Backstage News On Future Of 'Weird Name Quirks' In WWE
In the weeks since Vince McMahon resigning from his duties in WWE, we're already seen many things change within the promotion. While the most visible changes may be the creative direction and returning former stars under new head of creative and EVP of Talent Relations Paul "Triple H" Levesque, it's been pointed out that the backstage area has become more relaxed, with talent feeling less like they're walking on eggshells as opposed to when McMahon was in charge.
Now the question has become what other changes could potentially occur. A minor one that some fans have wondered about is the status of certain wrestlers' names. One of the most notorious quirks of McMahon during his latter years running the promotion was the practice of drastically changing the names of talent or, more commonly, shortening names, changing Austin Theory into Theory, Angel Garza into Angel, and Tomasso Ciampa into Ciampa. But a new report suggests that quirk might be one of the things going out the door in the new WWE.
The triumphant return of 'Garza' and 'Carrillo'
"Some of the weird name quirks may be changing," Dave Meltzer wrote in today's edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. "Angel has already noted he is getting the Garza name back, which is notable because that is a family name, and under Vince, the idea was no last names that had been used prior to WWE unless somebody is already established in WWE with that name, or a Gable Steveson type. The belief is Humberto will get Carrillo back as well."
Garza and Carrillo are the nephews of lucha libre legend Hector Garza, who wrestled for WWE during the promotion's brief working relationship with AAA in 1997, explaining why McMahon removed Angel's last name. The cousins, who signed with WWE in 2018 and 2019, respectively, have been teaming together as Los Lotharios since September 2021. As noted by Meltzer, Angel recently indicated on social media that he would be regaining his last name, declaring that Angel Garza was back.