WWE promotes and then drops several gimmicks over the course of a year. While pretty much every star that matters tends to have a distinct gimmick, the promotion also likes to experiment, giving wrestlers different, left-field gimmicks to work with.
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WWE usually pulls the plug with gimmicks if they don't work or if the characters end up getting stale. But over the years, there have been several occasions where real-life events have forced the promotion's hand, pushing them to give up on a gimmick well before its expiration date. As a result, some stars have never recovered from their gimmick being dropped.
10 Muhammad Hassan
At the age of 23, Italian-American Marc Caponi was handed the gimmick of Muhammad Hassan, an Arab-American angry with all the prejudice and stereotyping Arab people are subjected to in America. Hassan got tons of heat, but WWE had to hastily pull the plug on the entire thing.
Hassan summoned a number of mask-clad terrorists on the same day as the London bombings in 2005. It also didn't help that the entire gimmick evoked memories of the 9/11 tragedy. WWE reacted by pulling the gimmick from programming and choosing to fire Caponi altogether, prompting him to retire from pro wrestling.
9 Enzo Amore; Cruiserweight Champion
Over the course of his run on the main roster, Enzo Amore managed to rub pretty much everyone the wrong way. WWE responded by moving him to 205 Live, turning him heel, and making him the Cruiserweight Champion.
He became the insufferable top champion; fans hated him because he cheated, wrestlers hated him because he was handed the spot for doing nothing. It directly led to PAC leaving the promotion. But before long, Amore was fired by the promotion, after an allegation of sexual assault surfaced. Almost overnight, the most hated Cruiserweight was out of WWE.
8 Meta Powers
Damien Sandow somehow managed to turn his stuntman gimmick into absolute gold. WWE completely failed to pull the trigger on the Damien Mizdow gimmick, instead having him team up with Curtis Axel to form The Meta Powers.
They were jobbers in the purest sense of the word, but at least they had something to do on weekly programming. But in 2015, Hulk Hogan was fired by the promotion when racist comments he had made were leaked. The promotion wanted to distance itself from anything related to The Hulkster, so it pulled the plug on the Meta Powers as well.
7 Heel Michael Cole
Michael Cole was absolutely insufferable as a heel commentator between 2010 and 2012. Between being the spokesperson for the Anonymous Raw General Manager and feuding with Jerry 'The King' Lawler, Cole was one of the most hated personalities in the entire promotion.
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Despite being embroiled in a deeply intense feud with Lawler, all of that ended when The King suffered a heart attack at ringside. Cole dropped the gimmick and all the pretense, calling Lawler his real-life friend and offering viewers updates on his condition. He was lauded worldwide for his handling of the situation, as his heel run came to a sudden end.
6 Stacy "The Kat" Carter
In the late '90s and early 2000s, Stacy "The Kat" Carter became a regular part of WWE programming. She couldn't wrestle to save her life, but at a time when women's wrestling was more about exhibitionism than anything else, she thrived, even winning the WWF Women's Championship.
Carter wanted the freedom to expose herself, which put her in the crosshairs of Right to Censor. Soon after she joined the faction against her will, Carter was fired. It was later reported that officials backstage were sick of her attitude, which led to them ending things almost immediately.
5 Kerwin White
Chavo Guerrero had a number of gimmicks over the course of his career, but Kerwin White was perhaps his most infamous. The gimmick saw him shed his Mexican heritage, choosing to live life as Kerwin White and feuding with non-white wrestlers in the promotion.
It was outwardly racist, but it did introduce us to Nick Nemeth, White's caddy, who'd later be better known as Dolph Ziggler. But after Eddie Guerrero's untimely passing, WWE removed Kerwin White, with him playing Chavo Guerrero once more. If that hadn't happened, odds are that Kerwin White would have stuck around for much longer.
4 Natalya & The Great Khali; A Love Story
Over the course of her career, Natalya has been saddled with some truly pathetic gimmicks. One of those gimmicks had her be romantically involved with The Great Khali, and oh, Hornswoggle was there too.
Luckily, heading into 2013, WWE had them go their separate ways with the premiere of Total Divas on the E! Network. Fans already knew that Natalya was involved with Tyson Kidd, but with the show explicitly focusing on their lives as a married couple, having her be involved with The Great Khali on programming made little to no sense.
3 The Animal's Triumphant Return
At the Royal Rumble in 2014, Batista made a triumphant return to WWE programming. He went onto win the whole match, but instead of being embraced by audiences, The Animal was subjected to a chorus of boos.
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WWE wanted Batista to be a hero, who would win the big one at WrestleMania XXX. But the WWE Universe had something else in mind. Overwhelming fan support for Daniel Bryan meant that Batista was hastily turned heel and became a bit-part player in what should have been his huge homecoming story, which ended with Daniel Bryan winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
2 Friar Ferguson
Religion is a volatile subject in general, but that hasn't stopped WWE from going headfirst into deeply controversial storylines. Fans should not forget that right now, God has a 0-1 win-loss record in a WWE ring.
Years before the McMahons battled God and HBK at Backlash 2006, WWE debuted the Friar Ferguson gimmick that barely stuck around long enough to make an impression on fans. Almost immediately, the Catholic Church of New York deemed the gimmick to be offensive, complaining about it very publicly. WWE responded by pulling Friar Ferguson from programming and he was never heard or seen again.
1 Rusev, Summer Rae, Lana & Dolph Ziggler's Romantic Rivalry
When WWE felt the Rusev-Lana shtick was growing old, the promotion had The Ravishing Russian align herself with Dolph Ziggler, while Summer Rae teamed up with Rusev, acting as a cheap Lana knockoff. It was a pain, but at least Summer Rae was getting something substantial to do as a cold, calculating worker.
But then Rusev and Lana broke kayfabe by posting pictures of their engagement on social media, the promotion was understandably furious and pulled the plug on the storyline, casting aside whatever progress Summer Rae had made as a performer.
