This WWE Star Chose His Ring Name For "Self Preservation"
One WWE star thought he needed to look beyond his employment with the company.
Older wrestling fans may recall JBL's time as Justin 'Hawk' Bradshaw back in the mid-1990s.
The future World Champion told WWE Untold on the Network that he was originally supposed to be Justin Bradshaw. That 'Hawk' insert was something he asked Vince McMahon to stick in at the last minute during face-to-face meetings at Titan Towers.
The reason? Ol' JBL didn't think he'd be sticking around in the company too long and wanted to ensure that he had some name value left if he returned to Europe and Japan - Bradshaw had been working as 'John Hawk' on the indy scene pre-WWE, and knew he'd be able to retake ownership of the 'Hawk' part.
If he could get that in his name on McMahon's programming, then he'd be set. It was "self preservation".
JBL also recalled watching the main event between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels live at WrestleMania XII. Amazingly, he started to believe that he didn't belong in the company with workers that good. Bradshaw thought it was only a matter of time before someone sniffed him out and Vince fired him.
He went on to become World Champ and a WWE Hall Of Famer.
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