What's in a name?

[Lee]

Hitman is not Ricky Hatton, it's Bret Hart. Randy Savage is known as Macho Man. Then you have some terrible ones. The Rocket Owen Hart. Sexual Chocolate Mark Henry.

What's in a name? How important is the nickname.

Take Chyna for example. She was the 9th wonder of the world which was a simple nickname but paid tribute to Andre the Giant. Simple, effective.

Then you have 'The Great One' which is The Rock. It puts him at the top but then you have 'The One' Billy Gunn who was given the name a year after losing a feud with The Rock. Doesn't fill us with confidence.

Apparently Big E Langston was known as Florida's Strongest man which would be good unless you didn't have the world's strongest man in the WWE (Mark Henry).

Which Nicknames do you like? Which do you hate?

Please don't bother listing names like Big Dick Johnson. I'm talking proper nicknames.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Ones I like

Stone Cold- The Texas Rattlesnake- Simple, effective, and it gives Austin's hometown fans something to be proud of. The Texas Rattlesnake described Austin perfectly, because he was an ass-kicking machine, who could snap at any moment.

Triple H- The Game/The Cerebral Assassin/The King Of Kings- The Game and The Cerebral Assassin go hand in hand with Triple H being a sneaky and cold-hearted tactician, who will do anything to win. The King Of Kings moniker is pretty self-explanatory, as Triple H started to rack up the world titles towards.

CM Punk- The Straightedge Savior- My personal favorite heel character of CM Punk. During his days as the leader of the SES, Punk was a cult-like figure, who preached sobriety....but he took the holier-than-thou dickish "I'm better than you, and there's nothing you can do about it" approach. Punk was white-hot as a heel during the SES's run, and he became an instant heat magnet every time he picked up a microphone.

Ones I don't like

Stone Cold- The Bionic Redneck- Well yeah, I understand he's an angry white guy, who likes to drink beer and curse, but still, it was a shitty nickname.

Randy Orton- The Apex Predator- The Viper is a much better, and more importantly, simple nickname. The Viper fits Orton's character a lot better, especially his mannerisms in the ring. The Apex Predator sounds like a serial killer character from some random suspense/thriller, who likes to torture people and animals.

The Great Khali- The Punjabi Playboy- It kills the mystique for the intimidating giant side of Khali's character, and I have a hard time buying into Khali as a "lady's man."

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Likes

The Undertaker - The Phenom, Demon of Death Valley, Lord of Darkness I always thought those were appropriate for Taker. His gimmick is suited perfectly to them, even if some are a little hokey.

Stone Cold Steve Austin - The Texas Rattlesnake - Again, it's something that perfectly suited Austin's character and don't trust anyone mentality.

Triple H - The Game, Cerebral Assassin - I especially liked the Cerebral Assassin and The Game nicknames for Triple H. Listening to the lyrics of the Motorhead theme song, it was tailor made to fit his character perfectly at the time.

Chris Jericho - Y2J - Just a fun little play on words. When Jericho made his debut in WWE during the time the whole Y2K paranoia was sweeping people up, it just seemed like an energetic nick for an energetic guy.

Kane - The Big Red Machine - Again, just a nick that suited Kane's character as a near unstoppable human juggernaut.

CM Punk - The Straight Edge Messaiah/Savior, The Second City Saint - When Punk was doing the Straight Edge Society, we were treated to just how good he was on the mic. Listening to his various "sermons" and the way he delivered, he did come across like a prophesized savior. I've heard Punk referred to as the Second City Saint a few times and it works well with him considering that some of his biggest moments have come in front of his hometown crowd.

Dislike

The Great Khali - The Punjabi Playboy - It's hard to think of this awkward, uncoordinated guy as a ladies' man who parties all the time.

John Morrison - The Guru of Greatness - Fortunately, this is one that never really caught on. Morrison used it heavily during his days in ECW but it into disuse shortly after moving out of it onto the Raw or SD! picture.

"Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin - When I was a kid, there was nothing about this hairy refugee from a 70s gay porn movie that struck me as "Gorgeous".

There are probably others, but those are all the ones that initially leap to mind.

 

[The Butcher]

Likes

"The Rated-R Superstar" Edge - Humorous, rhyming, alliterative, and a fitting description of Edge at the time, this one is very memorable and definitely one of my favorites

"Ravishing" Rick Rude - The amount of conceit coupled with machismo that it would take for a heterosexual male to confidently and proudly call himself "ravishing" tells you everything you need to know about the Rick Rude character

"The Immortal" Hulk Hogan - Loved the nickname and so long as the Hulkster has any say in the matter, it might as well be true. Hulk Hogan's stature as the biggest name ever in the sport is really driven home by this nickname.

Dislikes

"The Bionic Redneck" - Steve Austin had many nicknames and while this one did suit him, it still sounded dumb to me.

"The Apex Predator" - this just seemed like WWE was forcing it. "The Legend Killer" and "The Viper" came natural and fit what Randy Orton was doing.

"The Show-Off" - it suits Ziggler just fine, but it just sounds lame. If I'm just looking at nicknames, then "The Show-Off" is the guy who I'd probably be putting money on to get his ass kicked.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

3 that stand out to me are;

The People's Champion, The Rock - the reason this has endured for me over the years is that while he is a multiple time world champion, his reigns tended to average out to about a month apiece or so. However, this is the guy who transcended the industry because of his charisma and connection with the crowds and as such, lengthy reigns weren't especially called upon for him to prove to the fans or backstage that he was a special character.

The Cerebral Assasin, HHH - This has got some love already, and rightly so as it is one of the times that JR really added a dimension with his commentary to a characters growth. I don't know if JR came up with it, but his constant use of it during Hunters heel run in 2000 or so seemed to make his antics seem that much more villainous.

The Phenomenal AJ Styles - Again, an enduring name that AJ has always lived up to. In the early TNA years his monicker made him seem like a special attraction and must-see talent. When he had his matches with Daniels and Joe in 2005, that was when TNA seemed to be making a lot of waves as this exciting alternative to the WWE.

 

[Captain Saladin]

"The Show-Off" is a funny one because his tagline is "it's not showing off if you can back it up". I feel like that is exactly what showing-off is.

 

[Mustang Sally]

My favorite names & nicknames came from two guys who entered WWE upon the demise of Smoky Mountain Wrestling.

-Tracy Smothers. I loved his nickname in previous stops: The Wild-Eyed Southern Boy. When he switched to WWE, he was Freddie Joe Floyd, which was probably the dumbest ring name ever. Didn't really make him sound like a house afire, did it? The guy never really achieved anything in the E and I wondered what might have been had they let him keep his old name. Or nickname.

-Tony Anthony. His ring name was The Dirty White Boy, which remains my favorite wrestling moniker of all time, even though it wasn't technically a nickname. Then, they added to the humor by giving him a Dusty Rhodes-type plumber gimmick in WWE, calling him T.L. Hopper. His vignettes showed him swamping toilets with his trusty plunger, which had it's own nickname .....Betsy. Heaven help us.

Then, there's John Cena. That's not a nickname, you say? Correct, because he doesn't have one. Unlike other top stars who bill themselves under a set of gaudy nicknames (The Heartbreak Kid, The Brahma Bull, The Hulkster, The Dead Man, etc etc), it's proper to note that John Cena doesn't have a nickname......because he doesn't need one. Think about it. His influence and charisma is so great that he's one of the only top performers in wrestling we've ever seen that doesn't need his glory proclaimed with some silly nickname.

It's a reflection of his entire persona, in the ring and out. He's John Cena....that's all he is.....and all he needs to be.

 

[Dirk]

Likes:
Great White - it's witty and descriptive
The Funkasaurus - Ever since NXT, I thought Clay looked a bit like a triceratops. I wasn't alone.
Calfzilla - It cracked me up, considering Bully's legs are REALLY lean, compared to the rest of his body.
The Big Deal, Titus O'Neill - He is big and his gimmick is that of self-importance. Also, it rhymes.

Dislikes: (Actually a lot, but I'll limit it to three)
The Show-stealer - sounds too much like Showstopper, which is a real word
The lord of the lanes - I don't really get it (he's not a bowler or a racer) and JBL says it too much.
Nature Boy - can somebody please explain this to me? I'm being sincere. He's not a game ranger or a hippie or an animal, so where do floppy robes and bleached hair come in?

Nice thread, btw

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

I get to address something that we were just talking about in KB's wrestling thread (cheap plug)...

Dolph ZIGGLER

Come on! I mean his name still makes me s******. Not so much as it used to but it's a horrible name. The SHOW-OFF, it's great and fits his persona, but his stage name is something that always pricked at my ears upon hearing. I hope he does a John Morrison and gets something a little more generic. I think he has enough talent not to have a funny last name.

Best one:

The HeartBreak Kid:

I had one of these Collisuem tapes on VHS, and I remember one these shows, tapings from 94. HBK is on next and his music hits (this is back when Sherry sang his theme song), now he is a heel...and the place explodes! Namely the ladies. I firmly believe, that Shawn went over initialy, because the girls wouldn't stop cheering for him. And he played to it beautifully. I remember watching him with the those round sunglasses, priming his hair and the girls shrieking...man I wanted to have that effect on chicks!