One of the more baffling moves that WWE continues to make, is renaming talent after taking time to establish them. Recent examples include renaming Kay Lee Ray to Alba Fyre, WALTER to GUNTHER, and Marcel Bartgel to Ludwig Kaiser. However, one that would catch a talent off guard was former NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez becoming Raquel Rodriguez.
Raquel Rodriguez Wanted To Carry On Her Families Wrestling History
While speaking to Ryan Satin on the Out of Character podcast, Rodriguez gave her thoughts on the name change.
“I wanted to keep Gonzalez because it represented me. It represents my legacy because it’s my real last name. It’s the name that my dad used while he was wrestling throughout his career, but I wasn’t upset about it. I’m glad that they still gave me something hispanic, Rodriguez, I’m grateful that I got something that is R and R. I was joking with Rhea that her initials are RR, mine are RR, when we used to tag together, we were R&R.I can’t say that I was super upset. I just wish…Gonzalez had a special meaning to me, but it’s always going to be my name.”
Still The Same Badass In The Ring
Regardless of the name change upon moving to Smackdown Live, the heavyweight style of Raquel has remained the same. She’s even taken current Smackdown Women’s Champion and UFC Hall of Famer Ronda Rousey to her limits in a title match.
Changing names on wrestlers can very rarely sink a career, with the exception being the likes of dubbing Terry Taylor as Red Rooster or Chad Gable as Shorty G. Raquel still could end up being a future champion on the main roster, and her time in NXT proved that she can carry a strong division on her back.
At the end of the day, WWE is a business – and trademarking something so close to someone’s real name can be tricky. This is why even the likes of Simone Johnson will get renamed upon entering the company.
Do you think WWE should rename their talents for the sake of trademarking? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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