10 Old-School WWE Wrestlers Who Changed Their Look (And Made It Worse)

The ever-changing landscape of pro wrestling means that many wrestlers must change their looks to ensure they get over or stay relevant. Names like Chris Jericho, The Rock and others making physical changes helped their careers reach new heights. Previous eras of the old school years led to many wrestlers trying this for better or worse.

The Golden Era and New Generation Era each saw WWE's roster trying to gain newfound stardom. Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels had the biggest pushes as the faces of each era. Quite a few wrestlers attempted to join those top names, and tried to do so by changing their look, but failed in the process.

10 Davey Boy Smith

Fans Missed His Old Hairstyle

Got Rid Of A Unique Look
Developed A Generic Identity
Limited His Upside With New Look

Many fans were nostalgic for the old school look of Davey Boy Smith with his longer dreadlocks. No wrestler had that look in his tag team run and in his early singles role when Smith stood out and felt like a new breakout star ready to move up the ladder.

Davey Boy had a shorter haircut in the New Generation Era that took away some of his luster. The lack of charisma compared to other names and a generic look didn’t help as much. Bulldog would have been better off keeping the dreadlocks as his trademark look.

9 Al Snow

Wrong Look & Wrong Gimmick

Almost Ruined Al Snow's Career
The New Rockers Was A Dead End Gimmick
Showed The Worst Of The New Generation Era

Al Snow was trying to find his big break when he joined WWE with a few odd characters. One change saw Snow wearing a mask as the Avatar character that failed badly. Another bad change came with the bigger idea of the New Rockers tag team.

Snow shaved and attempted to look like a 1970s rocker to team with Marty Jannetty in the odd tag team. Fans did not care about the gimmick one bit, and this almost ruined his career. ECW making Snow a star led to a much better WWE run in the Attitude Era.

8 Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake

Parasailing Accident Led To New Look

Real-Life Injury Caused Beefcake To Wear Mask
Had Mask Match Hulk Hogan's Colors
One Of Many Failed Pushes For Beefcake

WWE pushed Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake as the best friend of Hulk Hogan to show his influence. Hogan having great power led to Beefcake getting pushed in both WWE and WCW. The WWE run saw Beefcake going from a mid-card talk show host to Hogan’s tag partner.

A parasailing accident led to Beefcake changing his wrestling look by wearing a mask. The ridiculous red and yellow mask was worn to match Hogan’s gear, but he just looked foolish. WWE was happy to get rid of Beefcake when Hogan left WWE.

7 Mr. Fuji

Managers Changing Looks Matter Too

Fans Became Used To Him In A Suit
Short Run With Yokozuna Didn't Last Long Enough
Showed His Age With New Look

Mr. Fuji worked for WWE in both the New Generation Era and Golden Era alike. Fans often loved the look of Fuji in the Golden Era wearing a suit and coming off like a menacing heel. The look worked well for Fuji when he managed Demolition and many others.

WWE brought Fuji back with a new look and act managing Yokozuna when he received a rookie push. Fuji changed his gear wearing a traditional Japanese kimono. The character worked for Yokozuna, but Fuji looked much less cool than in his previous gear.

6 Barry Windham

WCW Legend Ruined In WWE

The Stalker Face Paint Was Ridiculous
New Blackjacks Was Failed Tag Team Reboot
WWE Ruined His WCW Credibility

WCW made Barry Windham one of the most respected upper card acts having stellar matches against Ric Flair and even had some time spent in the Four Horsemen. WWE signing Windham in the later stages of the Golden Era led to a lackluster run.

Windham’s look changed to him wearing ridiculous face paint as The Stalker as a failed gimmick. WWE tried another bold change of making Windham dye his hair and grow his mustache to team with JBL in the New Blackjacks imitating the gimmick from decades past.

5 Jake Roberts

WWE Brought Jake Roberts Back At The Wrong Time

Roberts Returned Looking Much Older
Real-Life Battles Negatively Impacted Career
Return Run Was Huge Disappointment

The ups and downs of Jake Roberts have followed his career when attempting to get past his addiction woes. WWE rehired Roberts in the New Generation Era, but his look was a huge drop off from his glory days in the Golden Era.

Roberts stopped dying his hair and gained some weight while wrestling in a top to hide his physique. WWE’s product was getting younger and exposed Roberts’ weaknesses further. Roberts had a failed comeback push and lost his spot after a short stint.

4 Michael Hayes

A Legendary Wrestler Changing Look For New Role Rarely Works

WWE Stripped Away Past Before WWE
New Look Didn't Help Broadcasting Career
Went Back To Old Look Working Backstage

WWE brought in Michael Hayes when he retired from the ring to end his legendary in-ring career as part of the Fabulous Freebirds faction. Hayes joined the broadcasting team under a new name of Doc Hendrix with WWE intentionally not referencing his wrestling past since it happened elsewhere.

A shorter haircut led to Hayes looking different from his best days in the ring. WWE couldn’t get Hayes to fit ideally into the broadcasting duties and moved him into a backstage producer role that he still holds today. The funny twist was that Hayes started dressing outlandish and had long hair again off camera.

3 Yokozuna

Too Much Weight Can Hurt Big Men Too

Yokozuna's Weight Worked For Him Until He Gained More
Beard Didn't Help His Look At All
WWE Sent Him Home To Work On Weight

WWE pushed Yokozuna as the dominant new monster heel when he arrived in the New Generation Era. Yokozuna won the WWE Championship and main evented multiple WrestleMania shows with Mr. Fuji as his consistent manager.

An absence for Yokozuna saw him returning with a lazy beard and a larger weight gain. WWE even grew concerned and tried to get Yokozuna to work off the unhealthy weight. Unfortunately, Yokozuna’s run ended faster than expected and he passed away years later to show the risks of his size.

2 Giant Gonzalez

A Body Suit With Fake Muscles Will Never Get Anyone Over

Changing Look From WCW Was A Mistake
Body Suit Was A Career Killer
The Undertaker Couldn't Get Him Over

WCW had Giant Gonzalez on their roster as El Gigante to make him feel like a young prospect with great potential. WWE loved what they saw and signed him with the intent of making him their next big monster heel when feuding with The Undertaker.

Gonzalez struggled in the WWE world and had a terrible change to his appearance. A bodysuit looked ridiculous with Gonzalez’s outfit having airbrushed muscles and body hair. Even a haircut change made Gonzalez look worse in WWE to hurt his chances at success there.

1 Akeem

Gimmick Change Led To Worse Look

Offensive Character Already Had Lower Ceiling
One Man Gang Looked Much Better Than Akeem
Look Led To Him Having Embarrassing Legacy

One Man Gang was a solid mid-card character that occasionally moved into the main event scene as a monster heel character during a time when Vince McMahon wanted that genre well represented. WWE unfortunately ruined him with an unnecessary change for the worst.

Akeem was the new name and gimmick showcased with a new look. The African Dream was the moniker given to Akeem as a white man playing into African stereotypes. This gimmick was among the first major offensive ones in WWE and was a huge decline in his career.

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