Ryback Legally Changes His Name
He's hungry no matter what you call him.
Life outside of WWE can be hard for a wrestler.
Not only are they no longer guaranteed some form of steady income, but if they want to continue keeping the dream alive they need to find a new identity, basically so their former employer doesn't sue them. There is a way around this. But it's kind of a permanent, and time-consuming solution: change your real life name to your character's name.
Ryback's birth name was Ryan Reeves, but he has decided to follow The Ultimate Warrior and Chyna into going through the legal system to change it. That's a pretty bold, but brilliant move.
He revealed this news on his podcast that was recorded a few weeks ago (but was just released). He was set to go before a judge on Sept. 1 to make the change official. He also said that there are other people named Ryback (can't say I've met one, but I'll take his word for it) so a precedent has been set.
Some wrestlers were born with cool sounding names like Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, so things may not be as big of an issue once free from WWE. But then, there's the Monty Sopp's of the world (Billy Gunn) who can never seem to find a great name when out of the company. Ryan Reeves isn't bad, but The Big Guy just wanted to be a Ryback, which will ring familiar to far more fans, and make booking shows much easier.
One must wonder if The Undertaker would have been so dedicated.