WWE Teases Name Change for Butch on SmackDown

After Tyler Bate's successful main roster debut last week teaming with Butch against Pretty Deadly, the two sat down for a chat over coffee on this week's WWE SmackDown. Bate tries to cheer Butch up, first revealing his excitement about the two of them tagging together. He also tells Butch that he knows he's not himself. He has an idea, offering to teach him some mindfulness techniques. 

Butch, however, thinks that instead of the two teaming together on SmackDown, they should do their own thing. He adds that the Brawling Brutes are officially done when Bate chimes in, "Make a name for yourself. Remember who told you that back in Blackpool? What will that name be?" The video cuts off right as Butch appears like he's going to say "Pete Dunne."

Butch revealed his thoughts on the name change when it initially happened, noting that a lot more parents say he's their kid's favorite wrestler. "I was just about to board the plane and I got a call saying the new name and a basic rundown of the vision," Butch said on the Out of Character podcast. "Yeah, then I spent the whole flight thinking to myself 'how is this going to be received?' Knowing how it was going to be received for the most part." (h/t: SeScoops)

The Return of Pete Dunne?

Prior to even signing with WWE, Butch competed under the name "Pete Dunne" for over a decade. For a period of time in his WWE career, he was still referred to as Dunne. After he was defeated by former NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes in March of 2022, he made his official main roster debut just a month later. When he was called up, one part of him wasn't -- his character name. Instead, his name had been changed to "Butch" which confused fans who had followed the star's career, finding it unnecessary. 

Butch had a very successful run in NXT UK as a former WWE United Kingdom Champion at 685 days. He is also a former WWE NXT Tag Team Champion with Matt Riddle. Butch made the trek over to the United States in 2019 where he then began competing quite regularly on NXT until his official call up in April of 2022.

What do you think about Butch returning to the Pete Dunne name? Is it a long time coming? Let us know in the comments!