A confusing wrestling name instantly adds a tough variable for wrestlers to overcome if the audience doesn’t fully understand or remember their names. Conversations about masked WCW legend Ultimo Dragon shine a brighter light on some names that fans didn’t fully understand. Conversations about trying to remember a name clearly can be taken as a negative for one’s career.
Each of the following wrestlers in question had some form of confusion regarding their on-screen names. WWE, WCW, AEW, and every other major all-time company tried to have names that fans could connect to, chant, and remember with ease. These wrestlers unfortunately had names that had fans misunderstanding some aspects of it.
10 Ultimo Dragon
The name Ultimo Dragon is still confused with Ultimate Dragon all these years later. It was a cool name either way, but he always used the Ultimo name in WCW and WWE during his most noteworthy stints in the United States promotions.
Fans believed that Ultimate Dragon was used since Ultimo translated to that anyway. WCW made Ultimo Dragon a respected cruiserweight for his run there. Unfortunately, the WWE tenure made him lose a lot of that credibility with a failed run.
9 Max & Jeremy Buck
TNA renamed the Young Bucks as Generation Me, but their individual names led to some confusion moving forward. Max and Jeremy Buck were the names given to Matt and Nick Jackson so TNA could own their names during their time there.
Many fans assumed Max and Jeremy were their real names since it felt a bit strange to pick names that generic. Finn Balor even referred to them as Jeremy and Max Buck during their introduction to the Bullet Club since he also believed those were their real names instead of Nick and Matt.
8 Sin Cara Azul
WWE ran a strange storyline that had the new luchador Sin Cara have an impostor trying to take over his identity. The original Sin Cara was played by Mistico and had the strange dynamic of someone trying to wrestle in his mask and gear.
Sin Cara Azul was the distinction given to the original played by Mistico. Hunico played the impostor and started going by Sin Cara Negro before leaving after losing the feud. However, things got more confusing when Mistico was fired from the role and Hunico started playing the original.
7 Asya
WCW assumed that everyone watched WWE when they started to come up with parody characters to mock the competition. Asya was a new name given to a debuting female wrestler from the Power Plant training facility with a bodybuilder physique.
Anyone watching WWE would get the idea that Asya was meant to be WCW’s version of Chyna with jokes about her being bigger. The diehard WCW fans just felt confused about why WCW would go that low with their marketing to get attention.
6 Rhyno
Fans never know how to spell the name of Rhyno aka Rhino since it was spelled both ways. ECW and TNA/Impact Wrestling used the traditional Rhino spelling since they knew they wouldn’t be able to trademark the name of an animal.
WWE got more creative when spelling his name Rhyno and making it their trademark any time he ever worked for them. Rhino preferred the traditional spelling since it actually felt like his name, but more fans are confused by the Rhyno spelling since his WWE time was the most followed.
5 CM Punk
Wrestling fans have been trying to figure out what the CM stands for in CM Punk’s name. Multiple theories are out there like Cookie Monster or Chick Magnet, but no one has ever been able to get a direct answer from Punk who likes to make people guess.
WWE made a rare exception when Punk got to keep his name and use it in the bigger company. However, that doesn’t mean that we ever got an official answer to the mystery behind Punk’s name. Most of us have realized that Punk finds joy in the guessing game of people always being unsure.
4 Mandrews
TNA added the talented British wrestler Mark Andrews to the roster after one of the British Boot Camp competition show seasons. Andrews had youth and potential on his side as a great prospect that instantly had strong matches in the X-Division.
However, there was one thing holding him back when using the name of Mandrews to shorten his full name without much logic. Fans made fun of Mandrews’ name to take away from his chance at moving up the card and making the most of his great in-ring work.
3 The Artist Formerly Known As Prince Iaukea
WCW got extremely desperate in the final years of the Vince Russo era with some outlandish gimmicks. The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea was an absurd and confusing name change for the lower mid-card prospect Prince Iaukea.
Russo came up with the idea when legendary singer Prince changed his stage name to The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. Iaukea adopted a gimmick like the legendary Prince that just confused any fans that weren’t following the music world.
2 Anna Jay A.S.
The Jericho Appreciation Society faction has been a mixed bag of ups and downs for the talents to follow Chris Jericho’s leadership. Anna Jay turned heel to align with her best friend Tay Melo and the rest of the faction as a natural heel personality.
AEW unfortunately made a mistake by trying to get too cute renaming Anna Jay. The new name of Anna Jay A.S. was hard to follow since “Anna Jay Appreciation Society” makes no sense. Anna has the word Jay as her last name as opposed to the J.A.S. acronym of the group to make the name change a bit pointless.
1 Shark Boy
TNA tried to find magic in the endearing comedic act of the babyface Shark Boy. Fans got confused about this name since the movie franchise The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lavagirl came out around the same time as his peak TNA run.
Fans wondering if there was any association between the two Shark Boy characters even led to the movie studio getting involved and threatening to sue. Shark Boy has kept his name for years and still makes occasional appearances today to outlive the movie character.
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