WWE's obsession with silly nicknames.

[MartialHorror]

I've found it amusing how WWE often uses words to describe a character or angle without really understanding them- like Lunatic Fringe or the Bella Empire. I especially like when this creates problems with the storylines, like how Stephanie frowns upon Nikki for getting too arrogant but seems to Sasha, who calls herself 'the boss'.

I was watching Main Event and I swore Becky Lynch was referred to as the 'Steam Punk' diva. My first thought was...does anyone know what Brie Mode is supposed to be yet? Then I wondered what a Steam Punk Diva is supposed to be. I looked up the definition to make sure that my own definition was correct and...it was, so I'm confused.

So my question is, what was the last nickname you really liked? I'm not referring to their base wrestling name either. Stone Cold Steve Austin, for example, used the Texas Rattlesnake (good) and Bionic Redneck (bad).

As for me, I like Orton's 'Apex Predator', although it seems like his 'Viper' nickname tends to be more popular nickname.

 

[Rockyfolifebo!!!]

I'm definitely digging Neville's gig as "The Man That Gravity Forgot". When I first heard of Neville, I heard that nickname, but I never saw him wrestle. Then he debuted on Raw, I saw his finisher and quickly realized why he was supplied that nickname! Plus it just sounds really intriguing.

My all time favorite nickname would have to be "The Game". It just fits the intesity of Triple H and over the years, since that 1999 interview with Jim Ross, he has proved why he is "The Game".

 

[Prince Vee]

If you haven't noticed, WWE commentator Michael Cole has referred Brock Lesnar as the Lunatic Fringe in his match against Kurt Angle for the WWE title. There's a speculation that the nicknames gives the character a rational relation with the gimmick. WWE tried to push the name "Big Red" for Erik Rowan but it failed big time.

I don't mind them giving silly nicknames to the Superstars. Apparently, nicknames are meant to be silly so why should we even bother about it or debate?

Cheers!!

 

[WorstWrestlingExcrement]

wwe is like marvel universe comics mc moron is like Stan Lee with his creative super hero characters he thinks and creates and ruining wrestlers dubbing them as entertainers and performers rather than athletes and wrestlers. We all know Big slow is no show!
Dolph Ziggler was part of the spirit squad as "Nicky." So that means that Ziggler is part of this list. FANDANGO, which appears to be a dancing wrestlers and that name came from Lyrics to the Queen song, 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. From the album 'Night At The Opera ( Scaramouche, scaramouche, will you do the fandango?)
Boogeyman is too silly sounding for the ring a la Beetlejuice.

 

[MartialHorror]

Yeah, I also like Neville's 'the man that gravity forgot' monicker. Big Red was pretty dumb and I wouldn't be surprised if WWE was trying to open doors for some product placement, but I could've lived it with if Big Show wasn't in the company. Rowan's push failed for other reasons, primarily because they tried making him family friendly.

While this is an obsolete example, I remember when Big Show first appeared and they called him by his real name, using "Big Nasty" as his nickname. I've never liked the name 'Big Show', which feels like it should be a nickname, but that's FAR BETTER than Big Nasty.

 

[Slash-LN]

Big Evil for The Undertaker. I was just thinking of this name about half an hour ago actually. I don't know why I liked it so much when they used it for him but it fit really well.

I don't know if it was a nod to Lil' Evil Jens Pulver or if Pulver started using that moniker later in his career but either way if there's a tie in it's that much cooler.

 

[TheLogan27]

Booger Red. JR started calling the Undertaker Booger Redo believe around 2002. I forget which show or PPV it was when Jerry Lawyer actually asked JR "what the hell is a Booger Red" Lol. Maybe it's a southern thing but me being from the north I never got it nor like it. I didn't know what it was.

 

[thebowtiekiller]

Probably the coolest nickname ever would have to be hbk in my opinion.my problem with a lot of the nicknames nowadays is when the commentators are told to mention it constantly to the point it gets annoying.a good example is the vigilante sting which would actually be a good nickname if the commentators didn't ruin it.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

To the OP: the nickname "bionic redneck" worked fine for Stone Cold, but admittedly was one that only people around before the 90s would get - it is a reference to the Six Million Dollar Man, a 70s/80s tv show whose lead character, Steve Austin, was nicknamed the 'bionic man'; with Stone Cold requiring two knee braces and extensive neck surgery, and still coming back, Jim Ross amended the bionic man to the bionic redneck for 'our' Austin

Oh and Brie Mode is the worst I've EVER heard. Wtf is Brie mode? Surely a woman called Brie would ALWAYS be in Brie mode - unless her character is schizophrenic?

 

[the_peoples_adam]

WWE is obsessed with the BIG word..

Kane- The BIG RED MACHINE
Undertaker- BIG EVIL
Nash- BIG DADDY COOL, BIG SEXY
Steiner- BIG POPPA PUMP
VISCERA- BIG DADDY V
and names like BIGSHOW, recently BIG E.
RYBACK- BIG GUY
ROWAN - BIG RED
man how much BIG is that..

Personally i like the nicknames of THE ROCK, HHH and AUSTIN..
HHH had the best out of it in my opinion like THE GAME, THE CEREBRAL ASSASSIN, THE KING OF KINGS..

Post AE i like LUNATIC FRINGE for DEAN and RATED R SUPERSTAR for EDGE and The ANIMAL BATISTA..
Also liked them calling SETH the ULTIMATE SELLOUT..
Also loved THE BEAST BROCK LESNAR...

 

[MartialHorror]

Triple H had a lot of good nicknames, but I think he had too many. 'Cerebral Assassin', for example, is so incredibly bad-ass that it's wasted on a guy who already has enough bad-ass nicknames.

Remember when they tried calling...I think it was Christian, the Creepy Little Bastard or something? That was pretty lame. I keep thinking that Eva Marie should be calling herself the Total Diva, because isn't she the most popular on that show? Dana White keeps using that name though, which is wasted on her.

"Mr. Ass" was a pretty terrible nickname for Billy Gunn. "Bad-Ass Billy Gunn" is a lot better.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

If you watch total divas you'll know what brie mode is, and that Brie is rarely in it.

It's not the concept of 'hulking up' (which I assume is what 'Brie mode' amounts to) that I have the issue with, it's the f**king stupid name she gives it

Similarly I groan every time Randy Orton 'hulks up', not because he does it, but because Michael Cole ALWAYS says that stupid line about Randy 'hearing the voices in his head'.... Because of his theme music... :-/

 

[MartialHorror]

Does Brie even really hulk up? When I watched her on Main Event, she stopped and yelled 'BRIE MODE' at the crowd BEFORE WINDING UP AND...kneeing Becky in the face. There's really no momentum, as she's not attacking in quick succession. It was just a normal attack. Either Brie's timing and psychology sucks far worse than I realized or that's not it. I've heard that in Total Diva's it refers to her being incredibly drunk, but how does that translate in wrestling?

Maybe if Brie stopped the match and took a swig of some alcohol before getting back into the action...which would be awesome, especially if she ended up doing some sort of drunken boxing gimmick...MISSED OPPORTUNITY X100!!!! Or maybe she'd just throw up and pass out in the ring. That would be funny too. But as it is, she just...yells it. I keep thinking that she's trying to start some sort of babyface chant, but she's not the babyface as of these 5 minutes.

Rollins's 'architect' nickname is aight, although I think I'd like it more if they just called him the mastermind. The term architect seems to only refer to his building of the Shield, which is no longer really relevant. Maybe if he created another stable...

 

[ASKane]

For all those like me stupid enough to think Total Divas might be a good watch will know that Brie Mode is what the divas say Brie is in when she is drunk and out of it. Basically Brie Mode is when she is drunk and doing stupid stuff, no idea why she uses it when wrestling but it is easy to put on a sign or shirt so thats probably why.

I agree that WWE overuses nicknames and has stupid ones. I like the UFC style of nicknames where it is said in your intro and when you win but commentators refer to you by your name.

 

[ComeOnVince]

Agree with those who loved SCSA and HHH's various names through the years.

I never liked the Rock calling himself or being called "The most electrifying man..." It just seemed corny, even the AE.

Some of the nicknames are good, but one that I HATE: The Vigilante.

Someone above me mentioned this already. It MIGHT not be so bad, but they started calling him that incessantly before he had even done anything of substance. And he has wrestled one match and been in one angle. It's not like he's involving himself in all kinds of angles doing whatever he wants to do. WWE just wanted to semi-rebrand a legend, and it's nauseating. Same with Lunatic Fringe, minus rebranding. It's just nauseating how much it gets said.

And really, the same is true of HHH and Stone Cold. Their pet names got repeated ad nauseam back in the day too. I dunno. One of those things we'll have to deal with I suppose.

 

[Aquaman6686]

Two that I really liked were both coined by one of the best commentators of this generation, Matt Striker: "The Last Outlaw" for The Undertaker, and "The Ace of Spades" for Triple H. But after he left, they both faded away. I think those were awesome nicknames for this guys.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

It just gives addad value to someone. For example its not the same when you say "Hey look, its John Cena" and if you say "Hey look, The Champ is here". Or with Ortons "Hey its Randy Orton" and "Oh, its Apex Predator".

Btw "Lunatic fringe" is just something for Ambrose to describe his personality. And I think "Brie mode" is from the time when she was face and with Danyel Bryan after Wrestlemania 30. She then legitimatly yelled "Brie mode", did few moves and won match.

 

[Heartbreak_Kid_707]

wwe is like marvel universe comics mc moron is like Stan Lee with his creative super hero characters he thinks and creates and ruining wrestlers dubbing them as entertainers and performers rather than athletes and wrestlers. We all know Big slow is no show!
Dolph Ziggler was part of the spirit squad as "Nicky." So that means that Ziggler is part of this list. FANDANGO, which appears to be a dancing wrestlers and that name came from Lyrics to the Queen song, 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. From the album 'Night At The Opera ( Scaramouche, scaramouche, will you do the fandango?)
Boogeyman is too silly sounding for the ring a la Beetlejuice.

When you seen The Boogyman come on stage or interview ad say, he didn't have a name, what would you expect him to be called??

 

[legendkillerbsal]

-The Legend Killer for Randy Orton was really cool when he had that gimmick.
-JBL's Wrestling God was a really good one especially when he was on top of SmackDown and had the wwe title for so long.
-I always laughed at Mark Henry's Sexual Chocolate. It was something that always made people laugh and something you'd think a big black man would name himself as a swinger.
-I always liked Wild Man Marc Mero too.

 

[Headman]

Lunatic fringe describes a group of people with fanatical social or political views. It doesn't mean "crazy person" as WWE has been using it with Ambrose. Every time I hear this stupid nickname come out of the commentator's mouth I cringe. It is the single dumbest nickname in the WWE right now. If they called him he Lunatic that would be great. But they may as well call him "The Green Party" Dean Ambrose!

 

[Slash-LN]

For all those like me stupid enough to think Total Divas might be a good watch will know that Brie Mode is what the divas say Brie is in when she is drunk and out of it. Basically Brie Mode is when she is drunk and doing stupid stuff, no idea why she uses it when wrestling but it is easy to put on a sign or shirt so thats probably why.

I agree that WWE overuses nicknames and has stupid ones. I like the UFC style of nicknames where it is said in your intro and when you win but commentators refer to you by your name.

It's supposed to be more that she's in like party mode when she gets into Brie mode. Like she comes out of her shell. Although it does lead to her doing stupid stuff, because too much alcohol. Nikki mentioned it in one of the seasons and the girls were like "What's Brie mode?"

So then it became a thing that season. And probably after. I think that was the last season I saw.

But it was already a thing before Total Divas.

So the idea is that Brie mode in the ring is that she's about to let loose I guess.

It's not a Hulking up thing that someone mentioned, which would be coming back.

It's really really confusing for people that have never seen Total Divas I'm sure.

I'm sure WWE wanted to find a way to capitalize on it so they put it on a shirt and they have her yell it in the ring. Kind of like whenever Ric Flair started using wooooo. There's really no point behind it besides a slogan and theatrics.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Probably one of the best heels ever...The Cerebral Assassin , The Game, CEO Triple H .

 

[ckoneagain]

Probably the coolest nickname ever would have to be hbk in my opinion.my problem with a lot of the nicknames nowadays is when the commentators are told to mention it constantly to the point it gets annoying.a good example is the vigilante sting which would actually be a good nickname if the commentators didn't ruin it.

Yeah i agree with this totally. Nicknames are only cool and effective when the audience feels that they are part of the 'in joke' or whatever rather than being told that's what you should call them. All the old nicknames seemed more like the announcers made them up on the fly and some of them stuck, like 'The Texas Rattlesnake' was what Good ol' JR called Stone Cold, you very rarely heard the other announcers use that title as it wasn't 'there thing' but now they're all forced to say these nicknames it seems more forced upon us and thus, no longer cool or unique.

 

[whoopin' ass]

I think a lot of it is just for marketing - easier to sell a t-shirt that has the nickname sometime than the actual person's name. But I will agree, they are pretty lame - Brie Mode? So what, next we will have Cena Mode, Owens Mode, etc? It is pretty bad.

Last one I liked was The Show-off for Ziggler. It fit the character well and was simple but effective. Roddy Piper was the perfect example - Rowdy said it all, you didn't need "The Rowdy Scot" Roddy Piper or anything like that - the one word said it all.

 

[King502]

Lamest Nick name is wwe universe