Do Names Matter?

[Cult of Personality]

Some People Believe that wrestlers in the WWE aren't gettting as much of a push because of their name. With Crazy Names like Dolph Ziggler, Skip Sheffield, Michael MiGillicuty, Trent Baretta, Husky Harris ...I could go on for hours these days, is that why they dont get pushed as much?

My Questions Are:

Does the name of the wrestler increase or decrease their marketability?

Do You Prefer The "Real Name" Type Ring Names or the obviously fake names like The Undertaker and Goldust?

Would Legends like The Rock and SCSA been as popular if they had obnoxiouse wwe names?(For Example if they kept their WCW Names)

I think the WWE is ruining the wrestlers from the start by giving them such obnoxious names. Imagine calling out "Skip Sheffield" as an announcer at Wrestlemania. I believe a good name with a good Gimmick Makes the person more marketable and if their name goes along with their gimmick it's even more of a plus.

For Example Chris Masters. His name was perfect because it correlated with his Gimmick and it had a nice sound. He had "The Masterpiece" nickname and " Masterlock" finisher.

Now a days they just think of the craziest name they can find.

What Wrestlers to you have the Best Ringnames in the WWE and Who has the Worst?

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Does the name of the wrestler increase or decrease their marketability?
Obviously. And allow me to answer your third question in the first answer, The Rock was Rocky Mavia and was one of the most loathed people in the WWE. He changed name which went with his persona and within an instance people began to see the positives within him. Stone Cold Steve Austin... If he were to have said, "Ringmaster 3:16 says I just whopped your ass," it's obvious that although it may have caught on it surely was brought on with more instant reaction due to his new persona of Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Do You Prefer The "Real Name" Type Ring Names or the obviously fake names like The Undertaker and Goldust?
It's more the character that I care for, so neither. I'm against obviously fake names to a degree, but sometimes names just go with their persona, like Mark Callaway as The Undertaker. Names I detest are Big Daddy V, The Great Khali, hated Mordecai. Some altered names I don't mind, but things like say, Bryan Danielson becoming Daniel Bryan so that he could be a WWE product kind of irritate me.

What Wrestlers to you have the Best Ringnames in the WWE and Who has the Worst? The best names? It's a matter of opinion and I don't have many on the matter. I look more for talent than their name, but some of the names I like are Sin Cara, Seth Rollins in WWE Development, Johnny Curtis and Derrick Bateman. Names I dislike? Not too sure, but off the top of my head I detest the name Jinder Mahal.

 

[martymcfly]

Personally, I don't think the name makes or breaks the wrestler. Like most hollywood actors, in general it does help to use names that are easy to pronounce and not too "ethnic". but outside of that I can't imagine a great wrestler not being able to get over because he's stuck with a dumb name (like edge), or a terrible wrestler with a great name receiving tons of accolades just because he has a cool name.

Plus, if a name no longer really fits a wrestler's persona, they can usually change it or start going by a nickname and no one really gives it a second thought. Rocky maivia changed his to "the rock", JBL had 5 or 6 different names throughout his tenure, hunter hearst helmsley changed to "triple H", dolph ziggler used to go by whatever his name was in the spirit squad, etc.

 

[Sub-Xero]

Absolutely, names matter!! Aside from the aforementioned Rock and Stone Cold failures, Isaac Yankem DDS and Fake Diesel immediately spring to mind as terrible Names/Gimmicks. Nowadays, Kane is a multi-time champion in the WWE, and nobody outside these forums remembers him as Jerry Lawler's dentist. Al Snow wrestled as The Avatar, Shinobi, and Leif Cassidy in the WWE all within a 2 year period until he just stuck with his ECW name and gimmick. Now I know what you're saying,

"But Sub-Xero, those are GIMMICKS, not names!!"

If you're one of those people saying that, go ahead and dump a glass of water over your head. Still think that? Just soak your head in the toilet. The Rock and Rocky Maivia are two COMPLETELY different characters, two different people as far as I'm concerned. Dwayne Johnson needed to distance himself as far from Rocky Maivia as possible for The Rock to succeed. If Bad Ass Billy Gunn could travel back in time to assassinate the Honky Tonk man, believe me, he would have!!! I'm not sure how to end this, so I'll just take a little bow *bows*

 

[TimAH]

I think a bad name can certainly make a wrestler seem less legit. Names like Dolph Ziggler, Michael McGuillicutty and Skip Sheffield are just incredibly cheesy lame names that certainly don't help the wresters using them.

 

[The Brain]

Names do matter to a point but a real talent can overcome a silly name. A couple people mentioned Steve Austin and The Rock. Those guys felt their names were holding them back (actually I don’t think Rocky Maivia was a bad name) so they took it upon themselves to create a character that got over and an appropriate name change naturally followed. Guys today, such as Dolph Ziggler, seem to just take what’s given to them and don’t put any effort into improving. They seem to want opportunities handed to them instead of coming up with ways to create opportunities for themselves. I don’t know any of this for a fact. It’s just my perception. What’s probably more accurate is that they’re too afraid to suggest anything beyond the script for fear of getting on the bad side of creative or management. I’m getting a little off track.

If you think about it there have been plenty of people who have gotten over with strange names. Once they’re over you don’t even think of the name anymore. It’s just who they are. Take The Miz for example. What the hell is Miz? I know its short for his last name, but does the name Miz jump out as anything special? It’s really kind of stupid. That doesn’t matter now because he’s gotten himself over and we just accept Miz. How about John Cena? What’s wrong with that? It’s just his name right? I was in attendance when Cena debuted against Kurt Angle. He answered the open challenge and proudly declared “I’m John Cena.” I remember thinking that was a pretty bland name. Cena however is anything but bland and it wasn’t long before I overcame that initial impression of his name. Is Skip Sheffield really any better than Brutus Beefcake? Beefcake had charisma and got himself over. We’ll see if Sheffield can do the same.

As for what I prefer, I like a real name (or a name that sounds like it could be real) along with a nickname or adjective. Something like Bret Hitman Hart, Ravishing Rick Rude, or Magnificent Muraco. Ultimately if a guy does a good enough job with his character his name will seem to fit naturally and not be an obstacle. If a name doesn’t fit the character a change will usually come once the character is over rather than come to get the character over.

 

[amishpyrate]

I don't like the some of the names they have now, they just seem a little generic. I do like it when wrestlers get nicknames to go along with their names, or that evolve from their names. Like stone cold steve austin. Most just call him stone cold now. The rock evolved outta rocky maivia, triple h also came from a kinda dumb name hunter hurst helmsley. I liked how they took the stone cold route with the big show too. I remember when he first debuted they just called him by his real name, then started calling him the big show paul wight, then they dropped paul wight. These names although not that great on their own were easy to remember which is important. Names like Alex riley, Skip Sheffield, etc. just don't pop into my mind as easy. So yeah names are important

 

[#SAWFT]

Good question. I'd say yes, purely on buy rates.
Dolph Ziggler will never become champion, (in my opinion) until he becomes Nick Nemeth. It's just sounds like a REAL wrestler, rather than a cheesy cartoon character.

Michael McGuillicutty will neverget anywhere until he becomes Joe Hennig Because of the family connections to wrestling.

And about which do I prefer, real or fake names? I think there's a fine balance between fact and fiction in character names that WWE gets perfectly. Guys like the Undertaker and Hornswoggle are perfect examples. They have gimmicks to follow, and the names work with them. But guys like John Cena and Randy Orton are regular guys, and the names work also.

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

eh i dont think names matter as much as their gimmick matters i mean while i agree micheal mcgillicutty should be using his real name and maybe husky harris should when hes back but look at dolph ziggler hes had a good amount of sucess with his name so whats the big deal about his name?

 

[Imbtr10u]

Yea, that Michael McGuillicutty will never get anywhere not using his family name. His dad "Mr Percect" never did. Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker, Hunter Hearst Hemsley, Rick Rude, Edge. The list goes on forever, it's the man who makes the character you have it or you don't. You could of named Joe Henning Mr Percect doesn't mean he is, Hell they named Ted Dibiase, Ted Dibiase and it didn't work.

 

[H33LTurn]

Does the name of the wrestler increase or decrease their marketability?
It all depends on the name. If the names cool or catchy then its more likely to be marketable.

Do You Prefer The "Real Name" Type Ring Names or the obviously fake names like The Undertaker and Goldust?
Whatever gets the superstar over. Kurt Angle would've been riduculous as 'The Olympian' and Undertaker as 'Mark Callaway".

Would Legends like The Rock and SCSA been as popular if they had obnoxiouse wwe names?(For Example if they kept their WCW Names)
I dont think so. Part of their success comes from their marketability.

What Wrestlers to you have the Best Ringnames in the WWE and Who has the Worst?
Best: Sheamus, The Miz, John Cena, R-Truth
Worst: Mcguillicutty

 

[The_Grimace]

Names are only as good as the people using them... Now with that being said think back to real life would you remember JFK had he not been president? Now on to wrestling if john cena had been called the prototype this whole time would you still love him/ hate him if he did all the same stuff he's done? A name can only do a little the person using the name makes the name. If taker was still being called mean mark calaway, but using the gimmick of an undertaker possessed by a demon he would still have all the great moments in WWE that he's had. Like a poster before said look at ted dibiase jr, even with a great name hes still lame.And MM and HH using there dads names might be just mistaken for a ploy to use there dads name to pull fan, I say let them build there own legacy.

 

[Workrate]

I think a bad name can certainly make a wrestler seem less legit. Names like Dolph Ziggler, Michael McGuillicutty and Skip Sheffield are just incredibly cheesy lame names that certainly don't help the wresters using them.

Dolph Ziggler was the one I thought of when I opened this thread. The guy has a great look, he's talented, he's got charisma. There's so much potential there, but how can anybody take him seriously with that name? If you're going to give a wrestler a "proper name", don't make it blatantly campy.

 

[Jessie Lynn DivaGirl]

What is in a name? Who should call a rose by a different name but not smell just as sweet.

Hellz yeah, I quoted Shakspeare. (something nice for my 50th post)

A name in wrestling (as someone said before in this thread) makes or breaks the wrestler. It has to have a nice ring to it. Now if you happen to have a crappy name, then you want a much better nickname that suits you. Such as Edge, the Rated R Superstar. Actually, I disagree with myself- Edge is an awesome ring name.

What Wrestlers to you have the Best Ringnames in the WWE and Who has the Worst? Tough one for best but I do know who has the worst. Well, it's my opinion. Best ring name might have to go to Evan Bourne. I mean think about it, it has that ring I was talking about. It can spark lines like "Thank you for fly AirBourne!" and other ones. That's what you need in a name. Worst ring name? Michael McGillicutty. Why? If it's really long and you can't spell it right even when the guys been there for months it's not a good sign. That brings me to the next question.

Do You Prefer The "Real Name" Type Ring Names or the obviously fake names like The Undertaker and Goldust? I prefer the "Real Name" typre ring names. Why? Because they define the wrestler. Usually. Plus, with a fake name you can make a stupid little back story for them.

Does the name of the wrestler increase or decrease their marketability? It all depends on the wrestler. They can have an awesome name like Heath Slater but be a pretty crappy wrestler. If you make a good impact then your name better be good to help you along the way

 

[DrewskiBroski]

In public speaking, and when trying to sell facades... it helps to use every tool at one's disposal.

Ultimate Warrior. Macho Man. Hulk. Bam Bam Bigelow. Big Show. Andre the Giant.

Their ring personas matched their names and their segments.Everything these guys do match their names.... not that their names made them, but their names represent an image... a complete package every time they were spoken.

The use of names is most apparent when thinking of tag teams. Marty Janneti/Shawn Michaels were 'The Rockers'. They exuded '80's rock. When cutting segments, they were the Rockers and they rocked and it all came back to the lifestyle of rock 'n' roll. Even their (in)famous break up in the barber shop was sort of an appropriate finish and led to Michaels going solo where his schtick still had undertones of rock stardom (even as rock itself was changing).

What does McGillicutty say about the wrestler? Or Ziggler? To me, it scream dork and creeper.

Mr. Perfect, when cutting a promo, could always go back to being perfect. Repetition subconsciously makes people agree that he has perfect technique. And if McGillicutty wanted to get himself over faster, he'd use more of his dad's schtick... 'The Heir to Perfection'... the finisher would be a Piece of Perfection... and he'd be known as Kurt Hennig Jr.