Reason For Bizarre WWE Name Change Revealed

As some question WWE’s latest name change, the reason for the switch has now been revealed.

At an NXT live event on March 30th, Tamyra Mensah-Stock wrestled her first WWE match. At the event in Melbourne, Florida, Mensah-Stock defeated Breanna Covington.

Mensah-Stock is a former Olympic champion and double-world champion dominating in the women’s 68kg freestyle wrestling category. Her Olympic gold was the first for a Black female in freestyle wrestling.

The former amateur star signed with WWE back in May 2023, having made her first appearance at SummerSlam 2021 where she celebrated her Olympic win alongside Gable Steveson. While Steveson signed with WWE amid much fanfare, his career to date has fallen well short of the hype and Steveson was ultimately released by WWE in 2024 before signing a three-year deal with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

Tamyra Mensah-Stock has now made her televised debut for WWE but she is going under a new name. The Olympian will be known going forward as Tyra Mae Steele. Steele lost to Wren Sinclair at the taping for NXT Level Up which airs on the 5th of July.

WWE Doesn’t Think Fans Know Olympic Champion’s Name

While name changes are nothing new in WWE, some have questioned the wisdom of changing the name of a legitimate Olympic gold medallist and Dave Meltzer has noted that there are some in the company asking similar questions.

Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Meltzer also pointed out WWE’s reasons for the name change as the company doesn’t believe Mensah-Stock will have great name recognition with fans despite her success:

The feeling is that the average WWE fan doesn’t know her name, so they should give her a name they know, unlike with Jade Cargill where the idea was that the average WWE fan already knows her name and that name has cache.

Mensah-Stock is just the third Olympic gold medal winner to sign with the sports entertainment giant after Gable Steveson and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle.