5 Wrestlers Who Went Through Many Gimmicks Before Finding The Perfect One (& 5 Who Never Did)

There are many examples where WWE wrestlers needed not one, not two, but three or more gimmicks to find the perfect fit. There are also examples of wrestlers that never quite made anything work or, once they did, lost that gimmick.

Following is a list of some wrestlers who took many, many tries to find the perfect gimmick - as well as those who, for one reason or another, never quite made it to the top regardless of how many gimmicks they had.

10 No: Mideon

Dennis Knight was a staple of wrestling in the 1990s. After a forgettable WCW run, he left to become Phineas I. Godwinn in WWE, a member of the Godwinns. The pig farmers won the tag team titles twice and got a decent push before Canterbury got hurt. They returned under their real names as Southern Justice before another injury to Mark derailed the team again. Knight was then repackaged as Mideon, carrying a (fake) eyeball in a jar with him. He was a member of the Ministry of Darkness until the group disbanded. His final gimmick was that of Naked Mideon, before leaving WWE in early 2001.

9 Yes: The Godfather

Charles Wright began his career in the USWA in 1989. The Soultaker found some success before trying out with WWE as Sir Charles. His TV debut, however, was as the scary Papa Shango. After the gimmick got WWE in hot waters, Shango left WWE until 1995, when he was repackaged as Kama. That gimmick flopped as well, and after another hiatus, Wright returned as Kama Mustafa and joined the Nation of Domination. His final transition happened organically, as he began calling himself the Godfather, carrying a cane around. He briefly abandoned the gimmick to join Right to Censor as the Goodfather, but the less said about those few months, the better.

8 No: Bull Buchanan

Bull Buchanan's career could have gone the way Charles Wright's did. He debuted as Recon in the Truth Commission in 1997, but the group was a flop. He then reappeared two years later as Bull Buchanan alongside the Big Bossman before - coincidentally - joining Right to Censor and winning the tag team titles alongside the Goodfather.

But when RTC broke up, Buchanan found himself without a gimmick. He briefly returned as B2 alongside John Cena in 2003, but it didn't catch on. Despite his size and agility, Bull never quite found the gimmick to get over.

7 Yes: Road Dogg

Brian Armstrong began wrestling in 1986, but his career seemed cut short when he enlisted the Marines in 1987. He reappeared - unbeknownst to anybody - as The Dark Secret, a masked jobber, in SMW in 1992 before joining WCW as Brian Armstrong in 1994. A year later, he joined WWE as The Roadie and found his first bit of success alongside Jeff Jarrett. Both left the company in 1995, but Brian returned a year later as 'The Real Double J' Jesse James. That gimmick, however, didn't work either and Brian's career seemed to have hit a dead end - but then, the WWE teamed him up with Billy Gunn. James began calling himself 'Road Dogg' and Armstrong's career took off.

6 No: Crush

This is a case of a wrestler keeping the same name while still not finding the right gimmick. Brian Adams joined WWE in 1990 as Crush, the third member of Demolition, but the fans didn't take to the new version of Demolition and the team was disbanded in 1991. He was then repackaged as a Hulk-like babyface and found some success. After an injury, Crush returned as a Japanese sympathizer, managed by Mr. Fuji. He made his final appearance under that gimmick at the Royal Rumble 1995 before running into legal trouble. Those troubles were picked up upon his return in 1996 as the ex-convict Crush. He joined the first version of the Nation of Domination but when Faarooq disbanded the group, Crush formed the biker gang Disciples of Apocalypse. He left WWE in the aftermath of the Montreal Screwjob and joined the NWO under his real name before being repackaged as the KISS Demon. However, he was replaced in that role by Dale Torborg and would instead form a team with Bryan Clarke as KroniK.

5 Yes: Bradshaw

Justin Hawk Bradshaw entered WWE in early 1996. The tough Texan gimmick didn't last a year before Bradshaw was teamed up with Barry Windham to form the New Blackjacks. Once that team failed, Bradshaw went back to his roots before teaming with Faarooq as the Acolytes (later APA).

Bradshaw seemed to have found his niche and the two teamed up until Farooq's retirement in 2004. To everybody's surprise though, this was Bradshaw's big chance: he totally reinvented himself to become JBL - a self-made millionaire, arrogant Texan oil-tycoon type. JBL even held the WWE title for almost a year.

4 No: Barry Darsow

Darsow was what Jim Ross would call 'a good hand.' Starting out as Krusher Krushchev (and Krusher Darsow), a Russian sympathizer, Darsow debuted in WWE as Demolition Smash - his most successful gimmick. After the team was disbanded in 1991, Darsow lost a lot of weight to fit the role of Repo Man. The gimmick prevented Darsow from climbing up the ranks, so he left for WCW in 1994. There he became the truck driver Blacktop Bully. He was released after the infamous King of the Roadmatch, but returned in 1997 as the golfer 'Mr. Hole-in-One' Barry Darsow. He eventually dropped the golfer gimmick and just wrestled under his real name until an amnesia storyline in 1999, when he began portraying all his previous gimmicks randomly. He finally left the big stage in late 1999, arguably never reaching his full potential.

3 Yes: Rikishi

The father of the Usos, Fatu was first seen nationally in the NWA alongside Samu as the Samoan Swat Team. The two eventually moved to WWE to become the Headshrinkers. After Samu left, Fatu found a new partner in Sionne (The Barbarian) but it didn't last long. He was then repackaged as 'Make A Difference' Fatu - essentially a social worker from the streets of San Francisco who told kids to stay in school and not do drugs.

The gimmick flopped, and he was taken off TV until early 1997 when he returned as The Sultan. That gimmick flopped as well, so Fatu left WWE in late 1997, his career on the big stage essentially over. However, he returned in late 1999 as Rikishi Phatu (quickly shortened to just 'Rikishi'), wearing a thong and dancing with Too Cool. It was Rikishi's big break.

2 No: Ed Leslie

There is an argument to be made that Ed Leslie had found his perfect gimmick as Brutus Beefcake. The problem is though that, much like Barry Darsow, he didn't stick with the gimmick. Upon his return in 1993, Brutus wasn't over with fans. The gimmick had run its course and Leslie had to find something else. Naturally, he joined Hogan in WCW - and that's when the real insanity began: Brother Brutie, The Butcher, The Man With No Name, The Zodiac, The Booty Man, The Disciple - Leslie ran through gimmicks at a breakneck speed. The Disciple gimmick worked for a while (as long as he wasn't wrestling) but he was just always seen as Hogan's sidekick.

1 Yes: Kane

Glenn Jacobs, had a long journey before finding the right gimmick. After a handful of gimmicks and names on the independents (and as Bruiser Mastino in WCW), Jacobs would join SMW as Unabomb. Because of his size and agility, it was no surprise that WWE came knocking. He was repackaged as Jerry Lawler's evil dentist Isaac Yankem D.D.S. but the gimmick was dead on arrival. He then was presented as the fake Diesel - another terrible gimmick destined for failure. Jacobs' career seemed dead before he got one last chance as the Undertaker's long-lost brother Kane. Jacobs made the gimmick work and, through various twists and turns, kept the gimmick alive for the rest of his career.