BILLIE KAY!
PEYTON ROYCE!
EMBER MOON!
KHARMA!
Many young and talented women are starting their career in "small" wrestling promotions, with a loyal fan-base. Many of them want to be a part of one of the three biggest promotion in USA - WWE, TNA and ROH or famous all-women companies like SHINE, SHIMMER or WSU!
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| Deonna Purrazzo is a young talent, who we want to see in WWE NXT as a constant part of their roster, with her own, unique ring name! |
It's nice to see amazing young lady like Deonna Purrazzo got the attention of all major big and small wrestling promotions. It's nice to watch Allysin Kay, Cherry Bomb, Marti Belle and Mia Yim working for a serious big company like TNA Impact Wrestling, taping shows and participate in PPV. It's nice to watch Kana, Tenille Dashwood, Britani Knight, Jessica McKay and many others, competing every week in WWE and WWE NXT, and to know that Athena and Nikki Storm are ready to debut any moment on TV!
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| Britani Knight (Saraya-Jade Bevis) was renamed to "Paige", despite her successful career as Britani. Actually the "ring name" Paige is not that bad! |
Wait!!!
Many of you didn't know for who am I talking about? Who is Tenille Dashwood? I don't remember to see her on WWE RAW!!! Oh, you do! You know her as "Emma"!
I will star it with a tale
Once upon a time ...
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| As Divas Search 2007 Winner, Eve Torres has the opportunity to retain her real name, shorted to Eve! |
WWE used the real names of it's famous talents!... Or references to their real names like Trish Stratus, who's real name is Patricia Ann Stratigias, Beth Phoenix - Elizabeth Carolan, etc. ... Yes, there was a ring names like Lita (Amy Dumas), Molly Holly (Norah Greenwald), Ivory (Lisa Moretti) and etc. but they were cool, and these women reach their career peak in WWE. But after 2001 there was a bunch of real name-using female talents - Stacy Keibler, Torrie Wilson, Dawn Marie, Nidia (Guenard) and etc. All of the Divas Search contestants and winners (who were hired), mostly used their real names (Eve Torres, Layla (El), Maria (Kanellis) and etc.). Two of my all time favorite wrestlers Mickie James and Melina (Perez), used their birth names two.
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| The Iconic Mickie James has using her real name in WWE and TNA, many other promotions! |
TNA's Hall of Fame inductee Gail Kim use her real name all the time in WWE and TNA, too!
What is your problem with that name policy?
I don't have a problem with the fact that they love to rename an infamous girls and build them to a trademark character which they own, like Kelly Kelly's case. But why did they take amazing talents from the indie scene or from TNA and rename them? Some TNA wrestlers names are trademark of the company, but some ring names are the wrestlers' trademark. TNA started to do the same as WWE in the past months. Hiring famous indie scene names and rename them. Allysin Kay becomes Sienna. Cherry Bomb becomes Allie (very impersonally name name for famous a SHIMMER contestant). Mia Yim becomes Jade. Actually I hope that the bookers give the women a chance to approve their new ring names.
But why is that necessary?
Trading and Gimmick!
Every company wants to use its wrestlers as a trademark, next to their role of competitors.Of course many women didn't get their own merchandise with a lot of articles, clothes lines and accessories , but they are used for calendars, posters and other things. All of the biggest promoters, didn't want to give the freedom to leave their company with your ring name and to go and earn money for the rivalry promotion, with it.
In the case where, you as a wrestler are named by the rival company, it's logical to be renamed, but not necessary. People knows Awesome Kong (for example), even when you rename her "Kharma", "The Amazon" or "Kia Jax", the fans will never forget that she comes from TNA and the indie scene. So, it's a bit pointless to rename her.
Athena (Adrienne Reese) was renamed with her consent!
When Asuka was renamed, they told us that she took her ring name, in honor of Lioness Asuka. They decided that Kana (name so close to her real name - Kanako Urai) is not appropriate for WWE NXT. But "Kana" is the name that fans in Japan and the fans of SHIMMER will remember, when they see her. Billie Kay is another case of famous SHIMMER talent, who just get a silly name "Billie Kay" - why, because they have a need to "suggest" her to change her name in order to erase her past. When Athena (Adrienne Reese) was asked in Twitter about her new ring name "Ember Moon", she politely answered that she select it/approve it!
Yes, it's looks like they have try to convince the fans, that this women's career before WWE didn't exist. Or it is less important. We didn't count poor references of sort of "They have figheted each other in the past!" - that is nothing! WWE is famous with it's Gimmick-mania. They are obsessed with renaming, branding and restrict the professional freedom of many of their wrestlers. They go beyond the ring and backstage segments , at the time they forced the wrestlers to act like their story-lines and ring behaviors are real thing (as the rumors says Serena Deeb was fired, because she refused to play a role, all the time) .
TNA allowed their talents to compete in other promotions. WWE doesn't (This is good at the point of preventing them from injuries, but as long as we know WWE's regimen, the injuries happen often) . They own the talents, they own their names.
The other funny part of that "name changing" is that equality politics WWE is desperately trying to convince us that they have, since they erase the term "Divas" and change the title belt's name and look similar to their main male title. Changing the names of all the independent scene's women is showing that there are not such a thing as real equality. The women may get a lot of attention, but they are still restricted in their choices, starting with the ring name. Samoa Joe, Austin Aries and AJ Styles kept their ring names from the indies and TNA, but Athena, Awesome Kong and etc. didn't have that opportunity.
So, now we can sit and wait, trembling, what name they will put/"suggest" on/for Nikki Storm, maybe something like "Lavendra Chumpigstone", "Neyton Sroyce" or other.
Everything is for trade and gimmick!!!
