In a recent interview with The Ringer Wrestling Show, WWE SmackDown star Butch (aka Pete Dunne) discussed the initial reaction to his name change and character when he came up to the main roster from WWE NXT.

“To be honest, I think sometimes the waters get muddied with it, I’m sure the name change and the character change and all that kind of stuff was done with the best intentions, I really do believe that they felt like that was better for me, and honestly, this side of it, there’s parts of this character that I’ve grown to love.

I love this group that we have, it’s also given me a first. I was able to show range, and now, it’s given me a different edge to my personality, there’s a different side to me now because of that, but obviously, dressing differently, it was a big overhaul all in one, and that was the biggest thing, knowing how people were going to react to it.

All you can do is show up and do your best with it, I was confident that just give me time, and when I get in the ring, no matter what, I can get people to react, it doesn’t matter.”

The full interview is available at this link.