"Black-Wrestlers" vs Black Wrestlers?

[Luchaundead]

Listening to the recent Wrestling Eye Podcast about Bearcat Wright. (http://wrestlingeye.libsyn.com/wrestling-observer-hall-of-fame-2016-candidate-series-bearcat-wright) The conversation got me thinking. Normally something someone says on a podcast wouldn’t drive me to make a separate thread but, I then saw this topic (http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/13026-best-black-wrestler-ever/) and that got me thinking about it once more.

 

So my question for everyone is, what does it mean to be a “Black-Wrestler”?

 

Someone like Bearcat Wright made his blackness part of his character, representing not just a black athlete but a black man of the day. He represented what he saw as the required rights of all black people, deserved not in the future but right then. Standing up so that he and other after would be treated as equals to anyone. Demanding to be respected and compensated for his efforts as any white person would be.

The other side of this one example is Darren Young, whose blackness is as much a part of his character as his homosexuality is. So is Darren Young a “Black-Wrestler” or is he just a black man who happens to wrestling?

 

What other races have a similar phenomenon? I can’t think of a single worker who was a “White-Wrestler” in the same way. However I can see some Asian, Samoan, or Mexican workers that were. Meanwhile Ricky Steamboat’s race never seemed to matter he was just a wrestler.

 

Is there something wrong or racist with categorizing workers this way?

 

Dose it speak to a bigoted view of a racial binary that you are either “real” or “acting white”?

[jushin muta liger]

As a black man in America, I view them as black from their skin color and African heritage because that's how others have viewed me. I have lots a friends that are mixed raced but they view themselves as black in terms of skin color as well because what the outside world has said. But that's where it stops.

 

I posted that list cause I happened to stumble upon that thread (I was actually looking for the WWECW thread) and it caught my attention that only 2 were in the top 100.

 

A lot of those wrestlers are totally different from each other besides them having Black-African heritage in their gene pool and wouldn't expect them to be "act black" but just wrestle. But I might not be the one that Luchaundead is asking the question.

[funkdoc]

Irish wrestlers are probably the closest thing you'd get to a "White Wrestler" character. the obvious compare & contrast is pre-mohawk Sheamus vs. Finn Balor & Becky Lynch.

 

also Steamboat's race absolutely mattered a lot - do you think there's any way he gets a martial-arts gimmick if not for that? just look at Bad News Brown, a legit successful martial artist who got stuck with a "dirty street fighter from Harlem" character because he was black and not Asian.

[Luchaundead]

I knew Steamboat was a bad example because he also has "the dragon" nickname and martial artist gimmick but he didn't feel like he was meant to be seen as an Asian-Wrestler but maybe more like an Asian-American. Doesn't seem to make a huge difference I guess. I was also thinking of Irish as examples of "White-Wrestlers".

[Luchaundead]

As a black man in America, I view them as black from their skin color and African heritage because that's how others have viewed me. I have lots a friends that are mixed raced but they view themselves as black in terms of skin color as well because what the outside world has said. But that's where it stops.

 

I posted that list cause I happened to stumble upon that thread (I was actually looking for the WWECW thread) and it caught my attention that only 2 were in the top 100.

 

A lot of those wrestlers are totally different from each other besides them having Black-African heritage in their gene pool and wouldn't expect them to be "act black" but just wrestle. But I might not be the one that Luchaundead is asking the question.

 

I hadn't seen your list until after I made this post and actually I think it speaks in some ways to my point. Some workers race because it was never part of their character while there are others that even if they didn't play a stereotypical character people don't question it at all.

 

My questions are meant to everyone as I more than anything just want to hear other peoples opinions on the topic so thank you for yours.

[Cap]

Not really answering the thread , but since race is something readily observable and has such a long and complicated history in wrestling, is it really ever possible to just be a black person who is a wrestler? It is one thing to say that an individual looks at it that way or that we should strive to look at it that way, but I question if people of color can ever completely escape being a "black wrestler" or an "asian wrestler". Even if it part of their character I wonder if it is always an implicit part of the way they are viewed and read by the audience. I am not sure there is a way to measure or "prove" that, but at least in mainstream American promotions I wonder if it is ever possible for people of color to completely shift into being "wrestlers". To return to the original questions might all black wrestlers are then working (intentionally or not) as "black wrestlers," navigating racialized waters and working harder for the same levels of respect?

 

I can't think of anyone or any group that really constitutes a "white wrestler" the way it is being talked about here. I think John Cena in a way sort of embodies "whiteness" (good and bad) in a way that makes him the divisive character he is. Even his "rap guy" phase was one of the most "white America" things ever. Now he is the embodiment of the middle class white American Dream and some of the narratives of his success even mirror what people identify as charicteristics of white privilege. It isn't exactly the same thing you Luchaundead is really talking about, but my brain kept returning to Cena as a categorically "white" wrestler. In the same way Hogan might have been before him. Neither of them seem particularly classed in how they play their charicter either. Austin clearly played up tropes of working and lower class populations. Dusty the same. Flair the opposite. Of the people who have at various times and places represented the invisible white center of the wrestling universe, Cena (and to a slightly lesser extent hogan) sort of stand out as embodying some of the peripheral characteristics of "whiteness" as it might be thought of in opposition to other catiogries such as "blackness" or "asianness" etc.

 

As to weather or not this is racist or problematic, eh... I don't really want to go too far down that road right now. I think they are part of a very complex contemporary situation that was born from a racist history. I am not sure categorizing wrestlers this way is racist as much as it is sort of an earnest acknowledgement of the realities of wrestling (realities that perhaps can and should be set aside in the name of enjoying a show sometimes, but are also really important and should be discussed in forums like this).

[DMJ]

Not really answering the thread , but since race is something readily observable and has such a long and complicated history in wrestling, is it really ever possible to just be a black person who is a wrestler?

I gotta go with No.

 

I'm racking my brain trying to think of a black wrestler who, at some point in his career, didn't have their "blackness" as a key part of their role. Jay Lethal was pretty much a plain, hard-working babyface, then he became a guy who did impressions, and was dubbed "Black Machismo." Shelton Benjamin was a college standout amateur wrestler...but the WWE ended up pairing him with a stereotypical "big mama" character straight out of a Martin Lawrence movie. Booker T had the opposite trajectory - beginning as a caricature and eventually becoming an undefinable, unique character that was plugged into roles that had less to do with his race.

 

The Rock is an interesting figure in this because I think his blackness is too often ignored or "under-played" if that makes sense, not only in his WWE run, but even today as a Hollywood megastar. I mean, the WWE certainly didn't hide his heritage, from the very beginning making a big deal of his father and grandfather, but I wouldn't say they ever went out of their way to truly highlight him as proof of the company's diversity, more often doing subtle associations to use him as their more "urban" star (for example, having Wyclef Jean perform his entrance theme while hip hop was rarely used for any male white wrestler at the time).

[El-P]

The Rock is an interesting figure in this because I think his blackness is too often ignored or "under-played" if that makes sense, not only in his WWE run, but even today as a Hollywood megastar. I mean, the WWE certainly didn't hide his heritage, from the very beginning making a big deal of his father and grandfather, but I wouldn't say they ever went out of their way to truly highlight him as proof of the company's diversity, more often doing subtle associations to use him as their more "urban" star

 

Which is odd, considering he "debuted", at least his rise to megastardom, in the freaking Nation of Domination.

[ohtani's jacket]

Not really answering the thread , but since race is something readily observable and has such a long and complicated history in wrestling, is it really ever possible to just be a black person who is a wrestler? It is one thing to say that an individual looks at it that way or that we should strive to look at it that way, but I question if people of color can ever completely escape being a "black wrestler" or an "asian wrestler".

 

I think a few of the West Indian wrestlers in World of Sport came close to this. The African workers absolutely not (Johnny Kwango, Masambula, Honey Boy Zimba), but workers like Clive Myers and Caswell Martin where almost exclusively presented on their in-ring ability. There was an element of "Caribbean cool" associated with them because they purportedly from the West Indies, but Martin in particular was a wrestler's wrestler. Walton would refer to his ethnicity and colour, but he did that with every worker. How you factor in Myer's Iron Fist gimmick, I'm not sure. It appeared to draw more upon his status as a World Arm-Wrestling Champion to me than any sort of racial stereotyping. On the other hand you had West Indian wrestlers like the Caribbean Sunshine Boys starting riots and guys like Jamaica George who had the Johnny Kwango style headbutt and Jim Moser who could leap high. So it wasn't as though the stereotypes weren't there for West Indian wrestlers, but generally speaking I think Myers, Martin and Lenny Hurst, managed to avoid them. And the Caribbean Sunshine Boys were later pushed individually without much reference to race.

[Judy Bagwell]

Irish wrestlers are probably the closest thing you'd get to a "White Wrestler" character. the obvious compare & contrast is pre-mohawk Sheamus vs. Finn Balor & Becky Lynch.

 

also Steamboat's race absolutely mattered a lot - do you think there's any way he gets a martial-arts gimmick if not for that? just look at Bad News Brown, a legit successful martial artist who got stuck with a "dirty street fighter from Harlem" character because he was black and not Asian.

Bad News Brown was a great gimmick though, it was just unfortunate Allen sucked in the ring at that point.

[MoS]

Yeah, The Rock was the only one I could think of in terms of non-white wrestlers whose race was relatively never emphasised. At least when he became a megastar.

 

In a way, Austin was the opposite of that. It was regional emphasis more than racial emphasis, but he was playing a foul-mouthed redneck in a New York company and was its biggest star. That is really a stereotype you associate with white people.

[Jingus]

And there have been white gimmicks, but not so much "white wrestlers". All the various hillbilly characters that the WWF were always using at some point or another, for example, you couldn't have stuck any other race into those and have it make sense. (Unless it was like Jimmy Wayne Yang, where the entire message of the gimmick was that this silly Asian man was clearly mistaken in his belief that he was a redneck and we should all laugh at his racial identity confusion.) The Brits do seem the closest, in American companies Regal always got booked as a foppish upper-class twit despite having the UK equivalent of a miles-thick Bronx accent.

[MoS]

Yeah, didn't they ask Regal to actually change his natural accent?

[El-P]

Norman Smiley in WCW was the closest thing to a "wrestler that is black" case up to the 90's. The fact he was British weighted more in the balance actually. Wasn't the Big Wiggle an element of his "blackness" that he used to get over though ?

[fakeplastictrees]

Nothing fancy here, just a stream of thought.

 

 

I have touched on this in the past, but haven't really gone into detail. Some people associate 'being black' as a mentality and not just a skin color. I am smart enough to know that a skin color doesn't define a person and doesn't tell the whole story, but for some there are certain lifestyle choices excepted from a black person. The main expectation is to 'act black' which is usually a bunch of negative stereotypes and pejoratives. Some black people within their own communities have accepted this way of thinking and shame people within their own community for 'acting white' or 'wanting to be white' because those people decide they want to listen to Paul Simon, wear pants above his/her own waist, completely forego Ebonics, etc. No one likes to be made fun of or made a social outcast, so some cave into this social pressure of glorified and accepted ignorance and thus decide to live his/her life as a caricature and definition of a white man's view of black people.

 

Ahmed Johnson and Harlem Heat were the first black wrestlers I was really exposed to and I loved it. All three guys were dynamic in the ring and they had a kick-ass vibe to them. Harlem Heat was having fun matches on Nitro and PPV against teams like LOD, Sting/Luger, American Males, etc. While Ahmed was almost killing jobbers on Monday Night Raw (seriously watch some of those early matches). The lack of focus on the skin color of the wrestlers allowed for true success in their careers. When their skin color was the primary focus (Harlem Heat in the early years and Ahmed in his later years), of their characters and their gimmicks where built around their skin color, their popularity wasn't at a desirable point. The New Day faced the same problem when they were put together. People saw three black guys in suits, speaking intelligently, and bringing up grievances and because of this people automatically assumed that the yet unnamed New Day were going to start pulling the race card and run a NOD/New Black Panther Party-lite gimmick. When The Social Outcasts got together and essentially cut the same promo, no one thought a Neo Nazi gimmick, etc. was coming. Why?

 

An educated negro is one of the scariest things to some people. This is because some people believe not only the negative stereotypes, but the positive as well. Bigger dicks, bigger bone density (which I believe this is a fact), a body more suited for athletics, etc. Imagine being the skinny kid at school and you are in the gym locker with all the jocks with six pack abs, etc. You'd feel a little intimidated. But guess what? You are an Honor-Student so you have that going for you and those guys just have the six pack abs. You will do pretty well in the future, but what happens when one of those jocks opens his mouth and starts talking about Quantum physics with the other guys and a discussion ensues without anyone missing a beat? What happens when you later find out that not only can these guys hold an intelligent conversation, but they are all on The Principal's-List. Good looks, power, and brains. Now you are faced with that fact that not only are these guys getting the girls, but they are probably going to be more successful then you and make more money. Your 'edge' is now gone. So what's left? Aha! Time to insult their skin color! That will teach em!

 

People have grown up with this thinking and application of stereotypes that they do not apply to any other race. When we talk about the number 1 terrorist in America right now, who are we talking about? Some would say Muslims and/or ISIS/ISIL, but the real answer is white Christian males. However, no one is asking for a band on Christians coming into this country, no one is over-policing white neighbor hoods, there are no political campaigns running to talk about dealing with the number 1 domestic terrorist. Everyone else is the enemy! Pro wrestling has long feed into both of these lines of thinking. This is why the outcome of New Day is so refreshing as its three black men together and they are not playing characters that are from the streets and trying to 'keep it real' nor are they the NOD/NBPP-lite gimmick. They are three guys who love comics, love making jokes, love fun, and love eating Booty-O's cereal, and they JUST HAPPEN to be black. Its not put in the forefront. Like Harlem Heat and Ahmed, they got over once they were allowed to be wrestlers that just happen to be black instead of Vince McMahon's definition of a black person translated into a black wrestler.

 

Earlier, I touched on the fact that some people being 'forced' into a caricature and I feel WWE's Naomi is the current on-air personification of this. Naomi, by all accounts is probably one of the nicest female wrestlers in WWE. She has speed, athleticism, and at times has shown she is one of the most believable promos in the company. While Naomi's character is that of a wrestler that just happens to be black, Naomi has taken strides to pigeonhole herself into a black wrestler role. I find this fascinating because she is essentially taking the opportunity that WWE has given her and decided to limit herself and present herself as if 1994 Vince McMahon was calling the shots. WWE made their first Naomi shirt a while ago and she was very happy about it and commented that she was told that she 'wasn't marketable'. Now I know 'not being marketable' is keyword for not being white with blonde hair and blue eyes, but I think the second problem here is Naomi's desire to 'keep it real' and to 'be black'. This means adhering to negative stereotypes and imagery. Both Charlotte and Natalie decided to pigeonhole themselves based off their last names and they will ride that into the sunset. Becky Lynch isn't so lucky. She doesn't have a Lynch family dynasty to fall back on, so she had to create her gimmick from scratch. Her imagery is that of steam-punk which automatically sets her apart from the other female wrestlers and is something a lot of people don't automatically dismiss and instead (in some cases) actually find intriguing as the designs of her costumes are intrinsic, fun, and beautifully done. Naomi, having this same freedom, decided to go the less imaginative route and decided to tailor her gear with a pattern that is normally associated with gangs.

 

The bandanas tired around her wrist is a common trope with a lot of gangs showing their 'colors'. Her entrance mannerisms (at times) are of those seen in the average rap video. A lot of people can't relate. A lot of people don't want to relate. She is being the 'ghetto girl' and that is not favorable or desirable to a lot of people. Being 'ghetto' isn't seen as a badge of honor in a lot parts of the world and while Naomi and others may very her a 'keeping it real', she has unknowingly contributed to her own un-marketability and niche status. She could have had her costume designed after Wonder Woman or really anything else, but she choose the default 'black' thing and ran with it and in essence, to a degree, became a black wrestler instead of a wrestler that happened to be black. R-Truth is another interesting case as he is both a black wrestler and a wrestler that happens to be black. He raps, he dances, he wears bagging pants, and his catch-phrase is 'What's Up!?' However, he also dresses up as different characters, hangs out with people like Goldust and The Miz, and gets in whacky mis-adventures along the way. These elements are juxtaposed in such a way that R-Truth isn't too heavy on either side of the spectrum and has been allowed to show the range that most in the position would not be allowed/able to do. Despite the bullet proof vest, the gun shot and chain imagery, and being in racist and perceived to be racist angles/segments (WWE has disabled the comments on his confederate solider promo video for a reason), he is all over WWE programming, advertisements, merchandise, etc. R-Truth also makes it out to a lot of WWE PR sprints.

 

 

I am not saying that eliminating anything and everything that may be deem 'black' is the most desirable outcome for a push and will automatically make a wrestler successful. The most sought after and desirable female in the United States has had surgery and enhancements to look like a black woman and these features that were shamed not even 20 years ago are all of a sudden the rage. Twerking is all of a sudden mainstream now and of course Iggy's "Fancy" was a global smash. Elements within our world deemed 'black' are still accepted today and are making tons of people money. I just don't feel that black sterotypes are needed or should be allowed and perpetuated in the 21st century. Pro wrestling needs less black wrestlers and more wrestlers that happen to be black. Pulling upon common 'black people' tropes, like Sasha Banks has, is fine as long as its not over-done and isn't put into the forefront. A wrestler relying too heavily on the gimmicks and/or mannerisms can easily, and unknowingly to some, place a wrestler in the black wrestler category which makes them a caricature of a broken system and world-wide thought process.

[JRH]

D-Von Dudley is an interesting case. Outside of the "brothers from different mothers" gimmick (which was slowly phased out as the Dudleys became less of a comedy gimmick, i dont think it was even brought up in the WWF/E or TNA runs), there was nothing stereotypically "black" about him (you could argue Rev. D-Von, but you could also just consider that a 2000s version of Brother Love). The only problem was that for the majority of his run, he was a tag team partner with a white guy, so he never really had a chance to get a personality of his own.

[El-P]

The only problem was that for the majority of his run, he was a tag team partner with a white guy, so he never really had a chance to get a personality of his own.

 

Hence, when Bubba showed up at that Royal Rumble, by himself, who did they pick to re-do the wazaaa spot ? R-Truth. The only reason : he's black, so he'll get the job for the token black guy in the team. (to me, D-Von's identity was "another terrible worker", who also happens to be the one everyone likes whereas his partner is a dick)

[Luchaundead]

Norman Smiley in WCW was the closest thing to a "wrestler that is black" case up to the 90's. The fact he was British weighted more in the balance actually. Wasn't the Big Wiggle an element of his "blackness" that he used to get over though ?

The Big Wiggle seemed to play the Carl from Fresh Prince trope of a black man without rhythem or dancing like a white person so ,I could see an argument for that both ways as a similar story was told on Seinfeld with Elaine who was definitely not black.

 

Fakeplastictrees I really love your post and it has a lot for me to unpack and respond to which I will get to when I have time.

[funkdoc]

fakeplastictrees: this is a reeeeaaaaallllly tricky road to go down, as it can easily come off as policing black people. in that post, i saw a lot of the same attitudes that lead women to shame other women for porn & sex work ("living up to the stereotype" etc.).

 

heck, there's a real-world example of that in wrestling: Rocky Johnson hating Tony Atlas because of his shuckin' & jivin'

[Luchaundead]

What fakeplastictrees is talking about in some ways is a form of code-switching vs keeping real based on social pressures from both sides. I don't know if I would give all the credit for the creative and aesthetic decisions of each character to the performers playing them. Obviously R-Truth's gimmick seems to be an extension of who he is in his day to day life while Sasha Banks seems like she couldn't be more different from her character. So what about Naomi? I'd assume (not being a Total Divas viewer) that she is somewhere in-between. It seems to me that in Namoi's case the real question is was that character change really her choice? I remember some talk that her character seemed to be very similar to Sasha's and the change was made right around the time Sasha was starting to catch on big. Normally that would seem insane that WWE would be intentionally stealing character ideas from their own developmental but, that was coming off the heel of everyone comparing Miz's "money maker" gimmick to Tyler Breeze having a similar one.

 

Now there might something to be something to Tree's over arching point that it seems that "black-wrestler" is a gimmick that really limits a performers upward mobility. But their have been other the years people pigeon-holed by their race that have still made it as top workers but, their legacy and legend seems to be looked at as less than case in point Bearcat Wright and JYD.

[El-P]

heck, there's a real-world example of that in wrestling: Rocky Johnson hating Tony Atlas because of his shuckin' & jivin'

 

Wasn't Rocky Johnson basically considering Atlas as an Uncle Tom of sorts ? And I mean, Saba Simba…

[supremebve]

fakeplastictrees: this is a reeeeaaaaallllly tricky road to go down, as it can easily come off as policing black people. in that post, i saw a lot of the same attitudes that lead women to shame other women for porn & sex work ("living up to the stereotype" etc.).

 

heck, there's a real-world example of that in wrestling: Rocky Johnson hating Tony Atlas because of his shuckin' & jivin'

Yeah, in my experience as a black person it is that the whole "acting/talking white" thing is way overplayed. I'm from a fairly rough area(I lived next door to a guy who killed a couple people) and I don't think anyone said anything like that as anything other than a joke. I was at my aunt's funeral yesterday and a bunch of people got together afterwards. There was about as big of a mix of black people there as you'll ever see. We were at my Aunt's best friends house with lawyers, police, drug dealers, ministers, a college professor and everyone in between. A bunch of the guys were in the basement shooting pool and one of the most educated people in the room made fun a a local drug dealer for being a nerd for how long he was studying every shot. Nothing about this dude was a nerd except for how he played pool, but that is what was going on at the time so that was the joke. That is essentially every example of that nonsense that I've ever seen. Maybe people are super sensitive about that type of thing, but I've essentially been a book reading, grammar nazi, dork since I was a kid. Is that what people would bring up when we were snapping on each other? Yep, but do I think anyone ever thought I was less black because of it? Nope.

[C.S.]

The most sought after and desirable female in the United States has had surgery and enhancements to look like a black woman and these features that were shamed not even 20 years ago are all of a sudden the rage.

 

Who are you talking about?

 

Hence, when Bubba showed up at that Royal Rumble, by himself, who did they pick to re-do the wazaaa spot ? R-Truth. The only reason : he's black, so he'll get the job for the token black guy in the team. (to me, D-Von's identity was "another terrible worker", who also happens to be the one everyone likes whereas his partner is a dick)

 

When I saw that, I was blown away by how racist it came across. "No D-Von? No problem, here's the next black guy in line. No one will know the difference!"

[Luchaundead]

 

fakeplastictrees: this is a reeeeaaaaallllly tricky road to go down, as it can easily come off as policing black people. in that post, i saw a lot of the same attitudes that lead women to shame other women for porn & sex work ("living up to the stereotype" etc.).

 

heck, there's a real-world example of that in wrestling: Rocky Johnson hating Tony Atlas because of his shuckin' & jivin'

Yeah, in my experience as a black person it is that the whole "acting/talking white" thing is way overplayed. I'm from a fairly rough area(I lived next door to a guy who killed a couple people) and I don't think anyone said anything like that as anything other than a joke. I was at my aunt's funeral yesterday and a bunch of people got together afterwards. There was about as big of a mix of black people there as you'll ever see. We were at my Aunt's best friends house with lawyers, police, drug dealers, ministers, a college professor and everyone in between. A bunch of the guys were in the basement shooting pool and one of the most educated people in the room made fun a a local drug dealer for being a nerd for how long he was studying every shot. Nothing about this dude was a nerd except for how he played pool, but that is what was going on at the time so that was the joke. That is essentially every example of that nonsense that I've ever seen. Maybe people are super sensitive about that type of thing, but I've essentially been a book reading, grammar nazi, dork since I was a kid. Is that what people would bring up when we were snapping on each other? Yep, but do I think anyone ever thought I was less black because of it? Nope.

 

I would never be perceived as a person on color, I don't necessarily consider myself one but I do have some Latino heritage. That being said most of my friends and acquaintances who are have openly talked about this as an issues at least at some point. While you are probably correct that it isn't that big of a deal because in the end you either are or you aren't black. I would say one thing thought that you are in a area that sounds very close knit, with people of many varying prosperity levels interacting but, could or would the community look at one of those lawyers differently if they suddenly started code-switching and stopped showing up for pool parties and other social events?

[jushin muta liger]

 

The most sought after and desirable female in the United States has had surgery and enhancements to look like a black woman and these features that were shamed not even 20 years ago are all of a sudden the rage.

 

Who are you talking about?

 

 

 

Fakeplastictrees is probably talking about Kim Kardashian and he wouldn't be off by that assessment. Whether it is Kim K, Jen Selter, having a bigger butt is in pop culture. Look at this Vogue article and you would think that this is a new phenomenon where historians can trace back to Saartje Baartman as a black woman with a big butt being sort of a sideshow freak thing.

 

I thought fakeplastictress post was interesting but also problematic as I can see were it can come off as "policing black people." I immediately thought of Cam Newton and Russell Wilson because of the reactions they garner from sports fans as quarterbacks that are black. Cam is more beloved in the black community because he outwardly embraces hip hop culture and isn't forgiving about it. Russell is different and he feels like more of the "establishment quarterback" as he does all the right things and doesn't make waves (until recently with his speech at Wisconsin and even then a lot of people loved his speech) but he's not viewed as "less black" than Cam cause he's being himself.

 

The current crop of black wrestlers now are being more of themselves like fakeplastictrees said but I think there can be more layers to each wrestler than has been seen. When we look back on Jay Lethal's career, this ROH World Title is what we look at first. It's not going to be "Black Machismo". Lethal being a classic NWA World Champion of a promotion is what he's always wanted his character to be instead of being impersonator guy that is black. As mentioned before, New Day are being themselves. WWE has let their black wrestlers be mostly themselves lately but R-Truth is always a maybe.

 

With Naomi, I don't see her as a "black character" as more as she got tired of being screwed over and turned into a person with a chip on here shoulder and has an edge. She's been smiley babyface and it didn't work. Like Luchaundead said, she might be in the middle. With Sasha, her real life personality might not be Sasha Banks but listening to her interviews has made me realize that she ain't that far from that character as you would think. Her outside of wrestling looks more alternative but she doesn't deny her blackness and embraces it.

 

Other wrestlers like Lio Rush, ACH, Cedric Alexander, Ricochet, AR Fox, Moose, etc. are being themselves on the indies.The MVP, Kenny King, Bobby Lashley group made me watch TNA, which I never do, because they were themselves and those three guys are very different from each other.

 

We need more wrestlers being themselves and not just black wrestlers. It can be applied to every wrestler. If stereotypes come up in their character now, it's will be pretty obvious in 2016 that someone is playing it up for cheap stereotype reaction from crowds or is that really their own personality.