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Despite common perception, WWE actually has a pretty good track record of successfully bringing in wrestlers from elsewhere. For every Diamond Dallas Page or Raven, there's a Booker T or Chris Jericho. Even now, stars that made it big elsewhere - like AJ Styles, Gunther, and Shinsuke Nakamura - have seen some pretty great success since joining.
Every so often, however, WWE would bring in talent from another promotion and completely change what got them over to start with. Sometimes, this is the performer's idea - others have these new personas thrust upon them.
So, why not? Let's take a look at five times established stars came to WWE only to end up with wildly different gimmicks.
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#5. Konnan - entered WWE as Max Moon
If you're even remotely familiar with the story of Lucha Libre legend Konnan's small cup of coffee with WWF, you might think you know the whole tale. A promising young talent from another promotion - in this case, Mexico's CMLL - comes to the bright lights of New York... only to be saddled with a weird spaceman gimmick.
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This is what happened here with Konnan, but with a twist. The character was actually the luchador's idea. According to an interview with WWE.com, Konnan presented the idea during a meeting with Vince McMahon. The former WCW United States Champion recounted watching a cartoon while in Japan of a giant robot that could shoot "confetti and fire."
McMahon would spend a rumored $13,000 on a costume that would allow Konnan - now to be christened as "The Comet Kid" - to do just that, as well.
While he was in the process of trying out this new persona, however, Konnan began to experience more and more success in Mexico - both in and out of the ring. Soon, the luchador began prioritizing his commitments there over the WWF, to the point that the company just found it easier to let him go.
That said, they still had a costume they poured thousands into now just lying around. So, they recruited journeyman Paul Diamond - who had some experience in replacing other wrestlers - to fill the role until they just said, "Aw, to heck with it," and dropped the character altogether.
Konnan would later go on to have some pretty amazing success in both AAA and WCW. Paul Diamond...well, to be honest, we're not sure what happened to him.
#4. Terry Funk - entered WWE as Chainsaw Charlie
The legendary Terry Funk - who sadly passed away this past August - had a storied career prior to joining WWF in 1996. He had previously held the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, became a legend in Japan, and even won the ECW World Championship at age 53.
When he made his full-time return to WWF in 1997 (he previously had a short run there in 1985), it was as Chainsaw Charlie - a maniac with pantyhose over his head and, you guessed it, a chainsaw in his hands. He arrived in WWE to help out his pal Cactus Jack (more on him later.) The pair even managed to win the WWF Tag Team Championship together.
Funk would eventually revert to his real name, ditching the Chainsaw Charlie persona altogether - although everyone pretty much knew who he was from the beginning. He would then bounce around between ECW, WCW, TNA, and the indies before eventually retiring for what felt like the 147th time. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009 with his brother, Dory Funk Jr.
#3. Mick Foley/Cactus Jack - entered WWE as Mankind
Mick Foley was not the kind of wrestler who succeeded in Vince McMahon's WWE when he joined the company in 1996. After making a name for himself as Cactus Jack on the independent scene, Japan, WCW, and ECW, it took serious convincing from Jim Ross to even get McMahon to consider him.
To quote the great Norm Macdonald, Foley seemed to thrive in the promotion "through sheer tyranny of will."
McMahon brought Foley in, not as Cactus Jack, but as "Mason the Mutilator," a leather mask-wearing fiend. Foley agreed to the concept, with McMahon acquiescing to a name change to Mankind. While there were some similarities between Jack and Mankind, especially their masochistic love of pain, Foley's new WWF/E character was much more of a caricature - a horror movie villain come to life.
However, Foley's dedication to the character and his commitment to his performance won McMahon over. He not only got to revive his childhood character invention, Dude Love, and even his original Cactus Jack persona - he also became a three-time WWF Champion.
He would, like his personal hero Terry Funk, be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
#2. Jeff Jarrett - entered WWE as "Double J" Jeff Jarrett
How do you spell his name? J-E-double F J-A-double R-E-double T. That's true. We looked it up.
Jeff Jarrett is the proud son of legendary promoter Jerry Jarrett. While Jeff had plenty of success in his dad's promotion, The United States Wrestling Association, it was more due to his skill than it was due to who his father was. He was a genuine crowd favorite and thrived as a classic white-meat babyface there.
So, when he made his full-time move to WWF (he had previously worked with the company in a rare promotional crossover between the two brands), it wasn't that smiling good guy he had perfected down south. Instead, he was "Double J" Jeff Jarrett, a cocky heel country singer who was using WWE as a stepping stone to success in the music world.
Double J would win the Intercontinental Championship numerous times throughout his WWF/E career. His character would evolve over the years (well, if you can call turning into a misogynistic psychopath "evolution"), and he even became a world champion in WCW in 2000.
He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018. Oh, and he also helped a little promotion called Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. There's that.
#1. Shane Douglas - entered WWE as Dean Douglas
Has there ever been a successful "teacher" gimmick in pro wrestling? Neither Shane Douglas nor Matt Striker (both actual teachers) were able to really make it work. You'd think it would be a perfect heel persona, but... no. Huh.
Anyway, before coming to WWF as the college dean character "Dean" Douglas, Shane had made a major name for himself as the very first Extreme Championship Wrestling World Champion. And he did so by rejecting the NWA World Championship in a legendary moment.
Now, Shane had some fairly successful runs in both WCW and WWE in the past - most notably teaming with future WWF/E executive and inventor of the Stone Cold Stunner John Lauranitis as the Dynamic Dudes. However, it was his original ECW run that made him sought after, and soon WWE came calling again.
Before his wrestling career began, Douglas earned degrees in history and political science from Bethany University. It was around 1991, in between WWF and WCW jobs, that he took up teaching to pay the bills.
So, when he made the jump from ECW to WWF, he took on the persona of an evil teacher/college dean - taking the name Dean Douglas.
Despite a brief - very brief - run as Intercontinental Champion, Douglas' second run in WWE was a bust. He would go on to rejoin WCW and work with them until they closed in 2001. He's still performing, as well as promoting his own shows, to this day.
