Scrapped WWE Name Change Pitch Revealed

WWE

A former WWE star has revealed they were left “very confused” over a pitch they made to adopt a new in-ring name.

Signed to a WWE contract in August 2020, Joe Gacy would bring his independent wrestling name to television.

Gacy wouldn’t be the first star to continue to work for WWE under a previous name, but he was left surprised by the decision that he would keep his.

Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, the star now known as Joseph Sawyer would reveal that he pitched ‘Mason King’ as a potential name, saying:

“When I got hired, just like anybody else that gets hired and begins at the Performance Center, they suggest, ‘Hey, come up with a list of names.’

” I had like a list of 20 names, and I went through a bunch of them, and I’m like, I don’t like a lot of these or whatever. Then I had one I really liked. Funnily enough, it was called Mason King.

“This was before Lexis King, so that was one I was really pitching.”

Having suggested the new name, Sawyer would reveal the confusion he was left with after WWE told him they actually liked “Joe Gacy”, explaining:

Then they were like, ‘We actually like Joe Gacy.’ I was like, ‘You do?’ I was very confused because at the time I was trying to get away from the Gacy name.

“I thought of it when I was very young, and then when I grew up and matured a little bit, I’m like, ‘Well, this is probably not a name I want to keep using.'”

The Joe Gacy name would carry through the star’s WWE career, right up to his release, alongside all the members of the Wyatts Sicks in April of this year.

Speaking on the subject of their release, Gacy would comment that the faction was ‘surprised‘ by their collective departures during the interview.

What’s In A Name?

Prior to signing with WWE, Lexis King was known to AEW fans as Brian Pillman Jr, a name that carries with it a certain cachet for the second-generation star.

It isn’t uncommon for WWE to change star names when they debut, regardless of the contribution said talent has made across the wrestling scene.  It isn’t always the case, with many factors playing into the decision on both a personal and creative level. Beyond this, of course, a new name means that WWE are likely to hold the trademark for it,

For Joe Gacy, there’s no doubt a number of fans who hear that land are instantly drawn to a notorious serial killer who bore the Gacy name, so it perhaps comes as something of a surprise that WWE wouldn’t want to break the connection.

That said, a last name isn’t necessarily a direct reference to any particular individual, although it does, perhaps, build an image in the mind of those who hear it.

Whether it be Will Kroos being rebranded as Mason Rook, Rayne Leverkusen debuting as Lizzy Rain or Nathan Angel seeing a repackaging as Tristan Angels on NXT earlier this year, there’s a method behind the process that sees new names for familiar stars, and it is something that WWE will no doubt continue to do when the need arises.

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