“From Honolulu, HI, the Dragon!” “From Chicago, Il, the Legion of Doom!” “Accompanied to the ring by Zelina Vega, Andrade!”
Why does the WWE shorten the names of its wrestlers after establishing them with longer names? And why does the WWE shorten the names of its wrestlers when their full names are so much cooler?
Once the Legion of Doom faction disbanded and consisted of just Hawk and Animal, the Legion of Doom became the nickname to their nickname, the Road Warriors. It wasn’t meant to be a replacement. When I hear Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat I get a more concise image of the character. He becomes more fully developed. He has a first and last name to go with the nickname. Without the first and last name, he sounds like a cartoon character rather than a real guy who is awesome at martial arts. I could listen to Zelina Vega say, “Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas” all day. It rolls off of her tongue. It’s also similar to the Dragon’s name except Andrade ”Cien” Almas went from having a full name and nickname to just a first name.
It‘s not that we can’t accept name changes. We accepted Crusher Krushev going to the WWF and replacing Moondog Rex as Smash. And when Demolition ran its course we tolerated the Repo Man. We even endured when Repo Man disappeared and some fan showed up at ringside to harass Dustin Rhodes, calling himself the Blacktop Bully. No less decorated an amateur and pro than the Iron Sheik switched countries and names when he became Colonel Mustafa, even though it would’ve made more sense to have Sheik and Sgt. Slaughter suddenly be partners after their bloodbath of a feud. One Man Gang decided he was African and teamed up with the Big Bossman, even though the irony would‘ve worked better for a crooked corrections officer to be associated with a Chicago gangbanger. You get the idea. We’re ok with name changes.
Cien is Spanish for one hundred, which has made its way into the social media vernacular. Andrade “Cien” Almas was gaining steam on the main roster when for seemingly no reason his nickname and last name were dropped. Why drop that part of his name when your target audience uses it and is familiar with it?
Is it because historically the WWE couldn’t handle a wrestler in their company having a past? Find a different way to make your mark on a character other than a blatant, useless name change.
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