Summary

A new backstage report says the Gingerbread Man character did not have full support internally in WWE.

The character was brought into the Sami Zayn and Trick Williams feud ahead of WrestleMania, first appearing as a mascot for Trick. That angle took a darker turn on the May 1 episode of SmackDown, when Zayn killed off Gingy as part of the ongoing program.

WWE is set to continue the bit on the May 8 episode of SmackDown with an advertised funeral for the character.

Quote from a source near creative

"There was significant internal pushback to the gimmick as of late, with one source near creative calling it 'hokey and archaic.'"

What it could mean for Sami Zayn and Trick Williams

If WWE is already hearing pushback on the Gingerbread Man concept, that could put more pressure on the Sami Zayn and Trick Williams feud to shift away from mascot comedy and back toward the United States title issue itself.

The scheduled funeral on SmackDown now looks even more notable, because it may serve as the final beat for the character before the rivalry moves on to its next phase.

Sources

As reported by Fightful.