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As a recognized leader in global entertainment, WWE aims to entertain fans from across the globe with its world-class roster of talented wrestlers.
While WWE has often succeeded in creating gimmicks that made major stars, they have often failed in their attempts to recreate the same magic by recasting a character.
WWE has done this in the past to keep a popular character on television after parting ways with the wrestler who initially portrayed it. The company has also handed down several gimmicks to other Superstars, hoping they will live up to the same success.
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Let's take a look at five times WWE wrestlers portrayed similar gimmicks.
#5 Former WWE Superstars Adam Rose and No Way Jose
During his early years on NXT, former WWE Superstar Adam Rose competed under the ring name Leo Kruger, an African hunter and mercenary. WWE later changed his gimmick to that of a party animal dressed up in colourful costumes. He was led to the ring by his partygoing peers known as the Rosebuds.
Major WWE stars such as Becky Lynch, Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss played Rosebuds before finding success in the company. After Adam Rose left WWE, the company introduced a similar gimmick on the main roster, portrayed by No Way Jose. Just like Adam Rose, Jose danced to his entrance music and was accompanied by a bunch of people dressed up in flashy costumes.
During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Adam Rose opened up on the similarities between both characters by stating:
“It is very similar. I’ll say that. Very similar. But hopefully, he does better with it than I did because it’s a great thing and he’s really talented and stuff from what I’ve seen.”
Adam Rose went on to retire from professional wrestling in 2019, while No Way Jose competes on the independent circuit as Levy Valenz.
#4 Lars Sullivan and Snitsky
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is known for prefering physical specimens; wrestlers who look big and strong but often lack necessary skills. Former WWE Superstars Gene Snitsky and Lars Sullivan were no different. They both looked like monsters and were built up as such, but they failed to become the stars that the company expected them to be.
Both Sullivan and Snitsky were portrayed as unstable monsters who enjoyed inflicting pain on anyone they came across. Their massive size gave them an easy advantage over their opponents.
Snitsky was even involved in a feud with former WWE Champion Kane where he picked up several wins. There were rumors that Lars Sullivan was booked to squash John Cena at WrestleMania 35 but the plans were ultimatey nixed. WWE had big plans for Lars, but none of them unfolded as the two parties recently parted ways.
#3 Steve Bognar as WWE Hall of Famer Razor Ramon
In 1996, Scott Hall decided to leave WWE for rival promotion WCW with his friend Kevin Nash. Both wrestlers were big stars and their departure was bad news for Vince McMahon's billion-dollar company.
Since 'The Chairman of the Board' owned the rights to the Diesel and Razor Ramon characters, he thought it would be a good idea to hire other wrestlers to play them, leading to Steve Bognar portraying Razor Ramon. This obviously didn't pan out well. Instead, it became one of the biggest flops in WWE history.
The Razor Ramon impersonator didn't last very long in the company, and he never attained the same level of success that the original Razor did. Meanwhile, fake Diesel went on to find success under a more fitting gimmick.
#2 WWE Superstar Kane as Diesel
Before donning the scary mask and becoming WWE's resident Demon, Kane's road to success was a very rocky one. He had to play an evil dentist called Isaac Yankem, which was completely horrible, then he was repackaged as the new Diesel, which didn't work either.
Although Glenn Jacobs and Kevin Nash were similar in height, the former couldn't replicate the success Nash attained as Big Daddy Cool, despite being a better worker. Jacobs' turn to shine arrived in 1997 after he dropped the awful gimmick for one that changed his career: The Undertaker's evil half-brother Kane.
#1 Hunico as Sin Cara
WWE made a very big deal out of signing Sin Cara, who had been a huge star in Mexico as Mistico. He was given a cool entrance with pyro and the lights were dimmed during his matches in a bid to make him look cool and unique. Despite all this, Sin Cara was a bust.
He botched his debut entrance and most of his matches as well. He even called off an entire match after dislocating his finger. Many Superstars such as Triple H and Mick Foley managed to work through graver injuries without calling it off, but that's not the kind of wrestler Sin Cara was.
The company later introduced another Sin Cara, played by Hunico and the two wrestlers collided in a Mask vs. Mask Match won by the original Sin Cara. After the latter left WWE, Hunico was given the Sin Cara character again. He portrayed it for several years to little success before also departing from the company.
