The Jericho Appreciation Society surprised many fans when the group renamed Matt Lee and Jeff Parker as “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard and “Cool Hand Ang” Angelo Parker. The monikers are fitting, given the faction’s identity as sports entertainers, but it had been unclear where these nicknames game from.
During an appearance on Talk Is Jericho, the former Matt Lee described how Menard is his mother’s maiden name, and while he wasn’t crazy about using it, Jericho liked it because the name is unique in the world of wrestling.
“So Menard is my mother’s maiden name, so I already have feelings about it,” said Menard. “And then you wanted me to use it. So you have those feelings, maybe like I’d rather another name. So once you sit with it for a minute, I’m like, ‘No I like this.’ Right, the MM.
Menard then noted that when someone like Jericho likes an idea, it’s probably a good idea to listen to him. He then recalled how he had used the “Big Magic” nickname, but Jake Hager was already called “Big Hurt”, so he had to use something else. Jericho chimed in by pointing out that Hager was the more fitting choice for descriptor.
“Because we already had Big Hurt,” said Jericho. “You’re not big. He’s big. He’s the big guy in our group.
With that in mind, Lee came up with a number of nicknames and pitched them to Jericho.
“So I texted you a laundry list of names,” said Lee. “I have them right here. Do you wanna hear them? ‘Summertime’ Matt Lee. The Hot Property’ Matt Lee. ’99 degrees’ Matt Lee. ‘Prime Rib’ Matt Lee. ‘Soft to the Touch, Always in Style Matt Lee.’ ‘The Genuine Article’ Matt Lee. ‘Seven-Dollars-a-Gallon’ Matt Lee. ‘Hunk of Meat’ Matt Lee. ‘The Finest Cut’ Matt Lee. ‘Magic Jack’ Matt Lee. ‘Fine Wine’ Matt Lee. ‘Hot to the Touch’ Matt Lee. And maybe my personal favorite, ‘The Mississippi Mudpie’ Matt Lee.”
Jericho then noted that he dislikes the name Lee in wrestling, so he wanted his stablemate to use something else. Once they settled on Menard, “Daddy Magic” was born because Menard was determined to keep the “daddy” if he couldn’t be “big.”
“‘Daddy Magic’, no that just came up,” said Menard. “It was ‘Big Magic’, and then I always had in the back of my mind if I have to get rid of the ‘Big,’ I would use ‘Daddy.'”
The former AEW World Champion gave Menard credit by saying that it takes a lot of fortitude to be called “Daddy Magic” as a performer.
“If I was a fan, which I am, but I put myself back to like Saturday Night’s Main Event,” said Jericho. “If I saw a guy come on camera called ‘Daddy Magic’, the f—— balls that it takes to even want to be called that. This guy has something cool.”
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