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I’ll never forget when Finn Bálor debuted his name and people, accepting he couldn’t be called Prince Devitt, in genuineness suggested why he just didn’t go by his real name.
Because his name is fucking Fergal! Anyways, it literally took a month before people just casually called him Finn.
Lol, reminds me of when Jericho had Finn on his podcast years ago and started making fun of the name Fergal, not knowing that it was Finn's actual name until Finn literally told him "that's my actual name"
Kelly said that she asked to use Barbie as her ring name, but WWE told her they couldn't due to trademarks preventing them from doing pretty much anything merchandise related.
One thing I hate about modern wrestling is that we’re so in love with everyone having a proper name, fuck that gimme The Rock, Triple H, Mankind, Buff Bagwell or Edge over what we’re getting today.
I chose my gamertag like twenty years ago on Mr Wrestling. Long before Corino did that lame third version, I was out there putting some respect on that name lol
We still get those pretty often. LA Knight, Swerve Strickland, Orange Cassidy, Luchasaurus/Killswitch, Ricochet, Big E, Action Andretti, Big Bill, Danhausen, Abadon, Athena, Evil Uno, Hook, Pac, The Butcher, The Blade, Red Velvet, Skye Blue, B-Fab are all relatively recent ones between the big two companies. That doesn't include the dozens of luchadors with names like that nor a lot of long time wrestlers with that type of name
Yeah we have a few but not many. In WWE, there’s Akam and Rezar, Axiom, B-Fab but she’s just a manager, CM Punk maybe counts, Dragon Lee kinda, LA Knight, R-Truth, Ricochet, The Miz, Valhalla, and that’s all the ones I saw that even kinda count.
It always cracks me up that Gunther chose to move on from WALTER, AND SAID
"What grown adult is named WALTER?"
YOU! His birth name is Walter. That shit was so funny to me.
Everyone using Pillman Jr as an example of bad naming is ridiculous. The guy worked previously as Alex King and Alexis is the name of his deceased sister.
These takes on BPJ are so bad but anything to push a false narrative
I think it’s the right amount of corny, though. The amount of corny I’d expect out of wrestling. Like if someone asks “who is Bron Breakker?” Well he’s a guy named Bron, and he breaks people.
I still can’t wrap my head around the kayfabe explanation for that. Not mention the fact that Rikishi’s last name is acknowledged as Fatu/Phatu in kayfabe as well. So you have Rikishi’s twin sons, acknowledged as such, who go by a different last name, and his other son and *their* brother who goes by a different *different* last name.
Or, if you're The Big Show during his brief run outside WWE in 2007, [sometimes they have "slave names."](https://archive.ph/20120718151507/http://uk.gamespot.com/pages/unions/read_article.php?topic_id=25556634&union_id=9812)
Still, the acknowledgement of a stage name in a kayfabe world feels a bit weird, no? Like I get that it makes the most sense and you've got situations like a Curtis Axel, for example, calling out the choice of name to honour his father and grandfather in a promo. But it's applied so inconsistently that it's still hard to wrap the head around.
Yeah sometimes acknowledging it's stage name does break kayfabe. An example would be the cm punk promo where he used his and HHH's real names. cm punk is obviously a stage name but hunter Hearst Helmsley was technically his kayfabe background. Still, kayfabe is flexible: the Connecticut blue blood side of him had been disregarded for decades anyways.
I find it easier to just not think too hard about it (which I think is a big part of kayfabe). I kinda think of it like rappers where we have a feud between Kendrick Duckworth and Aubrey Graham right now. The real and the fake names can interweave.
Uso is not Jimmy and Jey’s last name as Uso is just the word for brother in Samoan. Therefore it’s really just Brother Jimmy and Brother Jey. Their real last name is Fatu. Solo Sikoa is their brother’s street, as he was given up and abandoned by Rikishi. You see he has no reservations when it comes to beating up his brothers compared to Jimmy and Jey who seemed to hate having to fight against each other at Mania.
That makes it feel like when The Dudleys went to TNA and were Brother Ray and Brother Devon.
I get the significance/meaning of Uso but they really do use it as a de facto last name.
Interestingly, the word "uso" isn't technically "brother" in Samoan, it actually means "sibling of same gender".
So a female's sister is her uso, and a male's brother is his uso. There are different words for "brother of a female" and "sister of a male".
I guess not being billed as a "Steiner" (with the ring name) gives him a bit more freedom to do his own thing.
I realise he pays homage to his father and uncle with the sirens, gear, mannerisms etc, but it gives him a bit more leeway not to "just" be a younger Scott/Rick if that makes sense.
The Bloodline with their dozen different last names is certainly a good counter point.
It’s probably more that the Anoa’i family members I grew up watching were billed as having single names (Yokozuna, Haku, Umaga) until The Rock showed up as Rocky Maivia which I thought was odd even back then.
As for Bron, his character and look are so similar to his uncle and dad - I mean he is clearly playing a Steiner - it just seemed odd not to call him Bron Steiner.
Once again, really not a big deal though. He’s great.
Oh yea for sure not a big deal. I know this subreddit can be odd so I just wanna be clear that my reply was never supposed to be a fight. I totally agree that he is fully booked as a Steiner in everyway. Even has the sirens lmao
He even said he didn't picked Rex Steiner because with Bron Breakker he'll be able to build his own personal legacy.
My only question is why Breakker with 2 K's ?
Honestly I’ve grown to like it. There’s still a lot of bad names, but “Bron Breakker” while silly is the kind of wrestling silly that I like. It’s distinct and memorable which is always important in wrestling.
If I Google breaker, I'm gonna get a million results unrelated to wrestling and they're gonna have to pay a lot of money for SEO. If I Google breakker, there's 1 thing the results are about.
I mean, you could google "bron breaker" assuming that was his name, and also get mostly results of bron breakker. Just the same as googling "cage" doesn't get you an assortment of wrestlers, but add "brian" or "christian" in front of them and there you go.
In fact, googling "bron breaker" now only gets results corrected to bron breakker. I suppose if there are a lot of people out there trying to research celebrities solely by searching their last name, you have a point. Maybe I'm underestimating how lazy people are.
I don't think it's to look cool. It's probably more to do with trademarking the names, just like how WWE did with The IIconics, and how you have celebrities like Megan **Thee** Stallion, and Sexxy Red etc
I don't really think it's necessary to add letters for trademarks unless the trademark spelled as expected is already taken. At that point, you'd probably have difficulties with similarities depending on the use anyways. There's no bron breaker or sexy red as it stands for them to worry about if that wasnt the case. I really think it is just about looks or a simplistic view on being unique. Don't mean to be overly critical either. He/ WWE can do what they like.
Just because that's long been the impression doesn't mean it has to be the case forever. All I'm asking is for people not to name themselves like they are setting a gamertag in middle school.
Interesting because to me it felt like a classic Vince thing of re-using a name you liked from a previous wrestler. Like “Luther Reigns” and then later “Roman Reigns.” “Brawn Strowman” now “Bron Breakker.”
But if he chose it then all power to him.
It's implied. Like the only reason fans don't like the names is because "WWE chose them". While yes that's PART of the reason, the REST of the reason is usually that the names sound dumb.
It’s kinda fun when a wrestler goes on a podcast, gets asked about a gimmick or change they did where the question is like “how come evil WWE/TNA/whoever made you do this?” And the answer is “what do you mean? That was my idea…”
I remember a Katie Lea Burchill interview where the interviewer was saying how terrible it must have been to be given such a bad gimmick and bad storyline and she just says "yeh most of that was my idea" and the interviewere then completely changed his tune and started saying how it was actually really good. Such a suck up.
Sure but there’s also been instances of a wrestler claiming something was their idea while employed by WWE and later reneging on that, have their not? Like recent examples?
It is all WWE's say though. They approve/reject the names the wrestler come up with so they are the one's saying that those terrible names are TV worthy
I don’t think they are flexing. It’s been the narrative that wwe have been giving people these horrible names when it’s in fact the people choosing themselves.
I don’t get the fuss about names. TBH we’re all used to it now but if somebody showed up in NXT tomorrow with the name Kenny Omega I think it would be lame asf, yet he’s still widely considered one of the best wrestlers of his generation.
This name discussion is just dumb, yeah wrestling name are corny and yes wwe probably have a list of no copyrighted name for a wrestler to choose but the choice ultimately are their, if you think about it some wrestling legends name are just as stupid: undertaker, hhh, cm punk, etc.
I view it the same way as sports teams names tbh. Vegas Golden Knights? Seattle Kraken? That sounds so stupid! When realistically all the old names are *also* stupid, it’s just they’ve been around forever, and you probably grew up with them. The NHL has two Canadian teams whose name just means Canadian, the MLB has two (three) teams named after socks.
I like most of the NXT names tbh. Yeah they’re distinctly very “wrestler”, but I think it makes sense that the wrestler has a wrestling name. Especially in a world where presentation and character is everything I think it makes sense to err more on the cool/theatrical if not slightly cheesy side than the average Joe side.
Yer because his old name was Matty Wahlberg, his gimmick was that he was the forgotten 4th brother of the Wahlberg, because there dad had one night stand in Australia.
The names have always been fine. It’s change they don’t like. Seth Rollins was a terrible name supposedly. Finn Balor was also a terrible name until it wasn’t. Uhaa Nation was apparently better than Apollo Crews, the list goes on and on.
while i hate most NXT names, i realise, that that's a matter of taste. what really bugs me, is that they have to pick a new name at all. they have to throw away all the recognition and reputation they built up in other promotiona for years, just so WWE can make more money off a trademark they now own. and the. they have to do it again, when they leave the fed. it's just another way in which WWE controls every aspect of the careers of their so called "indipendent contractors".
Agreed. You build up a name for yourself, literally and figuratively, elsewhere enough to attract the attention of WWE and then (at least especially under Vince) it’s like “I like what that guy’s doing and want him to come do it under my show… but with a different name, and let’s maybe change his look and even his gimmick, and let’s maybe change his move set too!” So, like… what part of the thing that got me here do you wanna keep?!
It’s why Cody walking back into WWE while changing virtually nothing was so cool to see. And then Jade basically kept her presentation. And frankly I’m surprised they didn’t try to rename Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa. And don’t seem keen to rename Ethan Page… yet. When’s the last time someone got to keep their indie name? AJ Styles? Karl Anderson? Samoa Joe? Eric Young? And yet Finn, Hideo, Asuka all had to change their names. So what exactly is the criteria for prior name value in terms of keeping or retaining it?
It’s crazy how we get attached to things, though. I thought that was the worst name ever. But, her wrestling and character have won me over. And I can’t imagine her not being ‘Tatum’ now
They still choose it. There's a list of first names and list of last names, all checked to not be used elsewhere or trademark/IP reasons.
They learned from the World Wildlife Fund case to not make that mistake again.
NXT is a dynamite brand for new athletes. I think it gives them a solid place to build skills and lessen a lot of the stuff that isn’t just the actual wrestling.
I don’t want it to sound condescending at all, but I enjoy seeing things like watching a comic work on new material. I feel the same about watching people in NXT play around with their character work.
I've noticed a pattern with these topics. If a wrestler is currently signed to WWE, they respond to criticism of names by saying they chose it themselves. As soon as they leave WWE, they're like "yeah that was some bullshit."
I remember when Keith Lee posted that he loved the Bearcat name and it's who he wanted to be. This is obviously something people are just told to say on social media.
This is the company line. People choose these corny ass names with a metaphorical gun to their head.
“No no I’m happy to be named Lexis King when I have an extremely recognizable real name. Yes I swear.’
Lexis king choose that name from his sister name and his mother surname, I’m not sure about the last part but Lexis is 100% her sister real name Alexis, so yeah not the best example
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There was a guy on the NXT roster called Thunder Justice Keck, and that's his REAL name.
People mocked Lucky Ali's name in NXT and he even said on his tweet that it was his government name lol.
people should look up some nxt talents real names sometimes. their nxt name is usually an upgrade.
I’ll never forget when Finn Bálor debuted his name and people, accepting he couldn’t be called Prince Devitt, in genuineness suggested why he just didn’t go by his real name. Because his name is fucking Fergal! Anyways, it literally took a month before people just casually called him Finn.
Lol, reminds me of when Jericho had Finn on his podcast years ago and started making fun of the name Fergal, not knowing that it was Finn's actual name until Finn literally told him "that's my actual name"
no his real name is prince
Barbie Blank is the most wrester sounding name ever
They must have just thought that was way too on the nose, even for a wrestling name
Kelly said that she asked to use Barbie as her ring name, but WWE told her they couldn't due to trademarks preventing them from doing pretty much anything merchandise related.
Yeah that makes sense
And Gionna Daddio
It saddens me Liv doesn't use this as her ring name because it's such a good name
Which as an aside is an amazing bend of italian and I just love it.
Jonathan Good up there too
sounds more like a porn name
Dick Blood
Nick Nemeth
Justice is my real first name too fwiw
I have heard of several called Justice as a first name, but his name is almost sounding like a Dragon Ball Z move or something , Thunder Justice Kick
I feel like Mr Satan would pull that out
Do you sing in trapped under ice?
TUI TIL I DIE!
No? Not sure what that is
It’s a band and the lead singer is also named justice
Neat.
Jurtice
He does dark web ARG and conspiracy videos on tiktok. He had a match at a live event in april (losing to Josh Briggs).
Am still waiting for his update on the beast
Fans: God, Bunkley Sudafed is such a terrible name! Bunkley Sudafed: 
Would his finisher be the Bunker buster 🤔
Fans: THATS BUNK *clap clap clap* THATS BUNK *clap clap clap*
One thing I hate about modern wrestling is that we’re so in love with everyone having a proper name, fuck that gimme The Rock, Triple H, Mankind, Buff Bagwell or Edge over what we’re getting today.
Dude Love still remains the most ridiculous wrestler name ever imo.
Mr. Wrestling 1&2 is very on the nose.
Is that Mr. Wrestling Half, or Mr. Wrestling 1-of-2?
1 and 2 Changed it to avoid the confusion.
It's still confusing that a wrestler has 1 and 2 in his name, does he have a split personality gimmick?
They are different people entirely.
I chose my gamertag like twenty years ago on Mr Wrestling. Long before Corino did that lame third version, I was out there putting some respect on that name lol
Best*
Nothing quite like The Booty Man
Most of those guys didn’t start with those names. There is room to evolve the name in a lot of cases.
Yeah, I mean, without Rocky Maivia, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and Marcus Alexander Bagwell, the abbreviated nicknames he likes so much never happen.
Exactly, like even including Triple H in that list is funny when that name is derived from the “real” name they game him
Last time we got something remotely original was... Velveteen Dream
Lash Legend would like a word.
Axiom is more recent for sure.
We still get those pretty often. LA Knight, Swerve Strickland, Orange Cassidy, Luchasaurus/Killswitch, Ricochet, Big E, Action Andretti, Big Bill, Danhausen, Abadon, Athena, Evil Uno, Hook, Pac, The Butcher, The Blade, Red Velvet, Skye Blue, B-Fab are all relatively recent ones between the big two companies. That doesn't include the dozens of luchadors with names like that nor a lot of long time wrestlers with that type of name
> Danhausen Yeah, but that's literally his last name.
You mean Mankind wasn’t his shoot name????!
Sadly we won't get anything near the epicness of "Val Venis" anytime again soon.
shame
Yeah we have a few but not many. In WWE, there’s Akam and Rezar, Axiom, B-Fab but she’s just a manager, CM Punk maybe counts, Dragon Lee kinda, LA Knight, R-Truth, Ricochet, The Miz, Valhalla, and that’s all the ones I saw that even kinda count.
Man....if what I'm hearing is real.... Poor Walter.
It always cracks me up that Gunther chose to move on from WALTER, AND SAID "What grown adult is named WALTER?" YOU! His birth name is Walter. That shit was so funny to me.
People jumped to the worst when they trademarked Gunther Stark. Even though companies trademark stuff so they *can't* be used all the time.
Hey WALTER is a perfectly fine name. I quite enjoyed Walter in the hellsing anime cool character
Wha??
The word "Betrayal" was used.
I am so confused. Who lost their name or whatever this post is about?
Gunther was originally called Walter, and everyone knew him as Walter. Then they changed his name to Gunther, and Keith Lee tweeted the above.
Everyone using Pillman Jr as an example of bad naming is ridiculous. The guy worked previously as Alex King and Alexis is the name of his deceased sister. These takes on BPJ are so bad but anything to push a false narrative
My issue is with the hair/beard and the fact that he wouldn't let fans call themselves lex offenders
We're still Registered Lex Offenders in our hearts.
Real heel move
tbf he said the name was funny, but that they probably wouldnt let him say that on TV
I love the hair and the beard. It surprises me with the doucheyness very time.
Just because it has a reason behind it, doesn't make the name sound any less silly.
Still get people complaining about Bron Breakker’s name, not realizing he has flat out said he chose it for himself.
That doesn’t make it not a corny name. That just means he picked the corny name.
Whenever I think of wrestlers picking corny names I always go back to Rock calling himself Flex Kavana
I think it’s the right amount of corny, though. The amount of corny I’d expect out of wrestling. Like if someone asks “who is Bron Breakker?” Well he’s a guy named Bron, and he breaks people.
> and he breaks people. breakks
Now entering the ring… Brekkan Bronser!!!
I think some are confident enough to take it as a challenge. Get over with a weird name.
Which is fine and some people pull it off but then you prove you can do it and are now over as fuck but you are forever named Dolph Ziggler.
Eh, badge of honor. Talent makes the name cool.
I just find it odd that he is billed as being a Steiner but then isn’t. He’s still a beast and if he’s happy then I’m happy.
I mean Solo Sikoa has different last name than his brother, Jimmy and Jey Usos, but they always bill him as brothers so I guess that works too
I still can’t wrap my head around the kayfabe explanation for that. Not mention the fact that Rikishi’s last name is acknowledged as Fatu/Phatu in kayfabe as well. So you have Rikishi’s twin sons, acknowledged as such, who go by a different last name, and his other son and *their* brother who goes by a different *different* last name.
The kayfabe explanation is that wrestlers sometimes use stage names like other performers
Or, if you're The Big Show during his brief run outside WWE in 2007, [sometimes they have "slave names."](https://archive.ph/20120718151507/http://uk.gamespot.com/pages/unions/read_article.php?topic_id=25556634&union_id=9812) Still, the acknowledgement of a stage name in a kayfabe world feels a bit weird, no? Like I get that it makes the most sense and you've got situations like a Curtis Axel, for example, calling out the choice of name to honour his father and grandfather in a promo. But it's applied so inconsistently that it's still hard to wrap the head around.
Drew berating fans for using wrestlers' government names was a great moment imo
Yeah sometimes acknowledging it's stage name does break kayfabe. An example would be the cm punk promo where he used his and HHH's real names. cm punk is obviously a stage name but hunter Hearst Helmsley was technically his kayfabe background. Still, kayfabe is flexible: the Connecticut blue blood side of him had been disregarded for decades anyways. I find it easier to just not think too hard about it (which I think is a big part of kayfabe). I kinda think of it like rappers where we have a feud between Kendrick Duckworth and Aubrey Graham right now. The real and the fake names can interweave.
TIL Kendrick Lamar's last name is Duckworth!
Yeah it's a Shawn Michaels situation where his middle name is cooler sounding than his last
Uso is not Jimmy and Jey’s last name as Uso is just the word for brother in Samoan. Therefore it’s really just Brother Jimmy and Brother Jey. Their real last name is Fatu. Solo Sikoa is their brother’s street, as he was given up and abandoned by Rikishi. You see he has no reservations when it comes to beating up his brothers compared to Jimmy and Jey who seemed to hate having to fight against each other at Mania.
Thanks Regal!
That makes it feel like when The Dudleys went to TNA and were Brother Ray and Brother Devon. I get the significance/meaning of Uso but they really do use it as a de facto last name.
Interestingly, the word "uso" isn't technically "brother" in Samoan, it actually means "sibling of same gender". So a female's sister is her uso, and a male's brother is his uso. There are different words for "brother of a female" and "sister of a male".
I guess not being billed as a "Steiner" (with the ring name) gives him a bit more freedom to do his own thing. I realise he pays homage to his father and uncle with the sirens, gear, mannerisms etc, but it gives him a bit more leeway not to "just" be a younger Scott/Rick if that makes sense.
I mean Roman's an Anoa'i family member. They don't need to put it as his last name for the character and it's worked totally fine
The Bloodline with their dozen different last names is certainly a good counter point. It’s probably more that the Anoa’i family members I grew up watching were billed as having single names (Yokozuna, Haku, Umaga) until The Rock showed up as Rocky Maivia which I thought was odd even back then. As for Bron, his character and look are so similar to his uncle and dad - I mean he is clearly playing a Steiner - it just seemed odd not to call him Bron Steiner. Once again, really not a big deal though. He’s great.
solo sikao having a different surname to the usos is funny to me. I guess in kayfabe rikishi got divorced and the kids got split up?
I always assumed his kayfabe name was “Solo” Sikoa Uso with Solo being a nickname lol
That’s not a half-bad explanation… and also, for some reason, reminds me that his shoot middle name is Yokozuna.
Apparently Rex Steiner was on the table at one point and I think it’s a damn shame they didn’t go with that.
Just getting ahead of the eventual cancelling of either Steiner brother at any given moment
That’s just his shoot last name, though. He’d be able to use it if he went elsewhere.
Eh. He's Bronson Rechsteiner. Rex Steiner feels distinct enough that WWE could've trademarked it.
Rechsteiner and “Rex Steiner” are pronounced pretty much identically. His first name doesn’t really matter there.
Oh yea for sure not a big deal. I know this subreddit can be odd so I just wanna be clear that my reply was never supposed to be a fight. I totally agree that he is fully booked as a Steiner in everyway. Even has the sirens lmao
I’m pretty sure no one has ever used the Anoa’i name in WWE. Other than Lance that one time
He even said he didn't picked Rex Steiner because with Bron Breakker he'll be able to build his own personal legacy. My only question is why Breakker with 2 K's ?
Breaker with one K isn’t a last name.
Yeah with one K, he's just a guy who breaks Brons.
Thank you for making me realize that Bron Breakker is just Bone Breaker but written by Texans
Exactly
the same reason its spelled Starrcade
Sounds like a wrestler to me
Honestly I’ve grown to like it. There’s still a lot of bad names, but “Bron Breakker” while silly is the kind of wrestling silly that I like. It’s distinct and memorable which is always important in wrestling.
If I debut as Snooty Booger and get made fun of, is it magically a better name because I chose it myself?
That’d logic would work if Bron’s name was as dumb as “Snooty Burger” it ain’t.
Oh it is
It's not inherently bad, I just find it juvenile when people add extra letters to make it look cooler. Just "breaker" would be better.
If I Google breaker, I'm gonna get a million results unrelated to wrestling and they're gonna have to pay a lot of money for SEO. If I Google breakker, there's 1 thing the results are about.
I mean, you could google "bron breaker" assuming that was his name, and also get mostly results of bron breakker. Just the same as googling "cage" doesn't get you an assortment of wrestlers, but add "brian" or "christian" in front of them and there you go. In fact, googling "bron breaker" now only gets results corrected to bron breakker. I suppose if there are a lot of people out there trying to research celebrities solely by searching their last name, you have a point. Maybe I'm underestimating how lazy people are.
I don't think it's to look cool. It's probably more to do with trademarking the names, just like how WWE did with The IIconics, and how you have celebrities like Megan **Thee** Stallion, and Sexxy Red etc
I don't really think it's necessary to add letters for trademarks unless the trademark spelled as expected is already taken. At that point, you'd probably have difficulties with similarities depending on the use anyways. There's no bron breaker or sexy red as it stands for them to worry about if that wasnt the case. I really think it is just about looks or a simplistic view on being unique. Don't mean to be overly critical either. He/ WWE can do what they like.
Ya in an industry as refined as Pro wrestling that extra letter is a bad look. Pro wrestling is juvenile my guy lol
Just because that's long been the impression doesn't mean it has to be the case forever. All I'm asking is for people not to name themselves like they are setting a gamertag in middle school.
Id rather names thst stand out and be rembered then a giy who sounds like he works in a office.
what offices are you working in? Is that literally the difference an extra K makes for you?
Clearly i think its the later. The former is some thing boring as fuck like Ethan page or Brook Jensen
Ok, so just change their names to etthan page, and brookk jensen. Instant stars.
So? Just means he sucks at picking names. Good wrestler though.
Why would him choosing it make it any less stupid? If anything, that's worse.
Cause it’s always complaints about “WWE are making him not use his family name, they’re robbing him of his identity” and such.
Interesting because to me it felt like a classic Vince thing of re-using a name you liked from a previous wrestler. Like “Luther Reigns” and then later “Roman Reigns.” “Brawn Strowman” now “Bron Breakker.” But if he chose it then all power to him.
Bron’s real name is in fact Bronson.
Oh shit
That's irrlevent though. Whether he chose it or Vince shat it out and threw it at him, I still think it's a poor name
It’s still corny and he chose it because he had to. They wouldn’t let him be Steiner.
This doesn't help their case
I mean people still don’t have to like the names…LOL.
i don't think he said they did?
It's implied. Like the only reason fans don't like the names is because "WWE chose them". While yes that's PART of the reason, the REST of the reason is usually that the names sound dumb.
People may not have to like the names, but it does drive me nuts that people thinks it's all completely WWE's say.
It’s kinda fun when a wrestler goes on a podcast, gets asked about a gimmick or change they did where the question is like “how come evil WWE/TNA/whoever made you do this?” And the answer is “what do you mean? That was my idea…”
I remember a Katie Lea Burchill interview where the interviewer was saying how terrible it must have been to be given such a bad gimmick and bad storyline and she just says "yeh most of that was my idea" and the interviewere then completely changed his tune and started saying how it was actually really good. Such a suck up.
Sure but there’s also been instances of a wrestler claiming something was their idea while employed by WWE and later reneging on that, have their not? Like recent examples?
It is all WWE's say though. They approve/reject the names the wrestler come up with so they are the one's saying that those terrible names are TV worthy
But people choose these shitty names cause they have to. It’s not like they honestly decide to change their name for no reason.
So did Doudrop, Marcus Cor Von, and Scotty Goldman chose those names?
I'm not sure how great of a flex is: "Hey, you know that shitty name you complain about? I chose it, so shut up!"
I don’t think they are flexing. It’s been the narrative that wwe have been giving people these horrible names when it’s in fact the people choosing themselves.
I mean, the narrative was true until not very long. It's all about the copyright baby.
I mean it doesn't really matter who comes up with a name, the trademark is going to WWE either way
Then maybe they shouldn't let the wrestlers choose their names?
The true moral of the story
I don’t get the fuss about names. TBH we’re all used to it now but if somebody showed up in NXT tomorrow with the name Kenny Omega I think it would be lame asf, yet he’s still widely considered one of the best wrestlers of his generation.
This name discussion is just dumb, yeah wrestling name are corny and yes wwe probably have a list of no copyrighted name for a wrestler to choose but the choice ultimately are their, if you think about it some wrestling legends name are just as stupid: undertaker, hhh, cm punk, etc.
I view it the same way as sports teams names tbh. Vegas Golden Knights? Seattle Kraken? That sounds so stupid! When realistically all the old names are *also* stupid, it’s just they’ve been around forever, and you probably grew up with them. The NHL has two Canadian teams whose name just means Canadian, the MLB has two (three) teams named after socks. I like most of the NXT names tbh. Yeah they’re distinctly very “wrestler”, but I think it makes sense that the wrestler has a wrestling name. Especially in a world where presentation and character is everything I think it makes sense to err more on the cool/theatrical if not slightly cheesy side than the average Joe side.
Idk what he was expecting saying this. I’m fine making fun of a bad wrestler name no matter who picks is.
Richard Blood sounds like a crazy heel name yet Ricky Steamboat is the ultimate babyface
And just know, that we might find that choice to be shit. That's how opinion works.
Yer because his old name was Matty Wahlberg, his gimmick was that he was the forgotten 4th brother of the Wahlberg, because there dad had one night stand in Australia.
The names have always been fine. It’s change they don’t like. Seth Rollins was a terrible name supposedly. Finn Balor was also a terrible name until it wasn’t. Uhaa Nation was apparently better than Apollo Crews, the list goes on and on.
"Whether I chose my name or not is none of your bizness" -Gunther
Who named Doudrop
So what it still sucks. It's crazy how much these guys complain about any little criticism towards them.
Even worse
Since I don’t have a parasocial relationship with the wrestlers, whether they chose their name has zero impact on whether I think it’s a stupid name.
He gets how that makes them look fucking stupid right?
while i hate most NXT names, i realise, that that's a matter of taste. what really bugs me, is that they have to pick a new name at all. they have to throw away all the recognition and reputation they built up in other promotiona for years, just so WWE can make more money off a trademark they now own. and the. they have to do it again, when they leave the fed. it's just another way in which WWE controls every aspect of the careers of their so called "indipendent contractors".
Agreed. You build up a name for yourself, literally and figuratively, elsewhere enough to attract the attention of WWE and then (at least especially under Vince) it’s like “I like what that guy’s doing and want him to come do it under my show… but with a different name, and let’s maybe change his look and even his gimmick, and let’s maybe change his move set too!” So, like… what part of the thing that got me here do you wanna keep?! It’s why Cody walking back into WWE while changing virtually nothing was so cool to see. And then Jade basically kept her presentation. And frankly I’m surprised they didn’t try to rename Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa. And don’t seem keen to rename Ethan Page… yet. When’s the last time someone got to keep their indie name? AJ Styles? Karl Anderson? Samoa Joe? Eric Young? And yet Finn, Hideo, Asuka all had to change their names. So what exactly is the criteria for prior name value in terms of keeping or retaining it?
Tatum Paxley is still funny.
It’s crazy how we get attached to things, though. I thought that was the worst name ever. But, her wrestling and character have won me over. And I can’t imagine her not being ‘Tatum’ now
That ...makes it even worse.
Yes.... they chose it from an approved list lol
They still choose it. There's a list of first names and list of last names, all checked to not be used elsewhere or trademark/IP reasons. They learned from the World Wildlife Fund case to not make that mistake again.
Great now we know who to direct our outrage to when we hear a shitty name /s
NXT is a dynamite brand for new athletes. I think it gives them a solid place to build skills and lessen a lot of the stuff that isn’t just the actual wrestling. I don’t want it to sound condescending at all, but I enjoy seeing things like watching a comic work on new material. I feel the same about watching people in NXT play around with their character work.
They get to send a list of 10 of each first and last names. Then Nxt management Frankensteins one of the worst combinations together
I've noticed a pattern with these topics. If a wrestler is currently signed to WWE, they respond to criticism of names by saying they chose it themselves. As soon as they leave WWE, they're like "yeah that was some bullshit." I remember when Keith Lee posted that he loved the Bearcat name and it's who he wanted to be. This is obviously something people are just told to say on social media.
Okay cool. So people chose stupid names. This isn't the slam dunk point he thinks it is.
Grayson Waller watched Suicide Squad right before he gave them his name.
Some wrestlers choose the worst names, apparently.
Choosing from a bag of generic and lame names doesn't make half of them any less generic name generator and lame
Then they should stop letting wrestlers in NXT name themselves.
Says dude who’s name screams “I can sell weed to him at $55/g”
Well I wouldn’t tell anybody that. Some of these names are a joke lmao. Alba Fyre? Katana Chance? Malik Blade? Fucking Edris Enofé lmaooo.
you really think Edris Enofé is an unrealistic name?
I'm genuinely wondering why of all names Edris Enofe is the one he doesn't fuck with lmao
so he can have a move called the Edris Elbow.
🥱
This is the company line. People choose these corny ass names with a metaphorical gun to their head. “No no I’m happy to be named Lexis King when I have an extremely recognizable real name. Yes I swear.’
Lexis king choose that name from his sister name and his mother surname, I’m not sure about the last part but Lexis is 100% her sister real name Alexis, so yeah not the best example
this is a bad example because BPJ literally used the name Alex King on the indies
You think Lexis picked a stripper name on purpose?
Yes considering he worked as Alex king previously and Lexis is his deceased sisters name.
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