AEW Wrestlers Embarrassing Early Gimmicks

A wrestler might possess all the technical in-ring talent in the world, but he must have a captivating character to immortalize his name among the millions of fans. Hence, it is of the utmost significance that he finds a suitable gimmick to portray on-screen to take his career to the next level. While some wrestlers find their destined gimmick soon, many have shuffled with multiple characters in their early stages before coming up with the one that got them the most success.

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Likewise, the current All Elite Wrestling roster showcases wrestlers with unique characters, and with that said, let's take a look at ten such AEW wrestlers and their embarrassing early gimmicks.

10 Christian Cage Once Portrayed The Gimmick Of A Male Nurse

Worked With The Gimmick During His Early Years In The IWA

Christian Cage is one of the best acts going on in All Elite Wrestling at present, as his current heel gimmick is arguably the best run of his entire in-ring career. He's been in the business for nearly three decades and has held numerous championships across various promotions. However, he had to work his way up the ladder and explore a variety of gimmicks over the years.

In his early days in the business, he portrayed the gimmick of a male nurse in mid-1996 while he and Adam Copleand were performing in the International Wrestling Alliance promotion in mid.

9 Before There Was Matt Hardy, There Was Ingus Jynx

Competed Alongside His Brother Jeff Hardy As The Jynx Brothers

Matt Hardy found his way into WWE in 1994 and worked as a jobber until he signed a full-time contract in 1998. He teamed up with his brother Jeff Hardy in WWE for the first time in 1996, and it was in September 1996 when WWE tried to experiment with Matt and Jeff Hardy as The Jynx Brothers.

WWE gave Matt and Jeff Hardy the names Ingus and Wildo Jynx and had them perform in masked attires. It's safe to say that the Hardy brothers were fortunate enough to have this phase of their careers get lost in the years, as they went on to reintroduce themselves as The Hardy Boyz and revolutionize tag team wrestling in WWE.

8 Dax Harwood Of FTR Was Once Known As Dennis Laundry

Worked With The Name During His Early Run In The Indies

Dax Harwood of the FTR tag team has been in the pro wrestling business for nearly two decades, and before he broke into the big leagues, he started on the independent circuit under the name KC McKnight.

During his early years in the business, he looked completely different and sported long hair. He used to work for an independent promotion called Gouge Wrestling between 2006 and 2008, and it was there he had to work under the name Dennis Laundry.

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Harwood worked under the name only in one instance and thankfully never had to go through that again.

7 Current Ring Of Honor Women's World Champion Athena Was Once A Rosebud

She Was Part Of Adam Rose's Entourage Before She Made Her Official WWE Debut

The current reigning ROH Women's World Champion, Athena, is well known among wrestling fans for her time in WWE as Ember Moon. She is a former 1-time NXT Women's Champion and NXT Women's Tag Team Champion but couldn't make the same impact on the main roster.

Before her NXT debut, Athena appeared on WWE television as part of Adam Rose's entourage, The Rosebuds. Many established stars like Becky Lynch and Braun Strowman were once part of the goofy posse, but Athena couldn't break out as a successful singles star on the WWE main roster, which eventually led to her release in 2021.

6 Jeff Hardy Made His WWE In-Ring Debut As Keith Davis

He Took The Place & Name Of Another Jobber Who Backed Out Of The Match

As mentioned earlier, Matt and Jeff Hardy first competed in WWE as The Jynx Brothers before debuting the Hardy Boyz gimmick. However, Jeff Hardy competed in a WWE ring for the very first time in 1994, when he competed under the name Keith Davis in a match against Razor Ramon on the June 6, 1994, episode of Raw.

WWE had scheduled a match between Razor Ramon and an enhancement talent named Keith Davis on the show, but the latter backed out at the last minute, leaving the officials scrambling to find a replacement. Jeff Hardy, who was present at the venue, lied about being 18, while he was only 16, and competed under the same jobber's name in a 4-minute match against the late legend.

5 Claudio Castagnoli Was Once A Very Mysterious Ice Cream

Teamed Up With The Los Ice Creams Tag Team In Chikara

After a decade of working in WWE as Cesaro without receiving any notable main event opportunities, Claudio Castagnoli jumped ship to All Elite Wrestling in 2022. He went on to have two runs with the ROH World Championship and has been doing great since joining the company.

Wrestling fans hold Clastagnoli in high standards for his in-ring abilities and incredible strength. However, he had to work his way up the ladder throughout his career and work through some lackluster phases.

One such instance was when he had to portray the gimmick of a Very Mysterious Ice Cream on one occasion during his time in Chikara in 2007 and teamed up with the Los Ice Creams tag team.

4 MJF Is Better Than Everybody, But Is Pete Lightning Any Better?

He Worked Under The Name While He Was In Combat Zone Wrestling

MJF is one of the biggest names on the current AEW roster, as the young wrestler showed tremendous growth over the years in the promotion and became the longest-reigning AEW World Champion.

He showed extraordinary character development on AEW television over the years, and gave his best in his heel and face personas, and AEW gave him the creative freedom to be himself.

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However, he didn't have much creative freedom during his early years in the business, as he was once forced to work under the name Pete Lightning during his early CZW days. The character wasn't different, but MJF wasn't a fan of the name, but he had to abide by the promoter's decision in order to get the opportunity to work on the main CZW shows.

3 Dustin Rhodes Once Wrestled As Seven In WCW

WCW Management Had To Cancel The Gimmick

Wrestling fans have witnessed numerous controversial gimmicks in various promotions over the years, but only a few had the longevity to stay in their memories. The Goldust character Dustin Rhodes portrayed in WWE was one such controversial gimmick, which had a lengthy run, but even before he embraced the bizarre character, Rhodes depicted an even creepier gimmick in his second WCW run.

WCW showed ominous vignettes of Dustin Rhodes as a face-painted character named Seven, which showed him standing outside a child's bedroom window. However, the gimmick didn't last long, as the officials feared that it could get misinterpreted as a child abductor.

2 Evil Uno Of The Dark Order Was Once Flip D. Berger

He Portrayed The Gimmick In The Early Years Of His Career

AEW fans have grown used to seeing Evil Uno as a masked character over the years, but behind that mask, there's a good-looking dude who once worked under the name Flip D. Berger in his early days in the business.

He worked under the name on a few occasions between 2005 and 2008 while he was competing in the independent scene. The name is something an established wrestler won't want his fans to remember him by, and Evil Uno would be happy that no one remembers that phase of his career.

1 The Young Bucks Appeared In WWE As Fake Triple H & Shawn Michaels

They Were Part Of A Segment With The Miz & John Morrison On ECW

Matt and Nick Jackson, The Young Bucks, are two of the most influential figures in All Elite Wrestling at present. Apart from their duties as in-ring talents, they also hold a significant backstage position as Executive Vice Presidents of the company.

However, before they reached this level of success, The Young Bucks had to work their way up the ladder over the years by competing on the independent circuit. While Matt Jackson competed in two matches as an enhancement talent in WWE, both Matt and Nick appeared on WWE television at the same time when they appeared as parody versions of Triple H and Shawn Michaels during an in-ring segment with The Miz & John Morrison on the October 28, 2008, episode of ECW.