10 Cancelled WWE Storylines
Not every WWE storyline makes it onto TV
6. Hirohito
Shortly after Tajiri had to convince the creative minds to ditch a Yakuza-inspired group out of fear it would upset the actual Japanese mafia, WWE aired a vignette for a character that could have torpedoed their popularity in the Land of the Rising Sun.
On an April 2004 edition of Raw, a trailer heralding the impending arrival of ‘Hirohito’ was broadcast. Ostensibly, the new WWE star was going to be the grandson of Emperor Hirohito, who had ruled the country during World War II.
The new Hirohito would be out for revenge against the United States. So, naturally, his first major storyline was going to be challenging the Canadian-born World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit.
According to former WWE writer (and Hirohito pitchman) Dan Madigan, the Japanese royal family got wind of what was going to happen, didn’t exactly appreciate it and the whole thing was kiboshed a day after the initial vignette aired.
Kenzo Suzuki, the man who was going to portray Hirohito, was brought into SmackDown under his real name instead.
