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?
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