How did Chris Adonis initially become “The Masterpiece” Chris Masters in WWE?
Chris Adonis of the National Wrestling Alliance was a recent guest on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about growing up with the name Christopher Mordetzky, Adonis admitted he didn’t like going by his full name as a kid.
“I didn’t like Christopher. There was something about the ‘-topher’ that got to me as a kid,” Chris Adonis said. “That’s why they change it to Masters. They were like this is too much, Christopher Todd Mordetzky. So what do we got here? That’s six, seven syllables; it’s too much! Chris Masters, three.”
When asked who came up with the Chris Masters name, Adonis revealed it was Dr. Tom Prichard when they were working together in Ohio Valley Wrestling.
“I just found this out recently. I just walked into OVW one day, and they just told me my name was Masters,” Chris Adonis said. “But I never really investigated like who came up with this Masters. It was just given to me as you are this. It’s like, okay. And then Dr. Tom now works with us, Dr. Tom Prichard, in the NWA, and he actually told me the story about how he came up with Masters and actually came from another wrestler. Forgive me, Dr. Tom, I can’t remember all the details.
“But he told me this story about how he came up with it. I was like, Wow, I’m finding this out 20 years later. This is amazing. That’s how it happened. I walked into OVW nobody told me who came up with it. I don’t even remember; I guess it might have been Dr. Tom who told me initially, but they just told me you’re Chris Masters now. That’s how it works.”
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