Vince McMahon wanted former WWE star to change his appearance because he looked like Edge
Former WWE Superstar Heath Slater was once told to change his appearance because Vince McMahon thought he looked too similar to Edge.
Slater used the names Heath Miller (his real name) and Sebastian Slater in FCW (Florida Championship Wrestling). After four years in WWE’s developmental system, he became a member of the villainous Nexus faction on WWE’s main roster in 2010.
Speaking on the Such Good Shoot podcast, Slater recalled how WWE executive John Laurinaitis asked him to drastically change his character. According to Laurinaitis, Vince McMahon disliked the name Sebastian and he thought Slater closely resembled WWE Hall of Famer Edge.
“Johnny Ace [John Laurinatis] was like, ‘Yeah, Vince don't like Sebastian,’” Slater said. “I was like, ‘Hell.’ They were like, ‘We want you to cut your hair and go to trunks too. You remind him too much of Edge.’ And I'm just like, ‘What the hell, man? Like, I don't want to go to damn trunks, you know? S***.’"
“And then, like, ‘You’re the one that told me to grow my hair out!’ I am confused, you know? So it's like, ‘Hey, we want to bring you up here. We like you. And you're a good worker, but we want to change every damn thing about you.’”
Slater is not the only former WWE Superstar who had a resemblance to Edge. The original Sin Cara once went out of his way to shake Curt Hawkins’ hand backstage in WWE. Hawkins later found out that Sin Cara thought he was Edge.
Vince McMahon approved Heath Slater’s name change
Vince McMahon has been known to change WWE Superstars’ names once they move from NXT to RAW and SmackDown.
In Heath Slater’s case, the former 3MB member was able to use his real first name after pitching the idea to John Laurinaitis.
“I literally told Johnny, I said, ‘Let me just use Heath. Let me be Heath Slater then,’” Slater said. “And that's my real name, Heath, anyway, and he was like, ‘Yeah, let me pitch it.’ And I think they didn't even know my real name is Heath or something. I don't know. But they just was like, ‘Yeah, let him use it. We like it.’ So that's how I got the name, you know, with Slater.”
Slater received his release from WWE in 2020 after 14 years with the company. He now uses his real name, Heath, in IMPACT Wrestling and on the independent scene.