Last-Name Basis/Professional Wrestling

Examples of Last-Name Basis in Pro Wrestling.


 * It's very common for wrestlers to refer to each other by last name, and for commentators to use surnames 90% of the time.
 * Dave Batista and Dave Finlay, whose respective ring names are their actual last names (Batista's with a minor spelling change from "Bautista"). Finlay was also known as "Fit Finlay" in WCW, and it's rare for anyone to call him by his first name. Batista gets a "Dave" every now and then, however.
 * Bobby Lashley was often referred to as "Mr. Lashley" or simply "Lashley." Teddy Long always called him "Bobby," though.
 * Then there's Ken Kennedy, who insisted on being referred to as "Mr. Kennedy" - and insisted on referring to himself as "Mister Kennedy....Kennedy!" Since his jump to TNA, he's gone by 'Mr. Anderson'.
 * Vince McMahon's name on the official WWE website and on most official WWE products such as WWE magazine is listed as simply "Mr. McMahon."
 * Bill Goldberg dropped his first name during his monster push in WCW.
 * TNA's Kazarian used to be called Frankie Kazarian, but dropped the first name.
 * Inexplicably, during his last run with TNA 'The Fallen Angel' Christopher Daniels (aka 'Curry Man') was billed simply as 'Daniels'.
 * Before he was JBL, John Layfield was known as Justin 'Hawk' Bradshaw. He dropped his first name and his nickname when he was paired up with Farooq to form 'The Acolytes'.
 * This is almost completely subverted with the WWE Divas. So infrequently does Last Name Basis occur, that many Divas don't even have last names. Sometimes it's a first and last that are rarely separated (Gail Kim, Rosa Mendes) or a last name that is only used extremely rarely (Jillian Hall, Eve Torres) or simply only being known by their first name (Melina, Layla, Maryse.) Michelle McCool seems to be the one exception to this, but in her case, it is a 50-50 basis.
 * In the case that a wrestler has a last name like Hardy, Hart, Guerrero, DiBiase, or Rhodes, they are often referred to by their first name, especially when two people are involved at once.
 * This is especially used in the case of Vickie Guerrero, probably because she is a woman.
 * Nowadays, the only male wrestler (who doesn't fit the "family" example above) better known by his first name than by his last name is Santino Marella.
 * He did have last name basis in the earlier parts of his career, but when his gimmick became a comedy gimmick, this was swapped.
 * Kofi Kingston may also be an example, but that is nowhere near the extreme of Santino's case.
 * Parodied with Shawn Michaels and Daniel Bryan whose actual names are flipped in reverse and slightly changed.