WWE: Name Changes Signify a Permanent Home in the Middle of the Card

Apollo Crews is the latest WWE superstar to lose part of his name, now being known as “Apollo.” Whatever the reason for the switch, it’s not a great sign of things to come.

In WWE, the trend for the past few years has been to make things more “realistic.” I mean, everyone seems to be referring to WWE as in the “Reality Era” right now. Lines between kayfabe and real life are blurred. Babyfaces and heels are more of a guideline than a hard fast rule. And there’s a much larger social media presence used to build up matches and angles – or, at very least, superstars themselves.

Something that kind of ties into that “real” vibe is names. More and more, the superstars in WWE are more likely to be using either their real name or a stage name that could be a real name in the ring. While in the 1980s and 1990s, characters like The Goon, Earthquake, The Warlord, and Diesel were the norm, today the arguable biggest stars are Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, John Cena, and AJ Styles.

Other current superstars who may realistically be viewed as “top superstars” in WWE today? Dean Ambrose. Seth Rollins. Finn Balor. Braun Strowman. Kevin Owens. Sami Zayn. Dolph Ziggler. Baron Corbin. Bobby Roode. Randy Orton. Notably absent from that list: Rusev, Neville, Cesaro, and – now – Apollo.

With the news that WWE – for some reason or another – dropped “Crews” from Apollo’s name, he becomes the latest in a line of superstars to lose part of their ring name. Rusev used be be Alexander Rusev, Neville was Adrian Neville, Cesaro was Antonio Cesaro. (At least Apollo didn’t lose the ‘A’ word from his name.)

Something you may notice about all of those superstars – Rusev, Neville, and Cesaro – is that they’re often examples fans bring up of superstars who are not pushed as far as they should by the powers that be. Rusev is riding the Rusev Day high right now, but how far will that end up going? Neville was the “King of the Cruiserweights,” but he – and the WWE Universe – clearly wanted more. And Cesaro? Dude should be a six-time world champ by now.

Other superstars have lost part of their name, too – Big E was once Big E Langston. You know, when he won the Intercontinental Championship. After losing the Langston, he made the most of his experience with The New Day, but he was sort of written off.