As the old saying goes, “the best laid schemes of mice and men go often askew.” Reality has proven that right a lot and that’s especially true in wrestling. So often, plans and storylines that sound absolutely great on paper bomb majorly when put in front of a crowd. Many a booker has learned the hard way that the fans are always the final decision and will often boo what should be cheered and love what should be ignored. It’s probably why there’s been so many wild gimmicks and angles in wrestling as you never know what’s going to click. Thus, quite often, promoters will put in a lot of work on something only to have it fall apart. In this, they’re much like movies and TV where productions can go all the way up until the final scene only to suddenly get the axe with no warning.
In some cases, the worker might be happy it was dropped as the proposed gimmick could ruined them. Other times, it had serious promise and might have boosted them up majorly and they were hurt by it. Look at how Brodus Clay was set up as a monster only to suddenly turn into a goofy dancer. So many times, it’s right up until the debut (or right after it) when it’s changed with no build-up. Examples of it abound throughout wrestling, some famous while others are still notable. Here are 15 gimmicks that were dropped at the last minute and one has to wonder how different these workers would be with them.
15 The Hunchbacks
Jim Herd is not well remembered by WCW fans. The former Pizza Hut executive was the first guy put in charge when Turner bought the company and while he had some good ideas, too much of his time was spent wasting money and showing he had no clue how to handle a wrestling company. Nothing sums up his reign like this, however. In 1989, Herd came to Ole Anderson, then booker, with what he thought was a genius idea for a tag team: A pair of hunchbacks. They would come to the ring with a huge bell and wrestle and Herd argued that because of their backs, they could never be pinned and thus be unbeatable.
Even Ole Anderson, a man known for some dumb ideas himself, couldn’t believe Herd was pushing for this.
He nicely argued that all you’d have to do was slap a leg hold and get them to submit. Herd backed off but still felt the bell was a winner. So we got the Ding Dongs, a masked duo with bells over their costumes who soon gained infamy as one of the worst tag teams of all time. So as bad as they were, it could have been even dumber and why Herd is considered the biggest joke of all.
14 The Midnight Horsemen
WCW is known for dropping the ball a lot but this has to be one of the biggest cases of something that could have been magnificent. In 1988, Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson stunned everyone by leaving Jim Crockett for WWE. Both were angered at the low pay and poor treatment and wanted to show they could succeed on their own. This naturally rocked the Four Horsemen, leaving Ric Flair and Barry Windham on their own. A major plan was to have the Midnight Express join as the new Horsemen. Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane were a fantastic team that had just beaten Anderson and Blanchard for the belts but better as heels than faces. They knew the Horsemen and how to work with them and logical as a pairing.
This was okayed by Jim Herd and Jim Cornette went on a vacation as he planned out how to make it all work. When he got back, he was informed the entire thing was being dropped for no real reason. The Horsemen pretty much died out for a while as the Express chugged along for another year. It's a shame as the idea of Cornette joining Flair in promos would be golden and this could have been one of the best Horsemen units ever.
13 The Fake Kane
One of the odder bits of Kane’s long history (which is saying something) was in 2006. Just after finishing a big match on RAW, Kane found himself being attacked by a guy dressed just like Kane had been in his debut in 1997, mask and all. The imposter took Kane down before leaving with Kane appearing shocked at the sight. They had a few more clashes before this imposter vanished and left fans confused. The storyline however, would have Kane being freaked out more and more by this figure until a big showdown revealed the guy was…Kane.
As amazing as it sounds, the plan was that the Glenn Jacobs Kane who had unmasked was an imposter who had kept the real Kane held prisoner for the last decade.
At the time Jacobs was talking about retiring but WWE wanted to keep the Kane character around and thought this was a good way to do it. However, Jacobs decided to stick around so the entire thing was dropped and fans thus avoided having to hear about the “fake Kane” turning into a mess.
12 Cody Rhodes Industries
His success in ROH is showing how badly WWE dropped the ball with Cody Rhodes. The man had fantastic star potential, a great worker, terrific in promos and could have done so much. In 2014, plans were underway for a new take on Cody that would put a spin on the usual “arrogant rich heel” persona. Despite how Vince McMahon is infamous for being at least five years behind pop culture, he pushed how Cody would take on a role modeled after Tony Stark. He would be presenting himself as a “chairman of the board,” an innovator carrying on the family legacy and boasting of how he was at the “cutting edge” of wrestling. Wife Eden Stiles would be his manager and help him as he would use this new persona for success.
They actually cut some demos of him doing promos in a boardroom and playing it up and word is that Cody fit the role. But it was shut down in favor of him taking on the Stardust act. That led to Cody being so disenchanted with WWE that he left. Maybe had he kept this gimmick, we’d be talking about “Iron Man Cody” as WWE champion today.
11 Harlem Heat's Original Gimmick
This is one of the most famous cases ever of a gimmick being dropped and many agree it was for the best. The Ebony Experience had done well in USA and the indies, and were happy when WCW signed them up. But then came a gimmick that crossed the line from the usual WCW stupidity and into absolutely horrific. Kole and Kane were to be the associated of Colonel Robert Parker, a guy who dressed and acted like an old Southern plantation owner. He would claim they were ex-cons he won in a card game and bring them out to the ring in orange garb and chains.
That’s right: In 1993, WCW wanted to present a couple of black men as slaves. They actually tried it at a house show and the reaction of the audience was so extremely negative that they realized it would be disastrous to show it on TV. The team was thus changed to Booker T and Stevie Ray and Harlem Heat became one of the most successful teams in WCW history. Amazing how they dodged this bullet.
10 The Female Shield
Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins were already being primed for stardom as the highlights of the very low-level FCW. Their debut at the 2012 Survivor Series was terrific and The Shield were soon dominating in early NXT and then WWE.
Naturally, you can never have a great angle in wrestling without some copycats and WWE decided to follow with a female version of the group.
However, the NXT ladies weren’t quite as notable as they are now and thus the choice of this group may seem odd: Paige, Summer Rae and Anya. They even filmed a demo of it as it appeared each was being based on a Shield member (Paige = Rollins, Summer = Ambrose, Anya = Reigns) and the group (not yet named) would be them showing a dominant side.
But circumstances shifted and WWE didn’t think the time was right. As it happened, we’ve seen several groups that can lay claim to a Shield-type of female workers (Absolution and the Riott Squad) yet this would have been far more blatant.
9 Hairdresser Kalisto
Kalisto has had some ups and downs in WWE. The Mexican star was one of the first major signings to NXT, a bit lost as a singles guy. He and Sin Cara were then put together, the Lucha Dragons winning the tag team titles and some success on the main roster. He did win the US title a couple of times in a feud with Alberto Del Rio and has recently found a revival as Cruiserweight Champion. He’s a great worker and his masks good sellers for the company and it’s a lot better than he’d be enjoying if they had given him the original gimmick.
The idea came by having Kalisto unmasked and posing as a "flamboyant" hairdresser. Reportedly, it was done as a joke but some were so sold that they pushed for that to be his act when he jumped from NXT to the main roster. Thankfully, WWE realized this would be a bad move as a masked luchadore was a lot more marketable than a Rico-like joke character. Kalisto should be happy as he’s seen much better success in his masked persona than this joke gimmick.
8 Alex Riley’s Fake Cancer
Alex Riley had promise in WWE but never quite achieved it with word of backstage altercations with John Cena and others. He started in WWE as the Miz’s flunky before finally fighting against him and then becoming face. However, Riley never quite took with fans, bouncing between heel and face and a stint as a color commentator before he was released in 2016. One idea to try and rebuild him was to have Riley come out and do an emotional promo revealing he had cancer. It would be played up with the announcers talking of his inspiring journey and Riley shaving his head bald and acting near death in some matches.
The big twist would be when, after an in-ring beating, a “doctor check-up” would reveal Riley didn’t have cancer at all.
He would then be caught on tape admitting he’d faked the whole thing just to get attention and sympathy, making him a hated heel. But it was dropped over worries of the reaction to it and fears it might inspire a few fans to try the same. Riley’s WWE career never really worked but this would have made it worse.
7 Dumb Jey Uso
The Usos have established themselves as one of the best tag teams in wrestling today. They started out pure babyfaces and playing up the whole “island lifestyle” and honoring their dad, Rikishi with some dancing. They’ve also proven able to shift the act, becoming intense streetwise heels but continuing their great work and high-flying. It’s led them to huge success as five-time tag team champions and a couple of “Tag Team of the Year” awards as well as great feuds with The New Day. However, an early idea for the duo was going to be different. After their rise in FCW, WWE had the idea of the brothers being polar opposites. Jimmy would be shown as brilliant and even a genius but Jey would be showcased as a total moron. Thus, you had “comedy promos” of Jimmy spouting out large words and then Jey making some dumb remark.
This was dropped, however as the brothers were allowed to be more themselves. That’s led to their huge fame in WWE now and shows you don’t mess with an act that works.
6 Cowboy Bret Hart
Today, we all know Bret Hart as the “Excellence of Execution” with his pink and black tights and sunglasses. But he nearly had a very different introduction to WWE. Back in 1984, Bret was coming off years in Stampede as a major star but, by his own admission, was lacking in a character. WWE had the idea of Bret coming out as a cowboy (looks like someone took the “Stampede” bit literally) with a matching hat and vest. There actually is a cowboy history in Canada so it’s not totally ridiculous but having Bret in that outfit with drawling promos is laughable to say the least.
Thankfully, it was only a couple of house shows before they dropped it as they realized it didn’t fit Bret. He and Jim Neidhart were then put together and the Hart Foundation led Bret to his mega-success in WWE. It's interesting to think how “The Hitman” could have had a much different look in his start.
5 Mr. Kennedy as Vince’s Son
Circumstances changed WWE radically in 2007. In June, they did an angle of Vince McMahon entering a limo which then exploded. They acted like “Mr. McMahon” was dead with on-air tributes, an angle many hated. The plan was for Mr. Kennedy to become a top heel and champion with Shane backing him before Vince returned, now leading an army of hobos (seriously). But then the Benoit tragedy happened and they had to drop it fast. Vince returned and a new angle was cooked up of him having had an illegitimate son. The idea now was for it to be revealed as Ken Kennedy and thus push him as a major star.
But just as it was about to go down, Kennedy (whose entire career is made of bad breaks at the worst times) broke the wellness policy and was suspended. Thus, they had to go to the idea of Hornswoggle as Vince’s son and Kennedy never got his big main event slot in WWE. It just proved a case of a terrible bit that got worse due to real life intruding.
4 The New Day as Militants
The New Day stands as one of the best examples of three floundering guys who achieved magic together. In 2014, Kofi Kingston was a tag team, IC and US champion with Big E Langston was NXT and IC champ but both stuck in the lower cards. Enter Xavier Woods in a suit saying the trio couldn’t get anywhere as babyfaces unless they fought back. This was going to set up a new bit where the trio took on a mantra much like the Nation of Domination, a pack of guys acting militant and shots against “the white man holding us down.” Harsh, yes, but still three talents able to get another shot.
However, just before that could start, WWE took the three off TV to try and remake them again.
They were given a gospel gimmick that was dropped fast. What truly worked was them just being more themselves with their goofy antics, acting heelish in promos but winning fans over by being great in the ring. It led to the longest tag team title reign in history and all three reinvigorated by this to find much better success than the “Second Nation” would have given them.
3 Emmalina
One of the most recent cases ever of a gimmick that seemed to get a huge push only to be dropped fast. Emma had gotten attention in NXT with her goofy humor and her nutty dancing. However, that didn’t work as well on the main roster and she was sent back to NXT for further training. She showed herself a better worker than expected, more than holding her own against Paige, Sasha and others. She seemed to be pushed more on the main roster but still a bit lost with all the other ladies about. In late 2016, WWE began to use vignettes promising “Emmalina is coming.” The idea was a throwback to the likes of Sable, a gorgeous diva getting by on looks and acting in an arrogant manner.
Things were delayed by Emma’s injury and so she finally made her debut…and announced she was going right back to being Emma. Thus, all the build was for nothing with word WWE wasn’t sure she could pull off the role right. It wasn’t long after that Emma finally left and is now in ROH to show that dropping this gimmick so fast marred her WWE career majorly.
2 Hirohito
You have to wonder sometimes about WWE creative and their takes on racial angles. In 2004, they signed on New Japan star Kenzo Suzuki and prepared him for a good push. However, their early idea was to have him come out as Hirohito, so named for the Japanese Emperor who sat on the throne for most of the 20th century. They even wanted him to be billed as the grandson of that Emperor, coming out on a huge throne and carrying on with the idea he was entitled to the championship just for being what he was.
It got a big push and several vignettes created for it. Just as he was about to debut, someone at creative finally realized that promoting the man who had ruled Japan during World War II and spouting out anti-American views may not have been the best move. So he was simply renamed Kenzo and had a brief run as tag team champions with Renee Dupree but nothing else major. It once more goes to make you worry about how WWE views other cultures.
1 Drag Melina
In 2006, Batista was seeing a new life after injury by teaming with Rey Mysterio to win the tag team titles from MNM. Naturally, a feud was set between the two teams and MNM’s manager, Melina, was getting involved as well. A plan was for an altercation and Melina seen trying to seduce Batista. She would then call a “press conference” to announce that during their night together, Batista assaulted her. However, Batista would counter that he couldn’t have as during that night, he had discovered Melina was…a man. That’s right, WWE wanted to have this knockout lady with her split-legged ring entrance actually be a guy in drag.
It got some serious consideration but it was Stephanie who put her foot down to stop it.
She was working back then to try and have the women of WWE taken more seriously and knew this could backfire on them big-time. Melina would go on to help MNM regain the belts before becoming a great champion worker and avoided a storyline that would have truly dragged her down.