10 WWE Wrestlers Who Perform Under Their Real Names
Just like many other professions, wrestling also requires performers to play characters that can click with the fans. Just like Matt Damon’s on-screen alter-ego Jason Bourne, Brad Pitt’s Tyler Durden, and Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, names are used to make the character easier to remember and connect back to what their character is about.
Choosing one’s name as a wrestler requires a lot of effort and time to ensure that the right one is chosen from the start. Changing the character’s name, again and again, causes fans to either lose interest or forget past accomplishments of the wrestler. Hence, wrestling companies and wrestlers sit down together in order to pick the right one from the start.
Most wrestlers end up using fake names for entertainment, but the names must make the fans believe that they are that person. Wrestlers such as Goldust, The Undertaker, Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, and Stone-Cold Steve Austin are a few of the many wrestlers who have succeeded to do so.
On the other hand, many wrestlers get to keep half of their name and make up the other half. They use either their first of their last name and change the other half to make it click better with the fans. This remains true for wrestlers such as Bobby Roode, Kevin Owens, AJ Styles (with the AJ being his real initials), and Daniel Bryan to name a few.
However, so wrestlers are lucky enough to keep their real names and perform under the same by just moulding their character a bit. There are currently a few active wrestlers who have managed to bargain with the WWE and keep their real names while performing. Let’s take a look at ten such wrestlers who fight under their real names.