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WWE has a lot of competition nowadays with the likes of Impact Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling and now All Elite Wrestling, which means that they are often forced to trademark names to ensure that superstars can't cash in on the momentum that WWE has created for them on their platform if they ever leave.
Less and less WWE stars are now able to keep their own names as WWE changes up names from NXT to the main roster and often numerous times in NXT before many stars are given the introduction they deserve.
Interestingly, there have been a handful of WWE stars over the past few years who have been forced to change their names following promotion to the main roster and the reason is often because WWE finds it easier to trademark one name rather than two.
#5 Adrian Neville
Adrian Neville had a fantastic run in NXT back when the developmental brand was first finding its feet, but the company decided that when he was promoted to the main roster he should lose his first name and only be known as Neville moving forward.
Neville is a former Cruiserweight Champion and was promoted to Monday Night Raw after a successful spell as NXT Champion, but his career wasn't everything that he expected it to be. Neville walked out of WWE back in October 2017 and was then released officially the following year after refusing to return to WWE even though he was still under contract.
Neville has since returned to the Independent Circuit and to his former name Pac as he looks to push for a career outside of the company.
#4 Elias Samson
The Drifter has become one of the best things about Monday Night Raw over the past few months, but whilst he was down in NXT he was able to find his feet as a musician and introduced himself to the WWE Universe as Elias Samson.
Samson was shockingly promoted to the main roster without being able to create a buzz about himself on the developmental brand so the company decided that his name should have a facelift when he did make it to Monday Night Raw. This change has since allowed him to come up with a new catchphrase "Walk With Elias" which suits his character much better and has allowed him to get over with the WWE Universe.
Many of the WWE Universe will be hardpressed to remember that Elias once had a last name.
#3 Alexander Rusev
Alexander Rusev made quite the impression down in NXT as one of the recruits to the Performance Center when NXT was first starting to become a training facility. Lana joined Rusev whilst he was down in NXT and the couple took over Full Sail University before he was promoted to the main roster and went on to become The Bulgarian Brute.
WWE made the conscious decision to take away Rusev's first name after a few weeks of being on the main roster since there was no need for Alexander to be part of his name anymore. Rusev is quite a unique name for the Bulgarian star to have so WWE decided that this would be enough for him, and he has since been very successful with the shortened version of his name since he is the current United States Champion.
#2 Big E Langston
Big E Langston was just the second NXT Champion and interestingly he was able to defeat inaugural Champion Seth Rollins to become the new title holder. Big E already had quite the career path by the time he made it to the main roster and was aligned with Dolph Ziggler.
It was only later when Big E went solo that he was able to drop Langston from his name and then go on to become an integral part of The New Day. Big E is now a former Tag Team Champion and Intercontinental Champion, which shows that WWE made the right decision by shortening down his name since he has become a hotly successful star and is one of the most featured athletes on SmackDown Live over the past few months.
#1 Andrade "Cien" Almas
Andrade "Cien" Almas was signed to WWE with a reputation on the Independent Circuit, which is something that allowed him to push forward during his time in NXT and it then led to him becoming NXT Champion when he was shockingly able to defeat Drew McIntyre back at War Games in 2017.
Almas went on to put on a 5-star match against Johnny Gargano in Philadephia before he was called up to the main roster. Over the past few months, Almas was unable to find his footing on SmackDown Live as he bounced from feud to feud but WWE decided now was the best time for him to change his name. Moving forward he will now be known as Andrade as he continues what has been a fantastic rivalry with Rey Mysterio on the Tuesday night brand.
