Butch, formerly Pete Dunne has said that his name change isn’t a problem for him as it was time to make a change to his character.

On the March 11, SmackDown, Dunne was called up to the main roster as Butch, a name fans have been vocal in their opposition to on social media.

Speaking with Mark Andrews of My Love Letter to Wrestling, Butch discussed his new character:

“I mean it’s just different but I think it’s time to change it up a little bit. Like I said, five years, fresh start, why not try something a little new? And the thing is with me, whether it’s a name or whatever it is that changes, that’s not really what endeared me to the audience in the first place, right? It’s the — I like to think anyways it’s the quality of the in-ring work and that’s what I’m gonna keep the same of course. It’s gonna get better, it’s gonna improve as time goes. So that’s sort of my perspective on it. If I can endear the crowd with the quality of my in-ring work, that’s what I’m looking to continue to do.”

Speaking about working with Sheamus, Butch said:

“[Sheamus] would have been a name on that list to work with too. He’s someone I crossed paths with a lot but, we started around the same time when — might have been in the UK… obviously, we haven’t known each other that long but, we definitely have more in common than we think we would and it’s good to see how excited he is for all this as well. He’s been there so long and he’s still excited about the prospect of that and seeing how far we can take it so, that’s endearing to come in and see that veteran up there who’s still, you know, he wants to kill it and he wants to my grow name bigger and he wants to help me and Ridge [Holland] make our names solid so, yeah, he’s a good guy.”

WWE had plans for Butch, Sheamus, and Ridge Holland to face The New Day at WrestleMania but those plans have had to be postponed due to Big E’s neck injury.