10 DUMB WWE Name Changes (That We Didn't Want To Admit Were GENIUS)

10. Rey Mysterio Jr > Rey Mysterio

It might seem strange to imagine now, but there was a fair amount of wailing when WWE inked a deal with Rey Mysterio Jr and dropped the "Jr" portion of his name. In fact, this writer remembers one magazine article that wondered if Vince McMahon was deliberately needling the now-defunct WCW one last time by gently renaming Rey.

Yeah, erm...no, no he wasn't.

If anything, WWE were attempting to move Mysterio away from the idea that he was a young boy-esque underling who paled in comparison to family seniors. Long term, it worked - fans ditched the "Jr" part of Rey's name quickly, and embraced McMahon's vision for the high-flying star.

This is mad to think about, but that aforementioned magazine article even suggested that WWE putting Mysterio back under a mask WCW had taken off him was a bid to divert attention away from the soft renaming. Again, there was a bit of overthinking going on here!