with a precious smile on her face. While it did get her some later success when she went on to become the inaugural SmackDown Women's Champion, she couldn't break out as a legitimate main eventer.
She ended up getting that success after she turned heel at SummerSlam 2018, which opened the doors for her to transition into The Man gimmick. She changed her attitude, attire, and her wrestling style to suit the new character and went on to achieve tremendous success down the road.
5 The Rock
When Dwayne Johnson first broke out into WWE, the company had him portray the Rocky Maivia character. While he did enjoy some early success by winning the Intercontinental Championship, the fans quickly turned on him and showered him with nuclear heat.
But a knee injury came as a blessing in disguise for him as he returned with a new heel gimmick and joined forces with The Nation of Domination. He changed him attitude after adopting the new character, which eventually led him to become The Rock and go on the become the face of the entire WWE.
4 Corporate Kane
The Big Red Monster Kane has showcased many variations in his character throughout his iconic in-ring career, and the Corporate Kane gimmick he played during his time with The Authority in 2013 is a unique example.
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He ditched his new mask and normal attire and wore a suit and tie to fit in with the corporate ideologies of the Authority. He took over as the new Director of Operations of WWE during the storyline, and the Hall of Famer played the role to perfection and proved that he's capable of making any change necessary to his iconic gimmick.
3 Cody Rhodes
Despite being a second-generation wrestler and the son of the legendary WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, Cody Rhodes went through the roughest phase of his career when WWE forced him to portray the lackluster and bizarre Stardust character in 2014.
Rhodes had to forget about his usual attitude, attire, and in-ring style and adopt a whole new set of traits to become Stardust. The gimmick was similar to that of his brother Goldust, and Rhodes had no choice but to change himself completely to play the part until he had enough and asked for his release in 2016.
2 Roman Reigns
Following The Shield's break-up, Vince McMahon chose Roman Reigns to take his place as the future top babyface of the company and showcased him in a positive light despite protests from the fans.
Reigns struggled with the babyface gimmick for a long time but made a massive transformation when he returned at the 2020 SummerSlam PLE. He turned heel at the event and attacked Braun Strowman and The Fiend, and as time went by, he established himself as The Tribal Chief. He changed everything about himself after adopting the new gimmick and went through a great transformation, which catapulted him into success.
1 Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan showcased different versions of his character to the fans, and the Planet's Champion gimmick he portrayed during his final WWE Championship run in 2018 is one of the best works of his entire career.
He went from being a pure babyface to an annoying heel and threw the regular WWE Championship away, and introduced a new belt which he claimed that was made from entirely sustainable material.
Bryan went on to have a feud with Kofi Kingston over the title and walked into WrestleMania 35 to have a great match with the latter.
