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

You know him as "The Rock," but that wasn't his first gimmick in WWE.

Worst Repackaging #4: Papi Chulo

Papi Chulo, AKA Mr. Aguila (Mr. Eagle.) AKA Essa Rios

During the Monday Night War era, one of the major selling points of WCW was their Cruiserweight division. The cruiserweights were intended to entertain the 'pure' wrestling fans in the audience, who preferred technical wrestling over some of the outlandish gang warfare perpetrated by the NWO.

Seeing that there was an audience to be wooed, WWE tried its own attempt at the cruiserweights, dubbed the Light Heavyweight division. Several notable lighter wrestlers were hired, such as Taka Michinoku, and El Aguila, a lucha libre star of some renown.

For a variety of reasons, the light heavyweight division never really took off or gained the prominence of rival WCW's cruiserweights. WWE thought that a Lucha Libre star wasn't in keeping with their WWF Attitude, and unmasked Aguila and re-dubbed him Papi Chulo, which translates as 'pimp daddy.' Yes, years before the Godfather the WWE tried the wrestling pimp gimmick.

To say it was a failure is an understatement. Aguila wasn't glib enough to carry the gimmick, and eventually transitioned into Essa Rios and was managed by Lita at this time. Yet another example of unmasking a Luchadore that didn't work out.

About the author

Christopher Scott Wagoner is a writer from Austin, Texas in the United States. He is also a proud descendent of the Choctaw and Lakota people.
Chris has an English and Creative Writing degree, and is a published author with Simon and Schuster. He's ghost-written over eight million words in more than 500 books.
A long time wrestling fan, Chris is also a professional journalist who covers sports-entertainment. He's been writing for Sportskeeda since 2018.

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Edited by Nishant Jayaram