4 WWE nicknames and catchphrases that Vince McMahon disliked

Brock Lesnar was originally referred to as "The Next Big Thing"

In-ring ability in modern-day WWE is more important than ever, but so is the need for Superstars to build interesting characters that fans can become invested in.

Seth Rollins, for example, is widely regarded as one of the best performers that WWE has right now, but it is his evolution as a character, from “The Architect” and “The Man” to “The Kingslayer” and “The Beastslayer”, that has allowed him to truly connect with the audience.

Back in the 1990s, it was the same for many of WWE’s top Superstars during the Attitude Era. Steve Austin may not have become one of the biggest wrestling names of all time without his “Stone Cold” nickname, while The Rock had more unique soundbites and monikers than anybody else in WWE history.

However, did you know that, even when some of these characters’ new names and personality traits make it to WWE television, Vince McMahon often dislikes them?

Let’s take a look at four nicknames and catchphrases that the WWE owner was not fond of.

#4 Ryback’s nickname

In October 2012, John Cena was unable to face CM Punk for the WWE Championship at Hell In A Cell due to injury, so the undefeated Ryback was catapulted into the main-event scene to take on Punk in what, at the time, was the biggest match of his career.

Cena and Vince McMahon hyped up the Ryback character on episodes of Raw before the pay-per-view, with Cena even leading the fans in a chant of “Feed Me More” on one occasion.

While “Feed Me More” proved popular with Vince and the WWE Universe, there was one aspect of Ryback’s character that the WWE owner did not like: his nickname, “Big Hungry.”

Writing in a Reddit AMA, the former Intercontinental champion explained:

"They never had any say in any of the things I used for catchphrases or nicknames. I had them use Big Hungry early on and Vince hated it so they stopped."

Michael Cole would often yell “Big Hungry!” in a similar way to how he yells “The Big Dog!” and “It’s Boss Time!”, but the nickname only lasted around a month.