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In-ring ability in modern-day WWE is more important than ever, but so is the need for Superstars to build interesting characters that fans can become invested in.
Seth Rollins, for example, is widely regarded as one of the best performers that WWE has right now, but it is his evolution as a character, from “The Architect” and “The Man” to “The Kingslayer” and “The Beastslayer”, that has allowed him to truly connect with the audience.
Back in the 1990s, it was the same for many of WWE’s top Superstars during the Attitude Era. Steve Austin may not have become one of the biggest wrestling names of all time without his “Stone Cold” nickname, while The Rock had more unique soundbites and monikers than anybody else in WWE history.
However, did you know that, even when some of these characters’ new names and personality traits make it to WWE television, Vince McMahon often dislikes them?
Let’s take a look at four nicknames and catchphrases that the WWE owner was not fond of.
#4 Ryback’s nickname
In October 2012, John Cena was unable to face CM Punk for the WWE Championship at Hell In A Cell due to injury, so the undefeated Ryback was catapulted into the main-event scene to take on Punk in what, at the time, was the biggest match of his career.
Cena and Vince McMahon hyped up the Ryback character on episodes of Raw before the pay-per-view, with Cena even leading the fans in a chant of “Feed Me More” on one occasion.
While “Feed Me More” proved popular with Vince and the WWE Universe, there was one aspect of Ryback’s character that the WWE owner did not like: his nickname, “Big Hungry.”
Writing in a Reddit AMA, the former Intercontinental champion explained:
"They never had any say in any of the things I used for catchphrases or nicknames. I had them use Big Hungry early on and Vince hated it so they stopped."
Michael Cole would often yell “Big Hungry!” in a similar way to how he yells “The Big Dog!” and “It’s Boss Time!”, but the nickname only lasted around a month.
#3 The ‘Austin 3:16’ phrase on shirts
Steve Austin shot to WWE superstardom following his memorable “Austin 3:16” promo at King of the Ring 1996, so it was only natural that the company tried to capitalise on his success by selling new memorabilia for one of their top stars.
As it turned out, a plain black shirt with “Austin 3:16” written across the middle ended up becoming the best-selling item in WWE history, but the design of the shirt would have been a lot different if Vince McMahon had his way.
As Bruce Prichard explained on his ‘Something To Wrestle With’ podcast, the WWE owner did not want to see the phrase “Austin 3:16” on the shirt. Instead, he wanted a picture of Austin’s face.
He said (quotes via Still Real To Us):
“[Vince] hated it, absolutely hated it ... Vince felt that the babyface t-shirts should be like pictures of the babyfaces. Cause people wanna support their favourite. My argument was, you’re gonna get more people to buy the shirt if it doesn’t have an image of someone on it […] a dude doesn’t wanna wear another dude on his shirt.”
#2 Enzo Amore’s ‘zero dimes’ phrase
From 2012-2018, Enzo Amore used several unique catchphrases and nicknames on WWE television, including his “My name is Enzo Amore…” introduction and his signature “Certified G” and “Bonafide Stud” soundbites.
The former Cruiserweight champion also regularly mentioned “zero dimes” during promos (e.g. "If me and Big Cass had a dime for every time we got beat up as kids, we would have... zero dimes!").
Speaking on the Store Horsemen podcast in 2018, Amore explained how Vince McMahon was not a fan of the phrase but he allowed him to keep using it due to the merchandise money it brought in.
He said (quotes via Wrestle Zone):
“For instance, ‘zero dimes’, you remember that thing? Like, Vince didn’t get it. So I used it in NXT a bunch, when I got to the main roster, Vince was like ‘…what’s that mean?’ So he doesn’t get it but we’re making money off merchandise with it.”
#1 Brock Lesnar’s first nickname
Brock Lesnar burst onto the WWE scene in 2002 and immediately established himself as one of the company’s top Superstars, aka “The Next Big Thing”, by defeating The Rock for the Undisputed Championship within five months of his debut at SummerSlam.
Lesnar’s nickname was often mentioned by commentators and in video packages early on in his WWE career, but little did fans know at the time that Vince McMahon “hated” his new moniker.
Paul Heyman, Lesnar’s long-time advocate, wrote on Twitter in 2011:
"It's funny. Vince McMahon hated when I called Brock Lesnar 'The Next Big Thing!' HATED IT. WANTED ME TO STOP CALLING BROCK THAT NAME! Brock comments on it in his book, too. It was a real war to get Vince to let me keep calling Brock 'The Next Big Thing!'"
Lesnar has since gone on to be known as "The Beast Incarnate" and "The Conqueror" during his second run with WWE, but he was synoymous with "The Next Big Thing" from 2002-2004.
