The reason for the sudden change of a WWE Champion’s gimmick has been revealed.
Gimmicks are the most important facet for a wrestler as they define their character and also impact the way they work in the ring, so the decision to change a gimmick is not an easy one to make for the promotion or the wrestler. However, in the case of a WWE Women’s Champion, it seemed to work in their favor.
Back in 2021, vignettes hyping up the arrival of Tiffany Stratton to NXT 2.0 were aired, portraying her as a spoiled brat who never worked for anything in life. That gimmick was suddenly scrapped, and the former NXT Women’s Champion revealed why.
WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton Reveals Why Shawn Michaels Decided To Scrap The “Daddy’s Little Rich Girl” Persona
Speaking in an interview with the No Contest Wrestling podcast, Stratton spoke about her character and revealed that the Heartbreak Kid decided to do away with the infamous gimmick because there was no one to play her father in the storyline, which meant there would be no payoff.
The WWE Women’s Champion was on board with the decision and agreed that her current “pink Barbie doll” gimmick was something that she could work with. She said:
“So, the ‘daddy’s little rich girl’ gimmick kind of came from like Sharpay Evans from High School Musical or like Paris Hilton. I think we went with it for a little bit, and then Shawn [Michaels] was like, ‘We don’t have a daddy for you. We don’t really have a payoff. So, I think we just kind of needed to scrap it.’ And that’s what we ended up doing, which was totally fine, because I don’t think I needed to be ‘daddy’s little rich girl.’ I think just being the blonde, pink Barbie doll was enough. So that’s kind of why that happened. And you know, my character has developed since then and stuff. So, yeah, that’s kind of why we scrapped it.”
[H/T: nodq.com]
The gimmick also turned out to be a bit infamous, as many thought it was not a progressive enough storyline for modern times.
You can hear Tiffany Stratton’s comments in the video below:
While a gimmick change can often be seen as a setback, Stratton took it in her stride and made it work. Her rise in popularity is a testament to how well she has embraced her character.