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Being a WWE Superstar means you're at the highest level of professional wrestling. While wrestlers break into the industry in various ways, some are fortunate enough to have a family lineage that can potentially help open doors for them.
Having a familiar name has many benefits. Promoters and fans are more likely to gravitate toward a superstar with a well-known lineage. The child of a wrestling star is also more likely to be around the business for most of their life and thus learn things fast.
There are also some drawbacks to being the son or daughter of a legend. There's far more pressure to live up to their family's legacy, and fans already have a preconceived notion of what the wrestler should be. As a result, some stars choose not to use their family name.
WWE often avoids having legacy stars use their family name for the same reason, along with ownership rights. This article will look at a handful of second, third, and even fourth-generation stars who didn't use their parent's wrestling name.
#5. Bron Breakker ditched the Steiner name
Many fans and insiders believe Bron Breakker to be the future of the wrestling industry. The 25-year-old sensation is already a two-time NXT Champion. He's headlined several premium live events and will probably find great success on the main roster.
He is the son of the legendary Rick Steiner. The latter began wrestling in 1983 and found great success teaming up with his brother Scott. The Steiner Brothers are one of the greatest tag teams of all time, winning titles all over the world.
Despite the success of the elder Steiners, Bron is using a different name. He still honors his family with regular references in ring gear and moves. He also had the honor of inducting them into the WWE Hall of Fame earlier this year.
#4. The Head of the Table took a new name
Roman Reigns is arguably the biggest star in professional wrestling today. The six-time world champion has dominated WWE for a decade, with his latest title reign rapidly approaching the 800-day mark.
The Tribal Chief's father is the legendary Sika. He was one-half of The Wild Samoans, a tag team that dominated the 1970s and 1980s. Sika, alongside Afa, held the WWF Tag Team Titles three times.
Both Sika and his brother Afa are part of the legendary Anoa'i family. While many members have worked for WWE, very few have ever used their last names while wrestling. This can likely be chalked up to many family members using a "savage" or otherwise stereotypical gimmick in the past.
#3. Solo Sikoa is also using a different name
Roman Reigns is far from the only The Bloodline member with a famous wrestling father. One of the newest sensations on WWE SmackDown is Solo Sikoa, the son of the legendary Rikishi.
Rikishi is a WWE Hall of Famer with numerous titles across various promotions. His accolades in World Wrestling Entertainment include three tag team titles and the Intercontinental Championship.
Meanwhile, Solo Sikoa began his career on NXT and even held the NXT North American Championship earlier this year. He's currently part of The Bloodline with the aforementioned Roman Reigns, The Usos, Paul Heyman, and Sami Zayn.
Solo didn't take the Rikishi or Fatu name, but he didn't take the Uso name either. This was likely due to his character initially being that of a rejected family member.
#2. Ava Raine is using a different name
Ava Raine appeared on the program under a mask for several weeks before being unveiled as the newest member of The Schism, alongside Joe Gacy and The Dyad.
She is the daughter of The Rock, the granddaughter of Rocky Johnson, and the great-granddaughter of Peter Maivia. While all three are Hall of Fame-caliber stars, The Rock is one of the biggest superstars of all time.
Apart from his tremendous success in Hollywood, The Rock is a multi-time world champion. He's headlined WrestleMania on many occasions with memorable battles against John Cena and Steve Austin at the Show of Shows.
Ava may struggle to live up to her father's name, so a new name and a completely different gimmick could help her stand out.
#1. WWE's Bray Wyatt didn't use his father's name
Bray Wyatt is a multi-time world champion who has dominated NXT, RAW, and SmackDown over the last decade. He's also headlined several shows and premium live events.
The Eater of Worlds is the son of Mike Rotunda, perhaps best remembered as Irwin R. Schyster. He has held many titles, including five WWF tag team titles. IRS is also the father of Bo Dallas.
Rotunda also competed as VK Wallstreet during the Attitude Era, where he was briefly a member of the New World Order. Between being a taxman and a hot-shot amateur wrestler, Mike's gimmicks were dramatically different from Bray's, which likely explains using a different name.
