During his appearance on Interactive Wrestling Radio, C.W. Anderson revealed that the reason the WWE wanted to change his name is because they thought it was too similar to C.M. Punk. Here’s what he had to say:
I wrestled one TV match with CM Punk which was fine. I always liked wrestling Punk. And, they were getting ready to push me. But, I wrestled Kevin Thorn and I blew out my F5 and S1 again. I was done. I would be left off of loops. It would be Saturday night and I’d be at home or hanging out at a local show and WWE would call and say, “We need you on a plane in the morning to get back on the road.” I’m like, “What the Hell?” But yeah, that whole WWE version of ECW sucked because he (Vince McMahon) had control of it and started implementing his guys and didn’t let Tommy and Paul have control of it.” He continues, “And then they changed my name to that stupid Christopher W. Anderson because he said, “I don’t want people to think you work for the CW Network.” Who do you think they got the idea from? The very first time the two actors were promoting the CW Network in TV Guide, they’re doing my CW sign! And then he was like, “Well, we’re going to change your name because CM Punk, CW Anderson, it is too close!” Yeah, i get it! I was a little heavier then, Punk was slim. Punk had hair, I was bald. He wore trunks, I wore a singlet. I guess people would see us as twins!
You can listen HERE.
Credit: Interactive Wrestling Radio. H/T 411Mania.