Kelly Kelly recently revealed how she got to a place where everybody knew her name.
Her real name is Barbara Jean Blank Coba, although she is better known as Barbie Blank or Kelly Kelly. During an appearance on Byron Scott’s Fastbreak, Coba revealed that, when she first debuted, she was hoping to retain the name “Barbie Blank,” her maiden name.
However, due to trademarking issues, she went with Kelly. According to her, Vince McMahon decided to add an extra ‘Kelly’ after watching an episode of the classic sitcom Cheers.
Barbie Blank reveals how ‘Kelly Kelly’ came to fruition
“I wanted Barbie,” Coba said (via Fightful). “I wanted Barbie so bad, but it’s trademarked. They gave me a list of ten or 15 names and Kelly was on there. ‘Oh, I like Kelly. That’s cute.’ She was a Barbie. There was a Kelly doll. It was Kelly. Then, I debut, and the next week it was Kelly Kelly.
“Vince, who knows the way he thinks, but he had seen a Cheers episode, and I guess the girl bartender is Kelly. It was before my time. There was a song, ‘Kelly, Kelly, Kelly.’ That’s how Kelly Kelly became.”
The reference in question comes from the fact that Woody Harrelson’s character, Woody Boyd, would often sing to his girlfriend Kelly (played by Jackie Swanson) while at the bar, or at their wedding in one particular episode.
Coba said that she didn’t have any issues with the name, noting that “nobody had two of the same name, so it would stand out.”
Cheers ran for 11 seasons between 1982 and 1993 on NBC. The series is widely regarded as one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. All 11 seasons were nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, and it earned 28 Primetime Emmy Awards.
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