Name Changes - When Is It Appropriate?

[The Scarred One]

If anything has been done about this recently, I apologize.

For this thread, I want to look at names for certain wrestlers.

Currently in FCW, the three top stars are Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Antonio Cesaro, otherwise known as Tyler Black, Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli. These names have been criticized by many for being too generic for men as talented as they are. The same has been said for other independent stars that have come and gone. These include Bryan Danielson to Daniel Bryan, Low Ki to Kaval, Consequences Creed to Xavier Woods and Colt Cabana to Scotty Goldman. If and when he and the WWE work out a deal, Chris Hero will also most likely get a new ring name. But it's been said that WWE does this for copyright purposes, unless the wrestler in question is willing to sign over rights to their name. Now personally, I don't mind it when certain wrestlers are given new names. As long as the wrestler in question can entertain me, it shouldn't matter what name he goes by.

The only cases I think a name change is unnecessary is when it concerns those that come from wrestling families. Now, this is not for everyone. But for someone like Joe Hennig, who goes by the ridiculuous ring name of Michael McGuillicutty, using his family name could really help him considering his position in the company. If not his real name, than maybe a variation of it like Joseph Hennig, Curtis Hennig or even JC Hennig. Currently, wrestling progeny in FCW includes Bo Rotundo (Taylor Rotunda), Husky Harris (Windham Rotunda), Richie Steamboat (Richard Blood Jr.), Jake Carter (Jesse White) and Raquel Diaz (Shaul Guerrero). If the WWE can give them ring names that are faithful to their respective family and not sound stupid like Michael McGullicutty, it should really help them if and when they get called up.

So, what does everyone think about this? Is there a case when a new ring name for a new WWE Superstar is appropriate?

 

[D-Blaze]

It has been said many times. Michael Mcgilucutty doesnt want to use his family name.

But is that for real, or is that just kayfabe? I thought I read something where he posted on Twitter a few months ago that he'd rather be known as Hennig, right around the time he vanished off of television. But I could certainly be mistaken.

EDIT: Here you go, right from WrestleZone itself! Yay google!

http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/241214-michael-mcgillicutty-wants-a-name-change

 

[Mustang Sally]

Speaking of Mr. Perfect II, I've wondered why Randy Savage didn't use his family name. I'm sure that Poffo is a noble Italian name and given that Randy's father used it in the ring, as did his brother Lanny, why did Randy choose to go in another direction?

My father remembered Angelo Poffo as a WWWF jobber in the 70's. As a veteran, he was wildly out of shape (Puffy Poffo?), but it was understood that he had had a pretty successful career stemming back to 1949. He billed himself from Downer's Grove, Illinois, which is where Lanny also resided. Randy, however, left the family name behind and had the ring announcers bill him from Sarasota, Florida.

Randy not only followed his Dad into pro wrestling; both of them also were catchers for minor league baseball teams.

I've never read of any friction between Randy and his Dad, and with their similar work histories, it would have been interesting to know why the son chose to use a different professional name than his father and brother......and what Angelo thought about it.

 

[EastCoastFan]

From everything I've heard, Michael McGillicutty wants to use the Hennig name but WWE won't let him, and told him "You can call yourself a Hennig when you can wrestle like a Hennig."

As for Randy Savage, he did call himself "Randy Poffo" briefly (he started off as a masked wrestler called The Spider). According to PWI, Ole Anderson gave him the name "Randy Savage" because "he wrestled like a savage".

 

[d3thRoW]

Speaking of Mr. Perfect II, I've wondered why Randy Savage didn't use his family name. I'm sure that Poffo is a noble Italian name and given that Randy's father used it in the ring, as did his brother Lanny, why did Randy choose to go in another direction?

My father remembered Angelo Poffo as a WWWF jobber in the 70's. As a veteran, he was wildly out of shape (Puffy Poffo?), but it was understood that he had had a pretty successful career stemming back to 1949. He billed himself from Downer's Grove, Illinois, which is where Lanny also resided. Randy, however, left the family name behind and had the ring announcers bill him from Sarasota, Florida.

Randy not only followed his Dad into pro wrestling; both of them also were catchers for minor league baseball teams.

I've never read of any friction between Randy and his Dad, and with their similar work histories, it would have been interesting to know why the son chose to use a different professional name than his father and brother......and what Angelo thought about it.

I recall reading an interview with Randy savage several years back, and he said something basically along the lines of he wanted to be his "own man" , and wasn't anything to do with a family conflict.
It's understandable in a business where lineage can be a blessing and a curse, as talent doesn't always cross generations. That being said, I absolutely hate WWE's policy of trademarking names and not letting somebody build off their reputation when they leave the company. Sad to see it happen to people like the Dudleys and so many others...the new guys coming up will often agree to anything to get their foot in the door, but it's just dirty business to me.

 

[RyanAn]

I'd love nothing more than the lineage of a wrestling family to continue, as long as it's what the perspective person wants. In Savage's case, I think it was a better name to work as than Poffo and I can certainly appreciate wanting to make a mark on his own. As for Shaul Guerrero and Joe Hennig - I think the continuation of two of the most wonderful talents in the history of the business would be perfect. (pun?) Maybe they are not as good as their fathers were but, heck even if they are 1/4 as good it'd still make for a good WWE Superstar.

 

[Jdulemba1001]

The ring name needs to fit the character. If I remember right, Mahammed Hassan was really Itilian, so they had to change his name to fit what he was doing. Also, if your real name is hard to say, fans wont get behind it. That said, McGuillicutty is a pretty bad name. If he wasnt going with Hennig, they could have done something else.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Sometimes the new names are justified. If a wrestler has relatives who were legends then it is extremely difficult for them to get over when they first have to get out of the shadow of their ancestor(s). I support the name changes in cases like that. Then there might perhaps be cases where a wrestler worked in the indies or another federation under a character name that he is associated with, but the rights to that name are already owned by others. WWE is forced to come up with a new name at that point, for obvious reasons. There are plenty of times when name changes were needed, and that isn't the problem.

The renaming is justified in either of those cases, and I do support the decision in those situations because in the legal case they have no choice and in the family case it helps the guy get over on his own. What WWE do wrong isn't renaming people too often, it's giving them names that are dumb. If they didn't want McGillicutty for example to have the last name of his relative when he got called up, that's fine.... but why give him such a dumb name? Secondly, why are they waiting for some guys to get called up to rename them? These name changes need to take place in developmental so that the fans who follow developmental work and those who read articles about it become familiar with the name ahead of time rather than see a wrestler they like get stuck with a pointless name change at the last minute.

 

[jrichardson25]

Depends on the person. In the case of Joe Hennig... He needs to work like his dad did. Shaul Guerrero... she needs to stand on her own before being associated with that lineage... Others like Tyler Black, Jon Moxley etc.... those names were indy scene and the baggage that comes with them... Their names being changed might actually help them.

At the end of the day... it really depends on the person. Sometimes the change is good for the sake of a new start and other times it is shit.

 

[nightmare]

This is probably the best place for this topic as opposed to starting a new thread....


Kassius Ohno? What the hell type of name is that? Chris Hero has gotten through his recent test issues and has now apparently been given this ******ed name change.

I understand the idea behind WWE changing the majority of outside talent names, but whoever said this was a good name is just plain screwing with him. At least Castagnoli got a halfway decent name change. This is just strange and I cant wait to hear the thought process that came up with this.

CH will more than likely shine in FCW and be called up to SD with his partner soon. God knows they need some help on friday nights. Hopefully they are just ribbing him and will change his name before he is called up. Guess we will see what happens....