Ring name

A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or a boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname from the moves that they do or their talents in the ring.

Ring names developed as a way to allow wrestling performers to hide their true identities from the wrestling fanbase and thus keep kayfabe intact, or because the wrestler and/or the management consider the athlete's real name unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projects the wrong image. Since the advent of the Internet, it is now relatively easy to discover the real name of a wrestler, when it was far more difficult in the past. Some examples of ring names are Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels, Roderick George Toombs becoming "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Michael Sean Coulthard becoming Michael Cole, Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock, and Chris Irvine becoming Chris Jericho.

In recent years, a growing number of wrestlers have adopted their real name or a variation thereof for their in-ring persona, sometimes modifying the spelling of their real name to better fit their gimmick, such as David Bautista becoming Batista and Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair. Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg, Kenny Dykstra using Kenny, Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella, and Mike Mizanin using The Miz, an abbreviation of his surname. Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name as well. Many also use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Some (mostly independent) wrestlers, such as Nigel McGuinness, still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart has regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names (The Undertaker, Mr. Perfect, and Diesel).

...
Wikipedia