Is there ANYONE they'd sign and wouldn't rename?

[Burst]

The rumblings about the Kings of Wrestling getting a tryout got me thinking again. Is there anybody left in any other wrestling promotion with enough name value to not be force-fed through the FCW renaming machine? Last time I checked, CM Punk is the last big name to have made it through with his name intact, though rumors about whether or not he signed away the rights to it as part of the deal are still floating around. You could also argue that Daniel Bryan got off comparatively lightly.

I just can't imagine Chris Hero or Claudio Castagnoli as anybody other than them. Yes, we've for the most part adapted to Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins and Kaval was distinct enough of a name on its own, but I can't help but feel that any WWE renaming of the KOW would wind up falling on the Scotty Goldman level of taking a distinct and unique name and provoking a "...really? that's the best they could come up with?" reaction, though maybe not on the Scotty Goldman level of being borderline offensive.

Honestly, since even Daniel Bryan got renamed, honestly the only people that haven't been in the 'E yet that I could see not getting renamed are people who were around and famous before, like Sting, and maaaaaaybe Samoa Joe, but I don't trust the E enough to not give him a cliche Samoan name to fully commit.

What do you all think?

[Deleted]

Honestly, I think they could call that Claudio guy Stefan Levowitz and it would work better than however the hell you pronounce his last name.

[Wolf Hurricane]

Jimmy and Jey aren't the most Samoan names in the lexicon, you know.

But yeah, unless you're a former WWE Superstar (or Sting), more than likely you're getting renamed.

[Kitty Shamrocks]

Jun 16, 2011 21:55:39 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Honestly, I think they could call that Claudio guy Stefan Levowitz and it would work better than however the hell you pronounce his last name.

You wouldn't understand, it's very European.

[Cronant]

Jun 16, 2011 21:55:39 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Honestly, I think they could call that Claudio guy Stefan Levowitz and it would work better than however the hell you pronounce his last name.

Yeah, despite the outcry, sometimes the name they get is better.

Kharma for one.

[Crappler El 0 M]

Anyone willing to sign over the name could keep it.

WWE is really gung-ho about owning the names right now as we see each time the current WWE Tag Team Champions are on TV. If Michael McGillicutty can't be 'Hennig' (and they still acknowledge his dad), then that really shows how far WWE has decided to take it. Oddly, I think the other tag champ David Otunga is his actual name, but WWE probably made an exception for him because they wanted to play off of whatever notoriety he had as a reality star and husband of Jennifer Hudson.

I think it would take someone with a lot of notoriety with the name for WWE to let them keep it. If Chuck Liddell or Tito Ortiz suddenly decided they wanted to try WWE since their MMA careers are either over or in the final stages, then I am sure WWE would let them keep those names as they have value and that's what they are known as in the main stream.

[DeathRay]

Maybe a big name from Japan like Hiroshi Tanahashi. And i think that the only reason why they changed Mistico's name was because CMLL owned the rights of that name.

[gnr123]

I wouls say AJ Styles would probably keep his name, same with Samoa Joe. Wasn't CM Punk's name the same in the indie's?

[Cronant]

There's already another AJ in WWE, and she >>>>> AJ styles at this point.

Name change for him for sure.

[Crappler El 0 M]

Jun 16, 2011 22:05:47 GMT -5 gnr123 said:

I wouls say AJ Styles would probably keep his name, same with Samoa Joe. Wasn't CM Punk's name the same in the indie's?

I could have sworn I read that CM Punk signed over that name to WWE, but I could be wrong. Maybe this was speculation from reporters.

[Deleted]

Jun 16, 2011 22:08:20 GMT -5 Crappler El 0 M said:

Jun 16, 2011 22:05:47 GMT -5 gnr123 said:

I wouls say AJ Styles would probably keep his name, same with Samoa Joe. Wasn't CM Punk's name the same in the indie's?

I could have sworn I read that CM Punk signed over that name to WWE, but I could be wrong. Maybe this was speculation from reporters.

He signed it over for the extent of his contract. When he leaves the company, he gets the name back - someone posted the trademark information on it recently and it's still in his name.

[FailedGimmick]

Jun 16, 2011 22:09:21 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Jun 16, 2011 22:08:20 GMT -5 Crappler El 0 M said:

I could have sworn I read that CM Punk signed over that name to WWE, but I could be wrong. Maybe this was speculation from reporters.

He signed it over for the extent of his contract. When he leaves the company, he gets the name back - someone posted the trademark information on it recently and it's still in his name.

So, in essence, WWE is leasing the name.

[Deleted]

Jun 16, 2011 21:52:22 GMT -5 Burst said:

The rumblings about the Kings of Wrestling getting a tryout got me thinking again. Is there anybody left in any other wrestling promotion with enough name value to not be force-fed through the FCW renaming machine? Last time I checked, CM Punk is the last big name to have made it through with his name intact, though rumors about whether or not he signed away the rights to it as part of the deal are still floating around. You could also argue that Daniel Bryan got off comparatively lightly.

I just can't imagine Chris Hero or Claudio Castagnoli as anybody other than them. Yes, we've for the most part adapted to Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins and Kaval was distinct enough of a name on its own, but I can't help but feel that any WWE renaming of the KOW would wind up falling on the Scotty Goldman level of taking a distinct and unique name and provoking a "...really? that's the best they could come up with?" reaction, though maybe not on the Scotty Goldman level of being borderline offensive.

Honestly, since even Daniel Bryan got renamed, honestly the only people that haven't been in the 'E yet that I could see not getting renamed are people who were around and famous before, like Sting, and maaaaaaybe Samoa Joe, but I don't trust the E enough to not give him a cliche Samoan name to fully commit.

What do you all think?

If TNA doesn't own the names AJ Styles and Samoa Joe then those two.

[Deleted]

Jun 16, 2011 22:19:03 GMT -5 @supersweetbotch said:

Jun 16, 2011 21:52:22 GMT -5 Burst said:

The rumblings about the Kings of Wrestling getting a tryout got me thinking again. Is there anybody left in any other wrestling promotion with enough name value to not be force-fed through the FCW renaming machine? Last time I checked, CM Punk is the last big name to have made it through with his name intact, though rumors about whether or not he signed away the rights to it as part of the deal are still floating around. You could also argue that Daniel Bryan got off comparatively lightly.

I just can't imagine Chris Hero or Claudio Castagnoli as anybody other than them. Yes, we've for the most part adapted to Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins and Kaval was distinct enough of a name on its own, but I can't help but feel that any WWE renaming of the KOW would wind up falling on the Scotty Goldman level of taking a distinct and unique name and provoking a "...really? that's the best they could come up with?" reaction, though maybe not on the Scotty Goldman level of being borderline offensive.

Honestly, since even Daniel Bryan got renamed, honestly the only people that haven't been in the 'E yet that I could see not getting renamed are people who were around and famous before, like Sting, and maaaaaaybe Samoa Joe, but I don't trust the E enough to not give him a cliche Samoan name to fully commit.

What do you all think?

If TNA doesn't own the names AJ Styles and Samoa Joe then those two.

I think they'd rename those two. Might keep Styles, depending, but Joe I could see them giving a more tribal name to - which, so long as they didn't turn him into Umaga 2.0 or something (which I doubt they would do), might not be too bad a career move in its own right.

TNA wouldn't own either, though. Samoa Joe was used in plenty of companies, and if nothing else the fact the name AJ Styles was used in WCW would be a powerful motivator to push him big hindrance to TNA copyrighting the name.

[saintpat]

Brian Kendrick wrestled under his own name, right? And it wasn't a major change to make Harry Smith into DH Smith -- actually a boost to give him the Hart connection to make it obvious for those at home who aren't amateur British genealogists.

[thelonewolf527]

At this point? Pretty much no one outside of regular sports or MMA. Daniel Bryan and Mistico had to change their names, what makes you think two random guys from ROH, who are popular for the company don't get me wrong, but did not have nearly the same impact that these two had, wouldn't have to change their names? It's pretty much next to no one provided you're not famous already.

[Crappler El 0 M]

Jun 16, 2011 22:24:58 GMT -5 saintpat said:

Brian Kendrick wrestled under his own name, right? And it wasn't a major change to make Harry Smith into DH Smith -- actually a boost to give him the Hart connection to make it obvious for those at home who aren't amateur British genealogists.

Yeah, but WWE wasn't as strict about it then as we saw Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Randy Orton, Charlie Haas, and Shelton Benjamin. I would say right now is about as strict as WWE has ever been about it. Kendrick's partner Paul London got to keep that name (not sure if it's his real name, but I know it was what he was known as before WWE).

I actually think David Hart Smith is a better ring name than Harry Smith, but that's irrelevant to our discussion. I guess back then WWE figured changing the first name was enough, but now they think they should change the last name two. If you noticed, WWE dropped 'Colon' from Primo and 'Neidhart' from Natalya and has changed the last names for Michael McGillicutty, Husky Harris, and The Usos, even though they still acknowledge who their dad's are. I think that's the weirdest thing. It's one thing to change their name if you don't want to acknowledge their parents, but it's odd to change it AND acknowledge the parents.

[rnrk supports BLM]

Someone with a degree of mainstream recognition, even a very minor one like David Otunga, could probably keep their name. I imagine Sin Cara would've been brought in as Mistico as well if CMLL didn't own that name.

But no, no one whose main source of "fame" consists of wrestling in ROH or TNA is going to be considered notable enough to not be assigned a new, WWE-branded identity, unless they're willing to sign over the rights to their old one.

[kamotengkahoy]

Big Shaq if he plans to join the WWE.

[Madagascar Fred]

only some TNA guys (AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Roode), big international stars from Japan or Mexico (Tanahashi, Juventud etc.) and old WWE stars with name recognition would keep their name, everyone else meet "Dan Eszterhazy"