WWE: Haunting pasts – 5 successful transitions in wrestling

How many of us have regretted doing something in the past that we’re ashamed of? The answer is all of us. In the world of professional wrestling, sometimes in an attempt to “entertain” people, or to do something out of the ordinary, the promoters/bookers and the creative do something so atrocious that it follows the performers everywhere they go.

It is very difficult for a performer to be taken seriously after being given a silly gimmick for a year or two. After all, who would take a “joke” seriously? For a performer to reach the helm of the wrestling world, and that’s what everyone wants to achieve in the end, they need the fans to take them seriously.

Getting out of this “hole” is pretty difficult. Ask the likes of Terry Taylor, who despite being one of the most talented individuals, still faces the stigma of being the Red Rooster in the then WWF. But there have been superstars who were successful in making a transition, from being a joke or a comedy act to having a more serious role in the industry.

In this article, I take a look at five such individuals who have been successful in getting out of their shadows, and have become successful in professional wrestling.

Kane

Kane of WWE

The ‘Big Red Monster’ wasn’t always a scary masked individual calling himself “Devil’s favourite demon”. He had many personas before he became Kane that he’d like to forget. Starting from being Dr. Isaac Yankem, a demented dentist who only wanted to pull out his opponent’s teeth during their bouts, to playing the “Fake Diesel”, Kane was anything but scary when he started in the then WWF.

After his initial gimmicks failed in the company, he was given the monicker of Kane, the younger brother of The Undertaker and the rest is history.

Dolph Ziggler

Remember the ‘Spirit Squad’? How about Kerwin White? Dolph Ziggler started out as a caddy and then as a member of the Spirit Squad, which was an inside joke about male cheer leaders, who went on to capture the WWE Tag Team championships (Don’t ask).

Dolph Ziggler was then successful in putting his demons of the past to rest and went on to have a good career in the WWE, winning the World Heavyweight title on two different occasions. He is currently one of the biggest babyfaces in the WWE, which isn’t bad of an accomplishment considering where and how he started his WWE career.

Triple H

Long before Triple H became the son-in-law of Vince McMahon and the “Game” or the “Cerebral Assassin” in the WWE, he started out in professional wrestling as “Terra Ryzing” (Terror rising; yes, that’s WCW’s creative for you). He then left the WCW and came to the WWF, and became “Hunter Hearst Helmsley”, which was later made into Triple H.

Kevin Nash

Kevin Nash

Big ‘Kev’ started out as “Oz” in WCW, a character from the Wizard of Oz. And if that wasn’t enough, he was later repackaged as ‘Vinnie Vegas’. One would imagine that having two such demeaning gimmicks would be the end of the road for him in the business, but he then went to the WWF, met Shawn Michaels and became a part of the ‘Kliq’ and the rest is history.

Damien Sandow

Before Damien Sandow became the ‘Intellectual Saviour’, he was known as Idol Stevens and Aaron Stevens in the WWE. Very few know that Sandow has been in the company right from 2002, although he was released for a brief period. He was later involved in a stable along with Michelle McCool, known as the “Teacher’s Pets”.

It was a good thing that none of those worked out and Damien Sandow then became “Mr. Money in the Bank”.