Shawn Michaels made the final decision on the Lola Vice name change for former Bellator fighter Valerie Loureda.
WWE NXT‘s Valerie Loureda recently sat down with Jim Varasllone of the Miami Herald to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about her recent name change to Lola Vice, Loureda said she came up with it as a combination of her alter ego as a child and the television show Miami Vice.
“Lola came out because when my sisters and I were little, we had a lady who liked to do our makeup, and that was always our alter ego, Lola,” Valerie Loureda said. “So when I was coming up with names and they were coming up too, I was like, ‘Oh, let me just throw that in there. I liked it, but then I always had a vision of Miami Vice because I am the first Cuban American woman [in WWE], and I was born and raised in Miami. I just feel like that’s me, and I need to represent. I’m like, ‘How can I do this and incorporate it into my name?’ I thought about Miami Vice, the series from the 80s, and I was like, ‘How about Lola Vice?’ Actually, I gave them ten first names and ten last names, and Shawn Michaels chose Lola Vice. It’s just beautiful. It goes, and I feel like this is my new era.”
When asked if it was difficult to come up with that many first and last names for Shawn Michaels to choose from, Loureda said she always thinks ahead.
“I always think very ahead. Another option I had was Estrella. Estrella means star in Spanish,” Valerie Loureda said. “I liked that too, but something about Lola, I thought it was cute; it was a little Latina, also very easy for other people to pronounce. I had to get in the ring and say, ‘Can I be Lola for the rest of my career? Yes, I can.’ I’m just glad they chose that for me, and now we’re in the works to hopefully debut soon. So it’s just all super exciting.”
Valerie admitted she was a bit nervous about the name change based on social media reactions, but she hopes that the Lola Vice name will help separate her from Valerie Loureda, the fighter.
“So actually, Twitter messed this up for me because, since I’m verified on all my accounts as Valerie Loureda, actually, they have to switch my handles. I remember I woke up three days ago, and it said Lola Vice WWE,” Valerie Loureda said. “I had tweeted, and I didn’t know they had changed my name already. So then it came out, and people started talking about it. I had given hints, like I dressed as Lola Bunny for a rumble match we had, just to give hints and I’d put Lola with wonky faces. Obviously, I was dressing up as a character, but I had already known that that was my name. So Twitter ruined it for me, and then I was like, ‘Okay, I’m just gonna release it on my Instagram, and soon I gotta change that handle. But yeah, the fans’ reactions, I was a little nervous because everyone was like, ‘You should keep your name.’
“But the way I think about it is Valerie Loureda is the fighter that has been fighting since she was three years old, and she made this whole career very young. Then Lola Vice is the entertainer that Valerie always wanted to be, and I just think that having this new name gives me more of a character, and it allows me to really play this part, the Miami girl, the Cuban girl, the Latina, in the WWE, and it just fits really well.”
READ MORE: Valerie Loureda Reveals Her WWE Name, Changes Her Twitter Handle
What do you make of Valerie Loureda’s comments? Do you like the Lola Vice name change? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit The Miami Herald with a link back to this article for the transcription.
