It was something of a running joke that Vince McMahon handed out absurd characters and gimmicks to just about any WWE Superstar. The likes of Big Dick Johnson, The Spirit Squad, and Kerwin White were born as a result; around the same period in WWE, though, came Jimmy Wang Yang.
A talented member of the cruiserweight division in WCW, Yang struggled to find his footing in the sports entertainment giant, being reduced to a perennial midcarder for the duration of his time there. In his third run with the company, though, the twenty-year-plus veteran explained how then-WWE boss Vince McMahon pitched a new gimmick for him.
“That’s Funny” – Vince McMahon Pitched Jimmy Wang Yang’s WWE Persona
As he revealed in a new interview with Steve Fall on his Ten Count podcast, Jimmy Wang Yang’s ‘Asian redneck’ persona was pitched by Vince McMahon. McMahon reportedly wasn’t a fan of Yang as the “Korean dude with this southern accent”:
“So the night goes by and then I was like, man, I want to go thank Vince McMahon for hiring me again. This is my third run with the company, so I wasn’t expecting getting hired back and all that stuff. But this guy has hired me three different times so I knock on his door in his office and go in and he said, ‘Hey Jimmy. How the hell are you?’ I said, ‘I’m good. I’ve been in Ring of Honor doing stuff, but I just want to say I appreciate you hiring me back.’
He said, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you were fired, but anyway, the last time you were here, you were this Korean dude with this southern accent’. I said, ‘I don’t have a southern accent, I don’t think. I do say y’all and that, but I just really speak English instead of like Ultimo Dragon or Tajiri with broken English’. He said, ‘I didn’t let you talk because you were this Korean dude with a southern accent. So this time we’re gonna make a negative out of a positive. I will make you the Asian redneck. That’s funny’.
I was like, ‘What? Okay, whatever. I don’t care. You know, as long as the check clears every Monday, I’m good to do whatever you want’. He said, ‘Jimmy Wang Yang. That rhymes. That’s funny’.”
Vignettes for Jimmy Wang Yang’s return to WWE as the ‘Asian redneck’ began airing in August 2006, with the former Yung Dragons man ultimately resurfacing on the September 29 SmackDown. He lost to Sylvan upon his comeback, albeit through nefarious means.
Yang remained with WWE for the next few years until being let go in April 2010. He’s remained active on the independent circuit ever since, complete with appearances in IMPACT Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling.
His most recent role with WWE saw him briefly serve as a backstage producer in late 2021, lasting just two months in the job.