10 Gimmick Ideas WWE Were Right To Turn Down

4. 'Gay Hairdresser' (Kalisto)

The Miz Kalisto
WWE.com

As aforementioned in the Batista entry, WWE don't have a stellar track record when it comes to handling potentially-offensive ideas sensitively. That's why it's for the best that they didn't pull the on screen trigger on turning Kalisto into a quote, unquote "gay hairdresser" back in 2015.

The idea called for Kalisto the shed his lucha mask, tell then-partner Sin Cara to beat it, grab some scissors, adopt an overtly effeminate look and become The Miz's stylist. This sounds familiar - it reeks of Rico (Reek-o?) back with Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo in 2002, and it may even have been worse.

Portraying Kalisto as a painful stereotype would surely have netted WWE some backlash online, irked corporate investors and it could have been viewed as obnoxiously distasteful. In the end, someone made the call to scrap Kalisto's literal turn and keep him as a masked member of The Lucha Dragons team.

Phew.

Advertisement
In this post: 
Big E
 
First Posted On: 
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.