The Born Identity: Ten wrestlers who drastically switched gimmicks.

1.John Layfield/JBL

Justin Hawk Bradshaw, Acolytle Bradshaw, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield.

As a nephew of one of the original Blackjacks, Bradshaw had a lot of doors opened for him in pro wrestling. His height and build also didn't hurt, and it was only a matter of time before the big man made it to the WWE.

He underwent a lot of cosmetic changes during his tenure. Originally he was billed as one of the New Blackjacks, and had a retro cowboy gimmick. After his partner Barry Windham returned to WCW, Bradshaw was paired with Ron Simmons/Farooq, mostly because the creative department didn't know what else to do with them. The two big men became the Acolytes, minions of the Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness.

Eventually, the two cultists changed to fan favourites when they became the mercenary unit APA. Any wrestler who could afford their services could count on the APA to act as muscle, when they weren't busy playing poker or drinking beer.

All good things must come to an end, however, and the APA disbanded after Ron Simmons left the company. Bradshaw was re-packaged as JBL, a Wall Street investor who drew a lot of inspiration from Layfield's real-life business exploits.

The JBL character was a hit, drawing great heel heat from fans and drawing comparisons to wrestling legends such as Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase. By switching to the JBL character, Layfield finally broke through to the main event and won the big belt.

There you have it; Ten wrestlers who drastically changed their gimmicks for the better. Is there someone we left off the list? Be sure to comment and let us know.