Worst ECW Wrestler Names

The history of ECW is still celebrated today, over two decades since the original company closed under Paul Heyman’s leadership. ECW’s impact is still being felt today, especially with Heyman getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in Philadelphia of all places. Tony Khan often cites his fandom of ECW as a major reason for AEW even existing.

ECW felt like the perfect promotion for diehard fans wanting to witness something different from the WWE and WCW products. Heyman allowed talents like Rob Van Dam, Taz, and Raven to break out as stars outside of the big companies. However, not everyone had a cool name on paper like the top stars. Each of the following wrestlers had the worst names in ECW history.

10 Beulah McGillicutty Played Into Her Character’s Backstory

Was Meant To Have “Unattractive Name” Before Debuting

• Character Debut Was Set Up From Raven Vs Dreamer Backstory
• Wanted Fans To Think She Was Unattractive Before Big Debut
• Started Off As Raven’s Love Interest Before Going Back To Dreamer

The Tommy Dreamer vs Raven rivalry is often discussed as the greatest storyline in ECW history. Dreamer and Raven crafted a backstory of them being enemies as kids, when Tommy was the popular jock and Raven was the outcast.

Raven claimed that Dreamer also overlooked an “ugly” and “overweight” girl from their childhood that had a crush on him. Beulah McGillicutty was introduced as a stunning model, but the odd name was meant to sell her backstory as someone shockingly “glowing up” to become more attractive.

9 Cyrus The Virus Copied A Movie Character Name

Don Callis’ Best Run Could Have Come With A Better Name Choice

• Received Chance For Bigger TV Role Than WWE Stint
• Led Heel Faction Playing Into Real Life Issues With TNN
• Cyrus Name Copied Villain Character From Con Air Film

ECW deserves credit for seeing the talent in Don Callis and pushing him as a heel authority figure. Callis was coming his WWE tenure as The Jackyl, who received minimal opportunities on screen. The new name of Cyrus the Virus saw Callis playing the head of The Network faction.

Fans bought into Cyrus as a credible heel character due to Callis’ work, but the name was a bit confusing. Con Air was a popular movie to come out two years prior with Cyrus the Virus as the same name of the main villain.

8 The Zombie Represented The Worst Of WWE’s ECW

Showed Why Many Viewers Gave Up On The Project So Early

• Network Wanted Outlandish Characters Like The Zombie
• Not Even Getting Squash Warranted Getting Valued TV Time
• One-Off Character Never Had Purpose Beyond First Show

There was excitement for the new ECW brand when WWE decided to bring back Extreme Championship Wrestling. Rob Van Dam beating John Cena for the WWE Championship to end a superb One Night Stand 2006 PPV created excitement days before the TV show.

Unfortunately, one character showed why the new ECW turned away many fans that opening night. The Zombie debuted as a one-off character getting squashed by The Sandman. ECW airing on SyFy network led to bizarre gimmicks and names like this.

7 Jazzmine Was A Strange Name To Start ECW Run

Changing Name To Just Jazz Saved The Rest Of Her Career

• Jazz Received Her First Big Break Via Heyman In ECW
• Original Jazzmine Name Could Have Hurt Career
• WWE Signed Jazz For Even Greater Run Afterwards

Paul Heyman realized that Jazz was the right woman to add to the ECW roster later in the run. However, her debut coming under the name of Jazzmine felt a bit odd with the forced wordplay, wanting fans to think her name was Jasmine.

There was no real logic or purpose behind the name beyond getting her introduced as part of Justin Credible’s support team. ECW eventually changed her name to Jazz for greater success, and WWE signed her with the same name.

6 Little Guido Would Not Work As Well Today

ECW Pushed Him As Leader Of Full-Blooded Italians

• Full-Blooded Italians Became ECW’s Longest Running Faction
• Little Guido Was Considered Best All-Around Wrestler In Group
• WWE Changed Name To Nunzio For Negatives Of Guido Name

Paul Heyman loved booking factions before it was as common in every promotion. ECW showed that with the Full-Blooded Italians becoming a major act on the show. Little Guido was the most pushed wrestler in the group and often viewed as the leader.

WWE actually changed his name to Nunzio due to the term “guido” being considered an insult and even a slur to some Italians. ECW got away with it due to the timing of the 1990s and their atmosphere embracing the chaos.

5 Miss Congeniality Was A Terrible First Name For Lita

Lita Lucked Out By Getting Signed By WWE So Early

• Was More Of A Manager Than Wrestler In ECW Tenure
• Name Was Impossible To Build Her Own Momentum
• WWE Signing Her Changed Name & Career For The Better

ECW was the first relevant promotion to discover Lita early in her career. The name of Miss Congeniality was used for Lita in ECW as the manager of Danny Doring and Roadkill. This character played the love interest of Doring in various tacky segments.

Miss Congeniality was a character designed to get the other two over more than herself. WWE signing Lita worked out for the best to help her break out on her own. The ECW name didn’t last long enough to negatively impact her career, like it would with others.

4 Prey Of The Dead Was An Unexpected Name For Horace Hogan

Paul Heyman Tried To Do Business With Hulk Hogan’s Nephew

• Wanted To Have Darker Ring Name & Persona In ECW
• Didn’t Get Real Chance To Get Established During ECW Run
• Received Biggest Break Thanks To His Uncle Hulk Hogan In WCW

Horace Hogan is known for getting a job in WCW thanks to Hulk Hogan being his uncle and holding great influence in pro wrestling. A little-known fact about Horace’s past is that he had a single match in ECW before he landed the WCW deal.

Prey of the Dead was a strange name and gimmick meant to showcase Horace’s darker side. Many believe he drastically changed his name to avoid being known as Hulk’s relative in ECW since that would lead to a lot of heckling from that fan base.

3 Tiffany Should Have Wrestled Under The Taryn Terrell Name

Found Greater Success Changing Name & Character In TNA Chapters

• Had Generic Name & Character As ECW General Manager
• Joined TNA After WWE Tenure Ended Without Many Angles
• Found Much Greater Success In TNA Using Taryn Terrell Name

WWE’s ECW transitioned to becoming a middle ground between the bigger main roster shows and development. Tiffany was the rather generic name and generic character to become a babyface General Manager on the ECW brand.

TNA signed her for greater success as Taryn Terrell, which was also a much better name to get her over. Tiffany felt like the laziest possible name for a role that didn’t allow her to truly stand out or show any individualistic traits.

2 Kid Kash Was Originally A Kid Rock Rip Off

Entire Character Was Meant To Mimic Rock Star

• Kid Rock Rip Off Gimmick Limited His Opportunities For Years
• Tried To Look Like Rock Star & Used His Entrance Theme
• ECW Still Remains Peak Of Kid Kash’s Wrestling Career

Kid Kash broke out in the final years of ECW as an exciting new talent that fans got behind. ECW made it obvious they wanted fans to think of Kid Rock when seeing Kid Kash. The long hair and name were enough to make comparisons.

However, Paul Heyman went even deeper when (illegally) using a Kid Rock song for Kid Kash’s entrance. The name ended up limiting Kid Kash in his later years, especially since Kid Rock association became less cool and being called “kid” in veteran years is always risky.

1 The Blue Boy Was Blue Meanie’s Worst Gimmick

Tried To Revamp Character After Failed WWE Tenure

• Returned To ECW With New Persona After WWE Disappointment
• Name Was Meant To Represent Heel Changes With New Love Interest
• Ended Up Becoming Lowest Point Of Meanie’s ECW Career

ECW was the place where the Blue Meanie always did his best work and is remembered most fondly. WWE signed Meanie for a short run in the Attitude Era that ended after a few months. Meanie realized he had to make changes if heading back to ECW after the disappointment.

The Blue Boy was the new name and persona for a heel character, especially upon losing weight and changing his appearance. Porn star love interest Jasmine St. Claire managing The Blue Boy didn’t help the lackluster act flopping quietly, as ECW lost viewers towards the end.