Rumor killer on WWE making major move ahead of SummerSlam - Reports
WWE has had many curious rules and policies over the years, some controversial and some necessary for the company's growth. Vince McMahon was responsible for most of the structure of the Stamford-based promotion, but some are being eliminated now that Endeavor is in control.
World Wrestling Entertainment has not allowed talents to keep their names after leaving the company unless there were special circumstances like a real name situation or a name used before coming to WWE. Wrestling Observer Live's Bryan Alvarez reported earlier today that the decades-old policy has changed in the TKO era.
The report claimed talents are given ownership of names when they leave under the new TKO contracts. Ethan Page was used as an example. The report noted that officials filed trademarks when the former AEW star signed, but it was claimed that TKO would "hand everything over" to him if he left.
Alvarez explained that TKO owns wrestling-related rights while talents are under contract, but they can take those rights when leaving the company, adding that this is a "very big change" from the past. The report mentioned that newcomer Stephanie Vaquer "very much wanted" to keep her name when signing with WWE, so officials are "apparently allowing her to keep the name" and will have it trademarked while she's there.
The hosts also pointed out how Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik were allowed to keep their names after they were cut in November 2021. It should be noted that Julian Micevski began using "Ethan Page" in 2007, long before he signed and became the NXT Champion, and Stephanie Vaquer's real name is Ana Stephanie Vaquer González, so both would have been able to use their current names after departing.
Sources have now dismissed the original report. Fightful Select notes that today's talk on WWE turning over wrestler names was massively misconstrued. In regards to TKO reportedly allowing talents to use ring names after leaving the company, the update states that this is not the case.
The Triple H, Nick Khan, and The Rock-led company cannot prevent wrestlers from using a name they had before joining the company and trademarking it. This applies to cited talents Metalik and Dorado, along with stars like Chris Jericho, Samoa Joe, Toni Storm, Adam Cole, Sting, and Mustafa Ali. These wrestlers all established their ring names long before inking a TKO deal.
WWE also has no way to prevent wrestlers from using real names in other promotions, and in the past, we've seen stars like Chyna, Ryback, Test, and Warrior change legal names to ring names to circumvent the obstacle.
Multiple WWE sources confirmed the rumor killer on ring name policies and rules today, noting that there have been no major changes. To reiterate, Yuvraj Dhesi cannot go by Jinder Mahal, but Drew Gulak can continue being billed by his real name, as he has done so since debuting in 2005. Bobby Steveson can no longer use Damon Kemp, but Trevor Mann can move forward with the name he's used since debuting in 2003 - Ricochet.
How former champion was able to use the TNA name in WWE
While World Wrestling Entertainment and All Elite Wrestling have had concrete policies on talents taking their names elsewhere, some promotions were not as strict in the past. One did turn over the use of ring names to talents several years back - TNA.
According to Fightful Select, Ethan Carter III, aka EC3, quickly took advantage of the change in December 2017 and filed to trademark his three-letter name. This has allowed him to use the moniker in WWE, ROH, CYN, NWA, and OVW.
Dixie Carter's storyline nephew used the EC3 name in TNA from his debut in the fall of 2013 until his departure in January 2018. He returned to WWE that same month for a two-year run and has used the EC3 name ever since.
The Stamford-based promotion filed to trademark the EC3 name in June 2019 but abandoned it months later due to the trademark owned by the four-time 24/7 Champion.