Racism within wwe

I read a topic on bleacher report a couple of weeks ago that got me thinking

Racism within the wwe,
It talked about road agents and the creative team having a good laugh at black (African American wrestlers) to the point of even being abusive towards them, one example was Michael Hayes being rather vile to mark henry
It got me thinking, there has been many moments where the wwe has been completely stereotypical when it comes to black wrestlers

The godfather - was Kama mustafa in the godfather, a take no nonsense fighter, turned him into the godfather, a celebrated pimp!

Mark Henry - the worlds strongest man, Olympian turned him into sexual chocolate

R truth, fair enough he doesn't really help himself but they had him as a rapping, dancing entertainer

Shelton Benjamin - probably one of the most athletic wrestlers ever pushed him so far then turned him into the mamas boy with the big momma in his corner!

Brodus clay (arguble) - was ment to be an absolute monster and became the funkasaurus! Enough said

MVP - the way they started out with him, sitting in the crowd girls, big chains etc very steriotypical. Then they started to push him and even the undertaker was very high on him and they just went cold on him!

Ron Simmons - now I know he is a very decorated athlete but not in the wwe, he won his major title in NWA or WCW not sure (my wrestling knowledge doesn't go that far back) but he does his whole DAMN thing, a little bit stereotypical

What do u guys think about this? Have I missed anything out or am I just making mountains out of molehills?

Nation of Domination, Cryme Tyme?

Wouldn't call it racism, more stereotyping. It's not like there's any proof that any of these have been held back based on creed or colour. Just given gimmicks which "match" their background according to middle aged white men in Connecticut

I'm not saying this to be inflammatory, but I think that the people who would say it's no big deal are probably people who have never been offended by any form of racism in their life. And if that's the case, I wonder if that in itself might make them a bit racist.

crippledtart wrote:I'm not saying this to be inflammatory, but I think that the people who would say it's no big deal are probably people who have never been offended by any form of racism in their life. And if that's the case, I wonder if that in itself might make them a bit racist.

Either that, or they've never been persecuted. There's a difference between never being persecuted and being a bit racist because they've not experienced it.

I tend to agree with Marky, that these gimmicks are more bad stereotypes than racism. There's probably a comparable number of negative gimmicks involving white wrestlers.

Funnily enough I think you've missed the two more offensive gimmicks involving black Wrestlers in my opinion, which are Kamala, and Rodney Mack.

Good point marky, I think you've probably nailed it.

Nakatomi whos Rodney mack, sorry I was a little drunk when I wrote this topic people lol.

I read that Michael Hayes uses the N word rather freely and that a exec got right up in mark henrys face screaming racial slurs and the guy is in the same job earning more money.

You have to admit a lot of the black talent don't get the pushes they deserve MVP and Shelton spring to mind, both really talented, got a bit of a push then nothing

No worries mate. Rodney Mack was managed by Teddy Long in the Ruthless Aggression era. His gimmick was that he claimed to be held down because of his colour.

He would challenge white jobbers in "white boy challenge" matches, which essentially meant he beat people up because they were white.

Jeezo haha! That's brutal! I kind of dell out of wrestling during the ruthless aggression era

If you get a chance try and watch the legends of wrestling roundtable discussion with tony atlas and teddy "lets make it a tag match playa" long. Quite interesting hearing stories if the wrestling business

Well, I wouldnt think that there is open racism in the WWE. If youre a 6'8 athletic black kid, your probably dreaming of dunking a ball, not Powerbombs. With the exception of Shelton Benjamin, I dont think there is one black guy in the E who really set out to be a wrassler. May be wrong, but I dont think so. In contrast, when youre a 6'8 white kids, chances are (according to Larry Bird) you lack the co-ordination, vertical jump to make in pro sport (Go on, how high do you think Nash can jump?). Then there is peer pressure, the culture of wrestling, its just not a very attractive form of entertainment for black people (as a general rule). But with that said, its shocking that the Rock is the only black WWE champ in I dont even know how long (ever?)

Lash key was wwe-ecw champ from memory. Also booker was world champ (possibly only as wcw after the merger though).

Mark Henry has been a champ recently too I thought.

Adam D wrote:Lash key was wwe-ecw champ from memory. Also booker was world champ (possibly only as wcw after the merger though).

Mark Henry has been a champ recently too I thought.

Booker T (as King Bookah!) won the WWE World Heavyweight Title. 5 time WCW Champ and 1 time WWE World Champ.

He didn't win the WWE Title though.

booker won the world heavyweight championship, not wwe. as every cm punk mark the E does not hold them in the same regard.

The Rock - Arguably the biggest star in WWE ever...............

I think this is a case of something out of nothing. It's just a play on stereotypes, and it's not like plenty of wrestlers have had to deal with poor gimmicks in the past. Some alternatives to the names in the original post:

John Tenta - nearly "ends" Hulkamania as Earthquake, repackaged as Golga...
Ken Patera - Olympic athlete packaged as a jobber to the stars.
Curt Hennig - Mr Perfect becomes a country singing redneck in his late WCW career
Charlie Haas - just as talented but no where near as over. Floundered where Benjamin shone.
Tensai?

With MVP, they could've easily have gone down the prison route like they did with Crush when he had a few problems, but they avoided it. And Ron Simmons got as misused as many other former WCW main eventers.

And they're not the only wrestlers saddled with gimmicks based upon their heritage. What about Pirate Paul Burchall, Lord Regal, Sheamus, The Highlanders, Jean-Pierre LaFitte, Ludvig Borga, Outback Jack, Nikolai Volkoff, and of course Bruno Sammartino? Are they racist? Or are they just using a stereotype to get them over?

Kofi Kingston