10 Most Embarrassing TNA Renames

Now known as Impact Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action (TNA) had a curious strategy for competing with World Wrestling Entertainment, mainly by following in their rival promotion’s footsteps. This not only included hiring as much former WWE talent as they could, but also going as far as renaming their wrestlers, presumably for trademark reasons similar to WWE.

Some of these are for obvious legal reasons, as wrestlers weren’t allowed to use their original WWE names, but there are many renames—particularly of wrestlers from the indie scene—whose TNA names are unconscionable. So, here are ten of TNA’s worst and most baffling revamped wrestler ring names, which range from seemingly arbitrary to deeply embarrassing.

10 The Wolves (F.K.A. The American Wolves)

Before signing with TNA, indie wrestling stalwarts The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) had a televised tryout match on NXT under the name of The American Pitbulls. Sure, it’s a different kind of canine, but it’s strangely more in spirit with the pair’s original tag team name than TNA’s version, where they were no longer American, just Wolves. It’s such a weird rename because it makes them more generic. Just, “The Wolves.” We know that most of TNA’s roster is American, but imagine if Marcus Bagwell and Scotty Riggs were just named The Males.

9 Mandrews (F.K.A. Mark Andrews)

Mark Andrews is a high flyer from the UK indie scene who wrestled for promotions like Attack!, Progress, and Chikara before winning the second season of TNA British Boot Camp and spending a three-year stint with TNA, where he for some reason was renamed Mandrews.

As far as renames go, it’s a real head-scratcher; Mark Andrews is a perfectly fine name, why mess with it? What makes “Mandrews” more evocative than “Mark Andrews,” besides nothing? Here’s the thing about Mark Andrews that makes this rename even more egregious—when he signed to WWE, they did not even change his name.

8 Rubix (F.K.A. Jigsaw)

The weirdest thing TNA used to do was bring in recognizable talent for one-off matches and then change their names. Indie wrestling fans will recognize masked wrestler Jigsaw— known for wrestling for EVOLVE, Chikara, and Ring of Honor—by his iconic puzzle piece mask and then be confused when they see him show up in TNA as Rubix to lose a handful of X Division matches in the early to mid-2010s. What makes this rename even stupider is that a Rubik’s Cube and a jigsaw puzzle are two completely different kinds of puzzles.

7 Kingston/King (F.K.A. Eddie Kingston)

Eddie Kingston was a 14-year veteran of the indie scene when he signed to TNA in 2016, and, in the process, lost his first name, going simply by Kingston. The decision to drop a dude’s first name so often feels arbitrary, like management thinks that anyone who adopts a mononym suddenly becomes a Goldberg-esque phenomenon.

This did not happen for Eddie Kingston, and, after quitting in 2017, he came back a year later with even less of his name, going by King and assuming leadership of the stable LAX. If he ever signs with Impact again, they’ll probably name him K.

6 Aron Rex (F.K.A. Damien Sandow)

If NXT’s renaming convention is “give a wrestler a name a normal person would have,” then TNA’s renaming convention is “give a wrestler a name a gladiator would have” (see: Magnus, Bram, Gunner). Damien Sandow was one of those underrated WWE talents that kept getting over with crowds despite the company’s best efforts, so, eventually, they surprise fired him and he found his way over to TNA where he got the name Aron Rex. This, of course, went over great with the Liberace gimmick he eventually adopted. We guess it’s a slightly better effort than just settling for Mamien Dandow.

5 Desmond Wolfe (F.K.A. Nigel McGuinness)

Why rename Nigel McGuinness, you ask? We don’t know, but TNA ended up signing one of the most intense and accomplished pro wrestlers on the indies—a former ROH World Champion and Pure Champion—and gave him a ring name best suited for a James Bond villain.

Is it because he’s British? Why didn’t they rename Samoa Joe or AJ Styles? Why did TNA sign one of the longest-reigning ROH Champs of all time only to turn him into a mid-card jobber? The answer, we suppose, is because TNA.

4 Micah (F.K.A. Camacho)

Nowadays, Tanga Loa is a multi-time IWGP Tag Champ with his Guerrillas of Destiny cohort Tama Tonga, but, man, did the son of Haku have some trouble catching a break in the American majors.

In WWE, he was given a gimmick as Hunico’s sidekick Camacho—he’s actually of Tongan descent—and eventually found his way to TNA under the name Micah. At least as Micah, his wrestling heritage was acknowledged, but Micah is such a weird name for a wrestler. It’s just an offshoot of Michael. His name is Michael.

3 Cute Kip (f.k.a. Billy Gunn)

Guys who got huge in WWE have it tough when they leave or get fired—WWE trademarks all their wrestler names, so released talent can’t legally wrestle under their most recognizable ring name.

Billy Gunn is one of those guys, so, when he left WWE in 2004, he had to adopt a new name when he went over to TNA. First, he was the New Age Outlaw until WWE threatened to sue, then he was The Outlaw, then he was Kip James, and finally Cute Kip. Sure, the “Cute Kip” handle was due to him managing The Beautiful People, but he’d probably have gotten a lot more mileage in TNA if he was still Billy Gunn.

2 Okato (F.K.A. Kazuchika Okada)

American pro wrestling loves to bring over Japanese wrestlers and knock off part of their name. This trend continues today, as, even in 2019, Impact Wrestling brought over Pro Wrestling Noah ace Naomichi Marufuji for a match and billed him as “Marufuji.”

Kazuchika Okada was just a New Japan Young Lion on excursion when he spent his now-infamous time in TNA, who not only misplaced his first name, but also went a step further and renamed him Okato. Okada’s less-than-stellar experience in TNA inspired his larger than life Rainmaker persona, which in turn would inspire TNA to officially apologize to Okada.

1 Generation Me (F.K.A. The Young Bucks)

Is there anything more TNA than not only renaming Matt and Nick Jackson as “Max and Jeremy Buck?" It’s sort of like when they hired Balls Mahoney for a one-off match under the name “Kahoneys,” or brought in former WWE/ECW talent Mike Knox as “Knux.”

It was the first in a series of mishandlings of the Young Bucks, who TNA randomly broke up and reunited until the brothers finally got fed up and quit. Things worked out pretty well for the Bucks, but it makes TNA look pretty foolish in retrospect.

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