7 WWE Superstars whose careers derailed after their gimmicks changed
In the world of wrestling and WWE, having a solid gimmick that connects with the audience is far more important than being a great or technical in-ring worker. The reality is that the vast majority of the WWE Universe cares about characters and stories more than what they see in the ring.
Not that having a good match in WWE isn't important, but it's certainly second to having a strong character. Then comes the next big challenge - the fact that WWE runs on a 52-week-a-year schedule, with most Superstars hardly getting time off. When a WWE Superstar is regularly featured on TV, it takes a lot of effort to keep reinventing oneself to keep fans entertained.
The perfect example of that is Chris Jericho, who changed his gimmick on almost every turn that he had, but made the most out of it and would constantly entertain fans. Unfortunately (or fortunately), not everyone is Chris Jericho.
This list will focus on gimmick changes that effectively derailed Superstars' careers. In a few such cases, the WWE Superstars have been able to bounce back big. Let's get right into it:
#7. D-Von Dudley to Reverend D-Von - From Tag Team legend to a WWE pastor?
Perhaps the only thing that really came out of Reverend D-Von was the fact that he introduced Batista (with a different gimmick) to the WWE main roster. His run as Reverend D-Von came to be after The Dudley Boyz were separated by the 2002 draft - a terrible decision in hindsight.
The gimmick didn't last too long, but he managed to get a significant victory over Triple H (albeit, with the help of Chris Jericho). It only lasted half a year before he was reunited with Bubba Ray Dudley.
With that said, it certainly derailed his WWE career for a while after. The Dudley Boyz would enjoy more tag team championship runs together, but it was clear that their peak was behind them at the time.
One can only wonder what could have been had WWE not decided to separate The Dudley Boyz in the first place. As a whole, however, it didn't outright kill D-Von Dudley's WWE career.