The changes within WWE keep on coming, as it appears that the company have scrapped a controversial policy that had been introduced by former Chairman Vince McMahon.
Throughout 2022 a number of WWE Superstars have been renamed or have seen their ring names adapted. Austin Theory became Theory, WALTER was renamed Gunther, Pete Dunne is now known as Butch and Raquel Gonzalez debuted on Friday Night SmackDown as Raquel Rodriguez.
The changes didn’t sit well with a number of fans, while former NXT Women’s Champion Rodriguez publicly admitted that she wanted to keep her old name.
As the discontent among fans grew ever louder, it was reported in April that the changes were made directly at the behest of Vince McMahon. The order that was passed down meant that stars could no longer use their real names, or names they had used prior to joining WWE. Although exceptions were made for Cody Rhodes and Gable Steveson.
However, a new report has suggested that with Vince McMahon now the former Chairman, and WWE’s new regime shaking up the company, this edict has gone out of the window.
On the August 22nd episode of Monday Night Raw, Johnny Gargano made his long-awaited WWE return, and interestingly he did it under his real name. A new report from Mike Johnson of PWInsider noted that some within WWE picked up on this detail, pointing out that it shows there has been a U-turn on using real and former ring-names.
The report adds that Gargano’s wife and former NXT star Candice LeRae wasn’t present at the taping.
In recent weeks, Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo have also been able to revert to their former names.