Former WWE star Katana Chance, also known as Kacy Catanzaro, appeared on the Lightweights podcast to discuss various topics. She talked about her name change before her WWE career, noting that she was initially brought in under her real name before adopting the ring name Katana Chance in 2021.
Chance said, “That was really hard for me because when I came in, I was excited to get a character. Going back to negativity, I was like, ‘If I’m this character, whatever people are thinking about this character, it’s easier to be like that’s not me, it’s not real, I’m playing this character.’ There is a separation on TV, where if it’s you, that felt a little too close to home. If my name is Kacy on TV and people are like, ‘Kacy sucks,’ it’s like, ‘Oh no, they are talking about me,’ but if I’m this character, ‘So and so sucks.’ Okay, that’s not me. It’s this alter ego person. So, I was excited to come in and get a character and then I didn’t. They were like, ‘You have a name, we want you to keep your name.’ Now, okay, I loved having my name, but at first I was like, ‘I wanted a cool name.’ Then, I got so used to having my name, it was three years in, maybe more. They talked about a name change and I was like, ‘Man, I’ve already had (this name).’ It was hard for me to get behind, but I was like what I thought of originally, where I could have this alter ego character, and I could separate work from home, and that would be healthier for me. Coming up with the names, luckily, they were good about helping me and letting me have a big say in it. It was difficult because they were like, ‘Because you’ve had this big name before and have been your name for so long, it can’t just be a normal name.’ Something that was still connected to me, even though it couldn’t be me. I really wanted to keep my initials, so at the very least, if I had to put ‘KC’ on something, it could still be me. When I was looking at K names and Katana came up, I was like, ‘That’s kind of ninja-y.’ I didn’t find it (through Mortal Kombat) but when I did, people were like, ‘Oh, like Mortal Kombat.’ I literally went on baby names and finally found Katana. With Chance, same thing, I didn’t want it to be normal, I wanted it to be a C, and I also wanted something that I could eventually use in a phrase or to make something out of it. With Chance, I felt like it would be cool if, one of my pitches and ideas was if there was a talk show type thing with ‘Here’s Your Chance’ and people could come on and say what they wanted to say or complain. Even for merch, ‘Take your Chance.’ I just thought Chance was cool and there could be things I could use it with. People were half and half with it. Some thought it was cool, some people were like, ‘I want it to be this.’ I feel like it was fun, but I’m happy to have my name back.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)
