Black History Month

[Turd Ferguson]

February is Black History Month, and although it could have gone in General Discussion, I feel that this is probably a better place for it.

The Wrestling business is a business that rivals pornography for how objectively racist (and how accepted, for the most part) that it is. There have been very few real successful black wrestlers. In addition to there being very few successful black wrestlers, there are even less that are given World Title reigns.

I think this bears mentioning:

In the last five years, there has been ONE Black Champion who has held a WWE, World Heavyweight, or TNA Title: Booker T.

Kofi Kingston is one of the few black wrestlers that has gotten something close to a main event push since Booker left.

Here's an abbreviated list of some of the more important Black Wrestlers out of the last 30 or so years:

-The Rock
-Bobby Lashley
-Mark Henry
-Booker T
-Ron Simmons
-Bad News Brown
-Koko B. Ware
-Junkyard Dog
-Awesome Kong
-Kofi Kingston
-Kamala
-Bobo Brazil
-Tony Atlas
-2 Cold Scorpio

Think hard about who you think the absolute best Black Wrestler of all time has been. Think of what they've done for the business. Awesome Kong has made huge advances as not only a black woman in the business, but as someone who defies what a normal woman's physique usually is. She was very successful.

2 Cold Scorpio also made huge advances in ECW. He was a major alternative to the type of wrestling the company offered. He was an athlete and very instrumental in varying ECW's product.

To me, Booker T might have been the complete package. He had an ideal size, and had a great mix of technical ability, charisma, entertainment, mic skills, strength, and the Houston Hangover and Missle Dropkick were moves that he performed with such a great finesse. He also could be a face or a heel easily, and he'd do what it would take to be successful. Furthermore, he also has a great mind for the business. He's started a very successful wrestling school, and the subtleties of what he put into the gimmick really made it awesome.

In addition to talking about the advances of Black Wrestlers, I also want this thread to sort of talk about how racist the business itself is.

It exists. It might not be as prevalent as it once was, but it definitely exists. Vince has told Carlito to "S--- it up." Michael Hayes is a very known racist who reportedly said to Mark Henry that he's "a bigger n----- than he is". This resulted in Hayes facing significant punishment from the company, as well as leading to Mark Henry's ECW Title run, which finally got him over. Bobby Lashley and Kristal Marshall have alluded to racism in the WWE being prevalent. Konnan has sued TNA for racism. Gail Kim's finisher in TNA was called "The Happy Ending". Shelly Martinez used to come out wearing a sombrero when she managed LAX.

Cryme Tyme's gimmick itself, even though it's portrayed for comedy, is still pretty racist. In Yoshi Tatsu's first WWE match, Shelton taunted him with Asian stereotypes. Sure, he got his head kicked off for it, but it was still actually cleared for television.

The only thing I ask is that this thread is kept civil, and spam-free.

 

[jackhammer_27]

If I'm not mistaken, I think Ron Simmons was the first black world champ ever back in WCW. I could be wrong, but if he was, and even though his run may not be uber memorable, I think that fact has to stand out and make him very important in the scheme of things

 

[Zeedeevel]

I'd just like to add D-von Dudley and Ernie Ladd to the list here. D-von is considered to be one of the greatest tag team wrestlers of all time and Ernie Ladd was a classic heel.

Id have to agree with putting Ron Simmons in the top spot here simply because he became Heavyweight Champion in an overly racist territory.

 

[VencomHardcore]

you forgot FIVE Major Black Wrestlers and ONE MAJOR Manager

R-TRUTH
ERNIE THE CAT LADD
BUTCH REED
ICE MAN KING PARSONS
S.D JONES
GARY HART [ Manager ]

Two were NFL Stars before coming into wrestling in the 70's and 80's and SD Jones was the lone black wrestler for the NWA / Georgia Championship Wrestling when it debuted.

Ole Anderson handpicked SD Jones because he had the style, swagger and the crowd loved him. According to Tony Atlas, he was given a push at the time because he was the only black star that was available.

In some respects the southern wrestling territories were not racist to Blacks. They gave major pushes to thier talent. Look at Mid South Wrestling and WCCW for what it did for Ice Man King Parsons who was always teaming with the Von Erichs.

Gary Hart was the genius behind WCCW because he brought Kabuki, Kamala, The Missing Link and also was instrumental in many of thier product upgrades that allowed them to be a real Texas Contender. WWE gave him alot of credit on the DVD about WCCW.

I don't doubt the racism claim in WWE. Vince has most definitely crossed the line with Cryme Time. As a person who has relatives in Brooklyn and spent years there. It is a slap in the face to an area with a vibrant Carribean Community [ Many Haitian and Jamaican ] to hear = " It' Cryme Time. Brooklyn, Brooklyn ..."

And for those who say is not offensive, ask any African American if they like the gimmick. I have never heard one say it was cool. On Black Voices and other major forums, there have been lenthy discussions of people that have blasted WWE for such a negative stereotype. Remember the " Mexicools " that drove to the ring on lawn mowers....That was very insensitive ...

Do you think the WWE would have had a tag team named the " Tax Collectors " with two men dressed as Hasidic Jews? Never . But that is what you get

I do think this is a good thread IF WE FOCUS ON THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS and also look at ways the business can prosper with Black Talent.

 

[Big Time]

I consider Bobo Brazil to be one of the most important black wrestlers, especially considering his popularity in the days when segregation and racism was still very much a factor. I know it was never official, but I still belive that Brazil should be considered the first black world champ after beating Buddy Rogers for the title, in my eyes hes basically the Jack Johnson of wrestling

 

[emerald phoenix]

you forgot FIVE Major Black Wrestlers and ONE MAJOR Manager

R-TRUTH
ERNIE THE CAT LADD
BUTCH REED
ICE MAN KING PARSONS
S.D JONES
GARY HART [ Manager ]

Two were NFL Stars before coming into wrestling in the 70's and 80's and SD Jones was the lone black wrestler for the NWA / Georgia Championship Wrestling when it debuted.

Ole Anderson handpicked SD Jones because he had the style, swagger and the crowd loved him. According to Tony Atlas, he was given a push at the time because he was the only black star that was available.

In some respects the southern wrestling territories were not racist to Blacks. They gave major pushes to thier talent. Look at Mid South Wrestling and WCCW for what it did for Ice Man King Parsons who was always teaming with the Von Erichs.

Gary Hart was the genius behind WCCW because he brought Kabuki, Kamala, The Missing Link and also was instrumental in many of thier product upgrades that allowed them to be a real Texas Contender. WWE gave him alot of credit on the DVD about WCCW.

I don't doubt the racism claim in WWE. Vince has most definitely crossed the line with Cryme Time. As a person who has relatives in Brooklyn and spent years there. It is a slap in the face to an area with a vibrant Carribean Community [ Many Haitian and Jamaican ] to hear = " It' Cryme Time. Brooklyn, Brooklyn ..."

And for those who say is not offensive, ask any African American if they like the gimmick. I have never heard one say it was cool. On Black Voices and other major forums, there have been lenthy discussions of people that have blasted WWE for such a negative stereotype. Remember the " Mexicools " that drove to the ring on lawn mowers....That was very insensitive ...

Do you think the WWE would have had a tag team named the " Tax Collectors " with two men dressed as Hasidic Jews? Never . But that is what you get

I do think this is a good thread IF WE FOCUS ON THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS and also look at ways the business can prosper with Black Talent.

wait...gary hart was black?????????????? he def didnt look like it.... was he mixed?(serious question)

and yea thank u for bringing up cryme tyme...it amazes how vince hasnt caught serious backlash for it......i mean he took it to the extreme with them....imho opinion c.t.would be better turning heel and coming in with shads H.N.I.C. gimmick......... almost a calmed down versionof the gangsta's...2 guys that will do everything possible to just take u out..... not having jtg jumping around like an idiot

 

[The Ultimate]

Yea, Vince is racist to a certain extent, I mean, Muhammed Hassan? Really? I know that he just needed a super heel to get mega heat, but come on! I am sure arab wwe fans were not very happy with that. And remember the racist comments he made to Sabu? Al Qaeda and whatnot? but then there were still some comedy ones, like when Chavo was in the Kerwin White gimmick. but the thing is, from what i see right now, the future of the wwe is dubbed as the Great White.

 

[emerald phoenix]

Yea, Vince is racist to a certain extent, I mean, Muhammed Hassan? Really? I know that he just needed a super heel to get mega heat, but come on! I am sure arab wwe fans were not very happy with that. And remember the racist comments he made to Sabu? Al Qaeda and whatnot? but then there were still some comedy ones, like when Chavo was in the Kerwin White gimmick. but the thing is, from what i see right now, the future of the wwe is dubbed as the Great White.

from what i remember from hassans character atleast for the promos up to debut is, arab fans would of cheered the guy.....his whole gimmick atleast in the begining was him being pissed about being unfairly judged bc he was arab and being called a terrorist every day( i even remember seeing his first 2 promos and saying so wait...is this guy gonna be a face or a heel, bc they didnt really shed light on it but with each promo he seemed to get angry and more hateful).... no doubt this would connect to the middle eastern people who do go thru the same exact thing....but thru progression hassan trasnformed from a i just want to be treated fairly and ill do what i have to do to get that treatment to a anti american

 

[theBec2101]

funny people talk about Tony Atlas and The Rock and no one says anything about Rocky Johnson. First black Tagteam.

What about Stevie Ray him and booker T another one of the best tag teams. But yet you metion mark henry, d-lo,Bobby Lashley,Kofi Kingston. nothing wrong with these people but some of them really didnt do anything or make a difference.

With people characters, if the person can play the role do it. S.C.S.A. played a redneck, drank beer, had trucks, and a guitar Shawn is white and from Texas he's in DX. Eddy had low ridersand his theme song.so lets not really go into the characters, by the way its not racism its stereotyping.

 

[VencomHardcore]

funny people talk about Tony Atlas and The Rock and no one says anything about Rocky Johnson. First black Tagteam.

What about Stevie Ray him and booker T another one of the best tag teams. But yet you metion mark henry, d-lo,Bobby Lashley,Kofi Kingston. nothing wrong with these people but some of them really didnt do anything or make a difference.

With people characters, if the person can play the role do it. S.C.S.A. played a redneck, drank beer, had trucks, and a guitar Shawn is white and from Texas he's in DX. Eddy had low ridersand his theme song.so lets not really go into the characters, by the way its not racism its stereotyping.

THE REASON TONY AND ROCKY AREN'T MENTIONED IS SOMETHING WWE DIDN'T ADMIT:

The tag team only had one match ! And Rocky Johnson would not pick Tony Atlas up from the Hotel to Take him to the show. He was Late.

Rocky Johnson was not liked by Black Wrestlers because he didn't want to be associated with them at all. He shunned them. This is according to interview from Tony Atlas. And a statement from Ernie Ladd years ago.

I have been researching Black Wrestlers for a minute.

TWO MORE BLACK WRESTLERS THAT ARE MAINSTREAM

J LETHAL
CONSEQUENCES CREED

Unfortunately, TNA has made them jobbers.

 

[jabba_lashley]

It exists. It might not be as prevalent as it once was, but it definitely exists. Vince has told Carlito to "S--- it up." Michael Hayes is a very known racist who reportedly said to Mark Henry that he's "a bigger n----- than he is". This resulted in Hayes facing significant punishment from the company, as well as leading to Mark Henry's ECW Title run, which finally got him over. Bobby Lashley and Kristal Marshall have alluded to racism in the WWE being prevalent. Konnan has sued TNA for racism. Gail Kim's finisher in TNA was called "The Happy Ending". Shelly Martinez used to come out wearing a sombrero when she managed LAX.

Cryme Tyme's gimmick itself, even though it's portrayed for comedy, is still pretty racist. In Yoshi Tatsu's first WWE match, Shelton taunted him with Asian stereotypes. Sure, he got his head kicked off for it, but it was still actually cleared for television.

The only thing I ask is that this thread is kept civil, and spam-free.

OK, please explain to me how "the happy ending" is racist. I just don't get that.

Cryme Tyme came up with their gimmick, i saw somewhere a few months ago that JTG actually came up with the whole idea, at first Shad wasn't comfortable with it but JTG talked him into it.

Also, the wrestlers can choose not to do something if they think it is racist. 9 times out of 10 they are probably given the option of not doing it.
I think you are just looking for racism when really there's not a lot to look at.

 

[VencomHardcore]

OK, please explain to me how "the happy ending" is racist. I just don't get that.

Cryme Tyme came up with their gimmick, i saw somewhere a few months ago that JTG actually came up with the whole idea, at first Shad wasn't comfortable with it but JTG talked him into it.

Also, the wrestlers can choose not to do something if they think it is racist. 9 times out of 10 they are probably given the option of not doing it.
I think you are just looking for racism when really there's not a lot to look at.

LET ME EXPLAIN THE HAPPY ENDING

Asian women are stereotyped as being secret sexual freaks in the bed. Asian women are also classified as puesdo hookers because you find a great number of Massage Parlors and the Happy Ending is a JO Release.

So for a female wrestler to have that is an insult since many Asian women hate those above mentioned stereotypes.

 

[jmt225]

2 Cold Scorpio is without a doubt my favorite black wrestler in history. For someone his size to pull the shit off that he did had always been incredible to me. I first saw him in WCW with Bagwell as his tag team partner, and I remained a huge fan since then.

JYD is a huge name from where I'm from, and I would have to say that he was the most over black wrestler in history. The fans absolutely adored the man, even in his shitty run in the WWF. He just had so much charisma that you couldn't help but love him.

And lastly... New Jack deserves a mention in this thread. Ignoring the shitty things he has done in his career, he's still the ONLY person to portray the "gangsta" style and A) have it be believable, and B) get it truly over. Also, he's also given some of the greatest, most entertaining shoot interviews ever, which should count for something too I guess.

 

[MoxViolence]

vince mcmahon....its funny, one time vince said whats up my n*gga to john cena on live tv. look it up on youtube. mcmahon obviously doesn't care how he comes off either. its rather obvious that black wrestlers are held back in wwe. more so than other races....i've been waiting for shelton benjamin to get a push. aint gon happen sadly. mvp has the talent to be a world champ if you ask me. but i guess he's just gonna ride the midcard for the rest of his career and be "straight up BALLIN"....smh

Cryme Tyme is the perfect example of racism. everything from the way they dress, to "stealing" titles and other things from people, to there "money money yea yea" chant they do all screams steriotyping. kofi kingston is from west africa and when he started with wwe vince made his character jamaican. accent and all. ridiculous if you ask me.

 

[Sockpuppet353]

What about Monty Brown?? He was a good wrestler, and also came from the NFL. Sure he didn't hold any titles in TNA or WWE, but he was (is) a gifted athlete.

 

[Guyzwitgunz]

I actually don't find the wrestling business racist in terms of skin color nowadays at all. I mean they are picking wrestlers for there talent and pushing them for that talent (eg Kofi Kingston). We also had over a years worth of black United States Champions: Shelton Benjamin-MVP-Kofi Kingston. In terms of stereotyping cultures you could say they are a little more into (Muhammad Hassan, Shelton-Yoshi incident)

 

[Freddy4190]

Vince is pretty racist. Or so i've heard. I dunno, it sure seems that way. Not even towards black people, I read somewhere a few years ago that he told Carlito to 'spic it up.' That's just nuts. There was alot of racial tension backstage when Lashley/Booker were on Raw supposedly.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

What about Stevie Ray him and booker T another one of the best tag teams. But yet you metion mark henry, d-lo,Bobby Lashley,Kofi Kingston. nothing wrong with these people but some of them really didnt do anything or make a difference.

Stevie Ray was good, no doubt about that, but he was clearly the Jannetty of Harlem Heat. Booker went on to do some great things, whereas Stevie Ray tried to create the New Harlem Heat with a very out of shape Ahmed Johnson.

Mark Henry is one of the most over wrestlers on the Raw roster who was an ECW Champion. He's finally found his calling in the WWE. D'Lo was a EuroContinental Champion. I still think to this day that he'd be a WWF Champion if it weren't for the Droz incident. Back in 1998-2000, D'Lo was putting on great matches left and right and showed an ability to get over.

Bobby Lashley accomplished a lot in the WWE in a short period of time, and now has successfully crossed over into Mixed Martial Arts. He is a shining example of a black wrestler who has gotten a serious push in the WWE. He was part of the most mainstream angle the WWE had at the time in years.

Kofi Kingston has "Future World Champion" written all over him, and I think he's got the greatest chance of being Mr. Money in the Bank this year.

 

[mr.davidson]

Alot of people forget about sweet daddy

He was probably one of the best black wrestlers ever and brought alot of fame into the wrestling bussiness.

Although i am not surprised he is not here i thought his named should b mentioned

Championships and accomplishments

AGPW North American Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Cuban Assassain

NWA International Tag Team Championship (Toronto version) (1 time) - with Bulldog Brower[4]

NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) - with Kinji Shibuya[4]

NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[4]

NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Hawaii version) (1 time)

NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Moondog Mayne[4]

MWA Ohio Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Leon Graham[1]

NWA Eastern States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)1

NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship (Calgary version) (1 time)

Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[4]

WWC North American Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[4]

This guy was a true champion and In all the matches that i seen him in the fact that he was black never really came into play... but he was entertaining as hell and should b in the WWE HOF some day.

Not only was he a black wrestler but he also gain great fame for being a Canadian wrestler which wasnt that common in his time.

 

[BladeRunner]

Just because a wrestler's a stereotype, it doesn't make the people who created them a racist.

Look, wrestling is about larger than life characters. It's about extremes. It's about going over the top about everything.

Stereotypes are similar in that they're extreme versions of a generalization.

But here's the thing. Just because Cryme Tyme is "bringin' tha hood to you" it doesn't mean anything about anybody else that's black. It's only when you yourself generalize and say cryme tyme is making black people look bad, is when racism comes up.

Similarly, just like a lot of asian women work at nail salons, you can make jokes about that.

What I'm saying is, Martin Luther King said, we should judge people by the content of their character not the color of their skin.

This also means, that we should look at each individual seperately, and not judge them all at once. Y'know not lump them all together, generalize, and call it "black". Each individual is different.

The problem is not the stereotypes persay, but when people use the stereotype as a way to hurt others feelings. Stereotypes can be downright funny, and sometimes have a bit of truth in them as well. But just because they have that bit of truth in them, doesn't mean ALL of that type of people are the same way, see what I'm saying?

I just take it all lightly, and know that it's crudity is just for entertainment's sake.

 

[Tastycles]

I think Ahmed Johnson was a big turning point. I know Atlas and Rocky were the tag champions, but they were never big names. Ron Simmons was world champion in WCW, but the company wasn't the market leader then. Ahmed Johnson was the first man given a mega push and I think if it hadn't been for his injuries he might have been a big star. Booker T was a huge star shortly afterwards, but I think Ahmed is one of my favourite wrestlers of all time, he was just so huge and quick with everything.