WWE Superstars Who Could Be Affected By Vince McMahon's New Naming Rule
04/17/2022 06:13 pm EDT
Kushida
The six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion will run up against both aspects of the rule. His real last name is in fact Kushida and he used it all over the world before arriving in NXT in 2019 (with his persona virtually unchanged from his New Japan days). Kushida has been working as one-half of Jacket Time with Ikemen Jiro
Roderick Strong
Strong's real name is Christopher Lindsey, but he was wrestling as Roderick Strong for over a decade before joining WWE. It also likely won't matter that Strong has been with the NXT brand since 2016 and has already appeared on the main roster under that name.
Grizzled Young Veterans
Zack Gibson (real name Jack Rea) has been wrestling under that name since 2010 while James Drake's real first name is James. A name change will probably be more likely for the former than the latter.
Joe Gacy
Gacy has been operating under that name since way back in 2006. He's currently feuding with NXT Champion Bron Breakker after having kidnapped Breakker's father, WWE Hall of Famer Rick Steiner.
Tommaso Ciampa
Ciampa's real first name is Tommaso and he's been using the Ciampa name since 2007. He's also popped up in plenty of major independent promotions under that name, most notably Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling. He might already be in the clear given he was just called up to the Raw roster with his name intact.
Quite a Few NXT UK Stars
Without even diving into their work in various UK territories, a bunch of the NXT UK roster wrestles under their real names. Some examples include:
- Tyler Bate
- Joe and Mark Coffey
- Ashton Smith
- Eddie Dennis
- Jordan Devlin
- Noam Dar
- Sam Gradwell
- Aleah James
- Amale
- Jinny
- Meiko Satomura
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