Albert Wesker
During his run in Bullet Club, Smith did his interviews entirely in English, refusing to speak Japanese. In an interview, he stated that he was told that his otaku gimmick was "too bubbly" for Bullet Club, which led to him adopting the Cleaner nickname as a reference to people who clean up crime scenes. Smith cited the character Albert Wesker from the "Resident Evil" video game series as well as Sylvester Stallone's character, Marion "Cobra" Cobretti, from the film "Cobra" as inspirations for the Cleaner gimmick. Although Smith originally intended to embody the gimmick straightforwardly, he later integrated comedy into the persona as a response to people who thought he was portraying a janitor, doing so by coming out for his matches holding a mop and a broom.