Do You Miss the Old Character Names in WWE?
 

The last year or so, WWE has really been going in the direction of giving their talent first and last names (i.e. Heath Slater, Zack Ryder, Wade Barret) and no gimmick name to go with it (i.e. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin or "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels).

Whats your opinions on WWE's current direction on naming talent? Should they go more with the traditional style of having "character type names" like Undertaker, Triple H, The Rock, etc. or do you enjoy the more real like names?

Personally, I like the old stuff.

DASHING Cody Rhodes is my favorite current name.


SMOKE AND MIRRORS.

I love when a wrestler gets a name through character development and evolution.

"The Viper" Randy Orton
"The Animal" Batista
"Stone Cold" Austin
"The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels
"The Phenom" The Undertaker
"The Cerebral Assassin" Triple H
"Big Sexy" Kevin Nash
"The People's Champ" The Rock
The 1-2-3 Kid

ETC...ETC...ETC...

So whatever that falls under.

Compared to the pornstar names most of them have nowadays... yes.

Cowboy Walker. That my porn name.

Adam Bomb

Agreed. I like that as well. Having a "regular" name "Heath Slater" or "Alex Riley" is pretty boring. I prefer anything over 'realistic' names actually, even if it's cheesy like some power ranger gimmick from the 80's.

Back in the 80's that's all wrestlers were always characters, but in this day in age it seems that coming off as a regular guy (with your real name, or somewhat real name being your characters name) is the new norm.

What bugs me more is when the WWE changes a wrestlers WWE name from their real name to something that is similar to their real name. Like take Daniel Bryan. When he's done with the WWE he can go back to the Bryan Danielson name/character but anything to do with Daniel Bryan is something the WWE has control of because A.) it's not his real name and B.) they can say it was a character of Bryan Danielson.

I love gimmick wrestlers. I miss them but in a way I'm glad there's only a few left because it lets thr product grow.

And with wrestlers with nicknames like YoungFlyFlashy said, it's only a matter of time before wresters with their real names start getting so they can get over with the audience.

It also makes me wonder, if there will ever be a gimmick wrestler on NXT.

Serious question here, do you guys ever think someone like John Cena would get a nickname? Or is he so over that he does not need one? Because isn't that rare that someone would reach John Cena's level and never have to use the catchy nickname avenue?

I don't know, just popped into my mind.

generic wrestler wearing black tights and using their real name

That is quite interesting. It is kind of weird for him to not have a nickname, but since he already has so much publicity with his own name and merchandise I don't ever see him getting a nickname.

The other day, my girlfriend typed in "Never Give Up T-Shirts" into Google to find a shirt for our new puppy and John Cenas new shirt was the first thing that popped up. So I think that gives you an idea of his popularity.

Bill Goldberg.

Razor Ramon = ratings

Unfortunatly not his real name.

Didn't WCW nick name him "The Man" and "The Millenium Man"?

John Cena has no nick name at all! EVER.

Unsure if he meant Razor didn't have a nick name, so just in case...

"The Bad Guy"

So could John Cena be the only (Future) Hall of Famer to make it big without a nick name?

John Cena was the Doctor of Thugenomics.... Word Life!

Bill Goldberg's character was meant to be like that though. When he was on his streak I don't think anyone viewed the name Bill Goldberg the same way they look at the name Heath Slater or Husky Harris. It's especially stupid when it's applied to these second generation guys like Michael McGullicutty. I understand that it's important from a business perspective for WWE to have this control, but it's still fucking retarded from a fan perspective.

Plus certain real names sound right for wrestling... think Bret Hart, John Cena, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Jeff Jarrett, Jerry Lawler and some don't... Scott Levy, Sean Waltman, Terry Bollea.

Agreed except for "the viper". I never saw Orton as one. He needed something better to me...

Dunno...
"Tenacious" Randy Orton?

I did like "Legend Killer"

Check and mate.

Disagree. They grow on us as fans because we are use to them and are shoved down out throats. Because honestly when I first heard "Scott Hall", I was like, seriously WCW?

I love "The Viper", because it goes great with his coil action right before the RKO.

Legend Killer was great but only took him so far. I agree, The Viper is fucking lame. I hate it, especially when the announces (ie Michael Cole) say it and when he does that stupid thing before an RKO where he pounds his fists against the mat.

I don't know, I just don't like it, but I feel it's the WWE trying to give him something that sticks like how his dad was known as The Cowboy Bob Orton.

They need an animal that they can put on a t shirt for merchandise. A picture of a snake is much more PG than a silhouette of Koko B. Ware getting killed.

That poor man's Stone Cold Steve Austin neck roll/ head bob that Orton does after he hits the RKO makes me laugh.

That's another thing I don't like about the nickname. I feel creative or whoever came up with the name thought since he was heel getting cheers like Austin was back in the day he should have a nickname similar.

I actually kind of like "The Viper" for Randy Orton, like someone else said, it fits that whole dealio he does before he hits the RKO.

I think that giving them nicknames like they used to is kind of outdated. A nickname should really be given by the fans and it should fit the persona and the situation. Otherwise it seems to gimmicky. It kind of gives them a more realistic and down to earth to fell to me. Like they aren't larger than life y'know?

And some of the generic sounding names aren't even their real names

Example: Zack Ryder-Matthew Cardona

It's because of the number of letters and syllables in their names that makes it easy to chant and it seems catchy. Full names with fewer letters are a lot more catchy than say a name "McGullicutty".


"Foley" 5 letters
"Angle" 4 letters
"Nash" 4 letters
"Cena" 4 letters
"Hogan" 5 letters
"Austin" 6 letters
"Hart" 4 letters
"Hardy" 5 letters
"Goldberg" 8 letters



Simple unforced names, good to chants.

"Hard Hittin'" Johnny Kelly... That would be my wrestling name.

I want to say I like nicknames over real names, but R-Truth is SO much worse than Ron Killings.

I agree that nicknames that come about through character development are by far the best.

I love Orton's Viper name. To me it just fits. And it doesn't seem forced. He wasn't always the Viper. Cole started calling him after months of his character evolving into what it is now.

I feel like Sheamus' "Celtic Warrior" mantle came a bit too soon as I don't feel his character has been through enough battles and wars to be seen as a warrior.

"Big Daddy Cool" Diesel.

Sid was the man dubbed "The Millenium Man". It was "dah man" as Heenan would always call him.