The competitiveness in WWE has been on the rise in the past few years where we've seen some very talented wrestlers being signed by the company, as they are expanding their roster even more as the years pass by. Now with the high level of competition among the wrestlers in WWE, something which gives a wrestler an edge is a proper gimmick which the fans can get behind and the WWE has proved itself to be capable of showcasing a few excellent gimmicks in recent times.

It seems that Vince McMahon still has it in him to make superstars through some compelling gimmicks as the characters of some of the current stars look to be really promising. A potential gimmick can always help a wrestler reach the top of WWE and the company has given certain wrestlers some terrific characters whom they have been playing to perfection. Similarly, when there are highs, there are also lows, as the WWE is also capable of coming out with some terrible gimmicks which make the wrestlers seem foolish or weak.

Recently, the WWE came up with some really bad gimmicks which almost ruined the wrestlers who portrayed them, while some gimmicks made superstars out of up and coming wrestlers. Lets' have a look at 11 Recent WWE Gimmicks Which Look Promising and 11 Which Were Just Plain Bad.

22 Promising: "The Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe

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Samoa Joe has been a reign of terror for many ever since making his main roster debut in the WWE, where he made an instant impact on Monday Night Raw by taking out Seth Rollins on his first day. Joe has since been an absolute bad-ass who does not have any sympathy and loves to inflict pain on his opponents, regardless of how big or small they are. Joe's character of being this Samoan Submission Machine and a fearless individual is something of a refined version of his TNA character, but he's being more vicious and intimidating in the WWE. His terrific feud with Brock Lesnar last year proved how well the gimmick is suiting and If Joe can stay injury-free and get his momentum back, then we can easily see him be one of Raw's Top Heels for a long time.

21 Bad: Natalya's Cat Lady Gimmick

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Natalya had a pretty good 2017 in the WWE where she attained top star status once again when she won the Smackdown Women's Championship from Naomi at SummerSlam. While Nattie has been a great in-ring competitor in the WWE for a long time now, she's been struggling to get the right gimmick for herself and her most recently gimmick where she seems to be a "cat-like" character is pretty stupid. Natalya is a cat-lover in real life, which is why WWE probably thought to give her such a gimmick would be a good idea but it hasn't done anything to improve her role in the company. This gimmick really is a stupid one and even though Nattie is continuing to churn out some great matches in the WWE, this mindless gimmick is holding her back from establishing herself as a full-time top female star in WWE.

20 Promising: The Uso Penitentiary 

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The Usos have undergone quite the amazing transformation over the year or so, with their heel turn allowing them to create new personas of themselves and turn them into these bad-ass tag team who just do not care about anyone. The Usos went from this enigmatic, "high-flying" tag team to this intimidating one with a change in gimmick and are now reaping all their rewards for taking the risk of changing themselves. They have been a top team in Smackdown Live! since their transformation and attained quite a lot of fans with their heel mannerisms. "The Uso Penitentiary" has caused much pain for their opponents and the Usos re-established themselves as one of the best tag teams in the world with this terrific change in gimmick, which has allowed them to be more free and creative because of their tweener mannerism.

19 Bad: Bray Wyatt As "Sister Abigail"

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Bray Wyatt was definitely one of the most intriguing characters in WWE over the years, as he showed amazing ability to carry big feuds forward and his "supernatural" gimmick was mostly a hit between the fans. But WWE ruined everything when final nail in the coffin of Wyatt's character was delivered when WWE decided to introduce Wyatt's "Sister Abigail".. through himself! Instead of having a female wrestler portray the character, WWE came up with the idea of giving him the gimmick of Sister Abigail being another personality of himself. He was feuding with Finn Balor during this, and WWE's attempts at "creating" Sister Abigail in Wyatt through visual effects were horrible. While Wyatt's injury didn't let the "Sister Abigail vs Demon Balor" match take place, it completely destroyed his reputation and took away all the credibility he worked so hard to attain over the years.

18 Promising: The King Of The Cruiserweights

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Neville didn't really have the most promising gimmick when he initially debuted on the main roster in WWE, but when the company decided to push him as a face of the Cruiserweight Division and turned him heel, the former Cruiserweight Champion started to strive. He started to portray this nasty character who loved to gloat his accomplishments and called himself as the "King of the Cruiserweights", doing anything necessary to keep the belt around him. His heel mannerism was on point and he started to impress everyone with his amazing work, which propelled many people to watch 205 Live! because of him! While he's been away from WWE after walking out many months ago, one can hope he returns with this gimmick and is given a main-roster push as the "main shows" can really prosper with a terrific heel character like Neville.

17 Bad: Goofballs Ascension

via WWE.com

It really feels like a LONG time ago when the Ascension were the dominant tag team in WWE NXT and held the NXT Tag Team Championship for a long time, as they have failed to make any impact whatsoever after getting promoted to the main roster. The Ascension have been jobbers to the stars in the past few years but started to show a new side to themselves recently when they became friends of Tyler Breeze and Fandango. They started appearing in the Fashion Files segment and acting comical while saving their buddies "from doom". Their baby-face turn does not suit the two at all and at this point, they seem to be a big joke in the WWE. This terrible face-turn and gimmicks of them being "good friends" to Breezango has not helped their cause at all and buried their reputation even more.

16 Promising: Blackheart Tommaso Ciampa

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Tommaso Ciampa shocked everyone when he betrayed and turned on his best-friend Johnny Gargano last year at NXT Takeover: Chicago and disbanded DIY doing so. Ciampa was out of action for a few months due to injury but has popped up in NXT once again the last few weeks where he's established himself as a really heinous heel character. Not only did Ciampa cost Johnny Gargano his job in NXT, but his heel mannerism and brutal hatred towards his former friends asserted himself as one of the best heels on NXT. Ciampa's current heel gimmick sees him be termed as "Blackheart" because of his ruthless aggression and nasty heel nature which has been elevated due to his intense rivalry with NXT darling Johnny Gargano and has helped establish him as one of WWE's most promising heels right now.

15 Bad: "Hyped" Mojo Rawley

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Mojo Rawley hasn't really been the most liked wrestlers in the WWE since his main-roster debut, mostly because of how annoying his character really was when he used to tag with Zack Ryder. Rawley portrayed a character "who always stayed hyped" and would act like a child and sprint into the ring and make an absolute mockery of himself. The fans didn't like this gimmick at all and even when he won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal last year, not many were convinced at how good Rawley really was. WWE probably realized their mistake at continuing his awful "hyped" gimmick and turned him heel, something which didn't click either as the fans did not accept him as a heel and Rawley's inability to show much improvement over the last few months has made everyone turn a blind eye on him.

14 Promising: "The Queen" Charlotte Flair

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Charlotte Flair has evolved as a competitor in the WWE ever since making her main roster debut and she might've been a "Genetically Superior Athlete" on NXT, but it was on the main roster where she became the "Queen of WWE". Charlotte's gimmick surrounded her in acting like royalty as she struts into the ring with much grace and portrays a gimmick which is quite similar to what her dad, Ric Flair, used to do. Charlotte has asserted herself as a pretty good baby-face and is pulling off this gimmick really well. Charlotte has the opportunity to stay at the top of the Women's Division for many years to come if she can continue to perfectly portray herself as the "Queen of WWE" and is assured to keep making new records if she can keep up her stunning work for WWE.

13 Bad: Kurt Angle's Illegitimate Son

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Jason Jordan was an up and coming star in WWE's Tag Team Division before everything changed for him when he was announced to be Kurt Angle's illegitimate son almost a year ago. This allowed Jordan to transition into a whiny daddy's boy who always pleaded his dad to give him more opportunities despite him not actually been able to flourish as a singles star and getting a lot of heat because of how quickly he was being pushed. Jordan's gimmick of this whiny guy asking Angle to give him more chances was terrible and absolutely annoyed everyone who turned on him, despite him being booked as a baby-face. Jordan attained a lot of heat because of his whining and "boring" gimmick and will want to return a much more confident and Independent wrestler after recovering from injury.

12 Promising: Walk With Elias

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When he was still only "The Drifter" on NXT, not many could've predicted how over Elias would be one day in the WWE, as he's currently a much-beloved figure amongst the fans because of his pre-match performances and terrific mannerism. Vince McMahon definitely upgraded his gimmick and added something new after bringing him on Monday Night Raw, resulting in Elias thriving in his role of a trash-talking singer in WWE and their own version of a "musical sensation". He has become really popular among the fans because of his heel antics over the past few months and is looking to have a bright future ahead of him. While Elias might not be the best in the ring, his gimmick is one of the most promising ones on Raw right now and his impeccable portrayal of his character can escalate him to the top of WWE in the near future.

11 Bad: "The Ultimate Jobber" Curt Hawkins

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When Curt Hawkins returned to the WWE a few years ago, many were annoyed at how bad his gimmick was when he had segments telling everyone to "face the facts" and stating facts based out of Chuck Norris jokes. But what would follow later would be absolutely terrible for Hawkins, who started a "losing streak" in the WWE which has continued for the past two years.  Hawkins' losing streak is currently over 150 matches long and while it was initially pretty funny, having him be this bad of a jobber makes on feel really bad for Hawkins. He's a really experienced wrestler and a devoted employee for WWE, who have given him a terrible gimmick of the ultimate loser, something which he doesn't deserve. Hopefully, they can make it up by having him win a match and break his streak, which could kick-start something special for WWE's biggest "jobber".

10 Promising: Rusev Day

It was looking like Rusev was going to drown into the lower-mid card a year or so ago when he was mostly used as someone who'd put other mid-carders over and his previous gimmick had become stale as well. It was then that Rusev and WWE decided to change himself up a bit, as he started to portray a gimmick called "Rusev Day" where he'd state every day would be "his day" on Smackdown Live! This gimmick was an instant hit with the fans who eventually fell in love with it and the charismatic Rusev has been doing a terrific job at maintaining it as well. With Aiden English by his side, Rusev is showing a lot of charm and confidence with this gimmick which is beloved by the fans. He's in for a push due to his overwhelming popularity these days, which is all due to his really promising gimmick.

9 Bad: The Flirty Nia Jax

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Nia Jax has been quite the destructive force in the Women's Division so far in the WWE, as she's blown away a lot of her competition to try and get to the top of the ladder. While Jax has been on the receiving end of some bad booking by the WWE, her reputation was almost crushed when WWE decided to give her a new gimmick and pair her up with Enzo Amore a few months ago. Jax started to portray a much more gleeful, flirty character who loved to spice it up with Enzo in some segments and wanted to create something special with him. This gimmick of a flirty, romantic Nia Jax seemed so forced and was absolutely terrible. Nia looked uncomfortable doing it and thankfully it didn't last long due to Amore's firing from WWE, saving her reputation as a "monster heel" from being destroyed.

8 Promising: The Goddess Of WWE 

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Alexa Bliss never looked like she was going to be a top star in the WWE when she was still more of a "princess" in NXT, but after she received her main-roster call up in 2016, she underwent a staggering change in gimmick and personality as well. Bliss has been excelling at portraying this smug heel character who thinks about nobody but herself and will do anything necessary to keep the gold on her. Bliss' is currently regarded as the "Goddess of WWE" because of her success and she pulls off this gimmick superbly as well. Be it her arrogant nature or fiery approach in matches, or the stunning baby-face to heel transitions she does in a few promos, this gimmick suits Alexa perfectly. It's a really promising character she's portraying as well because this arrogant heel is something the Women's Division could do with for a long time.

7 Bad: Make Darren Young Great Again

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Darren Young was never that big of a star in the WWE, who decided to try and give him a singles push when he was repackaged in 2016 and turned into WWE Hall of Famer Bob Backlund's protégé. It was stated that Backlund wanted to "Make Darren Young Great Again" and this became his new gimmick in trying to become a "great superstar", something he never was before in WWE. This obviously didn't work that well for him as some stupid promos and underwhelming work from both men made this gimmick fail miserably, and WWE's shoddy booking of him didn't help either. It turned out to be an absolutely wasted gimmick in the end because of how boring it was and Young returned back to being a jobber to the stars before he was eventually released by WWE last year.

6 Promising: Free Agent John Cena

via wwe.com

So it's no surprise really that John Cena is no longer a full-time wrestler in the WWE, mostly because of how popular he is becoming in Hollywood and has to put a lot of time into his budding movie career. Cena is still pretty attached to WWE and wrestles whenever he gets the time, which is why WWE decided to give him a "Free Agent" gimmick which allows him to wrestle for both Smackdown Live! and Raw. While He's still about the Hustle, Loyalty & Respect, this new gimmick is suiting him really well because of how well he can utilize his time in WWE and make for unique match-ups in both brands. This promising gimmick is something Cena should hold onto as long as he's still properly affiliated with WWE, as he can make for quite a many interesting match-ups with his "Free Agent" status.

5 Bad: Drew Gulak's Anti-Flying Gimmick

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Drew Gulak was one of the standout stars to come out of WWE's Cruiserweight Classic tournament last year where he made quite an impact as this technically gifted, ruthless wrestler. But when Gulak was signed by WWE to be part of their Cruiserweight Division, Vince McMahon decided to give him something else as Gulak was given a more comical gimmick. He started to be involuntarily funny and started petitioning against "high-flying" wrestlers by bringing out a "No Fly Zone" banner every-time. This gimmick watered down the character he had portrayed in the CW division and Gulak was turned into a joke by WWE, who made his character even more comical with his "Powerpoint Presentations" later on. Thankfully, Gulak is now again portraying his ruthless heel character which made him thrive in the CW Tournament and has gotten rid of that awful comical gimmick.

4 Promising: Aleister's Black Mass 

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Aleister Black has been a really intriguing character on NXT ever since debuting as this mystical character who seems to be a modern version of The Undertaker. While WWE has tried replicating The Undertaker many times in the past, Black looks like the closest who can come to actually doing so because of how chilling, terrorizing his character has been in NXT so far. Be it his cool and terrifying nature or terrific in-ring ability, Black seems to have it all to be a top star in the WWE in the near future and can be that mystical element which they are craving for such a long time. Black is also a big fan-favorite because of his terrific gimmick, which he's pulled off with much conviction and can be the next big supernatural character of WWE if he can continue his stellar work.

3 Bad: Dolph Ziggler's Mockery Of Gimmicks

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Dolph Ziggler was seemingly at crossroads with the WWE for a part of 2017 and in his kayfabe self, he seemed to be frustrated with his position at the company and how fans didn't appreciate him because he didn't have an entertaining gimmick. So Ziggler became obsessed with proving the fans at how foolish they were and went onto mock the gimmicks of many legendary WWE stars like The Undertaker, The Ultimate Warrior and many more. Ziggler's gimmick for that period was to mock the characters of many of WWE's legends, which ended up being an epic failure as the fans did not appreciate it at all. He looked foolish himself doing the forced mockery of such legends and in the end, WWE dropped this awful gimmick, allowing Ziggler to go back to portraying his "Showoff" heel character.