Racism in the WWE??

[SSJPhenom]

I know that there have been several discussions on this topic around in here in the past, however, I've never been able to take part in one of these discussions and it's something that's on my mind and I just need to get it out.

So today I was watching a video on YouTube of Triple H on ESPN First Take talking about the Mae Young classic among other things. Now, of course they didn't talk about racism in the WWE during this interview, no. What happened is I made the mistake of scrolling down to the comments and reading a few of them and there was one there that stood out like a sore thumb. It read, "Steven A. should ask Triple H why there's never been a Black WWE Champion besides the half black Rock". Of course, being a wrestling fan for well over 20 years, I had to respond and correct the person. I responded with, "Booker T and Mark Henry were both World Heavyweight Champions for a good amount of time and Bobby Lashley was pushed very far very fast".

Now there were other comments with people talking about how Trips once called Booker T nappy when they feuded for Wrestlemania 19 and other instances of racism in the WWE. Listen, I'm half black myself and while I'll admit there definitely haven't been many black wrestlers to make it to the top of the WWE; I don't think that they're racist in the slightest. I think like I've always thought, that the only color that Vince and Trips and the others in charge care about is green. Fact is, while there haven't been a lot of top black stars, there have been top black stars and one of the biggest names in the history of the business is black in the Rock. There's also been top Latino stars and other multiracial top stars. So, no I don't think that the WWE brass is racist at all. It's very simple, there are far more white wrestlers today and in the past then there have been black wrestlers and wrestlers of other ethnic backgrounds. I really think it's that simple.

What do you guys think? Am I wrong? Is the WWE racist? Do they actively avoid pushing black performers? Let me know your opinions.

 

[LODemolition]

I'd like to think they're not, but it's kinda hard to defend them when they put characters like Kamala and Saba Simba on our tv screens in the past. Oh and not to mention Vince did use the N word before. I'm sure it's on Youtube if you haven't seen it. I'm not going to call him a racist, I'll just say he's made very questionable decisions in the past to say the least. Not just Vince either.

I believe it was WM8 when Heenan said to Monsoon, "I don't have any gold in my teeth. What do you think I am, Chinese?"

 

[Slyfox696]

The WWE only cares about one color and that's the color green. It wouldn't matter if McMahon WAS a huge racist (which, I don't think he's a huge racist, just an old man with an old man's understanding of the world), his love for making money would easily overcome his view on minorities.

At the end of the day, pro wrestling has traditionally been an entertainment medium for primarily white people. As the demographics of the viewership as changed, so has the racial makeup of the roster and the main-event. For example, just look at the racial makeup of the 6 men who main-evented the title matches at Summerslam, the second biggest show of the year.

 

[Alex]

There's just not that many black wrestlers. Sucks I know but there isn't and of the few that there are only a small percentage could be seen as worthy of pushing.

Look at the current roster. There's New Day, Titus O'Neil, Darren Young, Apollo Crews, Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann. Now out of all those guys New Day have been the only ones to show a decent amount of personality. And they're all pretty good in the ring. That's three guys out of eight. That's less than half. Now compare New Day to the other crop of people they're considering pushing. Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode. These guys are better in the ring compared to New Day and have more charisma. If I'm going to push people who are likely to make me money I'm going to push the people that are better in the ring and have more charisma.

The Women's division is smaller so it's easier for people to stand out. They've pushed Naomi, Ember Moon is tearing it up down in NXT and let's not forget the Boss Sasha Banks is mixed race as well. They'd have a lot of a harder time standing out if the division was bigger and had Lita, Trish Stratus, Victoria etc on the roster as well but they're currently shining because of less competition

People moan about Jinder Mahal being pushed only for the Indian market. Would you want Apollo Crews given the WWE championship in two months just because WWE found there was a black viewership spike?

WWE may do some questionable things but I don't think they're racist. They push who has the most upside to them. Hence why Brock is champion and Roman is still being protected.

 

[ABMorales787]

In the past, maybe? But nowadays, it's more just the luck of the draw. Vince's hard-on for Lashley was pretty known and Big E was at one time prophetised as the next big thing. Kofi Kingston and Shelton Benjamin were two guys pegged for big spots but just didn't get there.

For whatever reason a black WWE Champion has never panned out. Its never been seen as being because of lack of trying.

 

[The Perfect Max]

In this day and age I really don't know if WWE could get away with being as racist as some people claim them to be. There's been a host of black stars in the past, some of which have been handed very racially questionable gimmicks, others that have been given some real golden opportunities (some of whom that have capitalised on these opportunities, by the way). But all I see in WWE today is a lack of black stars to really make the evaluation. The New Day have been incredibly successful, and they're black. Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka have been two of the biggest names out of NXT, and they're Japanese. Whatever and wherever they're from, and whatever and however they look, it's clear that WWE concern themselves with who is making the big bucks and what is valuable to the company. And that's exactly how it should be.

One day there will be a black WWE Champion. We might even be on the brink of a Japanese WWE Champion in Shinsuke Nakamura. Our current champion in Indian. If Vince and WWE really are racist, I'm struggling to see it at this point. Maybe in the past, but not now.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

The closest I've seen in WWE, aside from stereotypical characters is Triple H vs Booker T. The comment made that , "Guys like you don't belong..." with the championship/main event kind of deal. It probably was meant as, "You were a WCW guy..." or..."you were in prison." ....but it looked bad. Or Rowdy Roddy Piper vs Bad News Brown where he painted himself half black.

I'm sure if a full black guy came along that had it all he'd end up with the belt. I don't think WWE are racist. Would they have a black tag team become the longest tag champions ever? Probably not. Sasha Banks has won the woman's title 6 or 7 times. Mark Henry, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Booker T, Sheldon Benjamin, Bobby Lashley, Ron Simmons all have very impressive title resumes in WWE. Maybe not the main event but success in all other belts. A racist company wouldn't allow that.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

it's kinda hard to only blame WWE for this because that's kinda the mentality in Wrestling as a whole. If you look at the history of pro wrestling, How many Black wrestlers actually became World Heavyweight champion. Just look at WCW as an exemple. You look at their history from NWA era all the way the when turner bought the title. You have to wait until 1992 to find a Black world heavyweight champion in Ron simmons which was the first one to win the belt. After he drop the belt, it took 8 years before another black wrestler on the world title.

In the indy's it's kinda the same thing, their not a lot of black wrestlers and it's rare that they get the title. In fact i think Jay Lethal was one of the rare one to win a world title. So this isn't just a WWE problem, it's a problem within the wrestling business in general.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I believe WWE can be racially insensitive at times as it can rely on outdated stereotypes but not nearly as much as it used to. And, to be fair, you have to lump just about every other wrestling company in there for being racially insensitive too as all the wrongs, misdeeds and injustices in pro wrestling history can't be retroactively placed on WWE shoulders just because they're the last of the big American wrestling companies. The AWA, Stampede Wrestling, promotions all over the NWA, TNA did it quite a few times over the course of its history. Kamala & Killer Khan were racial stereotypes but they were stereotypes these wrestlers were using well before they came to the WWF; hell, Archie Gouldie's wrestling name was the Mongolian Stomper despite the fact that he was a white Canadian who'd never been to Mongolia. Now today, Vince himself may see nothing wrong with having a 550 lbs. Samoan portray himself as a fictional Japanese sumo wrestler, and neither did anyone else 25 years ago or, if they did, we certainly didn't hear about it. However, a huge deal would be made about it today as someone would be offended, or at least claim to be so, and would try to make a huge deal about it via social media. I don't think Vince is racist as much as, as Sly pointed out, he just has the mind set of a 72 year old man who grew up in a different time when a different societal standard was in place and he's set in his ways.

Also, as Sly pointed out, I think the only color that matters to Vince is green. Otherwise, the Rock would never have been WWE Champion, the tag team picture in WWE for the past few years wouldn't have been dominated by blacks and Samoans, the company wouldn't be wanting to find another Rey Mysterio to appeal to the growing Hispanic market, a Canadian of Indian descent wouldn't be WWE Champion, the very probable next WWE Champion wouldn't be Japanese, the heir apparent to John Cena wouldn't be a man of Samoan descent.

I do think it's quite possible Vince has some dated views on some things that's due more to a generational thing but Vince is smart enough to realize, or at least he has people around him who're smart enough to realize, that some of those views and some of those characters simply won't work in today's more PC conscious society.

 

[therockiswwf]

I'd like to think they're not, but it's kinda hard to defend them when they put characters like Kamala and Saba Simba on our tv screens in the past. Oh and not to mention Vince did use the N word before. I'm sure it's on Youtube if you haven't seen it. I'm not going to call him a racist, I'll just say he's made very questionable decisions in the past to say the least. Not just Vince either.

I believe it was WM8 when Heenan said to Monsoon, "I don't have any gold in my teeth. What do you think I am, Chinese?"

Vince said something like "What's up my *****?" to Cena. It was obvious that Vince was joking. Though that is something you joke about behind closed doors and not on camera.

To be fair, Cryme Tyme was a racist gimmick (JTG's idea) but it was also incredibly entertaining. Kamala and Simba weren't the best ideas but they don't come from a place of malice.

The only thing Vince seems to hate is southern accents. Otherwise, he doesn't seem to care.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I'd like to think they're not, but it's kinda hard to defend them when they put characters like Kamala and Saba Simba on our tv screens in the past. Oh and not to mention Vince did use the N word before. I'm sure it's on Youtube if you haven't seen it. I'm not going to call him a racist, I'll just say he's made very questionable decisions in the past to say the least. Not just Vince either.

I believe it was WM8 when Heenan said to Monsoon, "I don't have any gold in my teeth. What do you think I am, Chinese?"

All the examples you mentioned happened over 20 years ago, where more was accepted, and political correctness hadn't taken hold.

WWE made racial stereotypical characters in an era where "All In The Family" was a TV staple. Standards have changed, and WWE has been forced to change with it. Why do you think that they made the New Day three guys who espouse positivity, rather than Nation Of Domination 2.0, which was based on the racist Louis Farrakan arm of the Nation Of Islam (who I believe that Malcolm X disendorsed Farrakan and his activities). A stable like that wouldn't be accepted today, as it puts blacks in a bad light to portray them as racist (since, as the media will tell you, only white people can ever be racist).

 

[d_henderson1810]

There's just not that many black wrestlers. Sucks I know but there isn't and of the few that there are only a small percentage could be seen as worthy of pushing.

Look at the current roster. There's New Day, Titus O'Neil, Darren Young, Apollo Crews, Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann. Now out of all those guys New Day have been the only ones to show a decent amount of personality. And they're all pretty good in the ring. That's three guys out of eight. That's less than half. Now compare New Day to the other crop of people they're considering pushing. Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode. These guys are better in the ring compared to New Day and have more charisma. If I'm going to push people who are likely to make me money I'm going to push the people that are better in the ring and have more charisma.

The Women's division is smaller so it's easier for people to stand out. They've pushed Naomi, Ember Moon is tearing it up down in NXT and let's not forget the Boss Sasha Banks is mixed race as well. They'd have a lot of a harder time standing out if the division was bigger and had Lita, Trish Stratus, Victoria etc on the roster as well but they're currently shining because of less competition

People moan about Jinder Mahal being pushed only for the Indian market. Would you want Apollo Crews given the WWE championship in two months just because WWE found there was a black viewership spike?

WWE may do some questionable things but I don't think they're racist. They push who has the most upside to them. Hence why Brock is champion and Roman is still being protected.

I think that Rich Swann has shown lots of personality, by his dancing and smiling, so he can be included as having something to offer in that area as well.

 

[LODemolition]

Wow I somehow forgot all about Piper painting himself half black. I don't keep up on politics much, but I have to imagine someone would've dug up all this dirt on Linda and it wouldn't exactly take much effort.

 

[d_henderson1810]

The closest I've seen in WWE, aside from stereotypical characters is Triple H vs Booker T. The comment made that , "Guys like you don't belong..." with the championship/main event kind of deal. It probably was meant as, "You were a WCW guy..." or..."you were in prison." ....but it looked bad. Or Rowdy Roddy Piper vs Bad News Brown where he painted himself half black.

I'm sure if a full black guy came along that had it all he'd end up with the belt. I don't think WWE are racist. Would they have a black tag team become the longest tag champions ever? Probably not. Sasha Banks has won the woman's title 6 or 7 times. Mark Henry, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Booker T, Sheldon Benjamin, Bobby Lashley, Ron Simmons all have very impressive title resumes in WWE. Maybe not the main event but success in all other belts. A racist company wouldn't allow that.

New Day didn't have the longest reign because they were black. It was more spite on Vince's part to stick it to Demolition, the previous title record holders, for joining the class action lawsuit against WWE.

In New Day's case, it was more right time, right place.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

People think WWE booked Booker T that way because he was black. No. Booker T got booked that way because he was WCW. Want to talk about racism talk about discrimination between WWE talent and WCW talent.

New Day are the longest reigning tag team champions and there are reports saying that WWE also wants to give them the more # of title reigns, meaning that WWE will turn New Day into the greatest tag team of all time. They're black.

Mark Henry had a great push. Booker T had a great career.

And when you really think about, there wasn't any black wrestler worthy of reaching higher status in the company either. Booker T is the only example, but that was a WCW thing. Benjamin, Henry, Kingston, Big E. Good talents but not good enough to be given a prime spot. And these are the only guys I can remember being good in the past 20 years. Who else was there that WWE didn't push?

Also, Del Rio was a golden project for a long time. Same goes for Rey Mysterio. Same goes for Jinder. Where's the racism?

To put it simple, racism does not exist in the WWE because it's bad bussiness for them to be racists when they want to approach an International market.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

No I don't think so. Honestly, how many black wrestlers in WWE have deserved to be World Champion?

Rock, Booker, and Henry all did. Who else? Honestly, I can't think of anyone.

Why don't more white basketball players win the NBA MVP trophy? Because well there aren't many and the black players deserve it a lot more. Same thing with WWE.

Also, Vince saying the n-word was a joke.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Seems sort of weird that The New Day, one of their hottest cash cows who've lasted years now, haven't been given a prime spot like a title contention. They're obviously far above another tag team title run. If jobber Mahal can headline pay per views, I see no reason Kofi can't either. Not calling the company racists towards black people, but they are squandering talent who happen to be black.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Seems sort of weird that The New Day, one of their hottest cash cows who've lasted years now, haven't been given a prime spot like a title contention. They're obviously far above another tag team title run. If jobber Mahal can headline pay per views, I see no reason Kofi can't either. Not calling the company racists towards black people, but they are squandering talent who happen to be black.

Yeah, but there's a lot of talented white guys who have been wasted. It goes both ways.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Yeah, but there's a lot of talented white guys who have been wasted. It goes both ways.

No, it doesn't. White people in WWE have been represented by at least 40-odd WWE Champions. Representation obviously matters on a cinematic platform which is what WWE is. This should count as double in a fake sport, where there is no real excuse to not have a black WWE Champion, especially one that makes the company money. Which is what any three of The New Day does.

We can take your statement and flip it. There have been several undeserving white WWE Champions. How many black WWE Champions were undes- oh.

 

[sikkbones]

No I don't think so. Honestly, how many black wrestlers in WWE have deserved to be World Champion?

Rock, Booker, and Henry all did. Who else? Honestly, I can't think of anyone.

Why don't more white basketball players win the NBA MVP trophy? Because well there aren't many and the black players deserve it a lot more. Same thing with WWE.

Also, Vince saying the n-word was a joke.

Big cat Ernie Ladd was a legit contender in the 70s.

Bad news brown was at some point promised a title rum by Vince.

Pretty Ron Simmons as farooq was thought of as a world champion at some point as well.

Of course.... He had already been champ.

A serious question tho...

Othr than fake Asian yokozuna... How many Asians before shinsuke actually even got a title shot... (Not including backlund\inoki that was the Nwf/nwa booking)

 

[therockiswwf]

No, it doesn't. White people in WWE have been represented by at least 40-odd WWE Champions. Representation obviously matters on a cinematic platform which is what WWE is. This should count as double in a fake sport, where there is no real excuse to not have a black WWE Champion, especially one that makes the company money. Which is what any three of The New Day does.

We can take your statement and flip it. There have been several undeserving white WWE Champions. How many black WWE Champions were undes- oh.

WWE is entertainment not a fake sport. The title usually goes on or around the top draw. Top draws are not manufactured. New Day focuses a bit too much on comedy to be in the Main Event scene (comedy doesn't draw). New Day could be put in the ME in a serious role but that would mean they lose them as a tag team. They lose them being able to do their style promos. New Day has a role right now that they are fulfilling nicely.

They can't just pull a ME talent out of their ass. Jinder proves that.

The most undeserving champion in history isn't even white.

Othr than fake Asian yokozuna... How many Asians before shinsuke actually even got a title shot... (Not including backlund\inoki that was the Nwf/nwa booking)

I have no idea but it probably is very low. Though the numbers game here would mean that it should be rare that an Asian talent rises to the ME ranks.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Its always funny to me when people play "racism" card. Granted there are instances where you can play it but Oscars and WWE are not one of them. Out of all instances through time you can maybe make a case about Booker T. And doubt it can be racism and not "HHH shovel" material and King Booker was WWE Champion later. If you look at WWE roster now you can make a case about New Day and Sasha Banks. And they all are multiple Champions. Rest of "African- Americans" are not really Champions material right now.

 

[Slyfox696]

No, it doesn't. White people in WWE have been represented by at least 40-odd WWE Champions. Representation obviously matters on a cinematic platform which is what WWE is.

If representation matters, how many black wrestlers were there before 1990? I don't mean in the WWE, I mean in all of American wrestling. How common was a black wrestler, compared to how common was a white wrestler?

Furthermore, how common were black wrestling fans prior to 1990? With the WWE Network, you can go back and watch as many shows as you want. How many black fans do you see in the audience? Hell, for that matter, what percentage of white fans to black fans do you see in the audience today?

Othr than fake Asian yokozuna... How many Asians before shinsuke actually even got a title shot... (Not including backlund\inoki that was the Nwf/nwa booking)

How many Asian wrestlers have worked primarily in the States?

The most undeserving champion in history isn't even white.

I'm pretty certain Jack Swagger is white.

 

[Messiah]

Racism is everywhere in this world, every office, every company in this world.. It shouldn't be discussed anymore unless people want to do something about it.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Racism is everywhere in this world, every office, every company in this world.. It shouldn't be discussed anymore unless people want to do something about it.

You can't do anything about it if you don't discuss it, you can't just wave a magic wand or wish it away. Even then, talking about it is pretty much all you can do because prejudice seems to be ingrained in us as a species. Whether it's by skin color, religious belief or even the part of the world where someone lives, it's always been there as you've always had people who believe that they're simply a superior type of human being compared to some others.