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

Best Repackaging #3: Matt Hardy

Matt Hardy "Woken".

When the Hardy Boyz joined WWE in 1997, they quickly became one of the most popular tag teams of the Attitude Era. Their TLC matches against Edge/Christian and the Dudley Boys were not only legendary, they spawned a new match type and PPV name.

However, as seems to happen with many successful tag teams, management wanted to split them up and utilize them as singles stars. Jeff Hardy was the aerial daredevil, and was considered to be more 'handsome' and therefore more marketable by the WWE. Jeff Hardy was pushed to the main event level, while Matt Hardy was a certified mid-carder at best. The closest to winning a 'big belt' for Matt Hardy was when he captured the ECW title during that brand's brief revival under WWE ownership.

Jeff Hardy became a world champion, while Matt was constantly frustrated in his attempts to move up the card. Even when Matt joined other promotions, he was seen as the 'lesser' Hardy.

That all changed when Matt Hardy was given full creative control of his character by TNA/Impact wrestling. Hardy developed the "Broken" Matt Hardy persona, and also created concepts like the Lake of Resurrection and using a drone to record matches from unique angles. The gimmick was so successful, his 'better' brother Jeff was repackaged as Brother Nero. For the first time ever, Matt Hardy was considered a bigger star than his brother.

WWE hired the Hardys, and Matt was able to keep the Broken gimmick because it was his intellectual property, though WWE re-dubbed it "Woken." Hardy's Ultimate Deletion match was a huge rating and critical success, and now Matt Hardy as a big belt champion in WWE isn't so far fetched.