WWE News: One ‘Raw’ Superstar Changes His Name, Two ‘SmackDown’ Tag Teams Change Gimmicks Without Explanation

A superstar or tag team changing their name or gimmick is not something completely out of the ordinary, but to have it happen randomly and without explanation is another thing. In the last couple of years, many new WWE signees have had their names or gimmicks changed upon arriving in NXT, but that is also expected. In the last month, one Monday Night Raw superstar has changed his name, and two SmackDown Live tag teams changed their gimmicks.

Upon arriving in NXT, many superstars have seen their names and gimmicks changed to get a new start before hitting the WWE main roster. It has happened with Hideo Itami, Finn Balor, and a host of others, but these latest changes are a bit different.

Over on SmackDown Live, the Shining Stars were two of numerous names that moved over to Team Blue in the Superstar Shake-Up from a few weeks ago. Upon making their debut on Tuesday nights, the Shining Stars looked a little different and had a bit of a different attitude as well.

As recapped by the official website of WWE, the Shining Stars appeared on SmackDown Live and not only faced off with American Alpha, but they defeated them for a big victory. Fans noticed, though, that Primo and Epico were no longer showcasing the Caribbean, but they were simply known by their family name as “The Colons.”

There was no real explanation as to their name change or why the Shining Stars gimmick was dropped, but it is done. It’s kind of odd that WWE made this change after building up that persona for weeks, but it is just another changed gimmick to add to their lists:

• Primo & Epico
• Los Matadores
• The Shining Stars
• The Colons

The Colons aren’t the only tag team on SmackDown Live to have their names changed, though. Upon making their WWE main roster debut, the Bollywood Boyz sided with Jinder Mahal for his new title picture push and had their name and gimmick changed.

No longer are they called the Bollywood Boyz, but as reported by DesiBlitz, they are now known as the Singh Brothers. They also had their individual names changed and are now going by Samir and Sunil Singh, instead of Gurv and Harv Sihra.

This move is one that some thought would be coming after they moved up from NXT, but the change on Raw was just odd.

This week on Monday Night Raw, a member of the cruiserweight division randomly started going by a different name. As reported by IW Nerd, TJ Perkins has a new ring name as the announcers kept referring to him as simply “TJP,” which is actually the name he used in TNA Impact Wrestling.

The official website for WWE only refers to him as TJP in this week’s Raw recap, and his official superstar page has made the change as well. It could simply go along with his new attitude and heel turn after aligning himself with Neville, but there was really no explanation given whatsoever.

Over the last month, the Superstar Shake-Up has brought forth a bunch of changes to Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live, but these new names and gimmicks have revealed even more.

The Colons have gone through a number of different gimmicks over the years, and perhaps this one is easier and may stick around since it is a bit simpler. The Singh Brothers is not an overly unexpected change as they just made their WWE main roster debut, and the company likely wanted to move on from the Bollywood Boyz. TJ Perkins’ name change to TJP is just an out-of-nowhere move, and all this keeps Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live fans on their toes.

[Featured Image by WWE]