Tommy Dreamer wanted to be called Tommy Acid before settling on his name.
The ECW legend has one of the longest tenures in the business, having served in various roles. He has been a wrestler, a booker, and a producer backstage. He was also an important part of ECW’s creative team at one time and one of their star wrestlers.
However, not all of his creative ideas were good ones. Tommy Dreamer had a different idea for his last name, which his trainer absolutely refused to let him use.
Tommy Dreamer spoke with WrestlingNewsCo about his original name. He revealed that he was originally wanted to be called “Tommy Acid.” Inspired by Sting and The Great Muta, he also wanted to paint his face and spit “acid” at his opponents.
However, his trainer Johnny Rodz refused to let him. He said that Tommy Dreamer was good-looking, so didn’t want to cover up his face.
“I had thought of this original name because I was a big fan of Sting and The Great Muta and I wanted to paint my face.” Tommy Dreamer said. “My first match is October 28, 1989. And I wanted to paint my face and blow acid and I wanted to be Tommy Acid and Johnny Rodz, my trainer before my first match, he’s like that name is stupid.”
“He goes – you’re good-looking. I’m not going to cover up your face and I’m not gonna get paint and that sh*t all over my canvas. He was like so think of another name. And he’s like, if you don’t think of another name, in about 10 minutes I’m gonna call you Tommy Dickhead. And I was like, I don’t want to be Tommy Dickhead. So Tom is my first name and the American Dream Dusty Rhodes is my hero, my idol. And so it was like Tommy Dreamer there it goes.”
