5 WWE Superstars whose careers took off after their gimmick was changed
In WWE, a wrestler's gimmick is what can make or break them in the eyes of the audience. A performer can be immensely talented in the squared circle, but if the character is all wrong, then it will be impossible to get over with the fans.
Wrestlers often undergo character changes. Even some of the biggest WWE Superstars have overhauled their wrestling personas at the top of their game.
Most of the time, wrestlers undergo a refresh, or even a complete overhaul to their characters when they don't quite reach the level in WWE that they deserve. Here are five wrestlers who became more successful after changing their gimmick.
#5 Becky Lynch went from Irish dancer to the Lass Kicker, to The Man
Becky Lynch was always a star that was loved by WWE fans, but never quite reached the same level as her fellow Four Horsewomen. Long before her days of becoming The Man, Lynch debuted in NXT with a comedy Irish dancer gimmick, but her look and theme were quickly changed to something a little less silly.
Lynch always seemed to be the one who just missed out; she was the only one of the four who didn't win the NXT Women's Championship, and when she moved to RAW in 2015, she was dubbed "the least relevant of all of us" by PCB teammate Paige.
The future face of WWE was involved in big moments, but always seemed to be the one pushed aside. For instance, when she battled it out against Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair for the Women's Championship at WrestleMania, Banks and Flair had commemorative dolls made by Mattel, but Lynch did not.
Lynch later became frustrated with her position in WWE. A big turning point for the star came at the 2018 SummerSlam. She faced Flair and Carmella in a triple threat match for the SmackDown Women's Championship. Lynch was seconds away from winning when Flair hit her with the Natural Selection to win the title. After the match, Lynch appeared to hug her on-screen best friend but slapped her, leading to the birth of The Man.
When Lynch became The Man, she showed fans a different side of her. Before she became The Man, Lynch was often quite happy-go-lucky and goofy in backstage segments and ran excitedly to the ring in her entrances. However The Man was more of a tough-talker, and slowly swaggered down the to the ring.
After Lynch established herself as The Man, she became the top face of WWE, winning the 2019 Royal Rumble, being one of the first women to headline WrestleMania and also the first dual SmackDown and RAW Women's Champion.
The star headlined numerous PPV's and was even the co-cover star of WWE 2K20. The Man held the RAW Women's Championship for a record-breaking 399 days, before relinquishing the title to start a family.