10 WWE Superstars and their original WWE gimmick names
Braun Strowman, Nia Jax, Andrade "Cien" Almas and Roman Reigns are some of the most prominent Superstars on WWE television today.
However, their paths through WWE’s developmental system to the main roster were met with a few challenges, starting off with their first gimmick names.
Every top WWE Superstar needs a captivating character to fulfill their potential in the business and grab the audience’s attention, but it can sometimes take longer than expected to come up with a strong name.
Hulk Hogan, for example, is a name that has Superstar written all over it. Curtis Axel’s original name, Michael McGillicutty, on the other hand? Not so much.
So, without further ado, let’s take a look at 10 current WWE Superstars and reveal what they were originally called when they debuted for the company (including developmental brands).
Character names in this article are from the archive match results on wrestling stats database profightdb.com.
#10 Nia Jax was called Zada
Real name Savelina Fanene, Nia Jax initially debuted in WWE under the ring name Zada.
However, this name only lasted for one NXT live event in May 2015, where she teamed with Devin Taylor in a losing effort against Bayley and Carmella.
Two days later, she began using the name Lina, which was changed to Nia Jax in August 2015.
#9 John Cena was called The Prototype
John Cena has 16 World Championships to his name in WWE, and he can also boast of having one of the most obscure original gimmick names in the company’s history: The Prototype.
In fairness to WWE, they didn’t give him the name – Cena began using it during his time in Ultimate Pro Wrestling – but he still competed as The Prototype in WWE’s OVW developmental system in 2001.
When he was called up to the main roster in June 2002, WWE ditched the gimmick name and called him by his real name instead.