WWE does many weird things, but one of the weirdest can often be the changing of its wrestlers’ names.
We’ve decided to keep track of every time this happens in 2020, with the first being Murphy on February 7.
The tracker will cover every WWE brand. However, it will only feature people who have made their WWE TV debuts before having their name changed.
How many do you think we’ll end up with come the end of December?
Murphy
Previous name: Buddy Murphy
Date of change: February 7
Reason for change: “Sources tell us the change was made because the name Buddy didn’t sound like the name of a disciple, so the decision was made to drop it in order for the wrestler to fit with Seth Rollins’ new group.” (Pro Wrestling Sheet)
Raquel Gonzalez
Previous name: Reina Gonzalez
Date of change: February 14
Reason for change: Unknown, came ahead of aligning with Dakota Kai at NXT TakeOver: Portland.
Rinku
Previous name: Rinku Singh
Date of change: March 25
Reason for change: Had surname dropped on second TV appearance along with tag partner Saurav
Saurav
Previous name: Saurav Gurjar
Date of change: March 25
Reason for change: Had surname dropped on second TV appearance along with tag partner Rinku
Santos Escobar
Previous name: El Hijo del Fantasma
Date of change: June 11
Reason for change: Unmasked and revealed himself to be leader of new heel group on NXT
Dabba-Kato
Previous name: Babatunde
Date of change: August 3
Reason for change: Had wrestled previously under his real name so WWE wanted something it could trademark
Ashante Adonis
Previous name: Tehuti Miles
Date of change: September 8
Reason for change: Had wrestled previously under his real name so WWE wanted something it could trademark
Desmond Troy
Previous name: Denzel Dejournette
Date of change: September 16
Reason for change: Had wrestled previously under his real name so WWE wanted something it could trademark
T-BAR
Previous name: Dominik Dijakovic
Date of change: September 21
Reason for change: Changed along with the other members of RETRIBUTION
MACE
Previous name: Dio Maddin
Date of change: September 21
Reason for change: Changed along with the other members of RETRIBUTION
SLAPJACK
Previous name: Shane Thorne
Date of change: September 21
Reason for change: Changed along with the other members of RETRIBUTION
RECKONING
Previous name: Mia Yim
Date of change: September 21
Reason for change: Changed along with the other members of RETRIBUTION
RETALIATION
Previous name: Mercedes Martinez
Date of change: September 21
Reason for change: Changed along with the other members of RETRIBUTION
Chad Gable
Previous name: Shorty G
Date of change: October 23
Reason for change: After losing to Lars Sullivan, Gable quit. He later clarified he was just quitting the character of Shorty G and returning to the name Chad Gable, who is more likely to overcome obstacles.
Tony Modra
Previous name: Brendan Vink
Date of change: October 25
Reason for change: Unknown, had yet to make NXT TV debut but had been used on Raw multiple times
Riddle
Previous name: Matt Riddle
Date of change: October 28
Reason for change: Reportedly related to WWE not wanting people to find controversial news stories by searching for “Matt Riddle”
August Grey
Previous name: Anthony Greene
Date of change: November 4
Reason for change: Had wrestled previously under his real name so WWE wanted something it could trademark
Omos
Previous name: Jordan Omogbehin
Date of change: November 22
Reason for change: Had wrestled previously under his real name so WWE wanted something it could trademark; also debuted in a new role as AJ Styles’ bodyguard
Valentina Feroz
Previous name: Rita Reis
Date of change: December 31
Reason for change: Had wrestled previously under her real name so WWE wanted something it could trademark
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