WWE Officially Gives Back Austin Theory’s First Name

Austin Theory worked hard to establish himself as one of the most gifted young stars in WWE. After getting his foot at the door thanks to Johnny Gargano’s group in NXT, Theory continues to shine. Future live event lineups now suggest that Theory will revert to being known as Austin Theory. It seems that Triple H is giving Theory his first name once again.

PW Insider recently confirmed that Theory will be using his full name going forward. Additionally, Riddle will now go by his full name Matt Riddle going forward, as was mentioned during Monday Night Raw. Last night, a visual depicting the change was displayed on the television.

Theory is no longer Theory.  He will officially return to using his full ring name of Austin Theory going forward, PWInsider.com has confirmed.

Matt Riddle will indeed 100% be going by his full name going forward as well, as seen on last night’s edition of Raw.

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The shortened names were an edict under the Vince McMahon regime that has now been reversed.

Vince McMahon came up with the notion to shorten names. He did it for many years for a variety of reasons. It appears that there won’t be many name changes in the future now that Triple H is in charge of the creative side of things.

According to the former regime’s decree, wrestlers were not allowed to use their real names or independent wrestling names while competing for WWE. There were some exceptions to the rule, but many Superstars saw their names altered so WWE could trademark them.

In Riddle’s case, it was reportedly due to McMahon’s desire to prevent Riddle’s sexual assault claims from appearing if his entire name were entered into Google. Now, it appears that both Riddle and Theory have full names once again.

What do you think of the name changes? Sound off in the comments!