5 WWE Superstar names and backstage stories behind them

A string of factors are involved in the overall presentation of a WWE Superstar. The Superstar's gimmick, their mic-skills, and their in-ring skills need to be unique enough to pique audience interest. In addition to these factors, there's another one that can make or break a Superstar's career: their in-ring name.

Names like The Rock, Hulk Hogan, and Stone Cold played crucial roles in these Superstars gaining immense popularity. On the other hand, there are names like Michael McGillicutty, which was so bad that WWE went on to give the wrestler an entirely new moniker. In the following slideshow, we will be taking a look at five in-ring names, donned by some of the most famous WWE Superstars in history. We will also focus on backstage stories about how those names came into being.

#5 Triple H

Once known as Terra Ryzing before making his way to WWE, Triple H was finally given a better gimmick and name when he came to Vince McMahon's promotion. The Game once revealed the origins of his name and stated that the original name given to him was Reginald DuPont Helmsley, as told to him by J.J. Dillon.

Dillon could sense that Paul Levesque wasn't too thrilled with the name, so he agreed to check the suggestions that the former WCW star had come up with.

"The next thing I heard, J.J. called me up and said, 'Hey, we went with a little bit of your suggestions and you're going to be Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Three H's.' and I was like, 'Okay…I can work with that a little bit.' So we went with that and then Shawn (Michaels) started calling me 'Triple H' from day one."

The moniker of Triple H became a big hit and he soon turned into a major Superstar during the Monday Night Wars. More than two decades later, Triple H is one of the biggest names in all of pro wrestling and has had a career many can only dream of.

#4 Stone Cold Steve Austin

When fans discuss the Attitude Era and the Monday Night Wars, the first name that is bound to come in their minds is that of Stone Cold Steve Austin. Earlier known as The Ringmaster, Austin was once watching an HBO special at his residence, which featured a character named The Ice Man. It caught his eye and he ended up pitching the idea to WWE. In response, WWE sent him three pages consisting of possible names he could use.

They faxed me three pages of the worst names I’d seen in the history of my life. Otto von Ruthless…Ice Dagger…Fang McFrost… Man, it doesn’t get more s**k-a** than that!

Around that time, Stone Cold's now ex-wife uttered these words that would ultimately change the course of pro-wrestling:

As she turns to leave, ‘Go ahead and drink your tea,’ she says, ‘before it goes stone cold…'

Austin liked the idea and pitched it to WWE officials. The same was approved and he began using the name on WWE TV. Needless to say, this was possibly the biggest turning point in his career, as well as in pro wrestling.

#3 Hulk Hogan

Over the past four decades, the name of Hulk Hogan has wowed fans all across the world. Dubbed as possibly the greatest WWE Superstar who ever lived, Hogan's name certainly has an interesting origin story. Back in the 70s, Hogan once appeared on a talk show where Lou Ferrigno was also featured. The host noticed how Hogan's form and physique trumped that of Lou, who was playing the character of The Hulk in a TV series.

Thus, Terry Bollea began using the moniker of Terry "The Hulk" Boulder. When he made his way to WWE, Vince J. McMahon decided to give him an Irish name, and thus he got the last name of Hogan. The rest, as they say, is history. Hogan went on to defeat The Iron Sheik to win his first WWE title in 1984 and was featured heavily on WrestleMania cards during the first decade of the wrestling extravaganza. Hogan later reinvented himself in WCW, by forming the nWo. This would eventually give birth to the Attitude Era, regarded by many as possibly the most exciting time to be a wrestling fan.

#2 Becky Lynch

Becky Lynch rose up the ranks in 2019 and went on to headline WrestleMania 35. She later bagged the cover of WWE 2K20 alongside Roman Reigns. Lynch's success story is an inspiring one, as she didn't think she had anything left to do in the business, back in 2011.

Lynch was given a bunch of names back when she was a newbie in WWE. After rejecting and modifying a few, she stuck with Becky Lynch. Robin Daly was one of the names that Lynch rejected.

They wanted a name associated with my own name, like Rebecca. So I became Becky, and two of the names that came back to me were Becky Lynch and something like Madeleine. I was like, ‘I didn’t even submit that, I don’t know how it got in there.’ It made me think of that TV show Madeleine. Anyway, I said no to that, and the other name that came back was Robin Daly. I actually did like that, but I thought it would be better to have a part of my own name in there, so Becky Lynch it was.

Becky Lynch didn't do much of note during her first three years on the main roster, and many feared that she would end up being the weakest one of The Four Horsewomen. In a surprising turn of events, she garnered huge fan support following her heel turn at WWE SummerSlam 2018, and soon, The Man was born.

Lynch would turn into the most popular Superstar in all of WWE over the next several months, with her epic journey culminating in the main event of WrestleMania.

#1 The Prototype (John Cena)

Before sticking with the moniker of John Cena, the WWE legend was known as The Prototype. This robotic character was used by Cena in his early days in Ohio Valley Wrestling, and it's clear as day that keeping it for long wouldn't have fared well for him. While talking about The Prototype, Cena once stated that one wants to find a gimmick that makes fans notice them, and thus he decided to try it out with The Prototype.

Oh, it was awful. You wanna find a gimmick so when you walk out, people notice you. It's trial and error with a lot of errors. My first try was The Prototype which was half man and half machine...and 100% c**p. I used the ability to talk rather monotone, and would say things authoritatively. And when things like, 'I will kick your a** at the Fairgrounds on Sunday,' I rewound and went, 'yadnuS no sdnuorgriaF eht ta **a ruoy kcik lliw I. I will kick your a** at the Fairgrounds on Sunday.'

Cena used the name for almost two years, before finally donning the moniker of John Cena. He wrestled under this name is his debut match on WWE SmackDown against WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle. Today, Cena is one of the biggest names in pro wrestling, as well as Hollywood.

"Obviously my bank account": A'ja Wilson describes how she would have acclimatized to NIL deals and modern college money