3 Gimmicks That Saved Wrestlers' Career

A gimmick is a soul for any wrestler's career. A performer is always known for his characters that he has played in his career. While a good gimmick can take a wrestler to the top, a bad gimmick can destroy their career even before it takes off. In the industry of wrestling, first impression is very important as this is the image a wrestler leaves with the audience for the first time. That's why you can't imagine No Way Jose as a Universal Champion or The Undertaker as a comedian.

Young wrestlers take time to select their initial role before making their first appearance on any promotion to make the best out of the opportunity they have got. But, it doesn't mean a wrestler cannot make a come back after a disappointing first show. In fact, some of the biggest stars in the history of the industry began their wrestling careers chained to a dead gimmick.

Along with first impressions, experimentation is also important in the world of wrestling. There are very few stars who hit gold in their first attempt and wrestlers like Matt Hardy still look to make changes to their gimmick even after having success with it for decades. Let's look at three gimmicks that saved a wrestlers' career and gave them the much-needed lifeline.

---

#3 Xavier Woods - The New Day

Xavier Woods

How many of you remember what Xavier Woods was doing before The New Day? Not many, right? After making his main roster debut in November 2013, he was wandering in the mid-card scene with fellow TNA alumnus, R-Truth, feuding against teams like 3MB and Tons of Funk in a losing cause. By April 2014, he was already reduced to the status of jobber and was barely making appearances on either brands.

He was just hoping for writers to give him something worthwhile and was desperately wishing to avoid the next round of cut. He always had the personality and talent to be a good manager or someone's mouthpiece but was not getting any opportunity to showcase his talent. When New Day happened, he finally got the platform to have fun with his promos and to display the friendship that he has with his partners. For the first time in his career, he got the gimmick that he thoroughly enjoyed and it helped him in getting his career on track.

The New Day is an absolute goldmine in the tag team division and is probably one of the best teams the company have at the moment. Their matches are always great and full of spots, which WWE certainly lacks in the division right now. The faction saved Woods' career and in return, along with Big E and Kofi Kingston, he gave the industry one of the most memorable factions in the history.

#2 Nick Nemeth - Dolph Ziggler

Dolph Ziggler

If there is one gimmick that is never going to main event WrestleMania, it's that of a male cheerleader. Nick Nemeth, popularly known as Dolph Ziggler made his wrestling debut as part of the Spirit Squad on Raw in 2006. The group consisted of the OVW top stars Ken Doane, Nick Nemeth, Nick Mitchell, Johnny Jeter, and Mike Mondo. It was doomed to fail from the start as it was not seen more than a comedy segment. But, the faction was surprisingly booked well initially as they became an integral part of Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels' storyline after WrestleMania 22 and held the tag team titles for around eight months.

Nevertheless, the structure started falling when the group entered into a rivalry with recently reunited DX. After losing a match against them and Ric Flair, all five members of the Spirit Squad were literally shipped back to the OVW in a crate. They were written off TV for good. All of them came back with different gimmicks but were ineffective and left the company in a year, except Nick Nemeth.

He came back to WWE as Dolph Ziggler after few months to enjoy lots of success in the mid-card and main event scenes. The gimmick gave him the chance to repackage himself as a heel and he is still wrestling with the same ring name with positive results. As Dolph Ziggler, he became a 2x World Champion, 2x United States Champion, 6x Intercontinental Champion, 2012's Money in the Bank winner and 22nd Triple Crown Champion. He has become one of the company's top asset and is regarded as one of the best in-ring workers at the moment.

#1 Rocky Maivia - Nation of Domination

The Nation of Domination

Before becoming the People's Champ and ruling the wrestling industry with his charismatic promos, The Rock used to play an overbearing do-gooder character called Rocky Maivia who was getting thrust to the main event scenes. The character was a disaster, to say the least, and was downright rejected by the crowd.

The gimmick was hiding his talent as a top star of the company, but it didn't stop management from elevating him towards bigger things. He was the sole survivor in his debut match at Survivor Series and won the Intercontinental title in less than a year after debuting. But, it was clear that fans would never accept him as major competition, so WWF finally decided to drop the ball with him in 1997.

After returning from a legitimate injury a few months later, the creatives decided to use the hatred towards him in turning him heel. He joined the already established stable, The Nation of Domination and became their mouthpiece. The role helped him in showing his charismatic side to the audience and soon the hatred and disappointment started turning into genuine heat.

Nobody from the crowd to interviewers were safe from his insulting promos and he soon became the biggest heel of the show. He went on to have more success and recognition as Corporate Rock or People's Champ, but this gimmick helped him in saving his career and showed his true potential to the world.