5 AEW Stars who don't own their WWE name and 2 who do
What's in a name? In professional wrestling, it's everything. For years, pro wrestlers have built their whole careers on a set of letters or alphabets that make all the difference.
In WWE, very few got to keep their ring name, primarily if they built their entire careers there. There are exceptions to the rule, but intellectual property is always at the center of the WWE Business Model in the current era.
Some WWE Superstars changed their name to sound like their wrestling names
A clear example of this was The Ultimate Warrior, who didn't own the rights to his WWE name and had to change his real name to Warrior legally. Another WWE Champion who followed a similar path was Stone Cold Steve Austin, who legally changed his name to Steve Austin.
Others seem to navigate this name change, especially with a move to Hollywood like The Rock or John Cena. Cena got lucky that he got to use his real name all the way through. With that said, wrestling fans live in a world where they have multiple options to watch professional wrestling from Impact Wrestling, NJPW, ROH, MLW, AEW, and WWE.
With several former WWE Superstars in AEW, they now go by a different avatar or a variation of their original name. Here five AEW Stars who don't own their WWE name and two who do.
#7 Pac a.k.a Neville (Doesn't own)
It should be noted that Pac was already well known on the independent circuit for several years in places like PWG and DragonGate before he got to WWE. Of course, his tenure in NXT put him on the map. Renamed Adrian Neville, Pac would go down to become a two-time NXT Tag Team Champion as well as an NXT Champion.
He was eventually called up to the WWE main roster. Ironically, his most showcased feud came with Cody Rhodes, a.k.a Stardust. The feud was akin to comic book heroes and villains and would even add Arrow actor Stephen Amell.
Neville would eventually become WWE Cruiserweight Champion, but he left WWE as he was unhappy with the booking. Pac eventually reverted to his original ring name and signed with AEW. While he's currently not competing on AEW Dynamite due to the COVID-19 pandemic, his presence still looms as he seeks to cement his spot when things go back to normal.