10 WWE Moves That Had To Be Renamed
8. Olympic Slam
Of course, sometimes these name changes are a little less organic. In fact, in the case of Kurt Angle’s Olympic Slam, the change was very much a forced one.
When the Olympic Gold Medallist joined the WWE, he named his finisher after the very sport that had first put him on the map. However, it appears that his former associates weren’t too pleased with reference.
On an episode of WWE Confidential from March 2004, Angle allegedly reveals how the International Olympic Committee (IOC) requested he refrain from using the word Olympic in the name. The story seems to check out—as of 2001 the move became known as the Angle Slam.
However, it’s strange that Angle went on to use the Olympic moniker during his TNA run. Perhaps TNA has a batter relationship with the IOC—which wouldn’t be surprising considering the type of product WWE was running back in the early 2000s.
Either way, the name change didn’t harm Angle too much—he went on to become one of the businesses all-time greats accumulating 12 world titles across WWE and TNA.