A reason for WWE's overwhelming success over the years is how well they've maintained the uniqueness and intimidating nature of their larger than life characters who are the ones attracting the audiences. Because these characters need to look legitimate to get over as popular wrestlers, they work hard on keeping themselves in shape, attaining muscular figures, but they put great emphasis on their facial features and often sport wicked beards to get everyone's attention.

As everyone would know, a cool beard can always change anyone's perception towards a man and these wrestlers often use that to their advantage. We've seen many intimidating characters sport impressive beards to look even more terrifying, while the top guys have almost all had beards to make themselves look like stars. While everyone is accustomed to watching these wrestlers with their beards, they haven't always retained their facial hair, and seeing their faces without the beard might seem really weird to some people.

15 Sheamus

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Sheamus has been a great character for close to a decade in the WWE where he has almost won everything there is to win and has been a faithful employee for them. Something which has helped elevate him as the foreign heel is his looks, with his beard helping him seem even more conniving over the years. While Sheamus might look stupid (as fans would say) because of his unique hairstyle right now, he looked downright hilarious without his beard when he actually sported a clean-shaven look many years ago. This picture shows him without his beard and he looks really weird and unrecognizable without it. Sheamus actually looks like a face without the beard, which shows just how big of a role his long beard plays in making him look like a bad guy and how it helped establish himself as WWE's Celtic Warrior.

14 Triple H

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Triple H might be more of a creator than a wrestler in the WWE these days, but he'll always be remembered for his amazing work in the ring for WWE where he was part of some terrific stuff over the years. But the Cerebral Assassins' iconic appearance isn't complete without his beard, which has played a big part in making him look like the "King of Kings" over the years. He's always kept an impressive bearded-look throughout his WWE career, but few might remember him actually having a clean-shaven look during his time as World Heavyweight Champion during the Ruthless Aggression era. This picture shows Triple H with a surprisingly clean-shaven look, where he looks quite indifferent and not the iconic star he's recognized as. He probably realized his mistake at shaving his beard and has never attained a clean-shaven look which has never suited his character.

13 Neville

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Neville's WWE career has gone from quite the high to a miserable low, as he hasn't appeared in WWE TV for many months due to rifts with management. The former Cruiserweight Champion was having his best period on the main roster before stepping away, as he even looked like a legitimate top heel because of how well he built himself. While his WWE career might be up in the air right now, everyone will remember the terrifying heel who dominated 205 Live. But Neville hasn't always looked this scary and he didn't even keep a beard(an aspect which made him even more terrorizing) earlier on. This picture shows a clean-shaven Neville in his early wrestling days and he looks really weird in it because of how everyone recognizes him by his beard, proving how it played a big part in making him a star on the main roster.

12 Harper

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Harper has been a dominating figure on SmackDown Live ever since getting a change in gimmick and being reunited with Rowan, with the Bludgeon Brothers destroying any competition headed their way on the Blue Brand. The two "brothers" have maintained their dominating nature really well and another thing they've maintained is their beard, which is as wacky as ever. Harper might have had this scruffy looks because of his awesome beard, but that look is what keeps his character unique in WWE. But he hasn't always had a bearded look, with this picture showing him without any beard much before he joined WWE. The young Harper looks almost unrecognizable because of the lack of beard in this picture, with this showing how "innocent" he looked in his younger days without the beard, as nobody would've predicted him to become a dominating monster in WWE back then.

11 Elias

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Elias has surprisingly become one of the most over stars on Monday Night Raw recently, with many fans wanting to "Walk With Elias" because of his impressive work. This guitar player gimmick is suiting him brilliantly as he literally looks like one as well, with his scruffy, bearded look suiting him perfectly and making him look great as well. But Elias didn't always have this much of a long beard and when he was still learning the trades on the indie scene, he had rather forgettable facial hair. This picture shows Elias with a little facial hair and he looks really different. He did a good job in growing his beard to look like his current character, becoming the Elias we all want to walk with in WWE.

10 Braun Strowman

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Braun Strowman has literally been a one-man wrecking crew in the WWE over the past year and has literally destroyed everything in his path to getting over with the crowd. He's currently being booked really strongly and rarely takes a loss, which proves how high management is on him as Strowman has gone onto become a huge star on his own after leaving the Wyatt Family. His looks are terrifying, fueled by his wicked beard which makes him look even more menacing. While he might be this bearded monster right now, that wasn't the case before he was at WWE and he didn't have any beard at all. This picture shows a clean-shaven Braun goofing around, as he's looking like a babyface giant and shockingly unrecognizable. Thankfully Strowman didn't retain this look and grew a beard, which played a big part in him attaining a monstrous look.

9 Bray Wyatt

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Bray Wyatt may be having a bit of a tough time in the WWE right now where he's struggling to go over in feuds and is in a rather weird rivalry with "Woken" Matt Hardy, but he's maintained himself as the mystical element of WWE really well over the years. The former WWE Champion has been a terrorizing character ever since making his debut many years ago, with his transition from "Husky Harris" to this supernatural character being quite remarkable. While everyone remembers Wyatt for his impressive beard, he didn't even have that during his initial NXT years as Husky Harris. This picture shows him in his early NXT days, where he didn't have a beard and looked pretty shocking. Wyatt looked pretty geeky back then without the facial hair, proving how the shaggy look helped him attain a "manly" appearance and look the terrifying star he is now.

8 The Big Show

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The Big Show is nearing the end of his memorable career in the WWE, where he has been the "giant" for almost two decades and has done some amazing work to help wrestlers get over in the company. Show has been vocal about retiring after this year, as he's hoping to go on a high after not being so impressive in the past few years. But Show has maintained himself as a "giant" really well in WWE and another factor which made him look terrifying was his beard, which he maintained really impressively over the years. His beard made Show look like a monster heel, but at times he's also shaven it to look like a giant with a face of a baby. This picture shows him clean-shaven, as he legitimately looks like a child with a giant's body, proving how much the beard matters in making him look intimidating.

7 Eric Young

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Eric Young has settled into life at WWE pretty well, as he's been doing some great work as the leader of the faction Sanity and created a terrifying stable at that. Young has already won the NXT Tag Team Championships and is looking to get even more and Sanity's feuds with the other stables on NXT has been great to watch. The unhinged character looks good on him, mostly because of his beard playing a big role in making him look like a maniac. But that would've never worked on him had he been clean-shaven, with this picture showing how ridiculously different he used to look without his beard. This picture shows him with a legitimate babyface without the beard, as it seems that it was a great decision on his part to sport the bearded look which has brought him much success in his wrestling career.

6 The Usos

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Jimmy and Jey Uso have developed themselves as arguably the best tag team in the world of wrestling right now, with their awesome gimmicks working really well in their favor. The Usos have always been an entertaining tag team, but their previous gimmick became very stale quickly into their WWE careers. They weren't going anywhere before turning heel, and the two even started to look intimidating sporting some wicked beards to help their cause. While The Usos have kept their beards for quite some time now, they didn't sport any facial hair during their initial years in WWE, with this picture showing their clean-shaven looks. This snap shows how weird they used to look without their beards, as they look like rookies without the facial hair. It shows how their bearded look was vital to the development of their characters and how it made them look like a legitimate tag team.

5 Curtis Axel

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Curtis Axel had found quite a lot of screen time recently after joining The Miztourage with Bo Dallas, but the two look like they'll be going back to jobber status after The Miz was drafted to SmackDown following the Superstar Shakeup. Axel might not get the spotlight on himself, but he did great as the sidekick of The Miz and was part of some great angles. The Ax-Man has also kept his bearded look on point over the years, as that part makes him look like the conniving heel he is very convincingly. But not many might've realized that he sported a clean-shaven look many years ago when he was with Damien Sandow as part of the "Meta Powers". Axel looks pretty unusual without his beard in this picture with Sandow and he's almost unrecognizable without it. He looks like a rookie without the stubble, proving why he's retained his impressive beard throughout the years.

4 Bobby Roode

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Bobby Roode had a great start to his WWE career on Smackdown, where he won the United States Championship. He's now involved in the mid-card scene on Raw following the Superstar Shakeup. "The Glorious One" has had a terrific stint in WWE ever since joining almost two years ago, and has established himself as a big fan favorite because of his theme song and persona. Roode also looks really handsome with his bearded look, something which he didn't always have. While he had a similar beard in TNA as well, during his early years in wrestling, he was clean-shaven. This picture shows Bobby Roode earlier in his career, looking really bizarre and hilarious. He actually wrestled in WWE as an enhancement talent during 2001-04, but this comical look didn't do him any good which is why Roode decided to grow his facial hair, a decision which was definitely "glorious!".

3 Tommaso Ciampa

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Tommaso Ciampa has developed himself as one of the best heels on WWE NXT as he made quite the statement with his ongoing feud against Johnny Gargano. Ciampa has also sported a really wicked look because of his beard, which looks spot on for that of a top heel right now. Ciampa may have maintained his facial hair really well over the months, but he hasn't always paid so much attention to it. As a matter of fact, not many might know that Ciampa had a stint in WWE over a decade ago when he was the lawyer of Muhammad Hassan, known as Thomas Whitney. This picture proves that as it shows him as the lawyer, looking absolutely unrecognizable and shocking without the beard and with this nerdy look, proving how hard he's worked to change himself and successfully make it into WWE.

2 Daniel Bryan

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Daniel Bryan recently returned to WWE competition, being able to add to his legacy which will remain etched in the WWE history books forever. Bryan created a phenomenon in the "Yes!" movement many years ago, which ushered him to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion by being part of the ultimate underdog story in WWE. Bryan may be known worldwide for his "Goat Face" because of his long beard, but the fans may not remember him without a beard many years ago. In his initial years in WWE, Bryan didn't keep a beard at all with this picture proving so. He looked so childish and like a rookie without the facial hair, so one can understand why he decided to get such an impressive beard which will always be liked to and be remembered because of him.

1 Finn Balor

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Finn Balor is currently looking on the up with his amazing feud with Seth Rollins over the Intercontinental title, as the inaugural Universal Champion looks to regain some gold which he lost due to an unfortunate injury. Balor has gotten over as one of the most popular stars on Raw and is a hit amongst the ladies because of his impressive looks, which is helped by his wicked beard. Balor has kept a beard ever since arriving at WWE, but that wasn't the case during his time at New Japan Pro Wrestling. He kept a clean-shaven look for much of his time at Japan, with this picture showing how indifferent he looked without the stubble. Balor looks like quite the innocent guy without his beard, but his facial hair helped him become more attractive to fans in WWE and establish him as one of the top stars.