Joe Hennig on Wanting to Wrestle Under His Real Name, WWE Not Budging on Curtis Axel

– During a recent edition of Busted Open Radio, former WWE Intercontinental Champion Joe Hennig (aka Curtis Axel) recalled his WWE career and how he wanted to wrestle under his own name, but WWE wouldn’t budge on the him using Curtis Axel as his ring name. Below are some highlights (via Fightful):

Joe Hennig on wanting to keep his last name in WWE: “I’ve always wanted my name. My last name means the world to me. The name Hennig. I fought it the whole time I was up there. I fought it when I became Curtis Axel. Even Heyman [Paul Heyman] tried helping me get that name, my name back. They just wouldn’t budge.”

On having Curtis Axel as his ring name: “I was fine with Curtis Axel, you take Curt, Curtis, and Axe is Larry ‘The Axe,’ so it was cool and that was fine with me, but I always wanted to be Joe Hennig. When I was in developmental in FCW, I was Joe Hennig. I won the world championship there as Joe Hennig, and once I got brought up, they changed my name, I thought it was some kind of rib. It wasn’t. When I comeback, that’s something I’m going to work out. I’m not doing anything except be Joe Hennig.”

Axel was released by WWE in April 2020. He did some work for the company as a producer in 2022 as well.