WWE: 10 Wrestlers Who Need Major Makeovers to Get Ahead or Freshen Up

The mark of a true WWE superstar is one who can change with the times.

Though there are certain wrestlers who can use essentially the same gimmick year after year and stay over with the crowd, the vast majority need to adapt in order to succeed.

In other words, they need a character makeover to prevent themselves from getting even more stale than they may already be.

That can come in the form of a heel/face turn or a tweak to one's gimmick, but the end result is always the same: Change.

Here are 10 WWE stars who need major makeovers to get ahead or freshen up.

10. Jinder Mahal

Whatever exactly Jinder Mahal's got going on at the moment isn't working for him.

It's like the second the WWE signs someone who might look like he's from India, the company has to immediately stereotype him and give him some ridiculous, rich Indian gimmick and then pair him with The Great Khali.

Newsflash: Mahal is actually from Canada.

Obviously, billing Mahal from Punjab, India, and making him a heel is a good way (at least on paper) to get him heat, but as you can tell, the guy doesn't exactly get booed out of the building.

The WWE needs to do something with Mahal in order to prevent him from being the same, stereotypical Indian superstar that he's well on his way to becoming.

9. Alex Riley

I don't get to watch Superstars (and that show really doesn't feature anything but wrestling anyway), so the last image I have of Alex Riley was his babyface shtick on Raw over the summer.

What exactly was his gimmick, by the way?

As a heel, he was like the arrogant high school jock, but once he turned on The Miz and their feud was finished, he basically just became Alex Riley, bland superstar.

Riley has a great look and above-average mic skills, but the heel game is lame and played-out, and he really didn't have any gimmick whatsoever as a babyface.

I think Riley can perform as a face or heel, though I'd prefer him as a heel. WWE officials just have to find him some sort of character that hasn't been dome a thousand times already.

And Riley has to find his way out of the doghouse first. 

8. Ezekiel Jackson

Ezekiel Jackson is just another behemoth in a land that's already full of giants.

But if we're going to see him on TV, then WWE officials at least needs to find a role that works for him.

And, no, his boring babyface gimmick isn't it.

In a perfect world, Jackson would be able to develop a move set that features more than just body slams and become a no-nonsense heel who just wreaks havoc on everyone in his path, a la Mark Henry.

Big Zeke is very limited with what he can do in the ring right now, though, so I think company officials would be wise to send him back down to developmental for a while before bringing him back as some sort of ass-kicking heel.

Sorry, but a guy like Jackson just doesn't work as a face because it's really hard for us to sympathize with him when, theoretically, he should beat the crap out of just about everyone on the WWE roster.

7. Tyson Kidd

Tyson Kidd is one of the most talented wrestlers on the WWE roster, but he has the same problem that so many superstars have: No gimmick.

I mean, the guy literally has no character, substance or depth. He's kind of just there.

It works for Kidd on shows like Superstars that focus primarily on wrestling, but whenever he comes to the ring on Raw or Smackdown, the crowd is absolutely dead.

That's a shame because Kidd's in-ring talents are among the best in the company, but we simply have never really had a reason to care about him.

I think that a big part of Kidd's struggles are because he's a heel, but isn't that great on the mic. So, I say that step No. 1 in his makeover should be a face turn because fans really tend to get behind smaller, athletic superstars.

See Evan Bourne, Daniel Bryan, Kofi Kingston, etc.

6. Kofi Kingston

Kofi Kingston has had a firm spot in the mid-card basically since he was called up to the main roster in January 2008.

But, other than that brief streak of intensity he showed during his feud with Randy Orton in 2009, Kingston has been the exact same character for his entire four-year career.

The only thing that has changed is the color of his tights.

Kingston comes out to that same Jamaican music (when not teaming with Evan Bourne), he smiles and slaps hands with the fans, and he comes across as the ultimate happy-go-lucky babyface.

There's nothing overtly wrong with that, but perhaps the fact that Kingston has shown little development in his character is the reason why he's been stuck in the same spot on the card for the last two years.

I think Kingston's in dire need of a heel turn right now, and I could certainly seeing him pulling it off if he channels the Kofi we saw in late 2009.

Plus, he's Bourne's tag team partner, so he's got an easy heel turn already perfectly set up for him.

5. The Big Show

The Big Show is one of the WWE's most reliable veterans.

Given that he's been around so long and had so much success, he can be put in basically any role and bring some instant credibility to it.

Like Kane, that means that Big Show can flip-flop between baby face and heel essentially whenever he wants to.

And the time has come for Big Show to move over to the dark side.

I like Show and think he's a great wrestler for a man of his size, but his most recent face run has him looking like a giant goofball.

He has that cheesy smile when he comes to the ring, he tries to cut too many jokes and quite simply, he just comes across as too damn friendly.

He's The Big Show, he's 450-plus pounds and he should be beating the hell out of everyone. Not being all buddy-buddy with guys like Daniel Bryan. 

4. Mason Ryan

Similar to someone like Ezekiel Jackson, the babyface gimmick just doesn't work for Mason Ryan.

I'm not saying that all big guys have to be heels, but it's really hard for fans to get behind jacked-up babyfaces who are still as green as goose poop.

Unless you're someone like Ultimate Warrior and you bring some extraordinary energy and excitement to your babyface character, then it's going to be a huge struggle to get fans to cheer for you.

I don't want to cheer for Ryan because I think he sucks, but when I boo him, it's X-Pac heat coming out of my mouth, not the legitimate kind.

I'll give Ryan credit for improving since he came up to the main roster, but he needs to do something to establish himself as more than just another big man, whether that be a heel turn or gimmick change.

Of course, that's easier said than done.

3. Alberto Del Rio

Once Alberto Del Rio reached his destiny of winning the WWE Championship, everything he's done since then has completely fallen flat.

Prior to winning his first World title, the basis of Del Rio's character was, in fact, his destiny (or destinies): His destiny to win the Royal Rumble, his destiny to win Raw's Money in the Bank match and his destiny to become World champion.

Now that he's accomplished all those things, however, he's stuck at a crossroads.

ADR is very good in the ring and can be above average on the mic at times, but he needs to completely reinvent himself because the fans simply aren't buying into his current gimmick.

I'm not sure if it's because Del Rio is being deemed as a "Mexican JBL" or if it's because he's gotten incredibly repetitive and boring on the mic, but for whatever reason, Del Rio just isn't clicking at the moment.

Perhaps ADR's current injury will be a blessing in disguise, though, and he will come back better than ever sometime within the next month or two.

2. Jack Swagger

Jack Swagger has all the in-ring talent in the world, especially for someone who's 6'6", 260-plus pounds.

But, just like Kofi Kingston, he essentially hasn't tweaked his character at all throughout his WWE career.

We saw flashes of Swagger becoming more serious when he was World Heavyweight Champion, but that was about it. Other than that, he's spent his entire WWE career as "The All-American American."

And, to be honest, I'm really not sure what makes Swagger so American to begin with.

Maybe the fact that he often wears a red-and-blue singlet? 

Regardless, Swagger is another one of those wrestlers who has gotten so stale as a character that his wrestling ability is being almost completely overlooked.

If we're just being completely honest, Swagger is essentially a glorified jobber at the moment, and it's in large part because of his inabilities to adapt his character.

If not a complete gimmick overhaul, then a face turn, where he keeps his All-American American shtick going, is certainly in line for Swagger.

1. John Cena

Come on, there's no way you were really expecting someone else in this spot.

As tired of we may be of hearing that "John Cena needs to turn heel" or "Cena has to change his character," it is undoubtedly the absolute truth.

No superstar in the WWE gets more heat for the blandness and repetitiveness of his character than Cena.

He is the face of the company, but depending on the city he is in, he is often bombarded with boos from a majority of the crowd.

As we all know, this isn't because Cena is portraying some phenomenal heel, either. Quite simply, it's because the older crowd realizes that Cena is in desperate need of a complete character makeover.

And if he doesn't get it at some point in the near future, I'm not going to be a happy camper.

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