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A lot has been said about Keith Lee’s new music and attire following his match against Randy Orton on the post-SummerSlam episode of WWE RAW.
With so many people discussing the character tweaks instead of his new rivalry with Orton, Lee took to Twitter to let fans know that the change to his entrance theme is not something that he can control.
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When asked about his new attire, which consists of a tight vest and baggy shorts, the former WWE NXT Champion said fans should “leave it be and have some patience”.
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WWE appearance changes are nothing new, especially for newcomers to RAW and SmackDown, but did you know that several high-profile names from the current WWE roster have also been advised to make changes to how they look on television?
In this article, let’s count down six WWE Superstars who were told to change their appearance.
#5 WWE SmackDown Superstars The Usos
In September 2016, The Usos wanted to reinvent their WWE characters after attacking American Alpha members Chad Gable and Jason Jordan on WWE SmackDown to turn heel for the first time in five years.
One week later, Jimmy and Jey ditched their facepaint and bright colors for their matches against The Hype Bros and Heath Slater & Rhyno at the WWE Backlash pay-per-view, and they debuted black attire (see above) with white shoes.
Speaking on The New Day’s Feel The Power podcast in March 2020, Jey revealed that WWE’s higher-ups did not like their new gear because it looked too similar to the attire that Roman Reigns – their biological cousin – wore on WWE RAW at the time.
“Obviously, for the heel change, we needed to change everything, but they were saying when they had first seen us working in all black, it was like, 'You guys look too much like Roman. Don't look like Roman.' 'Man, who the hell else are we supposed to look like? We're in the same gene pool, uce.'” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]
The Usos took the feedback on board and began wearing white and red attire in the weeks following their WWE SmackDown heel turn.
#4 WWE RAW Superstar Dolph Ziggler
Dolph Ziggler revealed in an interview with talkSPORT and Sportskeeda's Alex McCarthy in 2020 that he drastically changed his appearance in 2011 after being told by WWE officials that he would never be a World Champion with his hairstyle at the time.
Back then, Ziggler had slicked-back blonde hair, which made him stand out from other WWE Superstars on the roster. However, he decided to cut his hair short and dye it black after listening to feedback from his bosses.
“I said, ‘This isn’t me, we can find a way to introduce more of my shooting background and things.’ Nope. That’s what they wanted [the haircut]. Then after three weeks they said, ‘Oh, our bad.’”
Ziggler grew his hair long again and ended up winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the second time on the post-WrestleMania 29 episode of WWE RAW when he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Alberto Del Rio.
#3 WWE veteran John Cena
John Cena will go down as one of the most successful Superstars in WWE history, but his start to life on WWE’s main roster did not go according to plan.
On the day of his debut match against Kurt Angle on a June 2002 episode of WWE SmackDown, Cena was introduced to Vince McMahon for the first time in the WWE Chairman's office.
As Cena recalled in an interview on WWE’s website, McMahon did not like his new Superstar’s blonde hair and he instructed him to immediately get a haircut.
“They literally dragged me by the arm to Vince’s office, threw me in and asked him, ‘What do you think?’ I had ridiculously ugly, long, super-dyed blonde hair that was shaved bald on the sides. He turned around and with a disgusted look on his face, he said, ‘Cut his hair,’ and I was whisked away from Vince like an assembly line.”
Cena said McMahon was “disgusted” to look at him before his appearance change, even though the 16-time WWE World Champion felt that his new haircut was “equally as horrible”.
#2 WWE SmackDown Superstar Sheamus
Like The Usos, Sheamus was happy to change his appearance in WWE when his character underwent a transformation in January 2020.
However, he was not too impressed with the ideas that were presented to him after nine months away from WWE television, especially when he was told that he should look almost identical to a member of the 205 Live roster at the time, Jack Gallagher.
“Mate, I got these notebooks of ideas from creative with like, a small moustache, and suspenders and my hair go over to the side. It looked almost exactly like Jack Gallagher from 205 Live and I said, ‘You know, we have a person who looks just like this here, right?’” [H/T talkSPORT]
Fortunately, Sheamus got his own way in the end. Instead of returning with a moustache and side-parted hair, the Irishman brought back the same look that he had been synonymous with during his first six years in WWE.
The former WWE Champion added that he “would have been toast” if anybody saw him with the look that WWE’s creative team pitched to him.
#1 WWE SmackDown Superstar Alexa Bliss
Alexa Bliss revealed on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast in 2017 that she was told on the day of a WWE NXT taping that she needed to dye her hair red.
“I walk in and was asked where my red hair was and I said that nobody told me to turn it red. They asked if it can be red within the next five hours, so I had to call my hair girl to come to Full Sail and literally cut the bottoms off and spray paint this red dye on them.” [H/T 411mania]
Bliss turned heel the night before by helping Blake & Murphy defeat Big Cass & Enzo Amore to retain the NXT Tag Team titles at the WWE NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable event.
The five-time WWE Women’s Champion explained that NXT's decision-makers wanted her to change from good to evil overnight, which is why they told her to get rid of the blue streaks in her hair by dying them red – the same color as Blake & Murphy’s attire.
