I don't see the problem with the gimmick. Professional wrestling has had gay and ambiguous gimmicks before. And they will have more. It's a very simple way of getting a reaction from someone. It's not very sophisticated that a gay character pretty much has to be a heel, but it is being used for a heel, and if it makes the fans hate OJ, than more power to him. And when he turns face, they can tone down the shtick, but still make reference to it, and actually do their part for homosexual rights.
As for that Japanese stuff -- it really doesn't bother me. It is purely done for entertainment value. Hell, I actually got into that guy facing "the invisible wrestler." The dude mimed it to the point where you knew exactly what would have been going on if he was wrestling a real person.
CHIKARA does stuff like this. I think they had a character called "The Bear," who was some guy in a bear costume. I remember seeing a referee check him for foreign objects before a match, only to get mauled by The Bear. It's all harmless fun.
In a serious company it could be seen as a bit of a risk, but if they stressed it was all for entertainment, and made sure they presented it differently to their bread and butter angles, some comedy matches now and then would not hurt. You could even have a serious wrestler mock an "entertainment" wrestler (The Miz would be good for this), only for the comedy wrestler to hold their own against The Miz.
Eh, I don't see it as the death blow that other people do. It's obviously done with the concept that the guys in the ring are entertainers as well as athletes, and they occasionally wrestle competitively but aren't above getting in there and just doing something for giggles.