15 WWE Gimmick Changes That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
1. Chavo Guerrero Becomes Kerwin White
Generally, unless something is obviously offensive and in poor taste, you'll find somebody who defends WWE's worst ideas. Good luck finding anybody who'll leap to the defence of Chavo Guerrero becoming Kerwin White though. It remains one of the most repulsive things WWE has ever come up with, and there's just no getting away from that.
Chavo was hastily repackaged after a last-minute leap from SmackDown to Raw during the 2005 Draft. He denounced his Hispanic heritage on the 4 July Raw, then morphed into middle-class race baiter Kerwin White. The character's actual in-person debut came on the 10 September 2005 episode of Sunday Night Heat, but vignettes had been airing for weeks, and people were far from amused by what they were watching.
Guerrero looked completely awkward playing the new character too. WWE gave up on it following the tragic death of Chavo’s uncle Eddie in November, and even WWE’s official website has gone on to call the debut “less-than-stellar”. Yeah, to say the least. Some have moaned about Guerrero turning into a 'guy who likes golf', which is really burying the lead on what the gimmick was supposed to represent.
Put it this way, WWE's racist stereotype chastised Shelton Benjamin for not having white skin. Yep. This doesn't fit into palmed off suggestions like, 'Ah, but it was a different time'. There's no excusing what Vince McMahon was up to here. It was appalling, un-entertaining and didn't have any longevity that'd turn Chavo into a bigger star anyway.
What the hell were they thinking?!
What other WWE gimmick changes backfired straight away? For more wrestling, check out 10 Times Wrestlers Blatantly Lied To Your Face and 8 New Directions For WWE After Money In The Bank 2025!