He debuted in WWF on the March 21, 2002 episode of "SmackDown!" as the stylist of Billy and Chuck (the heel gimmicks of Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo), establishing himself as a villain. Rico portrayed a homosexual stylist as his gimmick. On the May 9 episode of "SmackDown!", Rico wrestled his first match in WWE, where he teamed with Billy and Chuck to defeat Al Snow, Maven and Rikishi. At Judgment Day, Rico was forced to team with Rikishi to defeat his clients, Billy and Chuck for the WWE Tag Team Championship. On the June 6 episode of "SmackDown!", Rico turned on Rikishi by helping Billy and Chuck in pinning Rikishi for the tag titles.