Jimmy Wang Yang recalls the most offensive part of his “Asian redneck” gimmick in WWE.
After an underwhelming stint as Yoshihiro Tajiri’s henchman, James Carson Yun returned to WWE in 2006 under a new gimmick. Vignettes of him dressed as a cowboy and calling himself “Jimmy Wang Yang” began airing on SmackDown that same year.
While the character eventually became popular with fans, Jimmy Wang Yang now looks back at certain aspects of the gimmick with regret.
During a recent appearance on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet, Yang was asked whether he was surprised by some of the lines he was asked to say in his WWE vignettes, especially since not every wrestler received that kind of introduction before debuting.
Yang admitted WWE was unsure how audiences would react to him at the time. Looking back, he said he feels embarrassed by some of the material because it relied on stereotypes tied to his Korean heritage. He explained that while others backstage may have found it humorous, he understood how offensive some of it was to his culture and community.
“Yeah, that’s really because they didn’t know how the audience was gonna react to me. But it was different times. When I see it, I kind of am ashamed of some of the stuff that they wanted me to say, because it is like, ‘Oh it’s funny when you say it because you’re half Korean. I couldn’t say it, but you can say it because you’re Korean.’ No, it’s gonna be funny to you guys. I understand what’s going on. I say this is funny to you guys. But for my culture and my people, it is offensive.”
Jimmy Wang Yang on the most offensive part of his WWE gimmick
When asked about the most offensive part of the character, Yang pointed to wearing a Confederate flag on his vest as part of the “Asian redneck” gimmick. He said WWE wanted him to portray a character inspired by Southern culture, including references to rodeos, NASCAR, and The Dukes of Hazzard. However, he later realized the symbolism behind the Confederate flag was deeply problematic and said he regrets wearing it.
“The most offensive thing is me wearing the Confederate flag on my back. They said ‘Hey, we want you to be an Asian redneck.’ Okay, what do you think of? I think of rodeos. I think of NASCAR. I think of Dukes of Hazard and General Lee. I’m like, Oh yeah, I’m an Asian redneck, so I gotta wear the Confederate flag on the back of my vest and go out there. But if anybody knows what that symbolizes, it’s God awful, and it’s horrible. I wish I hadn’t done that.”
Yang added that The Undertaker confronted him backstage after seeing the jacket and told him to remove it immediately because of what the flag represented. Yang said he followed the advice, and when management later questioned where the jacket was, he told them Taker had instructed him to take it off.
“Undertaker is the one that told me. He saw me wearing it, ‘Jimmy, take that f*cking sh*t off!’ I said I’m playing a character, an Asian redneck. ‘That sh*t means some horrible sh*t. Take it off.’ All right. Then I take off, and they said, ‘Hey, where’s your jacket at?’ [I replied] ‘Undertaker told me to take it off.’ Okay.”
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