Is ‘Alex’ a bad name for a heel?

Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer were discussing Dabba-Kato’s name change on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio and it brought about Meltzer telling the story of how Vince McMahon explained wanting to get rid of Rusev’s original first name, Alexander.

His reasoning:

“You know why they dropped Alexander, don’t ya? No, no, no. There was a meeting and at the meeting Vince goes ‘we’ve gotta drop that first name. … If we call him ‘Alexander Rusev’ people are going to start calling him ‘Alex’ and Alex is not a good name for a heel.’ That’s the real reason. So that’s why they dropped the first name.”

I can’t wrap my head around this. Vince McMahon has plenty of idiosyncrasies, some of them bizarre, but the logic behind this line of thinking escapes me. I am genuinely confused.

I mean, I thought Alex Riley was a fine heel and never once gave his name a second thought.

But maybe I’m off it and you, dear reader, can explain why. First, vote in this poll and then help me understand this in the comments section below.