I really want Tony Khan to randomly change someone on the roster’s name now just to watch Noid flip out about how stupid it is.

I remember thinking it being weird that they changed Byan Danielson to Daniel Bryan..... but in retrospect it was a stroke of genius.... Bryan Danielson just doesnt roll off the tongue in the same way, Daniel Bryan is easier to chant, and they got a name they could trademark

Yeah it's basically standard Vince. Sometimes seems silly and is silly but he has his reasons.

Only time it'd actually be very stupid is if he changed Cody's name or something, where the dude is established. Also, it'd be great if some of the name changes didn't sound like they were invented in a roleplaying game, but I'm guessing some of it is on the wrestlers for thinking of their new awful names.

Daniel Bryan is a good one. I remember being weirded out by that at first too. At least he started as Daniel Bryan on-air there. But he did call himself Bryan Danielson on NXT once. It was kind of out there that it wasn’t his real name.

I get annoyed when guys drop names, but does anyone really miss Alexander Rusev, Antonio Cesaro or Elias Samson? Miro goes by one name in AEW, Claudio is trying to trademark “CSRO” and Ezekiel is just Ezekiel.

First names with no last surname used to bother me. Now I’m just “whatever.” Sheamus worked. Butch is doing better in WWE than he probably thought he would as a smaller technical guy with an accent.

And it does make sense to have this IP trademarked.

None of those are in the same ballpark as the name changes we’re talking about (note: talking about, not complaining).

Reigns/Styles/Becky/Charlotte weren’t established on TV for 5 years before then randomly changing names without a kayfabe reason. The closest is Rocky Maivia to The Rock, but that story played out on screen.

The Bray/Axel/Husky thing is also something totally different; they were gimmick changes.

I somewhat get the changes when the guys get moved to the main roster, and hopefully they’ll eradicate the awkwardness of that by settling on a name before they get moved.

I’m working on the assumption that Kacy, Kay Lee Ray, etc aren’t being called up yet so it’s just going to be really awkward when they next rock up on NXT with a different name without explanation.

It’s jarring but it’s not without precedent. Like, even if you know Kacy Catanzaro is Kacy Catanzaro, her going by Katana Chase or whatever her name is isn’t her real name. Maybe some fans didn’t think Kacy Catanzaro was her real name either. This is just her ring name.

I wish there was more coherence week-to-week, but people are used to wrestlers using fake names. Awkward is probably the right word for it.

I feel like WWE wants wrestlers names to be kind of like American Gladiators from the early 90's. If you disagree, whatever kiss my butt!

The Universe isn't gonna know what to do with Nitro.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i..._-SRw&usqp=CAU

https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/...g-i/s-l300.jpg

Malibu - the love child of Edge and Stevie Richards.

https://images.complex.com/complex/i...tbztwydnvl.jpg

https://img.beckett.com/images/items...0110/front.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/f7/1d/75/f...rs-pew-pew.jpg

With Mike!

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/zKMAA...C1W/s-l400.jpg

http://www.figurerealm.com/galleries...umb_Turbo1.jpg
Whoa!

https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/imag...49240916_1.jpg

NXT 2.0 = American Gladiators!

Rico being 60 feels so weird. Always forget that he broke into the business very late.

He was great.

It's really weird that names are changing from NXT to RAW/SD while NXT is still on USA in primetime every week. On one hand, WWE presents the show on equal footing by giving it two hours on TV instead of one hour on their own network. On the other hand, it is now very clear that NXT exists as its own universe because the people you watched on that show are not really the same people you're now going to see on RAW and SD.

Dunno. I guess we as fans have kinda known that for a while, but it's wacky to see the company pretty much confirm it now.

(was gonna make that a thread but lots of people have already chimed in on it here so I guess this is fine)

There's a 30 for 30 coming out on the American Gladiators

Really? That sounds awesome.

I wish they were that charming.

Val Venis’ Twitter has been suspended. Last time he was only temporarily blocked for posting child porn. I can only imagine what he did now.

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Why is Phil so fragile???

Why don't you ask Phil yourself?
I usually dont get involved with big league stuff as I'm more about the backyard, but when people talk trash on the CM Punk that pisses me off. The guy is the best of the best, the cream of the crop, of the post attitude era wrestlers. Punk has a right to act any way he wants and I hate seeing people talking tough about him online who have less talent in their entire lives than one of Punk's fingernails.

The CM Punk, like The WCW?

The Krow on The CMPhil

Oh that old excuse of trying to make CM Punk look bad.
"But he lost in UFC haha!"
Yeah he lost but the point is he tried and that is more than all these people making fun of him for losing in UFC can say for themselves.
Pathetic.

LOL he tried, that is the defense? A guy with no talent paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to train for 3 years, just so he could get 1 takedown on a photographer in 2 fights, and we are supposed to kayfabe believe this fragile idiot photoshopping FEDBAD titles is actually a tough guy who is the best at wrestling? Dustin Rhodes is going to do a job for Phil, when EVERYBODY knows that even at 53 years old Dustin would mop the floor with Phil.

AEW breaks Kayfabe CONSTANTLY, but yeah, Phil could TOTALLY physically best the other wrestlers, and he FOR REAL weighs 218 pounds, not 175 surely!

It’s not so much that people mock him for trying. It’s more that some people can’t take him seriously as a bad-ass because they know what happens when he gets into a real fight. That’s always a risk you take if you’re a professional at something.

CM Punk likes Bret Hart, so it’s coming full circle.

So wait…did CM Punk really edit the US Title out of a photo with Piper?

If he did that…that’s a weird vibe. Especially because he tried to go back, so it’s like…more about Vince not wanting him, I guess. Or he’s just trying to manipulate people like BigCrippyZ. But it’s a bit yuck to use Piper to do it.

Jindrak might be the most athletic wrestler I've ever seen


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mark Jindrak doing a no-hands Lionsault was incredible. <a href="https://t.co/FViJcu9kLe">pic.twitter.com/FViJcu9kLe</a></p>&mdash; WCW Deep Cuts (@DeepCutsWCW) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeepCutsWCW/status/1515845187200864257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Blah blah blah
More room temperature IQ talking points from Mom's basement.
It is not disputable that CM Punk is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and he has the right to do and say anything he wants because he earnes it. Its fine if you dont like him and don't want to watch his matches, so the best thing would be to sit down, shut up and not watch his matches.
And the MMA thing, everyone knows wrestling is kayfabe. The toughest guy in wrestling is probably not the toughest guy in real life, thats not the point. I give Punk credit for giving it his all in the UFC attempt but he was a little too old and the ship had sailed. But Im not gonna sit here and run my mouth at somebody that I know for a fact is more talented than Ill ever be and I bet 90% of the people trash talking Punk wouldn't last 5 minutes in a fight.

He is??? How many Wrestlemania's did he main event? Hell, how many PPVs did he main event when he was WWE Champion? Seems like he was overrated BEFORE he got exposed as fraud tough guy. He is unquestionably the worst Mixed Martial Arts fighter ever.

Sounds like someone forgot about MG Hurst

https://m.facebook.com/6737584493420...ll_videos_card

Damn, when even thekrow coming for you, you know it's gonna be a murder.... I think you should give up and hide xrod....

Fuck, you're right.

Thekrow is possibly the most valuable wrestling forum poster we've ever had. No shame in that.

I agree with thekrow

The only reason no one would last 5 minutes in a fight with CM Punk is because Phil wouldn't last that long.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nearly 40 years later, the Andre the Giant splash from the top rope is still one of the wildest things I’ve seen in a wrestling ring. ☠️ <a href="https://t.co/ly6O90b59X">pic.twitter.com/ly6O90b59X</a></p>&mdash; Vintage Puroresu プロレス (@vintagepuro) <a href="https://twitter.com/vintagepuro/status/1516069175411691527?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>