Stamford, CT – Fans were in an uproar this week when NXT fan-favorite Walter’s name was inexplicably being changed to Gunther. The anger was quickly magnified after it was revealed that WWE filed a trademark for the name “Gunther Stark”, a name shared by a Nazi U-boat commander.
To ease the bad press, a member of the creative team leaked a list of other potential names for the Superstar to various outlets. The move was done to show fans that there was no ill intention with the name change.
“We have lots of big plans for Gunter,” said one anonymous writer. “It was just an unfortunate coincidence. Sometimes, in the heat of re-writing Raw for the fifth time in two hours, things slip through the cracks. Hopefully this list of other names will prove that we meant no offense.”
The list of names include:
Gunter Herst Helmsley
Schlitz Von Erich
Rommel McDonald
Killer Karl Kraut
Bili Von Shtupp
Gustav Goosestep
Hans Und Franz
Colonel Klique
Oscar Ze Grouch
Fake Heidenreich
Augustus Gloop
Kaiser Scheisse
Otto Mobile
Madman Mundt
Frank N. Furter
Baron Von Fashski
Werner Hurtzog
Helmut Schnitzelnazi
Angryface
Moving forward, WWE Creative has vowed to take at least 15 seconds Googling names before filing trademarks.
Adolph Ziggler
And this is not the first time this has happened — did not TNA have a similar screwup in its day? Something about a wrestler wearing NSDAP regalia, and having a finisher called “The Final Solution”? (And the 80th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference was four days ago….)
Okay, now you guys are just reporting the news.
“Hans und Franz”? Would that have been some kind of split personality gimmick!?
“Radolf Hilter”.
BISMARCK VON RUETTSLIEGGE
“Moving forward, WWE Creative has vowed to take at least 15 seconds Googling names before filing trademarks.”
Meanwhile: WWE Creative remains blissfully unaware that everyone else on the planet also spends 15 seconds googling names….
This cracked me up- a perfect blend of blatant Nazi references (Gustav Goosestep), movie shout-outs (Bili Von Shtupp), old wrestling call-backs (Schlitz Von Erich) and dumb puns (Otto Mobile). My compliments to the writer.
You must be writing for creative yourself, this is just accurate.