Part of the WWE process in NXT sometimes is getting a new ring name. Even established stars get a change, like when Prince Devitt became Finn Balor. Sometimes if you’re a star like Shinsuke Nakamura, the name stays. And sometimes, if you don’t have a pedigree, you just get a whole new name.
Murphy was a guest on the After the Bell podcast, and he spoke about the process for his name, revealing that one of the original names they offered him was Jag Cooper. Apparently his Australian accent created an issue when the coaches heard it, causing a change.
“So obviously, we pitch names, and I wanted to use ‘Matt’ so bad, but as you know, there was a lot of Matt’s. Using the name Matt was the forbidden fruit. So I pitched a whole heap of these names, and it’s funny because I put a lot of effort into these names. And when I had sent the email Byron [Saxton]… when he got the email, I had all the names scattered. So he just picked ones that matched, and he pitched it.”
“And then when they pulled me into the office, they said, ‘These are your names,’ and I look at the names. And I’m like, ‘Okay, well, there’s one clear winner here.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, there is,’ and I was talking to Bill. I said it’s this one, and it was ‘Jag Cooper.’ I was like, that’s kind of cool, Jag, and then he’s like, ‘Yep, that’s it.’ So then Bill would pull in Norman and goes ‘introduce yourself.’ I go, ‘Hey, I’m Jag Cooper,’ and Norman goes, ‘Jack?’ No Jag. Because of my accent, ‘no, redo it,’ and then I go, ‘Gooday, My name’s Jag Cooper’ (Murphy puts more emphasis on the G).”
“It sounds weird, but then Bill would start pulling in all the coaches, and I would have to introduce myself as all these names. And then it came down to ‘Gooday, I’m Buddy Murphy,’ and then it basically came down to an autograph. Jag Cooper and Buddy Murphy and my real name is Matt, so I have a nice M and B’s easy to do in autograph form, but to do J-A-G in capitals, that’s tough.”
Murphy also suggest using the name Matt, but it was turned down due to wrestling having several Matts in the business already. But Murphy managed to make it a nice autograph and all worked out well for him. Possibly for the better.
h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the quote
