10 Worst Name Changes From Wrestlers Who Joined WWE, Ranked
James Rogers 
WWE as a promotion has been very keen on the idea of grabbing some massive names from other promotions such as Ring of Honor, TNA, or Japan and giving them a different name than what they are famous for. There are probably countless reasons, including things like copyright, recognition and others.
10 WWE Name Changes That Actually Worked Well
Some WWE name changes over the years have certainly been a good decision and have worked out well in the end.With this philosophy taking place, there are many superstars who went through a change for better or worse. Stars like Kevin Owens or Finn Balor became successful, and a name change didn't really hinder them at all, but some other stars weren't so lucky. So here are the worst name changes that were forced upon wrestlers who had previously great names prior to joining the WWE.
10 Ember Moon Isn't Bad, But Athena Is Way Cooler
She Signed With WWE In 2015
Titles/Accomplishments | x1 NXT Women's Champion x1 NXT Women's Tag Team Champion |
|---|---|
Stand-Out Match | Vs. Asuka, NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 3 |
WWE Career | 2015-2021 |
Athena started making her name with the wrestling audience in promotions like Shimmer and Ring of Honor before getting the call from WWE to join their developmental brand, NXT. Of course, this would be a blessing as Athena quickly started becoming a top talent in the brand's women's division before capturing the NXT Women's title after former champion Asuka had to vacate the title due to injury.
The name change wasn't the worst (as will be highlighted by these next wrestlers) but the name Athena just sounded way cooler than Ember Moon. Athena was released from her WWE contract in 2021 and is now back to working with Ring of Honor where she captured the ROH Women's title and has been a highlight of ROH television.
9 Dean Ambrose Is A Name That Never Really Fit Like Jon Moxley Does
He Signed With WWE In 2011
Titles/Accomplishments | x1 WWE Champion, x3 Intercontinental Champion x2 Raw Tag Team Champion |
|---|---|
Stand-Out Match | Vs. The Wyatt Family, Elimination Chamber 2014 |
WWE Career | 2011-2019 |
Jon Moxley was destined for a great career in the WWE, even dating back to his time in the developmental territory of Florida Championship Wrestling. His work with names like William Regal and an attempt at a feud against Mick Foley helped push him to the moon before even getting to the main roster.
The name Dean Ambrose was a weird choice and seemed like a very proper and elegant name for someone who was seen as a lunatic. Similar to Athena, Moxley departed WWE and reverted to using his ring name from his time before WWE and has become one of the top stars in All Elite Wrestling.
8 Evan Bourne Sucked Compared To Matt Sydal
He Signed With WWE In 2007
Titles/Accomplishments | x1 WWE Tag Team Champion |
|---|---|
Stand-Out Match | Vs. Chris Jericho, Fatal 4-Way |
WWE Career | 2007-2014 |
Matt Sydal was delivering constant bangers with names like AJ Styles, Roderick Strong, and Jack Evans in early Ring of Honor before getting his big break with the WWE in 2007. Sadly, his career in the promotion was far from spectacular and saw Bourne face start and stop pushes and injuries before being released from his contract.
According to Sydal himself, the name Evan Bourne was created between himself, CM Punk, and Joey Styles due to WWE offering some horrible name to him. Again, Sydal reverted to his original ring name after his time with WWE was over and has been making appearances with AEW and ROH on occasion.
7 Marcus Cor Von Was The Worst Part Of Monty Brown's Career
He Signed With WWE In 2006
Titles/Accomplishments | N/A |
|---|---|
Stand-Out Match | Vs. ECW Originals, WrestleMania 23 |
WWE Career | 2006-2007 |
Prior to WWE, Monty Brown was a fan favorite for his work in TNA and was a name that most fans wanted to see capture the NWA World Heavyweight title. Despite being incredible in the ring, Brown wasn't able to ever find any championship gold in either WWE or TNA.
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Seth Rollins & 9 Other Name Changes Fans Don't Think About
Seth "Freakin" Rollins didn't always go by that name. But he isn't the only wrestler who went through a name change most forgot about!The name Marcus Cor Von is pretty bad and choosing that over Monty Brown was definitely a choice. Due to some family issues that came up, Brown took a major amount of time away from WWE before being released and soon after announcing his retirement from wrestling. He had a lot of potential that neither big promotion was able to capitalize on.
6 Franky Monet Did Not Last Long Before Taya Valkyrie Came Back
She Signed With WWE In 2021
Titles/Accomplishments | N/A |
|---|---|
Stand-Out Match | Vs. Raquel Gonzalez, NXT 2.0 (09/28/2021) |
WWE Career | 2021 |
Do most fans actually recall Taya Valkyrie working with WWE? She had only a handful of matches and only one of them lasted longer than three minutes. Her career was amazing before signing with WWE, as she was a big star in AAA, Lucha Underground, and TNA.
Franky Monet was a strange choice to make, mostly with a lot of wrestlers getting to keep their names when joining the promotion. She didn't even get to stay in WWE for a year before being let go and making her return to AAA and TNA.
5 KENTA Truly Regrets Becoming Hideo Itami
He Signed With WWE In 2014
Titles/Accomplishments | N/A |
|---|---|
Stand-Out Match | Vs. Aleister Black, NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 3 |
WWE Career | 2014-2019 |
Kenta Kobayashi was seen as a massive signing for NXT when he put pen to paper in 2014. WWE held a big press conference announcing he had joined and gave him the star treatment before eventually ruining all of that hard work. KENTA himself has admitted that his time in WWE was "the most frustrating days of my life".
Of course, changing his ring name, which was not only his actual name but also a sort of tribute to his trainer Kenta Kobashi, wasn't a great start. KENTA suffered injuries and never was able to gain momentum during his WWE tenure, leading to him asking for his release in 2019.
4 Kaval Is A Really Awful Ring Name, But So Is Low Ki
He Signed With WWE In 2009
Titles/Accomplishments | NXT Season 2 Winner x1 FCW Florida Tag Team Champion |
|---|---|
Stand-Out Match | Vs. Dolph Ziggler, Survivor Series 2010 |
WWE Career | 2009-2010 |
Low Ki had an amazing career before working with the WWE, featuring moments like becoming the inaugural ROH Champion, a three-time NWA World Tag Team Champion, and an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. Low Ki was off to a decent enough start in FCW where he captured the Florida Tag Team titles with Michael McGillicutty (a.k.a. Curtis Axel).
Low Ki as a ring name isn't anything too spectacular, but it is miles ahead of Kaval, or, as it was meant to be, Kawal, which is Tagalog for "soldier". Low Ki is of Puerto Rican and Italian descent, so using a Tagalog word made no sense, but was at least better than changing it to Kaval.
3 Kassius Ohno Was A Tough Run For Chris Hero
He Signed With WWE In 2012
Titles/Accomplishments | N/A |
|---|---|
Stand-Out Match | Vs. Velveteen Dream, NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia |
WWE Career | 2012-2013, 2016-2020 |
Chris Hero became a legend in the Indy scene due to his work in Chikara, CZW, PWG, and ROH. His Kings of Wrestling tag team with Claudio Castagnoli was a major part of that, with the duo capturing gold in multiple independent promotions. Both he and Claudo had a tryout with WWE in 2011, resulting in both men getting signed and Hero starting in FCW in 2012.
10 Wrestling Managers Who Went Through Many Name Changes
Wrestlers aren't the only ones who have to go through name changes in the wrestling business. Many managers have also gone by various different names!Hero created the name Kassius Ohno himself as he wanted his initials to be K.O. and took the name Ohno from Ice Skating legend Apolo Ohno. While Kassius Ohno wasn't a horrible change, Chris Hero just had so much more respect and legacy behind that and it was all seemingly dropped and his work in WWE really shows that, as he didn't get to accomplish much before departing and returning to the independent scene.
2 Who Decided To Change Sami Callihan Into Solomon Crowe?
He Signed With WWE In 2013
Titles/Accomplishments | N/A |
|---|---|
Stand-Out Match | Vs. Bull Dempsey, NXT (03/04/2015) |
WWE Career | 2013-2015 |
Sami Callihan's time in WWE was plagued with injuries and missed opportunities from the start, as it took him more than a year to actually debut on a televised show. Most of his time was spent working on dark matches and live events before debuting on the February 18th, 2015 episode of NXT.
The name change to Solomon Crowe was probably not helping things as it was a very cartoony-sounding name for a wrestler in 2015. Callihan was released from his contract the same year he was finally able to debut and quickly made his return to companies like Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Fight Club: PRO.
1 Colt Cabana Suffered The Worst Change With Scotty Goldman
He Signed With WWE In 2007
Titles/Accomplishments | N/A |
|---|---|
Stand-Out Match | Vs. Umaga, SmackDown (02/20/2009) |
WWE Career | 2007-2009 |
Most wrestling fans have probably either seen Colt Cabana or heard of him, at the very least, for his career in ROH & AEW or his long-time friendship with CM Punk. The legacy he created for himself saw him reach the WWE and get signed to a contract starting on their OVW developmental brand, where he captured multiple championships.
Upon arriving on the main roster, he underwent a character change and dropped Colt Cabana in favor of Scotty Goldman. Cabana referenced the name in a tweet where he said "Apparently Jewy "The Jew" Jewerstein was trademarked". Obviously, the name was created to play on the fact that Colt Cabana was born into a Jewish family and tried to make a joke of that. To no one's surprise, that character didn't last long and Colt Cabana was back working elsewhere shortly after.
