Below are some top WWE news stories of the day.
• In a move that signals a shift in presentation, WWE has quietly removed nicknames from several prominent superstars as they head into WrestleMania season. Following the removal of “Freakin'” from Seth Rollins’ ring name, the company has also dropped “Big” from Bronson Reed and “Dirty” from Dominik Mysterio.
This decision reflects a departure from the previous era under Vince McMahon’s leadership, where wrestlers were often given descriptive monikers that commentators were obligated to use consistently. Now, a more streamlined approach appears to be taking hold.
The changes are evident on WWE’s official roster page, where Seth Rollins, Bronson Reed and Dominik Mysterio are listed without their respective nicknames. This subtle alteration suggests a move toward a more straightforward presentation of its talent, focusing on the core identity of each performer.
Whether this is a broader directive from WWE’s creative team, or a case-by-case decision, remains to be seen. However, it’s clear that the company is refining its on-screen presentation as they approach their biggest event of the year.
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• On his Kliq This podcast, 2-time WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash gave his thoughts on John Cena’s heel turn:
“He showed up to the Elimination Chamber, he didn’t have a tan again and he had on my next door neighbor’s tennis shoes that he cuts his grass with. I mean so that sent some signals. So I didn’t think he would go over and then when he went over I’m like they’re not going to have a f**king babyface f**king main event.
The turn itself I thought was… I mean I like that. That’s why I watch. I watch so even if I didn’t see it coming but even if I had seen it coming and they did it well. I’m good with it. He’s starting to look a little like JBL. That’s the connection to when I always talk about the the Attitude Era and the times when I thought wrestling was exciting again and because they were trying to shake me up just the furtherance of this same angle again in like that’s why The Bloodline thing after some time was… I was like okay I think that this would be really monumental if we didn’t know that Cena was leaving in 8 months.
But you see for me that’s what concealed the opportunity for a turn because I thought it would be that they had to do the babyface tour to get people to come out and do the farewell I didn’t think that they would tarnish it with a heel turn so it kind of kept it under wraps a little bit for me but you got the opposite.
I mean John’s great but John’s too precise on what he does. When he showed up with the no tan I was just like okay… not just a no tan but like powder Sheamus no tan. Yeah like to the point of it just was… it was a giveaway to me that something was up.”
Nash also questioned the necessity of Cena’s heel turn, especially if Cena plans to retire as a heel in 2025, suggesting it might require a convoluted return to a babyface role.
Kevin pondered whether Cena, a successful actor, might have desired a change from his longstanding babyface persona. He highlighted Cena’s comedic abilities and the honesty of comedy as a metric for performance.
Ultimately, Nash concluded that he’s intrigued by the situation, despite his focus on more pressing real-world issues, and will observe how the storyline unfolds before offering a final judgment.
