One former WWE talent has revealed his own horror story in terms of a gimmick that was pitched to him.
We’ve seen a slew of performers thrive under the WWE banner. The likes of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and currently Big E have been able to not only make a ton of money but also have become standout performers for the company.
It doesn’t work out for everyone, however. Orlando Colon, known as Epico in WWE, learned that the hard way. When Orlando was teaming with his cousin, Primo, he was pitched a gimmick that smelled like instant disaster.
Epico detailed the pitch by Vince McMahon during an appearance on the That’s 90s Wrestling Podcast.
“One of the many times we got heat, they came up with this gimmick. We were supposed to be the Puerto Rican Playboys. We’re in the office and Vince goes, ‘Yeah you guys are good-looking. You’re Puerto Rican, I want you guys to dress like Hugh Hefner.’ It was like a mix of Hugh Hefner and Goldust. ‘You’re gonna wear black and gold.’ Me and Primo looked, we almost threw up right there. ‘Here’s your gimmick,’ they had gear and everything. We had the black and gold robe like Hugh Hefner. And we were gonna be in Goldust’s color scheme. ‘Oh god please.'”
Colon then said that at the last minute, Vince McMahon decided to change his mind.
“We were about to debut and then two hours before we were supposed to debut with that gimmick Vince goes, ‘Ah, it might be too much for TV. Playboys, what is that?’ And that was his idea. So then we get called into the office he goes, ‘Yeah I want you guys to sell me Puerto Rico. Just yeah, sell it to me. Sell me attention.’ And I’m like, ‘we’ll do whatever you want other than Puerto Rican Playboys.'”
Orlando and Primo ended up becoming The Shining Stars. The two were released back in April 2020 as part of WWE’s budget cuts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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