In 2005, Chavo Guerrero underwent a great character transformation when he became Kerwin White.
Guerrero denounced his Hispanic heritage to become a stereotypical white male, complete with not-so-subtle racist undertones. And Chavo was ready to take things to a whole new level as part of the gimmick.
"There was no conversation," Chavo told Chris Van Vliet when asked what the conversation was like when he was told he would be Kerwin White. "I got off the plane in Japan, came to Raw, and Vince McMahon goes, 'Well, hello, Kerwin.' 'Okay, what's going on?' 'Well, today, you're going to denounce your Hispanic heritage and you're going to become a white guy.' I had two options. Either say 'no' and possibly go on the back burner for a while or get fired, or say, 'Alright, let's do it.' At the time, the political climate was different. I had a meeting with Vince and said, 'If we're going to do this, let's do it right.' I'm supposed to be a brown guy, playing a white guy, saying 'this is how you white guys are.' The Hispanics hated me because I was denouncing my Mexican heritage. The whites (hated me) because I was making fun of them. I had everyone hating me and a true heel wants everyone to hate him. I told Vince, 'I want to come out in a white sheet.' He was like, 'Yes, I love it.' Never ended up doing that, it got too risky and racist."
When Van Vliet asked to clarify that Chavo was talking about a Klan sheet, he continued by saying, "I wanted to. I wanted to come out...I grew up in a time where 'the more heat, the better.' I wanted to fight my way back to the dressing room every night. I wanted to have to sneak out the back window. That's heat. If I was going to do it, I was going to do it 100%. I was ready."
As part of the gimmick, Chavo became the caddy for Dolph Ziggler before the whole thing was dropped following the untimely passing of Eddie Guerrero.
You can listen to the clip in the video above.
If you use any of the quotes above, please give a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
