Coming up with unique and fresh wrestling gimmicks can't be an easy thing, that's something that most wrestling fans don't give creative enough credit for. Thinking of a fresh idea for each superstar is no doubt a tough task, which is why it isn't really surprising to see some gimmicks that look similar to others. After all, there are only so many gimmicks you can create for a wrestler, but sometimes it is so clear that the people behind the scenes making the decisions are being lazy that it is hard to believe.

While it might seem like a good idea to see a successful gimmick and simply take it and make a few small alterations, in reality, it is just a total rip-off and is something that wrestling fans are very quick to see. However, given how obvious and lazy it is, this is something that has happened on countless occasions with seemingly every wrestling company deciding to do it. Some might have worked to a good degree, but many of them were such clear rip-offs they never worked and it simply ended careers before they even begun.

This list will be looking at 15 examples of when a wrestling promotion clearly ripped off a gimmick from another promotion to re-use but in a slightly different manner, but without fooling anybody in the process.

15 WCW Creates Its Own Chyna

Chyna is certainly in the conversation for one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time. Her in-ring work speaks for itself and she became one of the most recognizable names in history, the same can not be said for Asya.

If Asya is a name you are not aware of, you can be forgiven, but during the Monday Night Wars competition was high and both WWE and WCW did everything they could to one-up each other. WWE had a muscular and dominant female wrestler in Chyna, well WCW was going to go and find an even more muscular female wrestler. The problem was, Asya was clearly just a copy of Chyna and the whole thing was nowhere near as popular.

14 AJ Styles Walks Out

He might now be in WWE as arguably the greatest wrestler on the planet, but at one point he was stealing a gimmick from WWE when he was in TNA, but it didn't quite reach the level of success that WWE's did. The 'Summer of Punk' was one of the greatest gimmicks of all time for CM Punk, with him walking out of the company even though he was the WWE Champion, even though he didn't stay away for as long as people would have hoped, it was a fantastic angle.

TNA decided to copy this exact gimmick for AJ Styles. He was playing the same role as Punk as being frustrated with how the company was booking him and he walked out as a champion for a brief run.

13 A New Monster Is Born

WWE has covered the 'monster' gimmick incredibly well throughout history, with characters such as Kane and The Undertaker becoming some of the most iconic and legendary in the history of the industry. TNA saw the huge success that these gimmicks had and decided they needed a monster of their own, creating Abyss. His character was a mix of Kane and Mankind, another very good gimmick, with him wearing a similar mask to that of Mick Foley.

While Abyss was never going to become as huge as those names, because of the company he worked for, he has still been one of Impact's biggest ever stars and the fact there were rumours about WWE wanting to sign him for a WrestleMania feud with Undertaker at one stage shows he certainly made his own gimmick work.

12 Renegade A.K.A. Ultimate Warrior 2.0

The Ultimate Warrior was, without doubt, one of WWE's greatest ever gimmicks. It was over the top and ridiculous but caught on with fans, hence why he is now a WWE Hall Of Famer. With his popularity, it should come as no surprise to see that WCW decided to rip off his character and introduced Renegade to the world, a character that couldn't have looked any more like Ultimate Warrior if they tried.

Unsurprisingly the gimmick did not last long in WCW, mainly because the fans were more shocked at the horrendous decision to copy the Ultimate Warrior, who himself trashed Renegade which totally killed his gimmick.

11 The Masterpiece

Both Chris Masters and Lex Luger had one very obvious thing in common, their body types. It was one of their main selling points and helped them stand out, but the fact WWE went as far as having Masters posing in almost the same way made things very obvious.

It was a total rip off from Luger's WCW gimmick, even down to the entrance that they both made and just like Luger, Masters failed to fully live up to his potential, proving that a body will only take you so far. Masters managed to have a solid run, but eventually was picked up for wellness violations and that brought an end to his WWE career, which is something that Luger could never be picked up on, making one slight difference between them.

10 A Steel Cage Upgrade

Wrestling promotions are always looking for the next big thing, not just in terms of wrestlers and potential gimmicks, but also in terms of what the next big wrestling stipulation could possibly be.

The steel cage match is now a staple in wrestling and is something that every wrestling promotion puts on, which is why WCW took it to another level when they brought in War Games, standing out and creating iconic moments. Well, WWE managed to rip that off when they created the Elimination Chamber. In an attempt to have a brand new steel cage style match, just like War Games, the company brought in the Chamber, and it's fair to say this was a positive decision.

9 A New Era Of Bullet Club

Whenever WWE signs a top independent wrestler people often question and wonder if they will acknowledge the gimmick that made them famous in the first place and that has often been the case with top stars such as Kevin Owens or Sami Zayn. When Adam Cole arrived in WWE he came fresh from being the leader of Bullet Club, one of the most popular stables in wrestling right now. Other leaders had arrived such as Finn Balor and AJ Styles, but they were brought in as solo acts, that wasn't the case with Cole.

Cole shocked the world when he made his debut in NXT and he did so with Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly by his side. The group has certainly channeled similar traits to Bullet Club with their cocky style, but thankfully this one isn't too in your face.

8 New Ladder Matches

Just as we mentioned earlier, wrestling gimmick matches play an incredible role in making huge moments and spectacles. The classic ladder match is one that has undergone many changes, some for the better and some for the worst. TLC was something that changed the game, but the Money in the Bank ladder match gimmick was certainly something that changed the landscape of professional wrestling, giving fans something to cling on to for almost a year while someone patiently waits to cash in.

This was something that WWE has done an excellent job with, creating legends such as Edge and CM Punk and this was a gimmick that TNA decided they liked, clearly ripping off when they made the Feast or Fired gimmick, which, even though it is fun, doesn't have the same effect.

7 Brock Lesnar Becomes A Beast

This can be debated as to whether his MMA career really is a gimmick, but there is no denying that when Brock Lesnar made his return to WWE the company clearly wanted to embrace his UFC career. While showcasing a wrestler as an MMA expert or an elite fighter from outside wrestling is something that has been done before, it was clear that WWE wanted to rip-off the way that Lesnar had presented himself in UFC. Just look at how they have used fighters like Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather in the past to provide legitimacy to the WWE. From having his own sponsors on his ring gear to his in-ring style.

Even though many people might not be happy that Lesnar's UFC in-ring style has meant predictable matches, it has certainly taken him to another level and even though Lesnar is set to jump back to WWE, the company has certainly gained plenty from it.

6 Top One Percent

While he has only just debuted in WWE, EC3 has already shown the signs that his gimmick is going to be incredibly similar that which made him one of wrestlings top stars when he worked for TNA. The fact that he has debuted with the exact same name as what got him over was a tell-tale sign that WWE was already considering going with a similar gimmick as his debut on NXT has seen him play that character again.

Of course, EC3 in WWE has not lasted long so far, therefore we can't judge it too much as there is certainly time for WWE to make this seem different.

5 Gillberg

Now, unlike many of the other examples on this list, Gillberg was supposed to be a clear rip-off from WCW's Goldberg, it was the entire intention with WWE wanting to mock the megastar as much as possible. Gillberg was incredibly different to Goldberg with the very obvious size difference between the two men, but that was all part of the fun. WWE didn't like the fact WCW had a major star and they wanted to mock it to the extreme. Despite the differences, it was clearly a major parody of what Goldberg was, and at least had a comedic element to all of it.

4 The Four Horseman Undergo An Evolution

It's not just because they were a stable of four of the very best wrestlers during their time that the Four Horseman and Evolution were incredibly similar, but it was the way in which the stables conducted themselves that made the connection. While Evolution was certainly a rip-off of the legendary group, the fact that Ric Flair was part of both groups certainly made fans care less about the fact the group was a rip-off, but it also made people think of the connection even more.

Walking around in their suits, acting like they were the greatest people on the planet, the similarities were clear, but there is no doubt that both of these groups were fantastic in their own right.

3 Another Underdog Story

Nowadays, Eric Young is the crazy leader of Sanity and has a unique gimmick in NXT with his wild group by his side, but before he reached WWE, Young made his name with TNA where he was one of Impact's top stars. His rise to the top was done in an incredibly similar way to that of WWE's Daniel Bryan and took place very soon after.  TNA put the authority against him just as WWE did and they stacked the odds against Young.

With him having a similar look to Bryan in the sense of being unmaintained, having longer hair and big beards, not looking like someone who a company would usually put as its main star, the comparisons were obvious from the start.

2 Ryback

When Ryback first arrived in WWE after being repacked from his old Skip Sheffield gimmick there was one obvious comparison and that was to former WCW legend, Bill Goldberg. Just from his look, it was clear what WWE saw in him, which Ryback himself didn't help when he changed his look to just black trunks either. Ryback didn't do much talking, in a similar fashion to Goldberg and let his wrestling do the talking.

Just like Goldberg though, Ryback's matches were always kept short at the start with him doing simple power moves to get through the matches, with an undefeated streak that matched Goldberg fans quickly made the comparisons.

1 The Woken Universe

While many people will often claim that TNA copied a lot of WWE ideas, storylines and gimmicks, there is no doubt that WWE has also enjoyed looking at the Impact product and taking ideas. That has arguably never been more obvious than when Matt Hardy made his return to WWE at WrestleMania 33. With an obvious blonde streak through his hair, WWE fans noticed a difference as he chanted 'DELETE' and threw his arm around.

Slowly WWE began making things more and more obvious that they were copying what made him so popular in TNA where he reinvented himself. From the Ultimate Deletion to his speech changes, the only difference in WWE's version is that he is called 'Woken' and not 'Broken,' in a very obvious copy cat moment.