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HPC
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First it was Cesaro, then Big E and now Alexander Rusev will just be called Rusev.
Stupid
Stupid
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WTF is with WWE changing guys names?
- Thread starter HPC
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BBCgalaxee
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- Sep 9, 2011
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I heard Lana is changing her name to SCHAWIIIIIIIING!!!!!!
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Super Mario
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All about the recognizable copyright.
BBCgalaxee
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- Sep 9, 2011
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SCHAWIIIIING!!!!!!©
Lana is set
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Will Style 13
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They've been doing that for years. Look at Adrian Adonis, he then went to Adorable Adrian, Mike Rotunda changed to I.R.S., One Man Gang changed to Hakeem. So its not unusual because most have been using their real names for the last 15 years or so and not gimmick names. Ken Kennedy changed to just Mr. Kennedy then in TNA, Mr. Anderson (his real name).
Fordman
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DaClyde
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More to do with controllable copyright. WWE wants a name they can trademark and own. The Warrior was one of very few wrestlers to beat Vince to the punch and trademarked his own gimmick and likeness resulting in much more complicated (and expensive) contract negotiations.
For those who don't go back that far, in Hogan's initial big push, they were billing him as "The Incredible Hulk Hogan". Naturally Marvel took exception to that and sued. The court sided with Marvel, so since then, every time you ever saw a WWF/WWE show with Hogan's name or likeness used, the copyright line at the end of the show always referenced Marvel. Ditto for any merchandise, so Marvel always got a cut. By 2005, Hogan had made enough money to buy out the rights to the name "Hulk Hogan" from Marvel, so now he owns the rights and Vince has to negotiate with Hogan for use of the name.
For some reason, in the mid-1980s, they'd even renamed Dory Funk Jr. to Hoss Funk. I'm not sure what marketing potential they thought they had in 50+ year old Dory Funk Jr. at the time.
I always thought it really odd when they renamed guys who had really not been gone from the company for that long. Renaming Tony Atlas to Saba Simba was ridiculous. And Charles Wright? In the span of like 5 years he was Papa Shango, Kama and The Godfather. Neither of these guys was exactly unrecognizable. Mable to Viscera with no explanation? I guess it comes down to how big a star they are with the company. Guys like HHH and The Rock had fairly gradual changes to their characters.
For those who don't go back that far, in Hogan's initial big push, they were billing him as "The Incredible Hulk Hogan". Naturally Marvel took exception to that and sued. The court sided with Marvel, so since then, every time you ever saw a WWF/WWE show with Hogan's name or likeness used, the copyright line at the end of the show always referenced Marvel. Ditto for any merchandise, so Marvel always got a cut. By 2005, Hogan had made enough money to buy out the rights to the name "Hulk Hogan" from Marvel, so now he owns the rights and Vince has to negotiate with Hogan for use of the name.
For some reason, in the mid-1980s, they'd even renamed Dory Funk Jr. to Hoss Funk. I'm not sure what marketing potential they thought they had in 50+ year old Dory Funk Jr. at the time.
I always thought it really odd when they renamed guys who had really not been gone from the company for that long. Renaming Tony Atlas to Saba Simba was ridiculous. And Charles Wright? In the span of like 5 years he was Papa Shango, Kama and The Godfather. Neither of these guys was exactly unrecognizable. Mable to Viscera with no explanation? I guess it comes down to how big a star they are with the company. Guys like HHH and The Rock had fairly gradual changes to their characters.
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byronscott4ever
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- Dec 3, 2009
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Short names work better too. Imagine Jim Ross saying the WWE equivalent of Fernando Valenzuela over and over
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