Gimmick changes are often necessary to help establish a successful wrestling career. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was "The Ring Master" before he was a main event star. There are also many instances where big-time wrestlers inherited a bad gimmick later in their careers. Hulk Hogan became "Mr. America" in one of the worst gimmick changes in wrestling history.

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Reverting back to an old gimmick is also commonplace in wrestling. Sometimes, a step back can be a step forward for many wrestlers. Other times, a wrestler will arrive to a new wrestling promotion with an old gimmick that they can legally use. The reasons for changing back to an old gimmick are endless and this list will examine ten wrestlers who reverted back to an old gimmick at some point in their career.

10 Owen Hart - Blue Blazer

Owen Hart entered the WWE as "The Blue Angel," which would later be known as "The Blue Blazer." He debuted the gimmick in his first pay-per-view, Survivor Series 1988. After a short stint outside of the WWE, Owen returned as "Owen Hart."

Under his real name Owen Hart, he became a huge name at WWE. He competed in five-star matches and had many other memorable achievements but never won the WWE Championship. In 1998, Owen Hart "quit" the WWE and returned as the Blue Blazer. He kept the gimmick until his tragic death in 1999.

9 Hollywood Hogan - Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan's heel turn in 1996 changed the world of wrestling forever. He had been a big-time babyface for most of his time on top and when Hogan left WWE for WCW in 1993 he tried to maintain his babyface status. The arrival of The Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) led to the formation of the nWo and the arrival of the Hollywood Hogan gimmick.

Hogan became a massive superstar (again) as Hollywood Hogan. The gimmick lasted through most of his run at the company. He returned to the WWE in 2002. He adopted the Hollywood Hogan gimmick for a few months but ditched the black and white and (more or less) returned to his classic "Hulk Hogan" name and gimmick.

8 Kevin Nash - Diesel

Although Kevin Nash is one of the most well-known wrestlers from the 90s, his gimmick at WWE, Diesel, was also a huge success. He even became a Triple Crown Champion winning the tag team titles, the IC title, and the WWE Championship all in 1994.

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As "Kevin Nash," he was even more successful in WCW as a member of the nWo. He was constantly in the main event scene. Nash didn't revert away from his "Kevin Nash" gimmick even when he returned to the WWE in 2002. At the 2011 Royal Rumble, he did resurrect the Diesel gimmick for one night.

7 King Booker - Booker T

Booker T became a wrestling star at WCW. He took his Booker T gimmick to the WWE and had it for the majority of his time at the company. His other major gimmick was King Booker which he portrayed for a while in WWE after winning the 2006 King Of The Ring tournament.

King Booker lasted until Booker left the WWE in 2007. He arrive in Impact Wrestling later that year and brought back the Booker T gimmick. Booker lasted the majority of his later career as "Booker T" but did bring back King Booker to knight the New Day as five-time tag team champions.

6 Rey Mysterio - "Masked"

No wrestler has made the luchador mask more world-famous than Rey Mysterio. At WCW, Mysterio was masked at the beginning of his career but was unmasked at WCW in 1998.

He wrestled his last few years without his trademark mask and was a completely different person without it as he was more of a punk, hip hop-loving star. Mysteriodebuted at the WWE in 2002 and reverted back to the masked gimmick. Mysterio has remained masked for over twenty years in the WWE.

5 Undertaker - Dead Man

The Undertaker has one of the most well-known gimmicks of all time. The introduction of "The Deadman" in the early 90s was strange but helped 'Taker become a huge star in the WWE.

In 2000, Undertaker adopted "The American Badass" gimmick, which saw the future hall of famer become a redneck biker that chewed tobacco. The gimmick helped add a new layer to Undertaker, but after four years he brought back the "Phenom" gimmick which followed him until the end of his illustrious career.

4 John Cena - Doctor Of Thuganomics

Before John Cena was a 16-time WWE world champion, he was the Doctor Of Thuganomics. Although the gimmick, which featured Cena as a rapper, is cringeworthy now thanks to many of his insults being thinly veiled homophobic jokes, it helped John Cena become a huge star on Smackdown.

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In 2005, when he was on course for his first WWE Championship run, he dropped the gimmick. He brought the Doctor Of Thuganomics back at WrestleMania 35. He interrupted Elias's performance in front of 82,265 fans at MetLife Stadium and even entered the ring to his original entrance song.

3 Chris Jericho - Lionheart

Chris Jericho has adopted a ton of different gimmicks over his thirty-year wrestling career. One of his early gimmicks was "Lionheart," which predates his time at WCW. Jericho has actually brought back the gimmick a few times in his career.

At ECW One Night Stand in 2005, Jericho wrestled Lance Storm as "Lionheart" instead of Y2J. In 2022, Jericho brought "Lionheart" back during a match against Bryan Danielson at AEW All Out 2022.

2 Mark Henry - World's Strongest Man

Mark Henry debuted in the WWE as "the world's strongest man." Although some fans assume the gimmick followed him through his entire WWE Hall of Fame career, Henry became "Sexual Chocolate" shortly after his debut.

The gimmick was an awful turn for the superstar who was presented as a lady's man. Henry left the WWE main roster for a few years and trained at Ohio Valley Wrestling. In 2002, he returned as "The World's Strongest Man" again and eventually became a fearsome world champion in the WWE.

1 Mick Foley - Mankind

Mankind is the most iconic character of Mick Foley's career. He became an unlikely WWE Champion and was a huge asset to the Attitude Era. By 2000, Mankind seemed to be retired and Mick Foley wrestled almost exclusively as Mick Foley.

At Taboo Tuesday 2005, 52% of fans voted for Mankind to return and battle Carlito. Foley won the match as Mankind, which ended up being the last time Foley adopted the gimmick.