Part-Time Wrestlers: Ego-Driven Or Useful Help?

Folks, what's happening? Glad to see you back with me for another highly opinionated observation within the world of professional wrestling (note: this is not the place for "sports entertainment").  This piece centers on an area that a lot of hardcore (in this instance, very enthusiastic) fans get really rattled and irritated by,  The area in question is part-time wrestlers.  What are part-time wrestlers, by chance?  Part-time wrestlers are wrestlers that literally come and go whenever they feel, or wrestlers that have temporary contracts that wrestle and entertain until their contracts are up and stay gone for some time and come back again.  Let's explore this further.

One of the first part-timers in this age is Dwayne Johnson, otherwise widely known as The Rock.  When The Rock first came on the scene, he was one of the most naturally gifted athletes the sport had ever seen, and that covers a lot of ground.  If you've known or had become aware of his professional history, you're familiar with the fact that he was struggling to get over with the fans, struggling quite hard in fact.  Although great in the ring for a rookie, possessing a look that screams "star", and enrapturing the proverbial "it factor", his white-bread, clean cut, overtly happy image wasn't hitting on cylinders.  It wasn't until he became a part of the Nation Of Domination faction, which at the time was lead by WWE hall Of Famer Ron Simmons, who was playing the militant, Huey P. Newton-esque Farooq.  Once he was running way past the leadership of Farooq, he became the star and all eyes were on him instead of Farooq.  His previously mentioned traits, along with his ever building charisma, made him a big time star before anyone knew it.  In fact, as time progressed The Rock became one of the sport's brightest stars.  At a time where "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Vince McMahon's on-screen character Mr. McMahon, and D-generation X were all defining a new era (affectionately known as the "Attitude" era), The Rock was starting to make his own name known and building his own identity.  Fast forward a couple of years and he and Austin are the two biggest wrestlers not just in the WWE, but in the sport.

Once the lights were bright on him, movie directors started knocking on his door, and before long the acting bug hit him.  His first stint of acting came in The Mummy Returns and eventually the lead role in The Scorpion King.  Once that movie took off, so did he.  He put his burgeoning movie career as a bigger priority than his wrestling career and of course the fans resented him for a while because of it. He ended up briefly returning to feud with Austin, his longtime and most revered rival, and before you knew it, he was gone again to do more movies.  It became a return-then-leave situation for the next few years for The Rock.  As he started doing more movies, there was less and less attention the fans were giving him, but one could clearly tell that the people were really missing him.  Enter Valentine's Day 2011, where was seen as the host of Wrestlemania XXVII in Atlanta.  He was greeted with an extremely deafening ovation, which showed how much the fans still loved The Rock. He was soon entered into quite the entertaining rivalry with WWE's top guy, John Cena.  After the two year rivalry had passed, it was back to Hollywood (this after he swore he would never leave again).

The Rock started getting a lot of criticism from Internet fans for not only coming and going as he chose, but he actually ended the record-breaking four hundred thirty day-plus WWE Championship reign of then champion CM Punk at the Royal Rumble of 2013.  He lost the title to Cena at Wrestlemania XXVIX, and was gone until Wrestlemania XXX (that's 30) in New Orleans, where he was in the opening segment with Austin and Hulk Hogan for what was one of the most iconic moments in WM history.  However, he wasn't the only guy that would leave the company and come back, and leave again on a regular basis.

The night after Wrestlemania XXVIII, Cena was confronted, and sub sequentially attacked by the returning Brock Lesnar (I wish I could say that in Heyman's voice). Lesnar had been gone for years after a failed stint trying out with the Minnesota Vikings and eventually moving on to UFC where he became UFC Champion.  After he lost the title, and retired from MMA competition due to diverticulitis, he was in talks with Paul "Triple H" Levesque and Vince about returning.  The catch was he would only do a few on-air appearances per year, including pay per view events, plus he wouldn't do any live house shows. While the fans were really amped to see Lesnar return, and feud with the likes of Triple H, Cena, and Mark Henry, there was still subtle resentment that guys that perform night in and night out on a daily basis, three hundred to three hundred ten days a year.  Nearly two weeks ago, Lesnar became the WWE World Champion for the first time since 2003 thoroughly defeating Cena at Summerslam.  Once again Internet fans (or "marks" as the term is frequently called) were highly resentful at a part-time guy who gets special treatment in his contracts is the new champion.

Other names that are considered part-timers are Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho.  Van Dam returned to WWE in 2013 after a successful run in TNA where he became X Division and World Champion.  The catch was that he would wrestle 3-4 months on-air and on pay per views and not wrestle at live events.  Plus he could exercise his option to leave after his 4 month period was up and could possibly return after his sabbatical.  As for Jericho, his music career started highly taking off, as he would tour with his band Fozzy and put out quite a few successful albums.  Whenever there was a lull in his touring, he would return to help the company and help get talent over.  His current rivalry is with one of the company's brightest stars, Bray Wyatt (yes I know I'm a Wyatt head so part of this is subjective, but hey he just is).  His run with the company ends in September, as he goes back on the road with Fozzy.  Van Dam just left the company this past Tuesday after his match with Seth Rollins. There's currently no time period as to when or if he'll return.

I almost forgot about Batista.  After a five year hiatus, in which he tried his hand at MMA and eventually returned just in time for the Royal Rumble of this year and needless to say it was received quite underwhelmingly.  In fact, fans starting booing him and referring to him as "Boo-tista."  He won the Royal Rumble match and ended up co-headlining Wrestlemania, along with then champion Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan, who ended up winning the title.  Batista ended up leaving once again, only this time it was to promote his highly-grossing movie Guardians Of The Galaxy.  It's been said that he plans on officially retiring soon to fully concentrate on his movie career.

Being a part-timer in an industry that requires one to perform fifty-two weeks a year for the fans is one thing, but winning Royal Rumbles and World titles is completely something else.  In his now legendary "pipe bomb"promo, former WWE star CM Punk briefly stated how angry he was that "Dwayne" as he called him was in the main event at Wrestlemania and he wasn't.  he's far from the only person that feels that way, but nobody will actually come forth and say anything likely due to either getting fired or getting buried on the roster (to those that aren't aware of this term, it means constantly losing, or jobbing).  Incredible wrestlers such as Dolph Ziggler, Bad News Barrett (who's currently sidelined with an injury), Kofi kingston, and even Dean Ambrose aren't spotlighted in the main event, but guys like Lesnar and The Rock can be.  Booker T replied to those that have complained, in terms of wrestlers in the locker room, by stating, "Once you sell out arenas and pull big box office draws, then you can be part time if you so choose".  In all respect to one of my favorites ever, what a load of crap.  While there are a lot of young guys that aren't stepping up on a weekly basis to steal the show, there are those (such as the ones I just mentioned) that work their asses off to do better than the match before.  They still can not get to the main event.  Is it fair?  Absolutely not, but then again we all know Vince, Steph, and Hunter all have their favorites will stay in the main event or the upper card (Shaemus and Cena anybody?).  It's a complete and total slap in the face to those that put in the work.  The main reason why those guys stepped up to the level they worked to was that there was competition going on, whether it was with Eric Bischoff or even within his own company (I can't lie I miss the brand extensions).  Without any big reason to step up, guys will remain complacent, in spite of their best intent.

Lesnar SHOULD NOT be the champion.  Nobody that is a part timer should be a champion, especially not a World Champion.  Part of the grip that Punk had was for the guys that busts their asses night and day to live their dream and to entertain the fans that pay their hard earned money to see them, and they get pushed to the side in favor of people that go and come.  The exceptions are Van Dam and Jericho, for they have nothing more to really prove in this sport as both men are future Hall Of Famers and they want to work with young guys to help them get to the next level like people had to help them along in their careers.  The Rock is seriously contemplating retirement and so is Batista, but Lesnar has terms with his contract and he becomes champion.  Is Lesnar at the top of his game right now? Damn straight he is.  Should he be World Champion compared to others like Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Dolph, or Bray?  Hell no.  Part-timers should stay part-timers unless they're around to help the next generation of young guys elevate to the next level of their careers.

For Batista and The Rock, that realize their in ring careers may really be over for greener pastures in hollywood, all success to those guys.  They get it, and in all respect to The Rock, he did want one more Title before he left for good, and he transitioned the belt over to Cena at Wrestlemania XIX.  Now Lesnar, if he's going to be part time, be part time.  If he's going to be a champion, he needs to have NO special terms on your contract.  Is Vince or Hunter that scared to make new stars that they would lower themselves to acquiesce to the demands of Lesnar?  He keep doing this, and I would expect guys like Dolph and Barrett and Ambrose to head to Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling when it launches.

That's all for now cats.  I will leave with this thought.  Many hate Cena, loathe Cena, and think he straight sucks.  One thing about him, is that he has given all he had to being the best.  Regardless if he's Vince's golden boy, he works hard day in and day out.  Whether at Madison Square Garden or in Fayetteville, NC he gives one hundred percent each and every time he performs and he's for the fans. Part-timers, especially those that would like to be champions, are selfish.  Then again, it's all about business right Vince?  Check you kind folks out later.

Summerslam 2014...Hot Or Nah??

What's going on kiddies!  Another pay per view in the box.  Last night was the annual WWE Summerslam pay per view.  In front of a sold-out Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA, we witnessed some some pretty good action, and some hit-or-miss angles as well.  One thing that struck in particular was the fact that every single championship changed hands last night that was on the line.  We have a new Inter-Continental Champion, new Divas Champion, and especially a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.  However, I will go into the event in detail for those that don't have the WWE Network (folks, as they keeping pushing, it's only $9.99!!).

First up was the Inter-continental Title match between champion The Miz and challenger Dolph Ziggler.  Easily the most under appreciated match of the night, both guys performed well and it was enough to keep the people engaged in the match.  Yes, Miz has a very annoying new "hollywood" gimmick (be for real, Mike Mizanin has done the small screen and DVDs/Blu-Rays, but big screens???), but his in-ring work has been actually better then before when he left to do The Marine 4 (coming soon with co-worker Danielle 'Summer Rae" Moinet).  However, Dolph, a former two-time World Champion, is easily one of the best all-around performers on the entire roster, and has been for the past couple of years.  These two young guys put on a pretty good match for the viewers, but at the end it was the Zig-Zag of Ziggler that was the death blow in the championship reign of The Miz, which by the way was only about forty-five or so days.

Next up, the Divas match.  On paper, this match between champion AJ Lee and challenger (and former champion) Paige had the makings to be a Divas classic.  Although it was short of that feat, it was still not a bad match.  The build up to the match had Paige getting the best of AJ in confrontations, and referring to Lee as her "frienemy" (get it, friend and enemy?? Blame that on creative, folks).  Arguably the two best overall Divas in the locker room (save for Natalya, Naomi, and a currently injured Tamina Snuka), these two have exchanged the title twice.  When Paige graduated from NXT to the main roster the night after Wrestlemania, she defeated AJ, only for AJ to defeat the nearly-ten year veteran the night after Payback in much the same fashion.  This is reality is their first regularly sanctioned match on a card.  These two young ladies didn't have a very long match, and quite frankly it was very underwhelming, but Paige, or her twenty-second birthday yesterday (the youngest star on the entire main roster) won her second Divas Title with a cradle DDT that she called "The Ram-Paige."  Although I would love to see another match between the two because of how good this rivalry can be, rumors are that AJ may be on her way out of the company to start a family with her newlywed husband, the severely-missed CM Punk.  Only time will tell.

Next was a big time encounter between former members of the very impressive faction The Shield, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.  This was a match I had been wanting to seen on a big stage like WWE due to their indie histories and how great both guys are as in-ring performers.  Rollins has achieved accomplishments and garnered championships in ROH, PWG (if you don't know about them, I implore you to Youtube them), FIP, and FCW (later became NXT).  He was also the first NXT Champion.  Ambrose, on the other hand, had success in the previously mentioned FIP (that's Full Impact Pro), Evolve, and the animalistic promotion Combat Zone Wrestling, where he won two World Titles.  The build to this match was done overall very well, with Ambrose finding time to attack Rollins at every turn possible.  The stipulation for the match was it would be contested as a Lumberjack Match (others may refer to it as a Human Cage Match).  I had my concerns initially, as I'm typically not a big fan of Lumberjack matches, but this match was easily the match of the night, or should I say fight of the night.  The action didn't last terribly long in the ring, although the rules clearly state that if a participant leaves, or gets tossed from, the ring, the "lumberjacks" on the outside of the ring are to throw them back in the ring.  Simply put, the match exploded onto the outside to where both guys fought amongst the crowd and then back to ringside.  Truthfully the craziest spot in the match was a HELLACIOUS clothesline from Ambrose that literally knocked Rollins into a 180-degree turn in mid-air.  However, despite his best efforts, the once-again-corporate Kane got involved and Rollins took the opportunity to use his Money In The Bank briefcase to hit "The Lunatic Fringe" in the face with it to pick up a big win.  Although Ambrose has been signed on to star in an upcoming WWE Studios film, I would suggest this rivalry isn't over by a longshot.  Unquestionably the best lumberjack match that I can ever recall.

The Flag Match was next between Jack Swagger and the undefeated Rushev.  With their respective corner personalities of Zeb Colter and Lana, the patriotic build up has been intriguing, as Zeb has done a fantastic job on the mic with his promos, and Lana has done modestly continuing to get heat for her and her guy (both on AND off camera) Rushev.  This, folks, was physical but in the end, it was Rushev with the win.  Swagger was caught in the Accolade (Rushev's version of the Camel Clutch), but didn't tap out.  Instead the young Oklahoman, and former World Champion, passed out.  As per the stipulation of the Flag Match, the winner's flag would be raised and the country's national anthem would be played.  Rushev, who had just brutally kicked a sixty-plus year old man in Zeb in the face, celebrated with glee as his country's song was played.

The match between WWE "principle owner" Stephanie McMahon (Levesque) and former Divas Champion, Brie Bella, was next.  Nobody expected this match to me a Trish/Lita chess game...and it wasn't.  To no surprise this was the worse match on the card, but then again, it wasn't about the technical nature of the match, it was the storytelling of the match. In all fairness, Steph is not a seasoned wrestler, nor has she ever been classically trained (what's sad is that, last night, she looked better as an in-ring wrestler then a few of the Divas in the locker room *cough Eva Marie cough*). The build was all the way on up until last week and the rather stupid and idiotic storyline twist of Brie's real-life husband, currently injured star Daniel Bryan, being involved in an affair with his "Physical Therapist" last week.  While Brie putting her hubby's "Yes Lock" arm submission on Steph was a good visual, the match was, well, kind of what you would imagine.  The story, however, involved one of the evening's biggest shockers (depending upon whom you ask) when Brie's twin sister Nikkie, turned on her and caused Steph to deliver the "Pedigree" onto an already semiconscious Brie for the one-two-three.

Next was the match up between Chris Jericho and (my personal favorite wrestler in the company since he debuted last year) Bray Wyatt.  This was the rematch to their match last month at Battleground where Jericho, in his first match back in nearly a year, defeated the "Eater Of Worlds".  The rivalry continued with more attacks from Wyatt and his two huge followers, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan.  Although this hasn't been quite the verbal battle I had hoped that it would be, this has still been a somewhat compelling rivalry.  This match pretty much picked up where their last match left off, only with the absence of those two big towers.  After just past ten minutes, Wyatt picked up a much needed win over the soon-to-be Hall Of Famer in Jericho.  Now that the rivalry is at one won and loss each, that naturally means a rubber match will be coming soon, and this one could be very good.

The next match was a tremendous one in the awesome, eleven-time World Champion "The Viper" Randy Orton against the company's next big megastar in Roman Reigns.  Both men actually have one thing big time thing in common: both come from hugely successful families.  We all know Orton is son of WWE hall Of Famer Cowboy Bob Orton Jr. and grandson of Bob Orton Sr.  Reigns, on the other hand, is the son of Hall Of Famer Sika of The Wild Samoans.  His famous family consists of The Rock, The Usos, Rikishi, Tamina, and deceased wrestlers Yokozuna and Umaga.  This has already been a noticeable year for the young Reigns.  Reigns had an outstanding showing in this year's Royal Rumble and had excellent matches (when with The Shield, they had exceptional matches against The Wyatt Family and the temporarily reunited Evolution).  His clout continued to grow when being a part of the Money In The Bank ladder match and was in the Fatal Four Way match for the World Title at Battleground.  This match was a highly competitive, back and forth match.  Although Orton showed why he's one of the company's best of our generation, clearly this time is Reigns', as he picked up a big time win.  Many would say he's not quite ready for that main event spotlight yet, and he's not, but with enough grooming, and continued hunger, he might be in an okay spot.  I just feel that it's a shame that Caesaro, a much more worthwhile contender for that number two baby face role, had his momentum taken from him just to focus on Reigns, thus making Caesaro a relative job-guy now.

Finally, it was the big one. The main event.  The World Champion, John Cena, defending against the unbelievably intense Brock Lesnar.  The build for this match was simply off the page.  The sit down, in depth promos between these two made this match a big fight feel, and it completely worked.  Not to mention, Paul Heyman's mic work has been stellar as usual (if you have not peeped his new DVD/Blu-Ray "Ladies & Gentlemen, My Name Is Paul Heyman", it is simply FABULOUS and one of the best bios the company has produced since the riveting CM Punk bio).  Cena's mic work has been excellent as well so the stage was set for an explosion.  The result: one of the worse physical beatings in recent memory.  With a huge chorus of boos from the sold out crowd in L.A., Cena stepped in the ring against Lesnar, who has already had a historic year by being the man that defeated The Undertaker to end his twenty-one year undefeated streak at Wrestlemania and sent Taker to the hospital with a severe concussion.  Within five minutes of the match, Lesnar hit his F-5 finisher onto Cena, even though Cena kicked out.  Cena was the unfortunate recipient of an exhausting sixteen suplexes and another F-5.  This time, after all of that abuse, which was quite brutal, he couldn't kick out and we had a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.  Lesnar dethroned a fifteen-time World Champion.  Say what you will about Cena, and most usually do, but Cena is a workaholic.  We've seen this man put on noteworthy performances throughout his ten year run, but never have we ever seen him demolished quite like last night, with little to no offense from him whatsoever.

It's not the most popular decision for McMahon and company to give the belt to a part-timer like Lesnar, much less for him to be rumored to hold it until Wrestlemania at the least, but at the same time we all know that if one is about to shoot a movie or two, there's no need to have them hold on to the most prized belt in the company, and some would even say in the entire sport.

What this match showed was two things in particular: one, Cena was in fact human.  Cena has been very much vilified for being "Super Cena", as in coming back each and every time from severe adversity to have very clear cut wins.  While many were cheering at first, the cheers turned into concern after about the eighth suplex.  Kudos to Cena for selling the punishment like he was, and for legitimately putting his body through that kind of torment.  However, the second thing of note was that Lesnar is the most feared star perhaps in the history of the business, or at least of this generation. Lesnar commanded the attention of the people just by his mere presence, but once the match started, Lesnar turned on the switch, and it was such a one-sided match, to the point where you had sympathy for Cena.  Not in the way that we've had sympathy for him in the past whenever he would take an abundance of punishment, but people were genuinely concerned with his well being.  The scary thing about this, as well, is that he didn't cheat.  This didn't step outside the ring.  No "foreign" objects were used.  There wasn't even any outside interference from Heyman.  Cena, for the first time that i could ever recall, was plain and simply outmatched.  In fact, there was a part in that match where Cena did his "Attitude Adjustment" finisher, and not only did he not pin Lesnar, but "The Beast Incarnate" sat up similar to The Undertaker, and laughed at Cena.  Simply put, it was scary and slightly psychotic.  Lesnar wasn't quite this incredible in his first run with the company, and that was very impressive in itself.  This Lesnar is more mature and looks better than any of us could've imagined.  Keep in mind, he left WWE after winning three World Titles from 2002-2004.  He went to UFC and won their World Title as well, having quite a dominating run there as well, only to have his career in MMA end from diverticulitis.  Upon his return, he has gone through the likes Of Shawn Michaels, Triple H, back in 2012, he had a bloody war against Cena at Extreme Rules, but he came out the loser in that exchange.  However, this event will be known as the night Brock Edward Lesnar truly was, as Paul Heyman refers to him, "The Conqueror".

With it being Summerslam, and once again in L.A., of course the stars came out.  ESPN's Michelle Beadle (who had a locker room falling out last year with CM Punk and AJ Lee), hip-hop trailblazer Rick Rubin, and the most dominant MMA female fighter in the world, Ronda Rousey, were all in attendance.  Speaking of Rousey, the self-professed "Heyman Girl" and her "Four Horsewomen" collective are rumored to be a part of Wrestlemania 31 in California, which could be very, very interesting.

Overall, Summerslam was a fantastic show.  Definitely better than the last few pay per views WWE has had since Wrestlemania.  The question is now, how will WWE follow up with last night's excellent show?  I can only hope tonight's RAW broadcast will continue the good storytelling and angles from last night.  Also, Night Of Champions will be here next month.  Will they repeat the success of last night?  We'll see.  Until next week people!

Racism In Pro Wrestling

First of all, before I get into my blog, I've missed doing this "blogging" thing.  Between finishing up grad studies and other personal matters, I haven't kept up with my blogging since April.  However, I'm back and it's time to start back to my weekly topics within the world of professional wrestling (not sports entertainment).

The topic this week deals with something that has been very taboo and rarely ever mentioned within the sport, and that's racism.  Lately there have been an alarming number of young Black adults having been killed by police in different parts of the country.  Between the meaningless rear-naked choking death of Eric Garner in New York weeks ago to the most recent shooting death of an unarmed eighteen-year-old Michael Brown in Missouri, it's obvious that racism is still very much alive and kicking.

Now let's center on sports, especially wrestling.  If you have ever watched the Legends Of Wrestling roundtable show on the WWE (in case you didn't know...it's $9.99 per month, in case Trips didn't beat it into your heads last Monday night), panelists Tony Atlas and Theodore R. Long gave their opinions on any possible racism in the business.  While there was nothing outstanding in terms of claims, Long did mention that he would get called the "N-word" by Ole Anderson, original member of The Four Horsemen and former booker for World Championship Wrestling in the early nineties.  Damn shame, however, chances are it wasn't uncommon.  It's just a matter of who you would ask.  Wrestlers such as New Jack have openly called people such as Jim Cornette, Dick Murdoch, and even his fellow ECW locker roommate, The Sandman, who also apparently called him the dreaded "N-word", racists.

The question is now, what about today's society of wrestling?  Let's examine that.  Clearly nobody will come out and openly say if anyone has been deliberately racist towards them, especially in the WWE.  However, some things really make you think.  One of the greatest stars in the recorded history of the business is Dwayne Johnson, otherwise known as The Rock.  This man won eight World Titles (seven WWE Titles and one WCW World Title) and one of the authors of the highly touted and regarded time period in the WWE, The Attitude Era.  Born of a Black man (WWE Hall Of Famer and one half of the first Black Tag Team Champions in the sport, Rocky Johnson) and a Samoan woman (daughter of another Hall Of Famer, "High Chief" Peter Maivia), The Rock was, and still is, something that the sport had never seen before in terms of entertainment alone, much less being seen as one the most naturally gifted athletes to ever step foot in the ring.  However, in all fairness to him, he's of mixed decent.

The shameful truth is, there has NEVER been a Black WWE Champion.  Ever.  No, the "World Heavyweight Championship" doesn't count.  Should it?  Yes it should, actually it should matter even more than the WWE Title, simply because of the belt's lineage dating back to the 1905 with George Hackenschmidt, Frank Goch, and Jim Londis.  However, in this Vince McMahon-ruled era of the sport, it's all about the WWE World Title.  The first Black champion, according to Ric Flair, was pioneer for Black wrestlers, Bobo Brazil.  In August of 1992, Hall Of Famer Ron Simmons became the first RECORDED Black World Champion.  Vince, on the other hand, has never had a Black WWE Champion.  With the plethora of Black talent that has gone through the ranks of WWE like Ernie Ladd, Koko B. Ware and especially the late Junkyard Dog, none of these highly popular guys ever held "the big one".

One could make the argument that there were Black WWE Tag Team Champions in Atlas and Johnson (collectively The Soul Patrol).  In fact, they were the first.  With that being said, there's a difference between winning the Tag Team Titles and the World Heavyweight Championship, especially the WWE Title.  Under VKM's rule, there have only been two World Heavyweight Champions, Mark Henry and Booker T (when he was King Booker).  Great accomplishments, yes, but still NO WWE Championship.  Even my Hispanic friends have had representatives as WWE Championship holders.  Who can forget the awesome and moving win of one of my all-time favorites, the late great Hall Of Famer Eddie Guerrero, winning the WWE Title at No Way Out 2004 against (in my Paul Heyman voice) BROOOOCCCCCKKKK LLLLLLLEESSSNAAAAARRRRR!!!!!  Also Rey Mysterio had a brief reign (I do mean brief...as in 2 hours) as WWE Champion, and the recently fired Alberto Del Rio held the title twice.  Granted, some would say that they needed Hispanics, especially Mexican-Americans, to be champion due to the fact that they have to market to Mexico because they do tours over there from time to time.  The fact still remains that another race/culture held the big title.

Recently, a disturbing off-the-record accusation of racism surfaced with the firing of the previously mentioned Alberto Del Rio.  Last week, Del Rio was fired for "unprofessional conduct with an employee of WWE."  While rumors started to surface, the one that seems to be sticking by most accounts is that he got into an altercation with a wwe.com staff member over a racist comment that was made and Del Rio slapped him.  Del Rio stated to Mexican wrestling icon-turned very successful American wrestler Konnan that it was in fact a racist statement that was made.  However, reports are that the powers-that-be are leaning more towards the employee's side of the story that he never said anything racist towards Del Rio because if Del Rio's "past issues" of fighting with fellow wrestlers in the back, his attitude problems on occasion, plus the fact that his contract was expiring this year and he wasn't going to renew it.  What a load of crap!

From Black guys being stereotyped (Chryme Time anyone??) to amazing in-ring athletes never even getting past mid-card status (Kofi Kingston, Big E, R-Truth, and Titus O' Neill), WWE can't keep ignoring the impact of their Black stars and the McMahons need to take a real close look in the mirror about his views on minorities, especially Blacks, holding the WWE Title.  Unfortuantely, it may have also extended to the hispanic culture as well with this new Del Rio situation (ironically, his former sidekick Ricardo Rodriguez was released from his contract a few days before even though it's rumored that he ASKED to be let go).  Racism is a silent epidemic that either goes unnoticed by the vast majority or goes unspoken for.  The question is now, what has to happen before change occurs?