Jeez, WWE. Was the “Joseph Goebbels” trademark taken?

Nobody in this thread knew who Gunther Stark was before this. Why would they have to know? He's not some huge big name historical figure. He was a random U-boat captain.

Meltzer makes an Auschwitz joke and everythings peachy. Nothing to see here.

WWE names a guy and it happens to be the name of some obscure Nazi submarine captain nobody has ever heard of: REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~

Make it make sense.

its absolutely ridiculous to claim anyone should have known about this long dead person and its twice as silly to think anyone who now knows should care.

this manufactured outrage has to be exhausting

If they named him Hitler or Goebbels or something, yeah. I get it. But if we are striking every name that happened to be used by a Nazi? Well that's gonna be a hell of a tall order.

I bet there are people on this board with the same name as a Nazi rn.

And it’s three times as silly to be outraged if a Jew makes a joke referencing the blunder.

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They didn't even realize the possible connotations regarding The Submission Sorority.

The blunder? LOL. Is that what the holocaust was? Silly me. I thought it was the greatest atrocity in the history of mankind. I didn't realize it was just a simple blunder.

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Being Hispanic I think I'm pretty safe in that regard.

Also amusing that Meltzers exact goal with the statement was to cause outrage. Just at WWE. Not him.

Oh come on! You know I’m referencing WWE’s blunder!

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The invasion of Poland was just a prank amongst neighbors. Afterwards Poland was all "Oh, you guys."

The Holocaust itself was at LEAST an “oopsie daisy”.

Which blunder did WWE make? Using the same name for the same match they've been using for years? Having it in Saudi Arabia which is absolutely meaningless because it's just a match? What is the difference between having that match in New York or Saudi Arabia other than fake outrage because WWE bad?

I don't see where they made a blunder. I see Meltzer trying to make people think they did with a piss poor attempt at humor.

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Remember when Tojo left a bag of flaming doggy doo on Roosevelt's front porch?

The outrage started before Meltzer made the joke. And whether people should be outraged or not is beside the point. The outrage aimed at a Jew making fun of the situation is ridiculous. Go ahead and argue that he should have thicker skin. Don’t get outraged that he made a joke in response to it. Lol

… This is a trap. Goddamn you.

It’s actually a great call by WWE to change his name. If you’re trying to appeal to a younger audience the last thing you want is for the kids to Google him and have a tonne of Breaking Bad videos returned with all their over the top violence, or worse, Walter is an old dudes name, imagine how uncool it’d look to the young kids when they’re met with 100 images of old dudes called Walter. Much better to rename him Gunther Stark to avoid any search engine issues like that.








:shifty:

Other suggested NXT gimmick changes:

Dexter Lumis to Charlie Chaplin
Diamond Mine to an improv comedy troupe
Io Shirai to a jazz lounge singer

I have a feeling they'll never use the Stark name tbh. I'm assuming he was going to have something to do with that one girl Zoey like someone else said I think. WWE like to avoid using the same name for multiple people so when they do it it's usually on purpose.

Whatever the case, him debuting on NXT as just Gunther is probably indicative that they won't be using the Stark name. Let's be real, if they had him debut has Gunther Stark last night then 6 months or a year from now we'd all be talking about how dumb it was for them to suddenly just drop the Stark name as they inevitably would.

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lol a jazz singer gimmick could actually be interesting. Not for Io though. With all the rap gimmicks we've had it'd be a nice change to have someone playing the piano and crooning out zingers with a velvety smooth voice.

Improv comedy group is basically every comedy gimmick these days though tbh. And if anyone could actually pull off a Chaplin gimmick it'd probably be Lumis lol

The saddest part of all this is that I actually had to google it to verify you were joking because I would not be surprised if all of that was true given we're talking about the fed here.

Lounge singer guy has to wear a zoot suit and blackout shades as part of the gimmick. Should come out to Zoot Suit Riot by Cherry Poppin' Daddies. Would be super over af and you know it.

Lounge singer gimmick would be super fun, tbh

It'll just be the newest iteration of Corbin when they get bored of the happy stuff. Doesn't even have to change the attire that much.

Jazzy Corbin

You found the one way to ruin the gimmick. Is that you Vince?

Given that WWE is all about trademarking talent names, it's amazing that both a USPTO and a common law search analysis of the name, which would or at least should also entail a simple Google search, wasn't apparently done.

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Aww, son of a....!!!

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Fed Dumb.

They should make him a nazi and the descendant of that guy, and say hes here to get revenge on the world and restore the glorious Reich!

Instant number 1 heel

I’m not too attached to the name “WALTER.” It also makes sense for the WWE to trademark his name. Not sure how I feel about “Gunther Stark” on pure aesthetics. It could kind of grow on me over time. I’ve never heard of the Nazi before. Seems weird to get so upset about it if it’s arcane knowledge. No way they do it now. Say hello to “Franz Huber!”

Just looked up that name…also a Nazi. Then I got the composer of Silent Night.

He’ll probably get cheered in some parts of the US.

I feel like if they had just debuted WALTER as Gunther, there would've been that initial moan everybody has when they change the name of an established indy guy...but we would've all gotten used to it and moved on.

It's just the timing of it that confuses me. Why change it after he's been around all this time? And with seemingly little explanation other than him just declaring his name change after a match.

Gunther defeats Roderick Strong on NXT and absorbs his last name.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnThisDayInWWE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OnThisDayInWWE</a> 15 years ago, Bam Bam Bigelow died.<br><br>He was just 45.<br><br>Bret Hart said: &quot;Bam Bam Bigelow was the best big man in the business. Always so strong, so quick, and most of all he was safe, a real pro in the ring.&quot;<a href="https://t.co/wcqr5Ft9pg">pic.twitter.com/wcqr5Ft9pg</a></p>&mdash; On This Day in WWE (@OTD_in_WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/OTD_in_WWE/status/1483812950330781696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Bam Bam was so good so fast. He should have been booked as a heel in the WWF when he first came in. He could have had a great feud with Hogan. Instead they put him with bootleg Cap Lou Albano (Humperdink). He wasn't gonna get anywhere in WCW because Flair didn't like him and would bury him on promos.

He's so infamous for being a nobody it took the "general public" less than 12 hours to find this name.


As a global brand, these things have to be thought about, especially something so "easy to find".


I agree that no one should really care about it at this point, but let's not pretend that isn't the shitty way things work anymore.

They shouldn’t have used the name and you should type a name you are trying to trademark into Google first, but people don’t know his name off the top of their heads. And the guy doesn’t have a Wikipedia page. His name definitely pops up in some pieces on the Olympia Crew, but all the top links now are actually about the wrestler and this story.

Like, it’s obvious the WWE didn’t know about this. So why blast them over it? Other than possibly poor research. But like I said, I made up a random Austrian name and got a Nazi that DID have a Wikipedia page.

I could be wrong, but they probably could not trademark the name Gunther by itself, and unfortunately nobody checked the last name their random name generator generated.

That is somebody dropping the ball for sure.

Changing the name of a guy you have employed for years AND who has been put on main roster PPVs before is just Vince McMahon being a wacky old fuck.

Can't wait for Dakota Kai's main roster call up with her new name Aileen Wuornos :fu:

Walter Stark actually sounds like a cool name. Would allow everyone to just keep calling him Walter yet they'd still own the ring name. And it'd have avoided any "controversy".

I know you can't trademark somebody's full real name but plenty of guys have had names trademarked where it's their shoot first name and a fake last name. Maybe the laws have changed.

Guess they didn't want to cut Walter Stark in 2 years and then have Walter show back up elsewhere because the names are too close....but like, damn. Everyone's gonna know it's the same guy. Just feels silly to me. Ah well. As long as he's chopping the shit out of people whatever he's doing, I'm happy for him.

Walter Stark is the name of Iron Man’s dad. And another WWII figure. Not a nazi — but naming someone after someone positively remembered can still cause backlash in this day and age.

Howard Stark

It's in fashion to take shots at America. This guy never misses an opportunity. Very xenophobic.

Howard Walter Stark :'(

Howard Anthony Walter Stark :'(

Damb Nazi pos

At least he lost some weight so he looks less like a giant smooth baby

LOL Scotty 2 Hotty claims in an interview that Vince wanted the Performance Center coachers to cut their hair and dye their beards to look younger.

Freddie Prinze Jr's new wrestling podcast is fascinating

It's called Wrestling with Freddie.

Just finished the first two episodes and it's tremendous. Hearing all the horseshit and backstage stuff that Freddie went through is just crazy. It has now made my rotation and gets the Gertner Stamp of Approval.

****** addendum: adding this to my previous post. I wasn't here yet. Catching up homework from my snow days absences.




I have had mixed feelings about it. It is a name that both fails AND passes "the name test".

In print with no context, it looks kinda stupid.

It actually sounds even worse Americanized.

But when properly pronounced, along with giving it the inflection and gravitas akin to Heyman saying BROCK LESNAR, there is nothing wrong with WALTER. And the more it was used, the more it caught on.

Back in the Monday Night War era, a friend of mine initially said he found it hard to take Bill Goldberg seriously. Mainly, because he associated the name with some kid who went to his high school, who was apparently the polar opposite build of a former Atlanta Falcon with a tribal tatoo on his shoulder. But the more "Goldberg" got associated with the winstreaked spear machine, that original association faded away, and now most people wouldn't think of a Jewish kid they may know, or even some network sitcom. They'll either think of DA MAN as a wrestler or as a host of some muscle car show, or both.

WALTER has built that kind of association with himself for a number of years.. Heck, he could have made a gimmick out of having WWE announcers pronounce his name right through intimidation in a move similar to Ken Kennedy's "feud" with Tony Chimmel about his "lackluster" ring introductions. Instead, looks like WWE will just throw all that shit away just to own a fucking trademark.

At least they pushed Rex Steiner into the name generator before he showed up in the fantasy land where they like to pretend that fans simultaneously don't know who the Steiner Brothers are and that he is their kin, and still give vocally acknoledged homages to both of them in his entrance music, moveset, and ring gear. For WALTER, the company just changed him midstream for zero reason.

i used to love saying VALLTAR but now i guess i can get into GOONTAR

HOWARD.

But they're starting from zero, and you know everyone except WALTER will pronounce it "Gun-THur". Also, for some reason, it sounds like it should be the name of a foreign male model gimmick. Wait...


oh, god. No...

... they wouldn't...


... would they?

If a lacky comes out with him carrying a mirror .....

I 100p believe this

Didn't he make Nash do that too?

No, Nash did it for The Punisher.

What? He was blonde in Punisher.....


This was around 2016 or so.

Lmao

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">On This Day in JCP History - 1986<br><br>TONIGHT ROANOKE<br><br>&quot;There's 3 things that the Rock &amp; Roll Express don't want. That's the plague, AIDS &amp; the Midnight Express, but you're gonna get at least one em right there in Roanoke.&quot; - <a href="https://twitter.com/TheJimCornette?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheJimCornette</a>, who totally promises to not get involved <a href="https://t.co/jRnB6WTRVc">pic.twitter.com/jRnB6WTRVc</a></p>&mdash; The Mid-Atlantic Championship Podcast (@MidAtlanticPod) <a href="https://twitter.com/MidAtlanticPod/status/1483794406805323783?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Oh didn't he come back as diesel though? I could see Vince asking him to dye it just for the nostalgia factor to hit harder when he came out.

I remember Nash saying in an interview that his wife didn't want him to go back to WWE because they wanted him to dye his hair.

I don't think it was that one where he's eating ravioli, though

I have added this to my list of like 322 podcasts but will put it ahead of everything and give it a listen tonight. Thanks for the suggestion.

Was he drinking red wine? That would narrow it down to about 27 others.

The shows are between 35-50 minutes long so it's not a marathon listen

Sometimes I have to skip cornettes podcast cause it's so long and I don't have time to listen to both shows and other podcasts.

Between the Sheets is between 4.5 to 7 hours and I never miss it (I skip the Lucha and Japan stuff mostly so it's not THAT long). Stopped listening to Cornette's shows a while ago. Too much stuff that I don't care about.

My current line up:

MC True Long Island Story
Between the Sheets
Grillin with JR (except when it's a watchalong or if Paul Bromwell is co hosting instead of Conrad)
Jeff Jarrett's podcast
Magnificent Muraco's podcast
Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw
Wrestling with Freddie
Stick to Wrestling with John McAdam sometimes if I like the topic. Same with Tommy Dreamer's.

and a couple Trance Podcasts (A State of Trance and Find your Harmony)

Cornettes was better when the shows were separated between reviewing modern wrestling and answering questions about his time in the business. Now they review modern wrestling on both shows so there's no one spot to get that great old school cornette story telling.

You might want to check out recent episodes though. They released a two part omnibus of all the Vince McMahon stories on the show and its a really fun listen.

I did listen to the Vince and wrestler deaths omnibus. Those were really good.

The story about Vince tipping the cable guy $100 for showing him how to unmute the TV is a gem.

Muraco has a podcast?

Anything that is MUST LISTEN from your list BNG? Specific episodes? I have heard mostly all of Conrad’s podcasts.

Yeah it's pretty good. He tells some funny stories without crapping on fellow wrestlers.

I'm really enjoying Freddie's podcast because it comes from a different perspective. Listened to the first 3 episodes.

Between the Sheets is super wrestling nerdy but very interesting. They time stamp their shows so you can skip the boring shit. The 1999/2000 episodes are funny just for the Russo WCW era stuff

and I HIGHLY recommend stories with Brisco and Bradshaw. What a fun listen.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/bxSjWC2scn">pic.twitter.com/bxSjWC2scn</a></p>&mdash; Rob Naylor (@NINaylor) <a href="https://twitter.com/NINaylor/status/1484204819917193216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

So fucking good.

You can keep your stiff forearms, I'd rather see a Lawler punch.

WWE has abandoned the "Gunther Stark" trademark.

That crowd was rabid when Lawler started to lay in those rights. Need to go back and watch more of babyface King.

Apparently WWE has refused to grand Ali his release.

Probably should have waited until they released him before he hit social media.

OR IT COULD BE A WORK YOU GUYS

He can just be EC3 and not give a shit until it runs out.

lol Matt Hardy said taking the stink face from Rikishi was "delightful". I'm not giving any other context on this one.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Alexa: show me the greatest dancer in the world. <a href="https://t.co/LEUzjKY5Y9">pic.twitter.com/LEUzjKY5Y9</a></p>&mdash; Allan (@allan_cheapshot) <a href="https://twitter.com/allan_cheapshot/status/1484603368526041092?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Weekend vibes. <a href="https://t.co/3rgXG9iYLE">pic.twitter.com/3rgXG9iYLE</a></p>&mdash; WCW Deep Cuts (@DeepCutsWCW) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeepCutsWCW/status/1484682625499471875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Greatest match in Sunday Night Heat history...

While not a poster on the board, guess who ironically happens to share a name with a Nazi solider? Walter Hahn.

Double J on SD. Has a match with Effy at GCW this weekend. Effy in RR confirmed!!!

JBL wants to manage Dom Mysterio against Rey in their inevitable feud.

I am so down for that.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jerry &amp; I were known for our series of singles matches, but we also made a pretty good tag team. <a href="https://t.co/4gOA3rFIdG">https://t.co/4gOA3rFIdG</a></p>&mdash; Sean Waltman (@TheRealXPac) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRealXPac/status/1484803050418155522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Xpac has been sharing old clips of him and Jerry Lynn from the early 90s and it looks really cool.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The only speech I'll ever look forward to giving is this Saturday, when I have the honor of inducting <a href="https://twitter.com/itsjerrylynn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@itsjerrylynn</a> into the Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame this Saturday. Sharing this video again to remind everyone how great he already was 31 years ago. �� <a href="https://t.co/F56zgMOGlz">https://t.co/F56zgMOGlz</a></p>&mdash; Sean Waltman (@TheRealXPac) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRealXPac/status/1484070789066346496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Never forget that Meatloaf was inexplicably the drummer on The Wrestling Album. <a href="https://t.co/7G9r6XL6X6">pic.twitter.com/7G9r6XL6X6</a></p>&mdash; RJ City (@RJCity1) <a href="https://twitter.com/RJCity1/status/1484506140239179784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

lol wtf

More details have emerged regarding Ali’s request for a release, specifically around the creative pitch that lead to an alleged “heated disagreement” between Ali and Vince McMahon himself.

It’s said that Vince had a detailed plan that would have seen Ali completely repackaged and would have incorporated a number of other talents on the roster. The idea would have seen Ali receive another name change. There was also creative to involve Aliyah - hence her TV presence and win over Natalya in recent weeks.

There were a number of points of contention between the parties over the creative direction of the pitch. There was said to be an eleborate set piece that would see Ali rescuing Aliyah from a “difficult situation” leading to a chase through the backstage area escaping via what was described as parkour-like manoeuvres. This was the first issue as this is very close to what Reggie has been doing over on the Raw brand. Ali is not trained in parkour and feared he’d come off as “second rate” in comparison to Reggie.

Further plans called for Ali to gain a sidekick character who was described as “charismatic”, “wise-cracking” and “fast-talking”. There were a number of talents touted in this role including Montez Ford, Titus O’Neil, NXT 2.0’s Trick Williams, and Cesaro. Again Ali was said to be “underwhelmed” having recently teamed with Mansoor, and following the stable with Retribution as he wants to work on his singles career for now.

There were concerns over the romance angle between Ali and Aliyah. Ali has been married since 2011 and has 3 children and was not taken with the idea of an onscreen romance. This however was the idea that “Ali would never have done”.

It’s said that this part of the pitch was direct from Bruce Pritchard who was said to have been “reaching into the past” and pitched for Ali to have an animal companion in the vein of Jake Roberts and Damian, Koko B. Ware and Frankie, and Davey Boy Smith and Matilda (the bulldog). This was the idea that “Ali would never have done” as the pitch called for the companion to be a monkey. Ali has Pithecophobia - an irrational fear of monkeys. As far as Bruce - and therefore Vince - was concerned, this was “make or break” for the gimmick. Many backstage have viewed this as a rib on Ali from Vince directly as he apparently knew of the phobia.

Further ideas would have seen Jinder Mahal cast in a villainous role opposite Ali (complete with a parrot to oppose Ali’s monkey) and a huge “top level talent style entrance” at this year’s WrestleMania where Ali, Aliyah, the sidekick (and the monkey) would have entered on a huge flying carpet.

The source is quoted as saying “Vince’s grandkids were watching the live action remake of Aladdin a couple of weekends ago”.

A flying fucking carpet wow Lmaoooo

There is no way that's real. I believe like 98% of these stories about the bullshit ideas they have from time to time. But nope. That right there ain't it. That's a joke referencing that time Ali wanted to play Aladdin in the live action remake. Come on, he's Aladdin, she's Jasmine, the monkey is Apu and they ride a carpet? lololol

https://www.wwe.com/article/mustafa-...n?sf97392890=1