Every WWE wrestler starts somewhere. "Stone Cold" was the "Ring Master" before becoming a huge wrestling icon. Finding a wrestling gimmick that lands with fans often takes time and requires a ton of trial and error.
Although some of the best male wrestlers on the WWE roster are currently working the best gimmicks of their careers, many started out with a completely different persona. Others debuted with a persona similar to their current identity. This list will examine the first gimmick of ten current male WWE wrestlers. To be clear, this list will look at these wrestlers' first WWE gimmicks, not ones they may have had in other promotions.
10 Dolph Ziggler - Kerwin White's Caddie
Despite having a great WWE career overall, Dolph Ziggler had his fair share of awful gimmicks before landing on one that led to a WWE world championship. His debut gimmick, as a caddie, was even less thought out than his second gimmick, where he was a member of The Spirit Squad.
In 2005, Chavo Guerrero began to adopt a persona that renounced his Mexican ethnicity and chose to live as a White man named Kerwin White. The gimmick was as bad as it sounds and Dolph portrayed Chavo's enforcer, a caddie. Luckily for both of them, neither gimmick lasted long.
9 Drew McIntyre - Dave Taylor's Enforcer
Drew McIntyre has had many hit-or-miss moments in the WWE. His time in 3MB, for example, was spectacularly awful. Before 3MB and even before his 2009 debut, McIntyre began popping up in WWE matches around 2007.
His debut gimmick saw the future WWE Champion as a heel character that followed Dave Taylor. The gimmick showed very little dimension to McIntyre and has been forgotten for good reason.
8 Big E - Big E Langston
Big E has become one of the most "over" wrestlers in the WWE. His rise to the top of the WWE card was years in the making and many fans agree his WWE Championship reign ended way too soon in 2022.
Before he was a WWE Champion or a member of The New Day, with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, Big E debuted in NXT as "Big E Langston." He was a beast that started with an undefeated streak and forced referees to count to five instead of three on pinfalls. He was much more aggressive than the (more well-known) Big E of the past five years.
7 Edge - Grifter Gimmick
Edge is one of the few stars still wrestling from the Attitude Era. No one has held WWE's World Heavyweight Championship more times than him (7) and he's undoubtedly one of the greatest wrestlers to ever step foot in a WWE ring.
Before he was a WWE Hall of Famer or the Rated R Superstar, Edge had vignette promos that showed him as a grifter. His original gimmick portrayed Edge as a lost soul who never spoke. Edge eventually became well known for his skills on the mic, so it was a far cry from the character he would later adopt with Christian and his character as a solo superstar.
6 Kevin Owens - The Last WWE Signee
Kevin Owens has done a great job adapting a gimmick that is essentially an elevated version of himself. He had a few failed attempts at establishing a fresh character after his debut but still become WWE Universal Champion relatively quickly.
Owens debuted in NXT in 2014. His first gimmick saw him represented as a wrestler who was the last of his friends to arrive to the WWE. His entire story was that he wrestled for almost 15 years to finally be given a shot at NXT. The whole idea was to show Owens as a ruthless competitor who would do anything to provide for his family. The gimmick worked very well for Owens who became NXT Champion.
5 R-Truth - K-Kwik
R-Truth has had a long WWE career. Although he's never become a world champion in the WWE, Truth has made a huge impact among hardcore fans and carried any segment or bad storyline assigned to him.
Before he was R-Truth, the veteran wrestling jokester, he was "K-Kwik." The gimmick originally showed Truth as a member of a rapping duo with Road Dogg. The gimmick did little to raise his profile and Truth left the WWE after 2 years with the gimmick, returning in 2008 as "R-Truth."
4 Jinder Mahal - The Great Khali's Brother In Law
Jinder Mahal's WWE Championship run was one of the most polarizing moments of the past decade. Since losing the title to AJ Styles, Mahal has struggled to find his footing on WWE television. He also has had many bad gimmicks (like his time with 3MB).
Mahal debuted in 2011 as an angry newcomer who was unimpressed with the Great Khali and Ranjit Singh. It was also quickly revealed that Mahal was married to Khali's sister. The family connection did little to establish Mahal.
3 Bobby Lashley - Amateur Wrestling Champion
Bobby Lashley has spent a large part of his WWE career dominating opponents. The former world champion has had his struggles on the microphone but has been a solid performer during both his stints in the WWE.
Long before he was "The All Mighty" or a WWE Champion, Lashley debuted as a "true wrestler." His credentials helped establish the gimmick by introducing him as a National Amateur Wrestling Champion, an All-American, and a Silver Medalist at the Military World Championship. Lashley was pushed as a technician in his early days.
2 Kofi Kingston - Jamaican Gimmick
KofiMania took WWE audiences by storm. Kingston's rise to the top of the WWE was almost a decade in the making. Long before KofiMania or The New Day, Kingston debuted in the WWE's ECW reboot in 2007.
Despite being a Ghanaian-American, Kofi was a Jamaican wrestler. The gimmick was awful (and so was his accent). He always performed well in the ring despite the shortfalls of his debut gimmick. He eventually dropped the accent at Bragging Rights 2009.
1 Baron Corbin - Beastly Corbin
Baron Corbin has spent most of his career hopping from gimmick to gimmick trying to get over with fans. Although he has had his moments of triumph, gimmicks like "King Corbin" and "Happy Corbin" are awful stains on his wrestling resume that will hopefully improve.
Before arriving to the WWE main roster, Corbin debuted as a force in NXT. His first gimmick showed Corbin as a beast who quickly dominated his opponents. It led up to a feud with Bull Dempsey that was one of the higher points of Corbin's WWE career.