9 Awful Proposed WWE Gimmicks That Thankfully Never Made It To TV

7. Kenzo Suzuki As Hirohito

WWE aren't the best when it comes to racial sensitivity. Although they've tried to become better about it in recent years, there was a time when every racial stereotype was propagated in the name of cheap heat. When it comes to Japanese wrestlers, especially, you can bet that WWE won't give them anything other than 'martial arts expert' or 'mysterious foreigner' as a gimmick. Still, those gimmicks are a thousand times better than what was proposed to Kenzo Suzuki before his WWE debut in spring 2004. WWE originally wanted the bumbling Suzuki to play a character named 'Hirohito', grandson of the famous Japanese World War II emperor. WWE even aired vignettes for the character on Raw but quickly pulled them when they realised (or were warned) that it would provoke serious in Japan, a country that WWE intended to make good money off. Amazingly, Suzuki as Hirohito was going to be brought in as a main event player to feud with Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit in a U.S versus Japan angle. Wait, weren't Y2J and Benoit Canadian? They were, which is exactly why WWE changed their hometown to 'Manhasset, New York' and 'Atlanta, Georgia' respectively. All to feud with Suzuki, of all people.