10 WWE Gimmicks With Racist Undertones
6. Shelton Benjamin
It's no coincidence that Jason Jordan's overdue success NXT came when he paired up with Chad Gable. Previous efforts as a solo star and alongside Tye Dillinger hadn't endeared him to the crowd despite an obvious aptitude, but Gable's magnetic charisma in campaigning for the eventual American Alpha union was so innately likeable that the pair barely had time to heels in the roles before organically turning face to feud with The Revival.
The ex-Olympian didn't deserve the sharp end of the stick when he lost his partner to a farcical fatherhood storyline on the main roster either. Nor did he deserve the bizarre new problem of his new team being a racially-sensitive parody of his old one.
Advertised back in 2016 before injuries derailed his return, Shelton Benjamin's eventual comeback was to fill the slot literally left behind by the man most lazily compared to him. Aside from the obvious profiling at play, Benjamin's age and limitations triggered unfair 'American Beta' digs at the duo despite rapidly rising up the ranks. Gable yet again deserves huge credit for letting his physical charisma in and out of the ring carry the team to the prominent spot they currently command.