The career of a wrestler going from promotion to promotion will see them having to make a huge decision about their characters. Many stars will attempt to have the same or a similar gimmick in a new company, since it’s a part of the identity fans associate with them and their prior work.

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The success stories can see things working, if the gimmick can find success in a new environment. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case, as there can be huge differences in the way each promotion books them. Quite a few wrestlers have seen more success in one over the other. The following wrestlers had gimmicks that thrived in one company while flopping in another.

10 Shane Douglas

Shane Douglas and Torrie Wilson

The ECW run of Shane Douglas cemented his legacy as a top heel for the promotion. Fans loved it when Douglas would rip apart other wrestlers in WWE or WCW who wronged him. Ric Flair was a top target of Douglas, calling him out even though they didn’t work together anymore.

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WCW tried to find success by signing Douglas to feud with Flair using real-life elements. There was even the attempt of having The Franchise character return with Torrie Wilson as his manager instead of Francine. Nothing worked, as Douglas came off as a lower mid-carder for the rest of his run.

9 Dexter Lumis

Samuel Shaw and Brittany

The current character of Dexter Lumis has seen him standing out as a pushed NXT star. Lumis is providing depth for NXT by doing something unlike anyone else on the black and gold roster. But this isn’t the first time Dexter has had a gimmick like this.

TNA used Lumis under the name of Samuel Shaw, when he was trying to break out in wrestling. Shaw was viewed as a joke when developing an obsession with Christy Hemme as his main storyline, before getting removed from television a few months later.

8 Ultimo Dragon

Ultimo Dragon

WWE finding success with Rey Mysterio playing the same underdog character from WCW inspired the Ultimo Dragon signing. Dragon wasn’t an underdog, but he had the same cool mask gimmick, along with a strong in-ring style.

The push of Dragon seemed to be on the way with months of hype via teaser videos. Dragon only had a couple of weeks on SmackDown before moving primarily to the secondary show, Velocity. The run was viewed as a huge disaster with his reputation taking a hit for the failed stint.

7 I.R.S.

I.R.S.

The I.R.S. gimmick created a new heel hated by the fans who didn’t want to be reminded of doing their taxes. WWE eventually aligned I.R.S. with Ted DiBiase to form the Money Inc. tag team with them as the wealthy heel characters.

WCW would not get the rights to I.R.S., but they tried to keep a similar character for him. The new name of V.K. Wallstreet saw him referencing his financial strength before reuniting with DiBiase in the early stages of the New World Order. Fans didn’t care one bit, as Wallstreet was among the first members to gain no relevance.

6 Mike Bennett

Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis

TNA found success with Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis when signing them as major free agents. Mike and Maria thrived in Ring of Honor and New Japan before getting the deals to have a bigger role in TNA’s rebranding.

Their free agent status after TNA would allow WWE to enter the picture with a bigger contract offer. Mike was signed with plans of a big push since he skipped NXT, but he lost television time once Maria was pregnant. The entire stint was a disappointment that harmed his name value after the strong run in TNA with a similar character.

5 Scott Steiner

Scott Steiner

WCW witnessed Scott Steiner becoming one of the company’s final new main event stars, when adopting the Big Poppa Pump gimmick. Steiner proved he could thrive at the top of the card to increase his value when WWE purchased WCW.

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The move to WWE came about a year and a half after the buyout, with fans still loving Steiner. WWE allowed him to bring the former WCW gimmick, but it failed right away during an abysmal feud with Triple H. Steiner never rebounded and that run ruined his momentum from the WCW days.

4 Jim Duggan

Jim Duggan

WCW signing Jim Duggan in the early stages of the new Hulk Hogan era showed a roster turnover of major names. Duggan had a strong WWE run as an upper mid-carder, using the patriotic gimmick and carrying the 2x4 weapon.

Fans didn’t take to him the same way in WCW and eventually lost interest after his first few months. Duggan had another chance in the last years with weaker results forcing a heel turn. WWE found more success with Hacksaw in the late 2000s as a lower card veteran for depth, than WCW did in his entire run.

3 Brian Pillman

Brian Pillman

The WCW momentum of Brian Pillman really started to pick up steam when he began showing small spurts of his loose cannon gimmick. Pillman thrived by making fans and wrestlers wonder what was scripted and what was reality when he performed.

One of the most fascinating stories about Pillman featured him tricking Eric Bischoff into releasing him for real, claiming he’d return to sell the angle. Pillman instead signed a rare guaranteed contract with WWE. The hope was that Pillman would thrive in the main event picture with the loose cannon gimmick, but injuries doomed him to lose all the momentum he had gained.

2 Val Venis

Val Venis

WWE pushed Val Venis in the Attitude Era with the gimmick of an adult entertainment performer. Fans of the time loved the act since it pushed the envelope and essentially defined some of the elements of what made the Attitude Era work.

Things changed drastically a decade later, when Val tried to keep the gimmick going in TNA as Sean Morley. Hulk Hogan signed Morley when taking over TNA and it was a horrible move. Fans turned on him, with the gimmick coming off as embarrassing, as opposed to anything positive.

1 Raven

Raven

Paul Heyman allowed Raven to showcase his creative vision for the Raven gimmick in ECW. The run in ECW made Raven the top heel during his layered feuds with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman. WCW signing Raven saw the gimmick also work there, even with a lowered ceiling.

The move to WWE was where Raven finally met an obstacle he couldn’t overcome. WWE didn’t understand the gimmick and instantly placed him in the hardcore division. Raven rarely received time to show what made his character special in the first place, leading to a failed WWE run.

NEXT: Every Version Of Raven, Ranked From Worst To Best