The Forbidden Lore Of El Generico

It’s a very long story, which you can read about in-depth here, but you could argue it doesn’t get penned without El Generico. Beyond the obvious - Sami Zayn was one of the wrestlers who drove opposition to the rigid, limiting WWE style - El Generico mentored the Bucks in the art of selling merchandise. This was Matt and Nick Jackson’s gimmick, practically, when they were taking over the wrestling world. They became so good at it that the revenue generated from t-shirts allowed them to resist overtures from WWE, and maintain their personas as disruptors who didn’t need the system to become stars.

The Bucks, timid in the early 2010s, watched on as Generico performed in character during the intermission of PWG shows. Barking broken English at the punters, he’d practically force them into buying his tees. When Generico revealed his earnings to the Bucks, stressing the importance of the entrepreneurial game, he changed the course of pro wrestling history. In addition to that, Generico was also part of the legendary CHIKARA four-way that put Nick Jackson on the wider wrestling map on March 28, 2009. At the time, the Bucks were a Hardy Boyz tribute act who had yet to hone their obnoxious charisma. This warp-speed sprint granted the Jacksons more opportunities to eventually find it.

The boys loved Generico, the fans loved Generico. Who didn’t love El Generico was Jim Cornette.

Cornette was tasked with booking Generico during his disastrous stint in Ring Of Honor, and was not remotely fond of the gimmick. He thought it was limiting. It turns out that Cornette wasn’t entirely incorrect, in this instance, but it’s not as if his creative philosophy was productive elsewhere - and you can probably guess that this wasn’t communicated in the most diplomatic of ways. Cornette later built a gig as a curmudgeonly podcaster who hates everything about the ills of modern wrestling - which made his effusive praise of Sami in 2022 all the more surprising. Cornette was just as charmed by Sami’s role in the Bloodline as everybody else.

“My…dawg?” Zayn responded on Twitter with his trademark wit.

The last person to deny Generico’s brilliance softened in the end. That about proves that El Generico was the rarest thing in wrestling’s post-cool heel era: a universally beloved babyface. There isn't even a rule-proving exception.