10 WWE Name Changes That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
8. Shawn Stasiak Becomes Meat
Picture the scene: Son of former World Champion walks into the building one day and finds out that he's about to become a walking sex toy to titillate the 'Attitude Era' masses. Or, more accurately, to give Vince Russo one of his final hurrahs on the WWF/WWE payroll before darting off to help destroy WCW's product later that same year. Shawn Stasiak became "Meat" in April 1999.
This would be sort of like Dominik Mysterio finding out that he's about to be renamed Dildo just for the hell of it. OK, that might be a tad extreme, and 'Dirty Dom' is way more talented than Stasiak ever was. Even so, you've got to feel sorry for Shawn. He was cast as an oversexed and totally knackered "piece of fresh meat" for PMS pals like Terri Runnels, Jacqueline and Ryan Shamrock.
The gag was that Stasiak (son of Stan) couldn't win any of his matches or perform well inside the ring because he was worn out from getting freaky with these women backstage. Fingers crossed that wasn't going on whilst serious business was happening elsewhere in the arena - it's doubtful that Steve Austin could concentrate on building his biggest matches if PMS were wearing down Meat.
What a sentence, and one only 'Attitude' could throw up.
The less said about PMS standing for "Pretty Mean Sisters" but actually being a joke about women on their periods the better too. 'WWF Attitude' earns a ton of plaudits even today, but some of the garbage pushed out in front of fans had to be seen to be believed. WWE didn't have much better waiting for Shawn following his return from WCW either. "Planet Stasiak" was another flop, but Meat got their first.