Now although WWE Chairman Vince McMahon might not admit it. He’s always had a preference in relation to what he wants his top superstars to look like. Vince prefers his WWE Superstars to have impressive bodybuilder-style physiques. There have been a number of times over the years that a superstar has completely altered their body to appeal to Vince directly this on occasion can lead to a major push for the superstar and can truly catapult a WWE career or which wrestlers were they.
Today we look at 10 WWE Superstars who changed their look to get pushed
10 Kalisto
In 2020 former US champion Kalisto returned to WWE television after taking eight months off due to a serious shoulder injury. Kalisto spent his time away from WWE rehabbing his injury as well as getting in the best shape of his life. According to Kalisto, he was in such good shape that Vince McMahon came up to him backstage and commented on his incredible body transformation.
While speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Kalisto revealed my main focus was when I come back all eyes are on me not only are they going to see my new look they’re going to see my new body. That is exactly what happened we did a segment and I went back and they’re in a meeting I think it was Shane, Vince, I kid you not, I turned around and said hey Vince how are you doing he says god damn it pal you’re ripped man that was awesome naturally this led to Kalisto and Lucha house party getting featured a lot more on television and this was no doubt linked to Vince’s admiration of Kalisto’s body transformation.
9 Golddust
One of the best and famous WWE Superstars, Goldust has entered the 2013 royal rumble match as a complete surprise to fans. Goldust went into the match in the best shape of his entire life, having lost almost 60 pounds on a no-carb diet and although Goldust was approaching 50 years old. He was better than ever inside the squared circle following his surprise appearance in the rumble WWE would decide to bring Goldust back for an extended run later in the year this would see his team with his brother Cody Rhodes in the feud with the Shield and they saw the former intercontinental champion have some of the best matches of his entire career amazingly Goldust managed to keep up with the younger talents and his fitness seemed to increase as the latest WWE tenure continued.
8 The Miz
Sometimes it takes WWE superstars wearing a new attire for Vince McMahon to see their true physique and this is exactly what happened with The Miz in 2009. The Miz would be wrestling as the Calgary kid in a match against Eugene on raw and to hide his identity Miz would wear a red mask as well as traditional trunks as opposed to his usual jaws. The Miz had begun to take his fitness seriously around this time and when The Miz wrestled in his new attire he got the backstage area and Vince was incredibly impressed by his physique so much so that Vince insisted that Miz wear trunks moving forward a substantial push would follow and Miz would actually win the Money in the Bank briefcase just a few months after this memorable night on Raw.
7 Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio’s body transformation when he signed for the WWE in 2002 was rather remarkable. Mysterio had gone from someone who had virtually no muscle on his body whatsoever to being absolutely shredded some fans believed at the time that Mysterio did this so that Vince McMahon would be impressed by his physique and would actually present Mysterio as an incredible threat on television. Vince had high hopes for Mysterio and he oversaw everything that he did during his debut including insisting that Mysterio wore his iconic mask Mysterio’s body transformation clearly worked as it would become one of the biggest most successful WWE Superstars history having won the world title on three separate occasions.
6 Eddie Guerrero
Eddie Guerrero’s return in 2002 saw Eddie go on the most successful run of his wrestling career. Eddie had returned to WWE with a new mentality and a brand new physique Eddie’s body had completely transformed and he looked bigger than ever there’s no doubt impressed Vince McMahon as Eddie received a substantial push. He was actually brought back to WWE to work with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the years went on Eddie’s body got bigger and bigger and this eventually led to him winning the WWE title in 2004 although Eddie was getting bigger the means he was using to achieve his body goals weren’t the best thing for his well-being it’s believed that his use of steroids among other drugs contributed to his premature death in 2005.
5 The Big Show
Now although the Big Show has never been known for having the best physique in the world. In 2017 the seven-foot giant decided to put a lot of effort into transforming his body. This transformation surfaced after John Cena made a passing comment to the former WWE champion about how laughable the idea of someone the size of The Big Show having abs as this coincided with the fact that The Big Show wanted to be a lot healthier and he believed that if he improved his body shape it would help his WWE career leading to a substantial meaningful push.
The Big Show actually lost around 70 pounds and he actually managed to obtain abs for the first time in his career The Big Show commented on the weight loss during an interview with wwe.com and stated you don’t make the transformation I made without a serious commitment to changing 40 years of an improper diet and improper training I wanted to make a change and I was given the time and opportunity to make a change so I took advantage of it the big show without question looked amazing and following Vince McMahon seeing The Big Show’s new physique the seven-foot giant went on a career resurgence he would enter into a feud with Braun Strowman and the two had some of the most well-received matches which saw The Big Show put on some of the best performances of his entire WWE career.
4 Braun Strowman
In 2016 WWE made concrete plans to make Braun Strowman a solo star. Braun had previously been a key member of the Wyatt Family but they believe that Braun had a ton of potential on his own. The solo push also aligned with Braun drastically altering his body as he lost a ton of weight and gained muscle all over his body. As Braun pushed increased so did his focus on his body and at one stage he was actually wrestling without a t-shirt or verse to show off his impressive abs.
3 Edge
When Edge returned to WWE in 2020 after nine years away. It was clear that he was going to be pushed however Edge admitted that he knew he needed to get into the best shape of his life to maintain his spot on the card as well as keep up with the younger talent at the age of 48. Edge got into an amazing shape he had abs for the first time in his career and looked absolutely shredded the body transformation worked as Edge had acclaimed matches with the likes of Randy Orton, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins and Vince McMahon continues to present the hall of fame as one of the biggest stars in the entire company.
2 Jinder Mahal
There’s a lot of debate as to why the WWE decided to make Jinder Mahal WWE champion in 2017. Some believe that WWE wanted to expand in the Indian market however some believe that Vince McMahon was so impressed with Jinder’s body transformation that he pushed him to the moon. Jinder’s body transformation was indeed phenomenal but to see someone go from jabber to champion seemingly overnight was kind of ridiculous Jinder has admitted that his focus on fitness got him resigned to WWE in 2016 and even admits that Vince was impressed by his physique and improved attitude it’s clear that Vince certainly has a preference in what his main event stars look like and Jinder’s body transformation in 2017 certainly factored into him winning the WWE title.
1 Drew McIntyre
During Drew McIntyre’s first run into WWE, he had a good physique but it was nothing to write home about. When Drew returned to WWE in 2017 after a successful run on the independent scene as well as Impact wrestling. He completely altered his body Drew is now sporting a grizzled rough look that featured insane muscle definition which made him look as tough as they come within a few months of appearing on the NXT brand.
Vince was reportedly impressed with everything Drew was offering including his body transformation Drew was then called up to the main roster and he has positioned as one of the top stars in the company in 2020 this push culminated with Drew winning the rumble and defeating Brock Lesnar in the main event of Wrestlemania 36 to win the WWE title but there you have it, folks, 10 WWE Superstars who change their look.
