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Whenever a wrestler enters the pro industry there are many things that they need to get right. They need to polish their wrestling skills along with their mic skills, persona, and ring names. These are all a part of the package that a wrestler brings to a company, and they can either make or break their career.
Over the past few years, wrestlers have changed their gimmicks and ring names several times in order to start afresh and make it big in the industry. These changes have worked in some instances and failed elsewhere.
There are several wrestlers in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) who’ve either competed under their real names for the entirety of their careers or changed their names later on in their career to start afresh or to avoid legal problems with their previous employers.
This has allowed them to have full control and ownership of their ring name as well as helped them to avoid any major legal problems later on in their careers too.
In this article, we will look at the 14 current AEW Stars who own their names.
#14 Former boxer Anthony Ogogo kept his actual name for AEW
Anthony Ogogo is a former English professional boxer who won a bronze medal in the middleweight division at the 2012 Olympics as an amateur. Since then, Ogogo suffered several injuries and was forced to retire after he was registered blind.
After retiring from boxing, Ogogo started to take interest in wrestling and began performing on the independent circuit in 2019. Later that year, Ogogo became the first developmental wrestler to sign with AEW.
Just like Kurt Angle, Anthony Ogogo will likely continue with his real name which is already well-known thanks to his boxing career.
#13 Ricky Starks made his AEW debut under his actual name
A few months ago, Ricky Starks surprised several fans by aligning himself with Brian Cage and attacking Robert Anthony and Darby Allin after their match. Earlier, Starks had made his unannounced debut for AEW in June after he answered Cody's open challenge for the AEW TNT Championship, in an effort which resulted in a loss for him.
While Starks is new to AEW, his previous work on other promotions show that he has a lot of talent and the potential to go a long way. Since debuting in 2012, Starks has used the shortened version of his first name along with his actual last name to compete throughout his career.
#12 Matt Cardona is using his actual name in AEW
In his WWE career, that lasted over 15 years, Matthew Cardona became famous for his work under his ring name Zack Ryder. While Cardona did win a few titles during his time in WWE, he wasn't really given a run worthy of his potential by the company. After his release from WWE in 2020, Cardona did not waste much time and signed with AEW.
As an AEW Star, he ensured not to use the ring name that made him famous in WWE and instead opted for his actual name Matt Cardona.
#11 Wardlow joined AEW in 2019
Standing at 6' 2" and weighing 121 kgs, Wardlow is one of the bigger men in AEW, who has the potential to become a real powerhouse for the promotion.
Wardlow competed for International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) for most of his career before signing with AEW in August 2019, and we’ve seen him align with MJF and compete against top star Cody.
Born Michael Wardlow, the 32-year-old has used his actual name for the entirety of his career, and currently competes under his surname which fits his character perfectly.
#10 MJF (Maxwell Jacob Friedman) simply tweaked his middle name for AEW
Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) has seen his stock skyrocket since joining AEW. His heel character has worked superbly for both himself and the company, and he could become a key wrestler for AEW for many years.
While MJF stands for Maxwell Jacob Friedman, the AEW star’s real name is Maxwell T. Friedman and he has simply swapped out his middle name to create a great ring name.
Though most young stars prefer to use a different ring name to get ahead in the industry, the 24-year-old’s real name fits perfectly with his character.
#9 Joey Janela prefers to be known by his real name in AEW
Joey Janela signed with AEW in January 2019 and was one of the first signings of the company. After making a name for himself in several other promotions, such as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), and Major League Wrestling (MLW), we’ve seen Janela compete in some top matches in AEW.
Even though he has switched several wrestling promotions, Janela has used his ring name throughout his pro wrestling journey and continues to compete in the ring under under his real name.
While it’s difficult for certain stars to make it big under their actual name, Janela is someone who has managed to gain a lot of success without the need to change his name.
#8 Sammy Guevara continues with his real name in AEW
It seems as though the newer generation of performers prefer to stick with their birth name rather than come up with a ring name, and that’s exactly what 27-year-old Sammy Guevara has done.
Guevara has competed in Evolve Wrestling, Lucha Underground, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), Pro Wrestling Federation of Pakistan (PWFP), and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), where he used his ring name througout.
This has ensured that Guevara has always had control of his ring name in his own hands.
#7 Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. has added her profession to her AEW ring name
Britt Baker signed with AEW in 2019, and she has found a lot of success performing for the new promotion in a very short time. Born Brittany Baker, the AEW star did not have to tweak her real name too much to come up with her ring name.
Why does she have a Dr. and D.M.D. attached to her name? Well, Baker is a dentist by profession, and AEW decided to attach that to her name after it became a joke in the company.
In a 2019 interview for Bleacher Report, Baker commented on her ability to work in both dentistry and professional wrestling:
“Both of my worlds are very understanding of the other. I have an agreement with the dental office I work for that we'll be closed on Wednesdays. Because I'll be in whatever city AEW Dynamite is in. And AEW is OK with me flying in super-late Tuesday night after work or even early Wednesday morning. They are also really good at getting me on the first flight back to Orlando Thursday morning. I get right off the plane and go to work. I am still able to work four days a week as a dentist.”
Baker has been doing a great job in the AEW, and it will be interesting to see how she handles her wrestling and dentistry schedule once she becomes a top star in AEW.
#6 AEW star Jake Hager has tweaked his real name to compete in the ring
In WWE, Jake Hager achieved success by becoming the WWE World Heavyweight Champion under the ring name Jack Swagger. After leaving the company, he had a career in MMA where he decided to use his real name, Jack Hager, to avoid any conflict.
While his real birth name was Donald Jacob Hager, he decided to shorten his middle name Jacob, to Jake, and hit the AEW ring as Jake Hager in 2019.
Hager is one of the bigger men in AEW, and we could see the star win a few titles during his stay in the company to make it big.
#5 Japanese-born AEW Star Riho
After finding success in Ice Ribbon and Gatoh Move Pro Wrestling, Riho moved to AEW in May 2019. The Japanese-born wrestler has competed under various ring names, but her birth name stuck with her throughout.
Riho debuted in AEW and used her first name as her ring name for the promotion.
Riho outperformed the other women on the AEW roster to become the inaugural AEW Women’s Champion. Her reign lasted over four months before she lost the title to Nyla Rose.
#4 Cody Rhodes is known as Cody in AEW
Apart from his stint in WWE as Stardust, Cody Rhodes has performed under his actual name for WWE and other promotions. This has allowed him to use his family name which was made famous by his father, WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, and he has carried the torch well.
After a lengthy WWE career that lasted over a decade, Cody became the Executive Vice President of AEW and has since been one of the top stars of the promotion.
Cody became the inaugural AEW TNT Champion and has had several major feuds that have helped AEW develop some new stars.
#3 The Bulgarian Brute joined AEW as Miro (Miroslav Barnyashev)
Bulgarian-born wrestler Miroslav Barnyashev had a lengthy career in WWE as Rusev. His tenure with the company lasted over ten years, and he managed to win a few titles during his stint.
However, the WWE Universe was shocked when the company released him in 2020. On the September 9, 2020 episode of AEW Dynamite, Miro made his debut for the promotion to the delight of his fans.
While he became well-known in the wrestling industry as Rusev, Miro decided to use his actual name for AEW. Miro is the shortform of his actual first name Miroslav.
#2 Matt Hardy has continued with his actual name in AEW
Matt Hardy is not just one of the biggest names in AEW today, he is one of the biggest names in the entire pro wrestling industry. Born Matthew Hardy, the dare-devil wrestler has used his real name in his entire career.
We’ve seen Hardy make it big in WWE and TNA using his real name, and that has helped him continue without the need to change his ring name.
The veteran wrestler is still one of the most exciting men in AEW, and his ring name cannot be claimed by any other promotion, including the mighty WWE for whom he worked for several years.
#1 AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida
Hikaru Shida has travelled all over the world to showcase her wrestling talent. The AEW star has ensured that at least some part of her real name remains part of her ring name no matter where she performs.
Landing in AEW in April 2019, Shida decided to use her actual name.
Just like many of the other women in AEW, Shida has made it big using her real name. She defeated Nyla Rose in a no disqualification and no countout match to win her first AEW Women's World Championship.
