"Unofficial" stuff you just knew

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

No I think that was another case of a back dated nickname, I think PS or Meltzer may have used it in reviews

[BomberPat]

I think JR sometimes called them the Power Trip, but it wasn't an official name in terms of being actually billed as that. Similar to Show-Gunns, that came from a promo where Big Show and Billy Gunn rattled off a few different names for their team, but none of them were ever actually used, and for some reason that one stuck while The Gunn Show didn't.

Title belts are another one - that everyone knows what The Winged Eagle means is a bit odd. 

[theringmaster]

I do believe they were called the Power Trip on tv.

 

Not sure if this is the same vein but what we know as World Class Championship Wrestling was never actually called that, that was the name of the tv show but its now what everyone calls that promotion

[Chili]

Calling them Show-Gunns over The Gunn Show still completely baffles me and there must have been some genuine mundane reason they didn't go with that, because Show-Gunns is a stupid name.

[BomberPat]

1 hour ago, theringmaster said:

Not sure if this is the same vein but what we know as World Class Championship Wrestling was never actually called that, that was the name of the tv show but its now what everyone calls that promotion

I'd disagree with this one - they used World Class Championship Wrestling on merchandise, videos, and posters and so on for years, it was clearly the name they were marketing the entire promotion as, not just the TV. The TV had been called Texas Championship Wrestling, and rebranded to World Class around the same time as the territory as a whole did - there may have been a period that TV was called World Class and they were still promoting as Big Time Wrestling, but that's more like the murky period where I'm never quite sure if it's technically WCW yet or still the NWA.

 

What that tells us more is about how little the names really matter; the Von Erich territory was World Class whatever it was actually called, and Memphis was Memphis whether it was the CWA or the USWA. And to most of the people attending those shows, or watching them on TV, it was just The Wrestling.

Edited October 31, 2025 by BomberPat

[The Reverend]

It's strange how Tornado was referenced as KVE on TV (I definitely have heard this - maybe even at Summerslam '90) and Curt Hennig was also named checked after appearing as Mr Perfect, but when Steamboat turned up in '91 I don't recall him being called anything other than the Dragon, even though he had been one of the biggest stars some 4 years earlier. 

The Hart Attack - that bear hug / clothesline finisher of the Hart Foundation. I don't ever recall it being referenced by them, or by a commentator but somehow we all knew it as that. 

The Tombstone - I knew this because daft ol' Monsoon blurted it out at the Undi's SS 90 debut - even though he was in much surprise as everyone else at the big guys first appearance. 

[Chili]

1 hour ago, The Reverend said:

It's strange how Tornado was referenced as KVE on TV (I definitely have heard this - maybe even at Summerslam '90) and Curt Hennig was also named checked after appearing as Mr Perfect, but when Steamboat turned up in '91 I don't recall him being called anything other than the Dragon, even though he had been one of the biggest stars some 4 years earlier. 

The Hart Attack - that bear hug / clothesline finisher of the Hart Foundation. I don't ever recall it being referenced by them, or by a commentator but somehow we all knew it as that. 

The Tombstone - I knew this because daft ol' Monsoon blurted it out at the Undi's SS 90 debut - even though he was in much surprise as everyone else at the big guys first appearance. 

There was a comp on twitter recently specifically noting all the times during The Dragon '91 run he got called or referenced as Steamboat and it was actually quite a lot, including Savage and Vince talking about Wrestlemania III a fair bit. Though it's something we wouldn't have picked up had the weekly TVs now been so readily available from whoever online. But branding wise, like Mr. Perfect, he was specifically The Dragon. Just Vince in whatever mood that day innit.

[simonworden]

There was a backstage segment on a 2001 Smackers where Big Show suggested the Show Gunns name to Billy I remember that vividly for some reason. 

The Hooliganz and Vitamin C names were in the Extreme Warfare game of the time and I've always assumed they came from there as early wwe video games didn't have that much detail in if I remember right. 

 

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

Regarding "The Clique", I distinctly remember before being officially called Degeneration X, the team of Michaels, Hunter, Rude and Chyna referred to themselves as The Clique as a stable name during a RAW promo.

Edit: Ah... might of found it:
 

 

Edited November 1, 2025 by andrew "the ref" coyne

[gmoney]

There were taunts etc in WWF Warzone the game that had Shawn mentioning the Clique loads. I remember because I'd only just got back into wrestling, post HBK retiring and didn't have a clue what he was on about. "What the fuck is the Click?" I probably said. 

[air_raid]

On 10/30/2025 at 5:55 PM, BomberPat said:

There's a bunch of tag team names that people seemed to decide existed without ever being used on TV - Paul London and Brian Kendrick were never The Hooliganz.

Mine was Godfather & Val Venis being “Supply & Demand.”

[air_raid]

On 10/30/2025 at 6:12 PM, Chico Torres said:

If I recall there was The Clique which was how Shawn referred to his fans as opposed to the Kliq who were the mischievous backstage scallywags.

This definitely started up sometime around Rumble 96/IYH Feb 96. When Shawn answered Hunters question about the strongest force in wrestling being the Clique/Kliq in that pre-DX promo, I was highly confused, since most of his fans had turned against him by that point.

[The Reverend]

On 10/31/2025 at 1:42 PM, Chili said:

There was a comp on twitter recently specifically noting all the times during The Dragon '91 run he got called or referenced as Steamboat and it was actually quite a lot, including Savage and Vince talking about Wrestlemania III a fair bit. Though it's something we wouldn't have picked up had the weekly TVs now been so readily available from whoever online. But branding wise, like Mr. Perfect, he was specifically The Dragon. Just Vince in whatever mood that day innit.

Fair play. I must admit my memories are only from the PPV's and the WWF magazine, so didn't know they had talked about Steamboat himself. But yep - it was a case of had someone sneezed at Vince that day! 

[Arch Stanton]

His Hasbro figure has the name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat on the packaging, with "Steamboat Springer" action!

[air_raid]

On 10/31/2025 at 12:04 PM, The Reverend said:

The Hart Attack - that bear hug / clothesline finisher of the Hart Foundation. I don't ever recall it being referenced by them, or by a commentator but somehow we all knew it as that.

Ditto the Demolition Decapitation. Numerous moves never called in favour of Gorilla just saying “There it is!” and the reliable “his/their patented move!”