From the mythical Bruno Sammartino to the “Immortal” Hulk Hogan, WWE has seen countless gimmicks come and go over the years. For non-wrestling audience, a gimmick is a character portrayed by a wrestler on television. Wrestlers usually take inspiration from real life to bring the right characters to life.
That being said, a gimmick is different from a gimmick name (or ring name, if you will). Whereas a gimmick is a wrestler’s in-ring persona, the ring name is chief associated with in-ring booking, merchandising and branding.
This business has a long history of men and women using fictional names to make an impact. Almost every performer started with a different name but would end up being associated with an entirely different one.
Here, we are looking at the best WWE gimmick names of all time:
“Ravishing” Rick Rude was among WWE’s biggest heel in the Golden Era
They say an effective heel makes for compelling storyline. This is true in Rick Rude’s case. The “Ravishing One” is considered to be one of the greatest heels in the history of this business. Rude was as good on the mic as he was convincing inside the ring.
His program with Ultimate Warrior solidified Warrior as a top babyface. Rude also had a terrific program with Jake “The Snake” Roberts. His run as D-Generation X’s insurance is vastly underrated as well.
Razor Ramon
Scott Hall had many ring names before he settled on the iconic “Razor Ramon” in WWE. The late great wrestler performed as “Starship Coyote” and “Diamond Studd” prior to his arrival in WWE in 1992. As Scott once recalled, he referenced Scarface while pitching the gimmick but Vince McMahon had no clue of the iconic film.
Razor Ramon would immediately make an impact through his cool and calm persona but extremely intense in-ring work. The gimmick would lead Hall to his four Intercontinental title wins in addition to several critically-acclaimed feuds in the sports entertainment juggernaut.
Kane had one of the greatest WWE debuts of all time
Whatever happened to that Isaac Yankem guy? I heard he became Fake Diesel en-route to becoming the Devil’s Favorite Demon.
Vince McMahon originally wanted “Kane” to be the first name for “The Undertaker” in WWE. However, the name would later be adopted by Glenn Jacobs. Kane showed up in dominant fashion at In Your House: Badd Blood.
He’d rip the steel door with his bare hands before taking out Taker with his own Tombstone finisher. This would kick off one of the greatest storylines in pro wrestling history.
“The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase
A convincing heel gimmick complemented by one of the best WWE entrance theme songs! That’s Ted DiBiase aka “The Million Dollar Man.” DiBiase rose to prominence during the Gold Era of Pro Wrestling. He was as egotistical as he was filthy rich and there was nothing he couldn’t buy.
The Million Dollar Man would be the mastermind behind Hulk Hogan’s infamous WWE Championship loss to Andre the Giant at The Main Event on February 5, 1988. Andre would immediately forfeit the title to DiBiase only for the WWE management to declare it vacant.
DiBiase would fail to win the vacant title against Randy Savage at WrestleMania IV. He would ditch his title aspirations for a custom version called “The Million Dollar Championship.”
Triple H
Terra Ryzing was The Kliq’s favorite worker in WCW. The person behind the persona, Paul Levesque, arrived in WWE and donned the gimmick of a French aristocrat. As Hunter Hearst Hemsley, Levesque feud with the likes of The Rock, Goldust, and a debuting Cactus Jack.
The Attitude Era allowed wrestlers to experiment with their gimmicks for a more bold and edgier persona. Hemsley would ditch his Connecticut Blueblood gimmick for the more intense and edgier Triple H. As Triple H, he’d lead a band of degenerates amid Shawn Michaels’ absence.
Triple H’s active in-ring career with cap off with 14 world title wins among other accolades.
John Cena wouldn’t have become a 16-time World Champion under his original gimmick
Jim Cornette gave John Cena the now infamous “Prototype” gimmick in OVW. This in-ring persona saw Cena act like a robot with power-based offense. Thankfully, the ring name was dropped for his main roster debut.
However, Cena would still show traces of his Prototype character during his earlier main roster days. The future 16-time World Champion would come incredibly close to losing his job before a freestyle rap session on a tour bus got the attention of Stephanie McMahon.
The Dr. of Thuganomics was born and he wasn’t PG at all.
Let’s be clear — John Cena is his real name, and one of the most successful pro wrestlers ever. However, his “Doctor Of Thuganomics” era provided a fantastic moniker and catchy battle raps.
Jake “The Snake” Roberts
Aurelian Smith Jr. started his pro wrestling career in 1974 yet he won’t get his breakthrough till the late eighties. Upon arriving in WWE, Smith Jr. got hold of Jake “The Snake” Roberts gimmick. The gimmick was so effective that Roberts even got massive pop when he planted Hulk Hogan with a DDT.
Unfortunately, backstage politics prevented Roberts to enter into a full-length program with Hulk Hogan. The Snake would continue to entertain millions of his fans with his captivating mic skills and fantastic gimmick work during the nineties.
The Rock
It’s funny how things work in the world of pro wrestling. The Rock was the biggest heel in WWE 25 years ago. He is set to once again fully embrace the dark side amid The Bloodline’s feud with Cody Rhodes on the road to WrestleMania XL. That being said, the story of how Dwayne Johnson went from being Rocky Maivia to The Rock is worth a read.
Rocky Maivia started off as a generic babyface. The former Flex Kavana made his main roster debut at Survivor Series 1996. The blue chipper would defeat Hunter Hearst Hemsley for the Intercontinental title just a few months later. However, Maivia began to lose his popularity as chants of “Rocky Sucks” and “Die Rocky Die” became louder with each successive show.
Maivia would eventually embrace the heat and align himself with The Nation of Domination. A promo on the August 18, 1997, episode of RAW would see Maivia transition to The Rock character. The ring name would inarguably become his biggest identity, helping him take the pro wrestling world by storm.
Hulk Hogan gave WWE their first mainstream success
Hogan will forever remain synonymous with wrestling’s first recorded boom period. The real-life Terry Bollea donned many different gimmicks, from “The Super Destroyer” to Sterling Golden, but it was the “Hulk Hogan” persona that catapulted him to great heights. The “Hogan” name was given to him by then WWF-chief Vincent J. McMahon.
McMahon’s son, Vincent Kennedy McMahon, handpicked Hogan to represent the new company. Within three weeks of helping Bob Backlund, Hogan would dethrone Iron Sheik to claim the promotion’s top title at their historic MSG encounter on January 23, 1984.
The business picked up and so did Hulkamania.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin
A career mid carder with a potential for main event status, “Stunning” Steve Williams found limited success in WCW as one-half of The Hollywood Blonds. Knowing he would be stuck in the loop forever, the future “Stone Cold” set for the then-World Wrestling Federation. However, Austin would briefly foray into ECW before ultimately arriving in the Stamford-based promotion.
He would briefly wrestle as the tactically-imposing Ringmaster with “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase as his manager before finding his own footing. DiBiase spoke about his brief alliance with Austin during a 2018 interview with Mirror, noting he “saw the talent in Steve” and told him to just be himself.
“I did make ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin the Million Dollar Champion on Raw. You know I saw the talent in Steve and I remember telling him – because a lot of people were telling him ‘You need to do more’ – I remember telling him, ‘Don’t do anything different, because what you do is believable, it’s real,” DiBiase said.
The rest, as they like to say, is history.
Also read: 5 Nicest WWE Superstars Ever
