5 WWE Superstar Names That Were Shortened
Our reporter Daniel Wood ran this story recently, and it caught the world of professional wrestling by storm. Apollo Crews' name has been shortened, and he will just be known as Apollo, henceforth.
This is to sever any ties with Nikolas Cruz, the man who orchestrated the recent mass shooting in Florida recently. Vince McMahon wanted to drop the 'Crews' name because it sounded far too similar to the murderer's name. A judicious call or a panicked move?
It's far too soon to say, honestly. All we know for sure is that for a variety of reasons, WWE has shortened the names of their superstars in the past, and in all likelihood, will continue to do so in the future as well.
Here are 5 cases where WWE Superstars have had their first or last names removed, for reasons both known and still unknown to us.
#5 The Bludgeon Brothers
These two men were once a part of the Wyatt Family, allied with the Eater of Worlds. Now their leader is in a different brand, and their stablemate, Braun Strowman, is perhaps the biggest star in all of WWE. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan have been repackaged. They are now known as The Bludgeon Brothers.
Their appearance has changed, and they're far more of a throwback, old-school, vintage WWE era Tag Team now. In keeping with the change of gimmick, their names have been shortened too. They are just Harper and Rowan, as of right now.
This change was possibly made to sever all ties with the Wyatt Family of old. Considering that these two men are still huge and beastly, we can understand that parallels may be drawn to their old stable.
We don't know what plans the company has for the Bludgeon Brothers, but we can only assume that the name change figures into those very plans!