Vince McMahon’s Logic Behind Changing Wrestlers’ Names

That’s what’s in a name. Wrestlers names are one of the most important parts of their entire presentation. Some of the biggest stars in the history of wrestling are at least partially there due to their name, including Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Steve Austin, The Rock and more. It gives them their identity and if you have the wrong one, it can cause a lot of harm to a career. Some modern WWE names are a little out there and now we know a bit more about why.

WWE has a tendency to cut wrestlers’ names in half. Wrestlers such as Big E., Cesaro, Rusev and Apollo Crews and more have lost their first or last names at different times. That is the kind of thing that can be rather odd, but for some reason WWE keeps doing it over and over. Believe it or not, it is a Vince McMahon idea, and as usual, his logic is something worth hearing.

According to Wrestling Observer Radio, some of the first names, including Alexander for Rusev and Antonio for Cesaro were dropped because McMahon did not want them to be called things like Alex or Tony, which are not heel names. Other names have been changed if the name is part of a wrestler’s real name, such as Babatunde being turned into Dabo-Katto. This is done to prevent a wrestler from using some form of their real name elsewhere.

They worked back then too. Check out the wrestlers with their old names:

Opinion: In a way I get this but in a way I don’t. It’s true that Alex and Tony aren’t the most intimidating names, but at the same time, it might be putting the cart before the horse to make such a change. Also, shouldn’t this be something that was thought of before the name debuted? The one name thing works occasionally, but there are other times where it just feels off. As usual, WWE needs to do a bit better job of thinking this stuff through in advance.

What do you think of the changes? What is the best wrestling name ever? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for “GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES” to sign up. Thank you for reading!