"White Thunder" Scott Steiner (& 9 More Forgotten Wrestling Nicknames)

A great nickname can be all that's needed to get a wrestler over. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin is proof of that, with the Rock having a few and "The Nature Boy" fitting Ric Flair for years. It can be tricky as a few wrestlers need time and a few tries to get the right one and some never quite find it. Yet when it clicks, it can be a hit from merchandising to even entering pop culture.

However, some nicknames end up being forgotten over time. They're not even bad enough to be memorable and while announcers tried to push them as big deals, they never took off like other names the wrestlers might have. Some simply didn't fit, others made little sense and somehow, these ten famous wrestlers had less than famous nicknames at one point that it's unlikely you'll find on a t-shirt.

10 "The New Face of America" Kevin Owens

"Mr. K.O." is just one of Kevin Owens' many nicknames in wrestling, a few of which wouldn't be working for today's WWE. Yet one name has been overlooked, likely due to how short-lived it was. For a time in 2017, Kevin Owens declared that as U.S. champion, he was now "the new face of America."

The obvious issue with that is the guy happens to be Canadian. As it turns out, Owens agreed that other guys on SmackDown fit that role a bit better, so he dropped it fast to return to his Canadian tough guy act.

9 "The Punte" Randy Orton

The Viper. The Legend Killer. The Apex Predator. Randy Orton has never been short on some awesome nicknames…except one. For a time, rather than the RKO, Orton would use a punt kick as his knockout finisher.

Giving him a name tied to the kick made some sense, but "the Punte" lacked some flair. It sounded more like the name for an obscure dish than linked to a brutal finisher and didn't fit Orton's persona either. It's a good thing this nickname got the boot fast.

8 "Big Evil" The Undertaker

"The Phenom" has had some impressive nicknames over the years but also some bad ones like "Booger Red" (don't ask). Yet while that can be remembered for being so goofy, it's ignored that the Undertaker was trying to be sold as a big evil in 2002. So Jim Ross' nickname was…Big Evil.

It would be odd even for the supernatural Undertaker, let alone the biker character he was playing at the time. Ross tried, but the name never took off even if it's still better than "Booger Red."

7 "The Manster" Brock Lesnar

When Brock Lesnar came into WWE, it was easy to give him names like "Monster" and "Beast." Leave it to Micahel Cole and Tazz to try to make a weirder moniker work. So somehow, they thought "Manster" would work out.

Maybe it was meant to sell he was more than a monster, but a man among beasts or maybe some mix of that and "master." That confusion is probably why it was never used after a couple of weeks, as combining nicknames rarely works out.

6 ""The Wildcat" Kofi Kingston

Many forget when Kofi Kingston started in WWE, he was presented as a Jamaican wrestler, complete with an accent. One random episode of RAW had Michael Cole suddenly saying that "people are calling him the Wildcat."

This was off a line from Kofi on how the Miz brought out the best in him in a match and he fought like a wildcat. Obviously, wildcats aren't exactly known as Jamaican residents, so it made little sense then and never connected with the fans. It's best to leave this one behind.

5 "The Rainbow Haired Warrior" Jeff Hardy

Many complain about the goofy "Charismatic Enigma" nickname Jeff Hardy put up with for years in TNA and WWE. Yet that's still better than the "Rainbow Haired Warrior." It clearly references Hardy's colored hair but sounded like a fourth-rate Batman villain more than a top star.

It was harder to take Hardy seriously as "rainbows" and "warriors" aren't generally things that go together. As odd as the "Enigma" thing can be, it's still better than this.

4 "Becky Balboa" Lynch

Becky Lynch has gone through her share of top nicknames, from "The Man" to "Big Time Becky," so it's easy to forget one of her first. In 2016, Lynch became the inaugural SmackDown Women's champion, winning a six-woman match at Backlash.

She then went, "call me Becky Balboa," an obvious reference to the Rocky movies. While alliterative, it didn't quite fit for an Irish gal to be named after a fictional Italian boxer and was forgotten almost as soon as it started. "The Man" fits her a lot better than this did.

3 "The Silverback" Mark Henry

Some nicknames just make you wince for how someone clearly didn't understand how insulting it could be. Mark Henry was hardly the first guy to be billed as "the World's Strongest Man," but at least it fit his hulking demeanor. But calling him "the Silverback" had some very unfortunate implications given who it was applied to.

Sure, it seemed okay with his power but came off even worse than "Sexual Chocolate." Thankfully, even WWE realized it to lose it fast and Henry later became a champion to overcome this rough moniker.

2 "The Bionic Redneck" Steve Austin

While anyone would drop a nickname as perfect as "Stone Cold" makes little sense, but Jim Ross tried in 2000. After time away from injury, Steve Austin returned to WWE after getting some surgery. This had Ross try to call Austin "the Bionic Redneck."

It was a play on the old "Six Million Dollar Man" TV show and Austin's famous redneck sensibilities, but rather than get him over as a bigger star, it sounded too cartoonish so it was dropped quickly.

1 White Thunder Scott Steiner

Scott Steiner actually avoided a lot of nicknames in his career until "Big Poppa Pump" came along. That fit him well enough, yet others tried, with one of the odder being "White Thunder." Maybe it was a play on his skin tone or the weird bleached hair and the "thunder" part fit how hard he struck.

But it's still a weird line and seems too offbeat even for someone as infamously wild as Steiner, so it's probably for the best it never took off and the Thunder died down quickly.

Next: 10 Dumb Names Wrestling Fans Eventually Got Used To