A business that is always on the move, wrestling doesn’t have an off-season which means that major stars appear on televisions across the world on a weekly basis. As a result, it doesn’t take much time at all for wrestlers that attain mainstream success to become highly recognizable to one of the most rabid fan bases in the world. That is why it can be really shocking when you see a wrestler and they no longer look all that much like they used to. Even more remarkable, when this shift takes place over a limited time frame it can leave fans confused about what could have happened. Realizing that inspired us to put together this list of twenty-five wrestlers who became virtually unrecognizable in only a few years.

In order for someone to be up for consideration to be included on this list, they first and foremost need to have made a living under the WWE umbrella at one point or another. For the purposes of this list, it doesn’t matter if they were a regular contributor in the ring, or if they’ve ever fought in the squared circle at all, as long as they were a part of the business. On top of that, they need to have undergone a massive change in the way they look over a relatively short period of time. We do want to make it clear that we didn’t consider someone like Kane that looked different because of taking off or putting on a mask.

25 Sasha Banks

One of the cornerstones of the WWE’s women’s division today, Sasha Banks first proved to the world that she could be a star in NXT. Taking part in arguably the best feud in all of wrestling at the time, the series of matches she had with Bayley before jumping to the main roster were simply incredible. A major part of Raw each week since 2015, her career is still quite young but her involvement in wrestling has become so ingrained that it feels like that can’t be the case. Someone that has absolutely mastered her look, her colorful hair and gear as well as her distinctive Boss glasses and ring are all instantly recognizable. That is why it blows us away to see it all missing from photos taken at the time she signed with the company and how different that absence makes her look.

24 Bray Wyatt

Seen over the last several years as a cult leader style character, Bray Wyatt cast a distinctive shadow over the WWE even though he lost feuds more often than not. Undergoing a career change of late due to teaming with Woken Matt Hardy, despite changing his position on the roster Bray’s overall look remains pretty much the same. For that reason, if you only began following the WWE recently you may think he was unwilling to transform his look but he did so in the past. We say that because of how startlingly different he looked while appearing on the competition version of NXT. Sporting short hair and seen without his shirt, it was not a good look for him but once he grew his hair and beard a lot longer and began wearing gothic clothes his career took off.

23 Daniel Bryan

Every once in a while a WWE wrestler comes along and is so lovable that crowds get behind them to such a degree that eventually their bosses have to as well. The latest performer that was able to create such a bond with audiences, Daniel Bryan follows in the footsteps of people like Mick Foley and Eddie Guerrero. Able to rise to the very top of the WWE as a result, Bryan had his crowning moment when he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of WrestleMania XXX. Debuting as a part of the competition version of NXT several years earlier, that clean-cut version of him took no time at all to disappear. Replaced by a person that was described as goat faced due to his overgrown beard, that and his long hair made him virtually unrecognizable.

22 Raven

A time in wrestling that is looked back on with much affection, there may not be any wrestler that fit into the nineties grunge years better than Raven. Don’t get us wrong, we’re not insane, we know there were much bigger stars than him during that time but he looked right at home alongside many major pop culture figures from that time. Of course, the fact that he wore things like plaid, leather jackets, and T-shirts emblazoned with popular rock bands and edgy comic book characters played a major part in that. A character that debuted in ECW in 1994, earlier that same year Raven was still appearing for the WWE as Johnny Polo. A WWE performer that came out to the ring in colorful attire while wearing whacky things, he seemed like a relic of the Rock ‘N’ Wrestling years of over the top characters.

21 Umaga

A company that creates content that is beamed into the homes of avid fans on a weekly basis, the WWE knows all too well that their viewers tend to have long memories. Despite that, over their history, there have been many instances of them repackaging superstars in extremely dramatic fashion. One of the best examples of that, the man once known as Jamal suddenly reappeared as Umaga, a “savage” character that followed in the footsteps of many past superstars. Despite some fans initially rejecting such a huge switch, the level to which Umaga embraced his new role helped this become his defining run. That success was largely made possible because he looked very little like his former character despite being roughly the same size. That is because his change in attire and the face paint he wore were so transformative.

20 The Big Show

The kind of wrestler that comes along only once a generation, The Big Show is the heir apparent to WWE legend André the Giant. In fact, when he made his WCW debut years ago they tried to pretend Show was the offspring of André. However, things have really changed since the heights of André’s career and Show spent years on end appearing weekly in front of fans. That led some to take his incredible presence for granted which is a real shame considering how impressive his career has been. Spending the majority of those years working for the WWE, he was often referred to as “the world’s largest athlete” by announcers. He absolutely is still huge but recently the world found out his body had transformed seemingly overnight. It truly is amazing how fast he dropped a lot of weight and packed on loads of muscle.

19 Darren Young

A wrestler that was capable of so much more than he accomplished in the WWE, Darren Young was never given the opportunity he deserved. A former member of the Nexus, once that faction came to an end he was thrust into a memorable tag team. Known as the Prime Time Players, he and Titus O’Neil had a great deal of chemistry and seemed to genuinely have fun together. Never given a big enough of a push to become a cornerstone of the tag division, the two of them were broken up, reunited and then broken up again without much fanfare. On top of that, don’t even get us started on the period of time in which he was managed by Bob Backlund. Someone that is proof positive of how big of a difference a haircut can make, Darren made that change and stopped wearing collared shirts and the difference in his look was mind-blowing.

18 Matt Hardy

A wrestler that rose to prominence as one-half of a legendary tag team, Matt Hardy and his brother Jeff earned the admiration of wrestling fans around the world. However, throughout their run, it was always obvious that the powers that be in the WWE saw more in Jeff than they ever did in Jeff. How wrong they turned out to be as Matt eventually would become the talk of the business due to his Broken Matt character and it was his brother that followed his lead. Completely transforming his look when he became “broken”, his wrestling gear became far more dramatic and the splash of color in his hair was remarkable. On top of that, some fans may not remember that not long before Matt embraced his “broken state” he’d weighed a great deal more and had cornrows in his hair.

17 Chris Harris/Braden Walker

At one time among the most talked about performers in the business, when Chris Harris was one-half of America’s Most Wanted he was among TNA’s biggest stars. Partnered with James Storm over his most productive years, the two of them won gold together six times and seemed like they could make the leap to the WWE successfully at any minute. Surprisingly, Chris ended up signing with the competition alone and he would debut in the WWE’s version of ECW all by himself. What made that all the more shocking was that the man now known as Braden Walker bore very little resemblance to his former self. Interesting enough, his weight gain made little sense as we all know that Vince McMahon prizes physiques and his new one would torpedo his WWE career, which it did.

16 The Sandman

One of the most unique characters in the history of wrestling, we can’t imagine The Sandman raising to the heights he did in any company other than ECW. Known for incredibly over the top entrances that involved drinking beer, making his way through the fans and hitting his own head, he often was already bleeding before the bell rang. A pretty theatrical person, it was a good thing he was so colorful given that his actual in-ring prowess could accurately be called lacking. Additionally, his willingness to take part in over the top storylines made up for the fact that he never looked nearly as good as most of his peers. Even though he never relied on his looks, it is still surprising to see how much older he looked a very short time after his last high profile run in TNA.

15 Eric Young

Someone that spent years in TNA as arguably the company’s biggest goofball character, Eric Young did a pretty great job garnering laughs from fans. Best remembered during those years for a comedic superhero character and petitioning fans to support his efforts to not be fired, in reality, the company kept him around for a long time. His lengthy tenure led to him finally getting his chance to be taken seriously and he absolutely ran with it. Growing out his beard, wearing an army vest adorned with patches and adopting a scowl, those relatively small changes somehow resulted in Eric looking incredibly different. Largely transformed by a change in attitude that changed his entire aura, his reinvention was so successful that he eventually was signed by the WWE.

14 Triple H

A man that is set to become “the man” due to being the son-in-law of WWE chairman Vince McMahon, based on the job Triple H has done running NXT many people can’t wait for that to happen. Still, no matter what his future holds, Triple H has already accomplished more than enough in the business to be considered a legend. After all, he has been the WWE or World Champion a combined fourteen times which is simply awesome. If that figure weren’t enough, he also was the focal point of the company for a number of years. Due to all of that camera time fans have seen been able to track his career and its many permutations. As far as his physical look goes the most notable change took place between 2010 and 2012. Over that time he went from holding some extra weight to incredibly ripped as can be seen in these two images.

13 Gene Snitsky

It seems laughable now but at one point it seemed like the powers that be in the WWE had big things in mind for Gene Snitsky. Thrust into a feud with Kane early in his WWE run, like several superstars before and after him grappling with “the big red machine” was meant to turn him into a star. Sadly, the plan failed miserably due to the more ridiculous things they had him do during that feud. After all, once you’ve kicked a baby doll into a crowd while pretending it was an actual person there really isn’t any way to come back from that. Quite the sight during his WWE run, Snitsky’s shaved head and discolored teeth helped him stand out. No longer wrestling for any major companies today, somehow he looks more marketable than ever after whitening his teeth and clearly spending hour upon hour in the gym.

12 Vladimir Kozlov

One of the more interesting WWE superstars of the last few decades, Vladimir Kozlov was brought to the attention of the WWE by Jerry Jarrett. What makes that so intriguing was that Jerry co-founded TNA, a company that was still partially under the control of his own son Jeff Jarrett at the time. Sold to Vince McMahon and company as a future difference maker, at first Kozlov appeared on WWE TV as a tough guy worthy of fear. When that didn’t take, his character was changed dramatically and he became the sidekick of Santino Marella. Such a huge switch should have been a one-time thing for him but in real-life, the change in his body since his WWE days is just as remarkable. Formerly a little bit pudgy, over a very short period of time he began looking as if he was chiseled out of granite.

11 Ric Flair

The only person, as of this writing, that has been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice, Ric Flair’s career turned him into an absolute legend. Someone the WWE claims is a sixteen-time world champion, that would be an amazing achievement for Ric but in reality, he had several more reigns than that. If that weren’t enough, he also led arguably the greatest faction in the history of the business, The Four Horsemen, and was a major part of another popular group, Evolution. Included on this list mostly due to getting up there in age, there are several wrestlers from his generation that look pretty different than they once did. However, the thing that makes him different is he never used to look his age but once he retired from in-ring action it seems father time caught up with him over only a few years.

10 Jinder Mahal

Speaking of Vince McMahon preferring to promote people that are in great shape, there is no better evidence of that than Jinder Mahal. First brought onto the WWE’s main roster in 2011, he spent the majority of his first run with the company as a lower card performer. One-third of the faction 3MB, he and his cohorts were mostly played for laughs. Released by the company in 2014, two years later he was resigned in order to flesh out the roster after the “Brand Extension” and was used as a glorified jobber. Then the trajectory of his career pulled a complete one-eighty because he went from looking like an average Joe to being shredded very quickly. As a result of him looking so much better in Vince’s eyes, he went from losing to the stars to having a several month run as WWE Champion which is mind-boggling.

9 Baron Corbin

Someone that doesn’t get the credit he deserves from some fans, Baron Corbin isn’t a ring general but he still has a lot of time to continue to improve in the ring. However, there is something about him that can’t be taught, he comes off as genuinely hateable. In fact, if you put him in the ring with someone the fans adore we can see people lining up to see him get beat up. Of course, he still has a way to go before he gets there as he needs to be seen as a serious threat first. Fortunately, he has proven himself capable of evolving his career in the past considering photos of him from early in his career are so surprising he is hardly recognizable. Actually, we have to say that without his long hair and the T-shirts he wears today he looks a whole lot less impressive.

8 Goldust

Someone that we are astonished is still a part of the WWE’s main roster today, the man that became Goldust made his WCW debut in 1991. Looking better today than ever before, he can still keep up with wrestlers that are literally decades younger than him which blows us away. That is a huge turnaround from the way he came off during his time in TNA as Black Reign. A version of him that was a pale imitation of the character he is best known for, even changing his makeup and ring attire from gold to silver made him look a lot less impressive. Additionally, he’d gained a great deal of weight from the zenith of his WWE career. Fortunately for both him and his fans, he cleaned up his private life which helped him peel off the pounds and even under the makeup he looked years younger as well.

7 Sunny

At one-time named the most downloaded woman in the world by AOL, to say that Sunny was a big deal during her time in the WWE is a huge understatement. Often referred to as the company’s first diva, her contributions to the business were given a stamp of approval when she was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011. That said, once she left the WWE’s main roster things were not exactly rosy for her. Going on to appear in both ECW and WCW, neither of those runs lived up to her earlier days. Since then seen most often at conventions where she signs autographs for fans, she has struggled with substance abuse issues and her habits have altered her body greatly.

6 Enzo Amore

Introduced to the WWE audience as one-half of a tag team that seemed poised to become the most popular in the business, Enzo Amore and his partner Big Cass were fantastic together. Known for his fantastic promo ability and entertaining persona, he inspired legions of fans to get behind the team. Someone that is gone from the WWE and seems likely never to return at this point, it wasn’t too long ago that Enzo was the main star for one of their brands. The person that 205 Live revolved around during the last months of his time with the company, there is no doubt that his personality was built to entertain. Eventually, one of the loudest looking people in the business when he left the WWE, when he signed with the company his image was far more typical.