[PHOTO] 5-time WWE champion looks almost unrecognizable 4 years after release

WWE Superstars come and unfortunately, they often leave, and a lot can change as the years go by. Talent releases often lead to wrestlers changing their looks or revamping their gimmicks, and now a catchphrase-heavy ring veteran looks nothing like his former self.

Heath Miller, aka Heath Slater, has been wrestling since 2004. After training under the legendary Mr. Hughes, the former Nexus member signed his World Wrestling Entertainment developmental contract in December 2006. He went on to be a 3-time champion in FCW, and a 5-time champion in WWE, including a run as the inaugural SmackDown Tag Team Champion with Rhyno. Heath's 14-year tenure ended on April 15, 2020 as he was let go due to COVID-19 budget cuts. He did appear on July 6, while under a 90-day non-compete clause, but went on to debut for TNA at Slammiversary, just 4 days after the non-compete expired.

The Redhead Rebel is known for his catchphrases - I got kids!, I got fired!, I'm the one man rock band, baby!, Oh, baby!, Pretty damn cool, man! Using the last-mentioned catchphrase, Heath took to Instagram today to show off his startling physical transformation. He tagged several accounts in the photo, including WWE, AEW, TNA, NJPW, and the official Sportskeeda Wrestling page.

"Pretty Damn Cool Man. #wwe #wweraw #wwenetwork #wwesmackdown #wrestlemania #aew #aewdynamite #aewrampage #tna #tnawrestling #nwa #nwapowerrr #prowrestling #sportsentertainment #sportsentertainer #ohbaby #prettydamncoolman," Heath Slater wrote with the photo below.

Handsome Heath's last WWE match was the 25-second loss to Drew McIntyre on July 6, 2020, while still under the non-compete. His last pre-release match was a SmackDown loss to Daniel Bryan in late February 2020, which was a repeat from two weeks before. The one-time Slammy Award winner has worked for TNA, GCW, and the NWA, among other promotions, in recent years. His last TNA match was a loss to Moose in October. Slater and Rhyno reunited as Beauty & The Man-Beast for a loss to The Hardys at WrestleCade in late November.

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Heath Slater was talked into one-night-only WWE RAW appearance

World Wrestling Entertainment ended Heath Slater's 14-year tenure on April 15, 2020 as he was released along with other talents due to COVID-19 budget cuts.

Slater and the others were immediately placed under 90-day non-compete clauses, which meant they would not be free agents until after July 14 of that year. Officials surprisingly brought the former 3MB member back for a squash match loss to Drew McIntyre, and an angle with Dolph Ziggler, on the July 6 WWE RAW episode.

The One Man Rock Band recently spoke with Rewind Recap Relive and revealed why he was so reluctant to appear on RAW, and how his former 3MB stablemate talked him into taking the gig.

"I kept denying it like, 'Bro, no. They fired me. I don't wanna come back. What the hell for? Blah, blah, blah.' I'm just like, 'No, I'm not doing it. No, no, no.' Of course, he [Drew McIntyre] talked me into it saying, 'Hey, man, just picture it. What if you get your job back? What if you're in the ring with me and this is the last time they see you, but then you go off on the indies and everybody wants to book you?'" Slater said. [From 32:29 to 32:59]

Heath said higher-ups were impressed with the RAW segment, and offered him a new contract to return. However, the one-time TNA Tag Team Champion claimed he turned the offer down because he wanted to pursue other opportunities.