A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting the wrong image. Since the advent of the Internet, it is relatively easy to discover the real name. Professional wrestling Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan, Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels, Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper, Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock, Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho, and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk. A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or a variation of it, sometimes modifying the spelling to better fit their gimmick, such as Dave Bautista becoming Batista (later reverting to his real name for his Hollywood acting career), Patricia Stratigeas becoming Trish Stratus, Jonathan Good becoming Jon Moxley, Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair and Randall Poffo becoming Randy Savage. Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg, Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella, Mike Mizanin using The Miz, Cody Runnels using Cody Rhodes, and Michael Wardlow using Wardlow. Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name, while many male and female wrestlers also use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Some (mostly independent) wrestlers still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. It is a highly respected tradition in Mexican lucha libre for performers to hide their true identities, usually wrestling under masks, and revealing a luchador's identity without their permission is considered a serious offence with real-life consequences. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names (The Undertaker, Mr. Perfect, and Diesel). Ring names are often trademarked by the promotion that creates a character or gimmick for a performer. It is common to see one performer use a variety of ring names throughout their career, even if their overall persona remains similar. This is especially true in WWE, which has largely forced most wrestlers that have debuted since 2006 to use a WWE-owned ring name instead of a ring name that they used on the