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Petedaddydolla
joined wrestlingmarks.com on 9/5/07
Is the WWE biased against black wrestlers?
by Petedaddydolla on 4/12/08 11:59 AM
This is a hotly debated topic that has raged on for a long time, now I am going to bring it to this site. It is an elephant in any room that needs to be addressed, so here it goes. Out of the former "Big Three" promotions there have only been three different black wrestlers to hold the top titles in each individual company. How is this when there have been so many talented men of color to step into the squared circle?
We will start with the "Flagship Television Show" of the WWE: Monday Night Raw. The current roster sports a whopping 3, yes three black wrestlers: the semi-retired Ron Simmons and Cryme Tyme; JTG and Shad Gaspard. They just recently two weeks ago returned after being released from their individual contracts.
Then on to Tuesday nights and the "Land of Extreme"; ECW. They have the largest amount of black wrestlers in the company with 5. We have Big Daddy V, BoogeyMan, Elijah Burke, Kofi Kingston and Shelton Benjamin.
Friday Night Smackdown has 2 active black wrestlers in Mark Henry and MVP. Behind the microphone they have Jonathon Coachmen and General Manager Teddy Long. Recently reacquired
Ron Killings has wrestled in a few dark matches on Smackdown but not yet been back on TV.
Remember a couple years ago when Shelton feuded with Triple H? He had a fantastic match with Shawn Michaels when he was on Raw, falling victim to one of the most devastating numbers of Sweet Chin Music that HBK ever played. Now he is doing what on ECW? The ladder match a couple years ago and hell, he practically carried the Money in the Bank match at Mania this year. So why bury him in the basement on ECW, which with a few exceptions is starting to look like the land of misfit toys.
The history of black wrestlers and the major titles breaks down like this:
WWE Title World Heavyweight Title
The Rock King Booker
WCW World Championship
Ron Simmons
Booker T (pre-WWE takeover)
The Rock (post-takeover, pre-title unification)
ECW Title
Bobby Lashely
Kind of crazy that in all the years that pro wrestling has been around this is the general summation of the title history as it pertains to men of color holding the top prize. I can see back WCW how there weren't very many due to the fact that it was based in the south and a redneck run company for the most part. But the WWE and ECW are a little harder to peg down because they were based in more liberal areas, but I guess in the Hierarchy in both companies the tune remains the same. Old white guys writing story lines and pushing other white wrestlers. Doesn't seem right or just to me. Now I am not saying that any wrestling organization need AFFIRMATIVE ACTION because I hate that term. But I believe in rewarding hard work with a little reward. In this case it might be in the form of a gold belt.
Comments
(16 total)
From ROHjuggalo on 4/12/08 3:19 PM
Why is it just the WWE? Why not WCW back in the day? Why not TNA today? Im just asking.
From Petedaddydolla on 4/13/08 12:49 AM
Because the WWE is the only real major wrestling organization today. TNA is still a derivative of the NWA product. FYI, the NWA has only had one black champion since 1948. His name was Ron Killings, in the last 60 years thats not good.
From theone86 on 4/13/08 1:27 AM
And Ron Killings won it in TNA.
Better yet, look at who the first black world Champion in WWE was, the Rock. He wasn't even fully African American, and you might not even be able to recognize that he is half African American just by looking at him. Look at what Booker had to go through to get a championship in WWE. He was a three time champ in WCW, but he had to start over from the bottom, work the mid-card for years, put other people over, and create some great fueds, not to mention have the crowd behind him, and it still wasn't enough. Nope, they have to slap a stupid gimmick on him and turn him heel before he gets a Title. Where are all the black wrestlers in WWE today? They're on ECW, the show that WWE forgot about. Frankly, this really only happens because WWE manages to slip through the cracks because people don't see wrestling as legitimate and because WWE wants to hang on so hard to its old boys' club traditions.
From bergo on 4/13/08 4:05 AM
first dont start on with the rock is only half black, its all or nothing.
second, pete you are forgeting one black man on ecw. the former ECW champion TAZZ, who they did give the push to be the man to break kurt angle's undefeated streak in his debut.
what about how long mvp has had the us title, or does that not count. not to mention sheltons reigns as tag and IC champ.
what about King Mables push in the 90's, sure its not a title, but look at his fellow kings(austin,HHH,bret hart)
it just breaks down as black people are a minority in profesional wrestling everywhere, therefore have less of a chance at holding a title.
From DaneBramage on 4/13/08 4:45 AM
Would anyone really want many of the black wrestlers listed in the first post as champion?
Apart from MVP and at a push (if he can stop botching and get some charisma) Shelton Benjamin, none of them belong anywhere near the top of the card. Some of them shouldn't even be on TV.
And even MVP and Shelton are nowhere near title contendership yet. Maybe after his feud with Matt Hardy is over MVP will be ready, but not yet. Maybe a program with someone like Jericho could get him up to the next step.
Shelton needs a lot of work after being mediocre in the Raw midcard for so long.
From JamesP on 4/13/08 9:55 AM
Bergo, Tazz isn't black - he's a mixture of Italian and some other race.
From Petedaddydolla on 4/13/08 9:56 AM
ROH Juggalo: When I said WCW World Championship and listed Ron Simmons and Booker T that WAS from the entire history of WCW before WWE bought them.
THEONE86: Underneath the body of my blog I also added that in the last 60 years the only black man to hold the NWA/TNA World Title was Ron Killings.
Bergo:Tazz isn't even black, he's Italian. If he is even part black for the life of me I wasn't aware of it to be honest with you all. As for the Rock I don't care that he is only part black and part Samoan. I understand the all or nothing argument. As far as the US Title reign of MVP and Shelton's Intercontinental Title goes, they are like door prizes comparatively speaking to holding a WORLD TITLE. I thought Shelton should have had a WWE Title run a couple of years ago when he was feuding with Triple H. But he got pushed to the back of the line again.
From cptcharisma1157 on 4/13/08 10:39 AM
There aren't a lot of black wrestlers around... there are ten within the three brands of the WWE, and probably three more in TNA... Booker T and Ron Simmons have held the world title, so that makes it about 2 in 13 has held the world title... or about 1 in 6; now go through all the active white wrestlers in tna and wwe and see how many of them have held the title, it'll probably be about the same ratio... I'm not gonna do it, but my guess would be like 15 of the 80 active wrestlers have held the title.
From 92tombstone92 on 4/13/08 11:22 AM
Petedaddydolla u say WWE is the only big company to well yeah there the biggest but TNA is a pretty big company
and u can make the same argument today but with different ethnicities(sp) u could say the italians, russians, etc are getting what they deserve
From jeff on 4/13/08 11:24 AM
If Lashley was still in the WWE I think he would have eventually become a WWE champion. I don't think that the WWE is biased against black wrestlers because if they were then the black wrestlers you have listed would not have never become champions espacially WWE or World Heavyweight champions. But as for the women of the WWE this topic might be better for them because right now their is not one black women wrestler in the WWE (unless Layla is black then forget the last sentence).
From DaneBramage on 4/13/08 12:38 PM
Jazz and Jackie Moore have both held the Women's Title in WWE. Jackie is a former Cruiserweight champion too.
From jeff on 4/13/08 12:48 PM
I mean the women's division now not back when Jazz and Jackie Moore was in the women's division.
From Petedaddydolla on 4/13/08 2:04 PM
92tombstone92 look at the second comment at the top under the blog, I said that Ron Killings won the TNA title. They are a big company yes, but how many other "big"companies are there?
From theone86 on 4/14/08 9:31 AM
"first dont start on with the rock is only half black, its all or nothing."
Not neccessarily. Who knows if Rock would've gotten pushed if he looked more like what people think of when they think African American? Racism doesn't do DNA tests, it's based primarily on outward appearances.
"second, pete you are forgeting one black man on ecw. the former ECW champion TAZZ, who they did give the push to be the man to break kurt angle's undefeated streak in his debut."
Taz isn't black, he's primarily Italian. If he has any other heritage it's not African. Having tan skin does not mean you're of African decent.
"what about how long mvp has had the us title, or does that not count. not to mention sheltons reigns as tag and IC champ.
"what about King Mables push in the 90's, sure its not a title, but look at his fellow kings(austin,HHH,bret hart"
Those are pretty miniscule achievements when you consider how long wrestling has been around and how much time there's been to have a black champion. As for pushes, are we counting every single small push now? All the other Kings got World Title reigns after they won, why is Mabel the exception?
"it just breaks down as black people are a minority in profesional wrestling everywhere, therefore have less of a chance at holding a title."
That's really not true. There are a LOT of Black wrestlers on the indy scene, the problem is that wrestling companies have fallen under the radar of social change and therefore don't have to deal with fair hiring policies. The number of black wrestlers in WWE alone is enough evidence to support discrimination claims. Look at what accomplishments some of WWE's current black wrestlers had BEFORE they came to WWE: An Olympic Champion Weightlifter, a collegiate champion wrestler. If WWE's number of contracted black wrestlers was representative of how many qualified black wrestlers were out there they would probably have twice as many.
"even MVP and Shelton are nowhere near title contendership yet. Maybe after his feud with Matt Hardy is over MVP will be ready, but not yet. Maybe a program with someone like Jericho could get him up to the next step.
"Shelton needs a lot of work after being mediocre in the Raw midcard for so long."
So Cena and Batista were ready after a couple short years, but Benjamin and MVP have to wait a lifetime?
Let's see, how many active black wrestlers in WWE have held a World Title? Add the one, carry the five...big fat goose egg.
"u can make the same argument today but with different ethnicities(sp) u could say the italians, russians, etc are getting what they deserve"
Russians and Italians actually have a rich history in pro wrestling. Besides, that argument still doesn't fly. Were Italians and Russians rounded up from their home country, put on ships, sold as slaves, and when finally freed subject to discrimination that was included, but not limited to, unfair wages, lack of voting priveleges, lack of right to own land, lack of a judicial system that would give them fair trials, and even after that subjected to widespread discrimination in regards to job hiring, home ownership, credit approval, and most other things we all take for granted? No? Ok, then the Italians and Russians can come talk to me after that happens.
"I don't think that the WWE is biased against black wrestlers because if they were then the black wrestlers you have listed would not have never become champions espacially WWE or World Heavyweight champions."
It's slightly more complicated than that. Even if people aren't saying to themselves, "I think I'm going to opress black people today," there is such a thing as institutionalized racism.
From Petedaddydolla on 4/14/08 8:19 PM
theone86: So you agree with me then...right?
From theone86 on 4/14/08 8:39 PM
Yeah dude, I think racism still exists in a lot of places in this country, but no one really wants to address it. Everyone likes to say they're progressive and make it look like they are, but when it comes to making real progress they seem to shy away.