10 WWE Name Changes That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
7. Val Venis Brings The Big Valbowski
Not many wrestling fans openly said things like: 'So I'm off to see The Big Valbowski wrestle tonight' when attending WWF events in the late-1990s. They might well have mentioned popular rising (steady!) midcarder Val Venis in amongst a number of other names when someone asked who was on the card, but The Big Valbowski? Forget about it.
Admittedly, Val Venis was already a silly name, but it was silly in a catchy way and fit his porn star gimmick without being too in your face. Again, steady. Then, in 2002, someone had the bright idea to just call him his nickname, and so The Big Valbowski was what announcers referred to Val as for a while. Shockingly, it didn’t catch on. There was no way fans were going to say it permanently, and it became even harder to take Val seriously.
Things changed from absurd to boring when WWE switched Valbowski to Sean ‘Chief’ Morley shortly afterwards. He'd gone from shooting adult content, to joining Right To Censor, to becoming a lamer version of his old gimmick, to...being Eric Bischoff's lackey for a while. 'Chief' Morley was every bit as thrilling as 'Constable' Baron Corbin was years later, and we all know how that one turned out; even the McMahon family had to admit that it made for rotten telly.
Fans didn't want to start calling Venis by his nickname. It was ridiculous anyway, especially when commentators said the full thing every single time. Simply calling him Val for short was far catchier. 'Oh look, it's The Big Valbowski. The Big Valbowski is going up to the top turnbuckle, and now The Big Valbowski comes flying off with an elbow. The Big Valbowski with the cover now, and it's a win for The Big Valbowski'.
Talk about too much.