Greetings, all. We have arrived at the final chapter here talking racism in wrestling. Now, as the 2000s came to a close, we saw the infusion of some new characters along the way. Black wrestlers like MVP, Bobby Lashley, Kofi Kingston, and R-Truth started to make a bit of progress. However, that progress was never fully realized due to the usual racial politics that plagued most wrestlers of color. Look at their characters even....
MVP, a bottle popping, stereotypical black athlete, who came out in suits, gaudy chains(cheap as hell jewelry really but still...), and cornrows(no hangtime on those braids either). MVP was definitely a stereotypical character, and while not as bad as Cryme Tyme and still entertaining, his criminal past(that WWE knew of when they hired him) was reportedly the excuse for not pushing him more even when he seemed to start getting over with fans.
Bobby Lashley?? Well he was just a generic black dude. I mean... Less said about him the better.
Kofi? Couldn't decide whether he was from Jamaica or just Ghana, which... I mean... Come on now.
R-Truth?? Well, look at his damn gimmicks over the years and what he has dealt with. Started out as rapping ass K-Kwik in WWF with Road Dogg, went to TNA and had a legitimate run there, then came back to WWE to be rapping ass R-Truth. So, you left the company as a rapping ass gimmick, to come back to the company with a rapping ass gimmick. Amazing. Let us not forget the whole "Little Jimmy" debacle, where he became a deranged black man who had an imaginary friend. What type of shit was that??
The reality began to set in at some point, and it became apparent that there was no shortage of racism in WWE or wrestling period, this made evident by Alberto Del Rio(now Alberto El Patron), who was fired for responding to a racist comment from a WWE worker. His gimmick was also racist in essence, but Del Rio was at least pushed to the moon and given title shots and runs. However, the racism continues with the Latino wrestlers, as Los Matadores began their existence walking in actual Matador like clothing and having a midget dressed up in a bull suit. I mean... What the fuck is that?
So, with all these things, WWE would eventually get it together right? No. In fact, before they began their new upbeat positive gimmick, The New Day was essentially a stereotypical black church congregation in professional wrestling. Big E preaching, Xavier Woods cooning, Kofi Kingston... Well.... Being Kofi, there was way too much going on at the early stages that felt offensive.
There lies the issue. No matter what, WWE will continue to do this. Regardless of Hogan and his debacle, WWE will be and feature racist things on their programming. Do we turn it off or still support? Tough choice to make.
-True
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