Every WWE Wrestler Name Change Of 2021

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 2021. We also did it in 2020, which you can find here.

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?

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Katrina Cortez

Previous name: Catalina

Date of change: January 6

Reason for change: Unknown

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Ivy Nile

Previous name: Emily Andzulis

Date of change: January 14

Reason for change: Had wrestled previously under her real name so WWE wanted something it could trademark

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Nathan Frazer

Previous name: Ben Carter

Date of change: March 11

Reason for change: Had wrestled previously under her real name so WWE wanted something it could trademark

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Commander Azeez

Previous name: Dabba-Kato

Date of change: April 11

Reason for change: Debuted new gimmick and helped Apollo Crews win Intercontinental Championship

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Veer

Previous name: Rinku

Date of change: May 3

Reason for change: Made main roster debut as associate of Jinder Mahal on Main Event

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Shanky

Previous name: Dilsher Shanky

Date of change: May 3

Reason for change: Made main roster debut as associate of Jinder Mahal on Main Event

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Rick Boogs

Previous name: Rik Bugez

Date of change: May 21

Reason for change: Made main roster debut on SmackDown accompanying Shinsuke Nakamura and performing his entrance music

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King Nakamura

Previous name: Shinsuke Nakamura

Date of change: June 18

Reason for change: Beat Baron Corbin for the right to be called “King”

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Doudrop

Previous name: Piper Niven

Date of change: June 21

Reason for change: Called up to main roster in short-lived partnership with Eva Marie, who gave her a silly name against her own wishes (in storyline)

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Baron Corbin

Previous name: King Corbin

Date of change: June 25

Reason for change: Lost his right to be called “King” to Shinsuke Nakamura a week prior

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Duke Hudson

Previous name: Brendan Vink

Date of change: July 6

Reason for change: Was previously going to be Tony Modra but the real Tony Modra (Australian football player) wasn’t happy about it

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Shotzi

Previous name: Shotzi Blackheart

Date of change: July 9

Reason for change: Called up from NXT to SmackDown in tag team alongside Tegan Nox

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Mia Yim

Previous name: RECKONING

Date of change: July 12

Reason for change: No longer needed silly name as she’d no longer be presented as a RETRIBUTION member after the group disbanded

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Shane Thorne

Previous name: SLAPJACK

Date of change: July 12

Reason for change: No longer needed silly name as he’d no longer be presented as a RETRIBUTION member after the group disbanded

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Nikki ASH

Previous name: Nikki Cross

Date of change: July 12

Reason for change: Name change made official after weeks of being referred to as both Nikki Cross and Nikki ASH. ASH stands for Almost a SuperHero

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Reggie

Previous name: Reginald

Date of change: July 30

Reason for change: Had name shortened days after a video clip of his new entrance got twice as many views as any other segment from Raw on YouTube

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Happy Corbin

Previous name: Baron Corbin

Date of change: August 27

Reason for change: Had a successful week in Vegas and turned his fortunes around after weeks of being a poor, smelly, miserable man

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Von Wagner

Previous name: Cal Bloom

Date of change: September 14

Reason for change: Given a new name ahead of big debut on relaunch of NXT (had previously wrestled as Cal Bloom on main roster shows in 2020)

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Madcap Moss

Previous name: Riddick Moss

Date of change: October 1

Reason for change: Given new name after returning from injury and aligning with Happy Corbin

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Shinsuke Nakamura

Previous name: King Nakamura

Date of change: October 8

Reason for change: Relinquished the “King” moniker ahead of the 2021 King of the Ring tournament

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King Woods

Previous name: Xavier Woods

Date of change: October 22

Reason for change: Won the King of the Ring tournament

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Queen Zelina

Previous name: Zelina Vega

Date of change: October 25

Reason for change: Won the Queen’s Crown tournament

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Veer Mahaan

Previous name: Veer

Date of change: November 1

Reason for change: Was broken away from Jinder Mahal and Shanky in the WWE Draft, seemingly set for single push on Raw

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Angel

Previous name: Angel Garza

Date of change: November 5

Reason for change: Had surname dropped due to now being in a tag team with Humberto (Carrillo)

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Humberto

Previous name: Humberto Carrillo

Date of change: November 5

Reason for change: Had surname dropped due to now being in a tag team with Angel (Garza)

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Wendy Choo

Previous name: Mei Ying

Date of change: November 18

Reason for change: Tian Sha gimmick was dropped

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Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins

Previous name: Seth Rollins

Date of change: December 29

Reason for change: ‘Freakin’ had been used as an unofficial nickname for years until he tweeted that it was now officially part of his name: “On the birth cert babes”

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