Unexplained Repackaging of WWE Wrestlers

   There is a term in professional wrestling, and I think it can apply to all fictional entertainment, that there has to be a "suspension of disbelief."  If you apply logic to everything you see, you'll never enjoy anything.  With that being said, one thing that has happened in wrestling for a long time is when a wrestler is repackaged.  Some were good and many have been terrible.  While the people on my list would be considered failed repackages, this list is about unexplained repackaging of wrestlers in WWE.  What I mean by that is a wrestler that worked a similar gimmick or even had the same name or look but was repackaged as a completely different character.  I'm talking about the ones that really insult people's intelligence.

   People will bring up the One Man Gang becoming Akeem.  This doesn't fit in my list, however. They explained the transition on WWE television through several vignettes.  Though it might have been silly, and even racist, it was at least explained.  He didn't just show up as Akeem out of nowhere!  Another one that doesn't count is Tito Santana being repackaged as El Matador.  They explained his transition with vignettes showing him training to become a bullfighter.  Also, they still referred to him as Tito Santana.  Kerry Von Erich became the Texas Tornado in the WWF but that was just a moniker, as they referred to his name several times through his run.

Iron Sheik becomes Col. Mustafa

   One that has bothered me a lot has been the Iron Sheik becoming Col. Mustafa.  Shortly after the Gulf War began, Sgt. Slaughter returned to the WWF but turned his back on America to become an Iraqi sympathizer, pledging his allegiance to Saddam Hussein.  He soon brought in General Adnan, who had been known to have a similar gimmick years earlier.  He also bore an incredible resemblance to Hussein.  Slaughter brought in the Iron Sheik to form his "Triangle of Terror."  However, he referred to him as Col. Mustafa.  What bothered me the most was that the WWF didn't even acknowledge he was the Iron Sheik, a former World Champion and former enemy of Slaughter years ago.  They treated him as a completely different character even though he looked exactly the same.  I would have been more okay with it had they explained he was once the Iron Sheik but was now being referred to as Col. Mustafa but they didn't do that.  Even if he was from Iran, Iran was not that different to Iraq at the time.  It still would have worked!  

Ricky Steamboat becomes The Dragon

   Throughout most of his career, this man was known as Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. However, when he returned to the WWF in 1991, he was known simply as The Dragon, and even had fire breathing in his entrance.  "The Dragon" was always his moniker but when he debuted with this straight up dragon gimmick, they acted as if he was a new wrestler.  People were not that dumb!  Everyone knew it was Ricky Steamboat! They completely ignored his past as a former Intercontinental Champion and past feuds with the likes of Randy Savage and Jake Roberts.  It was as if the man was making his debut.  This infuriated me, even as an eleven-year-old at the time.  I just didn't understand why they didn't acknowledge his past, knowing full well fans remembered him.  Due to this gimmick, it's no wonder  Steamboat quickly returned to WCW to finish up his career.

Crush becomes...Crush

   This is another one that baffles me, especially because he had the exact same name as his previous stint with the company. From 1990 to 1991, Crush became the third member of Demolition  and eventually replaced Ax as a full time member to team with Smash.  After Demolition quietly disbanded, Crush and Smash weren't seen again for a while.  Though Smash returned later that year as Repo Man, his gimmick doesn't count in my list because he looked different enough that same fans didn't recognize that he used to be Smash.  Crush on the other hand, returned in the Spring of 1992 as ...Crush.  They played up his Hawaiian heritage and gave him a great submission finisher where he squeezed his opponents' heads like grapes.  However, they didn't acknowledge his time as a member of Demolition at all, even though everyone knew who he was.  At least change the character name!  It would have been better if they acknowledged his past in the Hawaiian vignettes, stating he was not proud of what he once did and wanted to embrace his Hawaiian background.  That would have made more sense than acting is if he never stepped foot in a WWF ring before.

Barry Windham becomes The Stalker

   Barry Windham's first run in the WWF was as an all-American babyface, teaming with Mike Rotundo as the US Express.  Windham returned briefly in 1989 to become the Widow Maker but that wasn't as bad as when he came back in 1996 as The Stalker. He wore camouflage and fatigues throughout his attire and even had his face painted in camouflage as well.  They didn't acknowledge that he was Barry Windham at all, even though most fans could tell it was him.  They finally did acknowledge him when he started embracing his father's Blackjack gimmick later on.  The Stalker was just a ridiculous concept and reminded me of Gary Busey's character in Black Sheep.  No one was taking this seriously.  I'm sure the WWF thought he was too boring as just Barry Windham, which is why Dustin Rhodes became Goldust.  The difference is that the Goldust gimmick was a home run, whereas The Stalker was a strike out!  Even if he did let himself go by this point, he didn't deserve this, nor did the fans.

Albert/A-Train becomes Lord Tensai

   This poor man has had to endure many dumb gimmicks.  He debuted as Droz's tattoo artist Prince Albert, named after the infamous piercing.  Not long after, it was shorted to just Albert.  In 2001 during the Invasion, he turned babyface to team with Scotty Too Hotty as became known as Albert, the Hip Hop Hippo. His best gimmick yet was joining Paul Heyman when he came known as A-Train.  The A still acknowledged he was Albert but people started taking him much more seriously.  After he left the company, he went to Japan where he became a much better wrestler and character as Giant Bernard.  In 2012, he returned to WWE not as Albert, or even A-Train, but as Lord Tensai.  They dressed him up almost the way Hakushi was years ago, seemingly to present him as a Japanese man, even though he was clearly Caucasian.  When he took off his helmet, everyone knew who it was and started chanting Albert.  While the company acknowledged he used to perform in WWE, they never once said the name Albert or talked about exactly what he did in the company.  I understand they wanted to capitalize on his experience in Japan but there were much better ways to go about this.  What might be even worse is when Lord Tensai, now shorted to just Tensai, called himself Sweet T and teamed with Brodus Clay as Tons of Funk.

Jacques Rougeau becomes The Mountie

   I need to clarify that this blog is not necessarily about bad gimmicks.  I actually enjoyed The Mountie!  Here's my one issue, though!  Jacques had been in the WWF for five years before he left shortly after the 1990 Royal Rumble.  He returned a year later as The Mountie.  I feel like they should have done vignettes where he went home to Canada and became a member of the Royal Mounted Police and Jacques Rougeau decided from then on to be referred to as The Mountie.  This wasn't as bad as others in my list but they still tried to pass him off as someone brand new to the company when fans knew he was Jacques Rougeau.

   I'm sure there are more examples but I wanted to bring up ones that bothered me the most.  I didn't bring up IRS because Mike Rotundo wasn't as big a name and enough time had passed between his first stint and the IRS gimmick that many didn't care or notice the change.  I could have brought up Tony Atlas being brought back to portray an African tribesman named Sabba Simba. Considering the time frame, he they could have used his "Mr. USA" gimmick and he might have been one of Sgt. Slaughter's opponents.  He was on hard times at this point and was probably willing to do anything they wanted just to make ends meet.  Please let me know any other examples in the comment section.  

  If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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