5 of the worst pro wrestling character changes, and 5 of the best

Best Repackaging #1: John "Bradshaw" Layfield

John Layfield AKA John "Hawk" Bradshaw, AKA JBL

When it comes to gimmick changes, John Bradshaw Layfield has had quite a few!

Initially, he was John Hawk, who was the kayfabe relative to the Windham brothers, Barry and Kendall. When he joined the WWE in 1995, he was re-dubbed Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw, who employed a generic cowboy gimmick.

Then he re-teamed with Barry Windham as the New Blackjacks, becoming a tag team wrestler. After Windham left for the WCW promotion, Bradshaw was left without anything to do for a time. He re-emerged as simply Bradshaw, wearing greasepaint on his chest with druidic symbols, and teamed with Farooq as the Acolytes, minions of the Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness.

Of course, once the Ministry of Darkness was no more, the Acolytes were themselves repackaged as the APA, short for Acolyte Protection Agency. They would keep this gimmick for several years, and it was quite successful and a fixture of the Attitude Era.

But still, Layfield remained mired in the mid-card or tag team division. It wasn't until he was repackaged as the JR Ewing-esque John Bradshaw Layfield that he was finally elevated to the main event, and multiple world title reigns.