5. Bryan Danielson To Daniel Bryan
"The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson was an independent wrestling legend for years before WWE came calling during the first season of NXT. Danielson was trained by the legendary Shawn Michaels and most wrestling experts had pegged him as the best pound-for-pound worker alive. Danielson had wrestled around the world and was known for his hard-hitting, mat-based style that was drastically different from what WWE was presenting at the same time. Everyone was wondering when Danielson was going to get the call from Vince McMahon and, when it came, people immediately began to wonder if it was for the best. For trademark reasons, Danielson was immediately renamed Daniel Bryan (probably the laziest name change yet) and even covers of magazines during his NXT debut video were changed to display the new WWE name. You would think WWE would want to keep the name that made Danielson famous all over the world but you would, of course, be wrong.