Wrestlers you changed your mind on...

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

...because of their work. No real life shit here.

AEW was my introduction to Hangman Page, and I thought he sucked. The booking he had since he lost to Jericho has completely turned me around on him.

When Cena got the mega pop in MSG in 2008, I started appreciating him more until MITB 2011 solidified him for me.

Batista I actually began to respect in the same match, simply because his crowd reaction rivalled that of H or Cena in the final three. I didn't enjoy his work until he turned heel again, and then I LOVED him.

Jericho has actually gone both directions for me - his latter day WWE work had me thinking he didn't have it any more at times, and I pretty much thought he was past it until AEW.

[Deleted]

I thought Drew McIntyre was the most boring dude ever as a heel, but I started loving him when he turned face.

I go back and forth on Kevin Owens all the time, probably more than any other wrestler.

[IgnahtaSempria]

For quite a while, I was one of the many people who believed that the Young Bucks were just a couple of spot monkeys who basically had paint-by-numbers matches of all their spots with superkicks filling in the empty space.

It was around the feud with the Golden Lovers that I turned around on them, and realized that they DO, in fact, understand psychology. I still think they're a bit over reliant on false finishes, but I enjoy how they structure their matches much more than I used to.

[rnrk supports BLM]

When they first tentatively tried pushing him against Orton, I didn't think Kofi had it. Everything about him screamed career midcarder. He reinvented himself with New Day and by the time he beat Bryan for the title, he'd absolutely earned it.

[petef3]

I was an Ultimo Dragon fan in his WCW days, and man, that guy does not hold up at ALL. Especially before 1996 in Japan, I find his work actively bad. I mean, he's a great athlete, but he had no concept of how to put a match together or have any sort of character besides "guy in a flashy outfit doing kicks and moonsaults."

As a kid I thought Ron Garvin was boring and dull and a joke of an NWA Champion. He was kind of a joke as NWA Champion, but for reasons beyond his control. I also bought into the, "Nobody wanted to be a lame-duck champion except Garvin" narrative, a story I no longer really believe (for one thing, according to Garvin, he didn't want the belt, either--and didn't want it, period, lame-duck or not). Now, I wish we had more guys like him.

I bought into a lot of false narratives about Dusty Rhodes, too. Both as a booker and a worker. He's not perfect at either, but the real story is way more complicated than classic Internet lore would have you believe. And it has to also be stressed that we only have select clips of him in his physical prime, which was the mid-1970s.

I've come all the way around to...cautious ambivalence, I guess, on Orange Cassidy, after absolutely hating him at the start of AEW. Now my criticisms of him mostly revolve around how he's been booked more than his work. That said...one of the reasons I've turned around on him is that (I presume) Tony Khan has gotten rid of a lot of his more indieriffic, kayfabe-shattering spots.

[Super Nintenjoe KBD]

Probably Hangman for me too, not that I ever hated him, but when he came back last year it was also my introduction to him and compared to Mox, Kenny, etc, I wasn't sure what to make of him. Funnily my gf hates him, says he's boring and has no charisma and wants literally anyone else as champion. The hour long match with Bryan was the first time watching together that she just checked out and did something else. But he's been growing on me more and more and I like him in the "heroic" champion role. And I know OP said real life doesn't count, but seeing that he does seem to be a genuinely good guy and his story is making me root for him more.

[clifford]

The Bucks.

Had a lot of preconceived misconceptions of them and their style. I didn't watch NJPW or ROH during their heyday with those companies. So when AEW started and I finally got to see what they are all about, it was like something clicked.

It's how I know that the people who complain about their selling and in ring work to this day don't watch them or their matches outside of maybe a few gifs on the internet. Cause I used to say the exact same stuff back when I didn't watch them.

[J is Justice]

Bayley. Started watching again in 2019 when she was a dull heel. I thought "this is the Bayley I've heard so much about?" (although that was for face Bayley, I guess). And then she became an obnoxious goofy dope who told Cole to shut up every chance she got.

Bobby Lashley when he formed the Hurt Business.

Roman when he turned heel.

Honestly, Sheamus, too. When he came back I just thought "ugh, it's that smiley guy that won the 2012 Rumble" and I had no interest in him (very unfair, considering I'd barely watched in those years following). But Sheamus is great.

[King Devitt]

Adam Cole.
I used to hate the man. I thought that he was bland with a one-note catchphrase he ripped off from Jericho.

But then one random NXT weekly changed all that for me. Ever since I've been sold completely.



Hate to go there, but non-wrestler: Tony Khan.

Used to adore the man. But now see him as a 2-3 Trick Pony that bought into his own hype.

I used to forgive it b/c he genuinely loves the fans, but as a booker he's problematic to the point the AEW Stan has to move heaven and earth to justify everything he does.

[H-Virus]

Done it twice with Cody. I spent his entire WWE career seeing him as a lifelong midcarder like his brother and feeling baffled every time someone called him a future main eventer or future World Champion.

Then in AEW, he cut that Undeniable promo and later had that awesome cage match with Wardlow, and for the first time I started thinking “Maybe I’m finally seeing what those people were talking about.”

But after the last year and a half I’m definitely over him again, to the point where I’m ecstatic about him probably going back to WWE because it means I don’t have to watch him anymore. And just like his first run there, I’m now completely baffled when I see people saying that he should be the guy to end Roman’s title reign.

[tafkaga]

Sting. I never really liked him while growing up. I remember going back and watching some old VHS tapes of his matches with Vader, and later his Nitro matches with DDP in '98 or '99 I believe and started to appreciate him a lot more. Plus just the fact that he seems like a decent dude who was never ego driven like so many in his position spoke volumes to me.

Flair. He was once my favorite wrestler of all time, and now I basically can't stand him on any level. I don't like him as a person and I don't like his matches. He could cut some great promos in his day, but I find him pretty overrated now.

[Jumpin' Jesse Walsh]

Sid was fast-forward material for me as a kid.

Now as a grown adult who still watches fake sports, I love me some Sid.