Jamie Lithgow
Professional wrestling is a creative business, and ring names are no exception. A good wrestling name has to come from somewhere, and it’s this magical place we shall visit today as we discover the names that were almost handed to some of wrestling’s biggest stars. It’s safe to say that the landscape of professional wrestling might be slightly different today had the following names made it past the drawing board…
The Undertaker and Kane have had a storied history, with the latter’s existence being revealed well in advance of his debut at In Your House 18 in 1997. However, the seeds of this story were actually sewn during Taker’s first appearance for WWE. The Dead Man’s first television appearance was on the live broadcast of the 1990 Survivor Series, where he was introduced as ‘The Undertaker’. However, his first match was actually recorded at a Superstars taping a few days prior, where he was introduced as ‘Cain The Undertaker’. The Dead Man’s manager at the time – Brother Love aka Bruce Prichard – suggested the name ‘Cain’ as a biblical reference to the first man to commit murder. Although ‘Cain’ did not stick in 1990, it – plus the notion of a sibling for The Undertaker and the crime of murder – must have stuck in someone’s mind…
When you think about it, Triple H is a bit of an odd name for a wrestler. Luckily most people are aware that his full moniker is ‘Hunter Hearst Helmsley’, hence ‘Triple H’ is a logical nickname. However, things very nearly did not work out this way. The original plan for the Connecticut blue blood character was for him to be called ‘Reginald DuPont Helmsley’. Luckily the future COO had also thought of some ideas, and was smart enough to think about the initials of any potential ring name. In the end he and creative met in the middle and ‘Hunter Hearst Helmsley’ was born. We can thank Shawn Michaels for the term ‘Triple H’ though…
One of the most famous ‘almost names’ is the bullet dodged by Mick Foley when he signed with WWE in 1996. Known in WCW, ECW and Japan as the psychotic Cactus Jack, Mick was repackaged by WWE as the deranged Mankind. While the Mankind character that debuted on TV was said to be relatively close to the initial concept, his name was not. Having seen ‘Crushers’ and ‘Destroyers’ apparently Vince McMahon decided he wanted a ‘Mutilator’. Not content with simply ‘The Mutilator’, Mick was to be dubbed ‘Mason The Mutilator’. Knowing it was a stinker, Mick persuaded Vince to go with ‘Mankind The Mutilator’, as a play on words that would provide a double meaning. Much to Mick’s relief, by the time he made his debut Vince had dropped the ‘Mutilator’ part from his name and Mick was simply introduced as ‘Mankind’.
Daniel Bryan’s real name is Bryan Danielson, so one can understand the thought process of this name change. WWE likes to own the rights to Superstar’s names, plus Bryan already had some considerable name value out with WWE. So, William Regal’s suggestion of ‘Daniel Bryan’ was a sensible choice that would suit WWE while not dramatically affecting Bryan himself. However, this could have been a different story had Bryan gotten his way. Apparently he had nine or ten ideas of his own, with the stand outs being ‘Buddy Peacock’ and ‘Lloyd Bonér’…
Flair and Dusty – it could have been a whole different story…
Ric Flair’s real name is Richard Fliehr, thus the logic of his ring name is simple. However, he initially wanted to be called ‘Ramblin’ Ricky Rhodes’ as an homage to Dusty Rhodes. Luckily Verne Gagne told him this was a crap idea and to just use a slightly more marketable version of his real name instead.
Having been Chavo Guerrero’s caddy and a male cheerleader, it’s probably safe to say that in Dolph Ziggler Nick Nemeth has found his forever gimmick. However, the name ‘Dolph Ziggler’ was not on the original blueprint. Nemeth was all set to be called ‘David Diggler’ until – in an extremely brave move considering his position in the company at the time – he point blank shot the idea down! He then suggested the name ‘Dolph’, assuming the surname would remain the same. It did not, and Dolph Ziggler was born. Luckily this name was agreeable to all, because if it wasn’t Ziggler would have told them such.
Stone Cold Steve Austin wasn’t always ‘Stone Cold’. In WCW – and briefly in ECW – he was ‘Stunning’ Steve Austin. Upon entering WWE he was repackaged as ‘The Ringmaster’, Ted DiBiase’s mechanically sound but thoroughly generic new charge. Realising that ‘The Ringmaster’ was merely a foot in the door, Steve sought to alter his appearance and name. Gone was the crew-cut sporting Bruce Willis lookalike, and in was a shaved head and goatee. After watching a documentary on Richard Kuklinksi – a serial killer dubbed ‘The Iceman’ – Steve found his inspiration for a cold hearted SOB. So, what names did WWE pitch for his new persona? Until his wife warned him about his coffee going “stone cold” Steve was staring down the barrel of names like ‘Ice Dagger’, ‘Fang McFrost’ and ‘Otto von Ruthless’. Imagine if that were the bottom line, ‘cause Ice Dagger said so…?
Adorable, eh?
Edge is a cool wrestler name, however if you ask Adam Copeland he will tell you that he wished he’d thought of something with more syllables. Why? Purely for marketing reasons and to give the live crowd something to chant. Having said that, ‘Edge’ is still far better than ‘Rage’ and ‘Riot’ which were the suggestions put on the table by WWE.
Speaking of Adam Copeland, before debuting as the enigmatic Edge he was very nearly placed on a different track all together. He and Sean ‘Val Venis’ Morley were the original choices for the New Midnight Express tandem that sucked so badly in 1998. Instead of ‘Bombastic Bob’ and ‘Bodacious Bart’ we very nearly got ‘Adorable Adam’ and ‘Sensual Sean’. It’s probably fair to call that a bullet dodged.
Razor Ramon was a rarity in early 90’s WWE as the character and name were not conceived by Vince McMahon, or anyone in the WWE creative team for that matter. Having wrestled as ‘The Diamond Studd’ in WCW, Scott Hall brought the gimmick with him to WWE. However, ‘The Diamond Studd’ name – which was a spin-off from Diamond Dallas Page anyway – was left in WCW. Playing up to the Tony Montana stereotype, Hall had to think of a Puerto Rican/gangster name. While ‘Razor’ was always in his thinking the name ‘Shrug Shadow’ was also in the running. Thankfully Hall went with ‘Razor’ and, with the addition of Tito Santana’s suggestion for a surname, Razor Ramon was born.
Ring the Damn Bell 