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 #5: The Ringmaster

When he made his pro wrestling debut, Steve Williams, who would later become Stone Cold Steve Austin, was advised to change his last name, since there was already a Steve Williams wrestling in the NWA territories (Dr. Death Steve Williams, RIP.) Since he was from Texas, he chose the name of the state capital, Austin, as his ring name.

As Stunning Steve Austin, he enjoyed a great deal of success in WCW. He won the World Television Title, the United States title and the tag team title with partner Brian Pillman as the Hollywood Blondes.

However, when he was forced to lose cleanly to novice wrestler the Renegade, he chose to leave WCW and joined WWE. Since they couldn't use the 'stunning' gimmick, he was re-dubbed the Ringmaster and assigned Ted DiBiase as his manager. Ringmaster didn't speak, was the 'Million Dollar Champion,' and used Dibiase's finisher, the Million Dollar Dream.

The fans were pretty much silent during the Ringmaster's matches, and no one much cared about him. That's why it's a good thing he was given a new gimmick, which we will cover in the next slide.

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