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Racism in wrestling (but mostly WWE) thread
- Thread starter Cackling Co Pilot Kamala
- Start date
Lio is going OFF
Big Papa Paegan
L. A. Z.
There's a lot of people who can call Tony Khan out for being dumb here.
Lio "bigger ego than he's ever been worth" Rush is not one of them.
Lio "bigger ego than he's ever been worth" Rush is not one of them.
The only thing Tony said wrong was that she's a shitty wrestler. And it's true but he shouldn't have said it. She made good points in her interview but she also said a lot of bullshit. She said he runs a company with a racist structure and he's in his rights to respond to that because almost everyone would, but I don't think he should have. I also don't think what she said is true. TK shouldn't have commented at all on any of it because that's part of being a grownup. People say bad things about you because of things you did or they think you did. As an adult you eat that shit and you move on.
Also while I'm going at it, we need to talk about why some black wrestlers are being pushed less than they should be. In some cases this is because AEW's overly online fanbase made the company do it without any thought as to what their complaints would lead to. I seem to remember a great act that showed a lot of personality being neutered because crybabies didn't like how they were rapping about someone. I thought the complaints were bullshit because sometimes when you want to make television, it isn't going to always turn out the way you think it does. Those complaints meant we're going to get them on television a lot less than we previously were, leading to less diversity on television. I think maybe we need to talk about how those kinds of complaints lead to the product that winds up on your television screen every week. The Acclaimed aren't on television anywhere near as much as they were before, and it's directly the fault of people who complained about their rapping. I'm not sure how you can put talent in position to take chances and get elevated when you're so worried about what your fans are going to tell you.
geniusMoment
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The one name that really stands out to me is Ricky Starks. I think he should be pushed up there with Darby, Sammy, JungleBoy and MJF. But, he isn't really featured at the level of the others.
Now, I know he broke his neck but he's said he's 100%. He is def. someone who I think could be moved up the card.
I get that the problems are bigger than one person getting a push. But, everything starts with a first step.
Now, I know he broke his neck but he's said he's 100%. He is def. someone who I think could be moved up the card.
I get that the problems are bigger than one person getting a push. But, everything starts with a first step.
The other simple fact nobody wants to acknowledge is that WWE signed almost all the talent in the industry and AEW is a company built on whatever it is that they have had the opportunity to be able to sign. WWE has not released very many black wrestlers, and that's smart because the wrestlers they haven't released are pretty talented. They haven't been smart in who they've released besides that, but AEW is only able to sign the talent that's available to them. Another thing that needs to be pointed out is that they haven't made any new stars in the men's division period. Not a single one. Hangman was already a polished wrestler when they signed him, he main evented shows all over the place, some people liked him and some didn't. And that's cool. But when it comes to who is and isn't experienced? Nobody in AEW who entered the company as an inexperienced male wrestler has been pushed above a certain level. Doesn't matter what race they are.
Now when it comes to the women's division that's a different story. Jade Cargill is obviously going to win the TBS Title and is obviously not a white wrestler, is also obviously not experienced. I would say pretty much everyone who won the women's title was quite unknown prior to AEW. I think Swole's complaints about the women's division are very valid, but when you read the quotes of what she actually said about everything else, if you actually think that stuff is true, you're wrong. There's no other way to put it, you'd be wrong. She said there's no black wrestlers on AEW TV. That is absolutely factually wrong. She said there hasn't been a black champion in AEW yet which is also wrong. She doesn't say world champion, she says champion. She also said that other races aren't represented on AEW TV either. That is wrong too.
I also gotta say that one of the people I saw on Twitter complaining about not being signed to AEW showed up to an indie show with holes in his gear to the point you could nearly see this dude's asshole. Man you are not gonna get signed when you have holes all up in your shit and you take a superplex and your balls nearly come out. That is not racist to not sign you.
I can see why someone would respond to her the way he did, because she said his company was racially constructed in a way that is fundamentally not true. But like I said he shouldn't have said anything and should have taken the high road.
Now when it comes to the women's division that's a different story. Jade Cargill is obviously going to win the TBS Title and is obviously not a white wrestler, is also obviously not experienced. I would say pretty much everyone who won the women's title was quite unknown prior to AEW. I think Swole's complaints about the women's division are very valid, but when you read the quotes of what she actually said about everything else, if you actually think that stuff is true, you're wrong. There's no other way to put it, you'd be wrong. She said there's no black wrestlers on AEW TV. That is absolutely factually wrong. She said there hasn't been a black champion in AEW yet which is also wrong. She doesn't say world champion, she says champion. She also said that other races aren't represented on AEW TV either. That is wrong too.
I also gotta say that one of the people I saw on Twitter complaining about not being signed to AEW showed up to an indie show with holes in his gear to the point you could nearly see this dude's asshole. Man you are not gonna get signed when you have holes all up in your shit and you take a superplex and your balls nearly come out. That is not racist to not sign you.
I can see why someone would respond to her the way he did, because she said his company was racially constructed in a way that is fundamentally not true. But like I said he shouldn't have said anything and should have taken the high road.
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I find Starks to be average at best and way below those other four.
Sonny Kiss's feud with and win over Janela should have been featured on the main shows, though.
He didn't mince words there.
Cackling Co Pilot Kamala
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geniusMoment
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Seems like there has been some dialogue between Tony and Lio to help work some of this out:
Big Papa Paegan
L. A. Z.
Lio Rush is shit.
Cackling Co Pilot Kamala
Integral Poster
TSM is a racist message board.
Cackling Co Pilot Kamala
Integral Poster
"Aw damn it, pal. I should've known I saw that name somewhere before!"
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Cackling Co Pilot Kamala
Integral Poster
See for that reason, I'm going that WALTER isn't a completely innocent victim of bad creative here. For all we know he suggested it! WWE's apparently more active in letting the NXT talent have more input in the creative process since the ACH debacle at start of this thread.
Cackling Co Pilot Kamala
Integral Poster
The idea they were going to check to see if the random name they came up with popped up on google as an issue is really unlikely. This guy was also not a Nazi party member from anything I can see. He was just a not very good UBoat Captain that served in both wars. If this was the name of a guy who served in the Japanese navy in WW2 would anyone be reacting like this?
Big Papa Paegan
L. A. Z.
The most mind-boggling part of it, to me, is that he literally did not need a new name. The audience already knows him as WALTER, his real surname is HAHN. "WALTER HAHN" sounds like the bad motherfucker hench villain in a good Stallone movie. They could've just come up with a nickname for him and trademark that, but no, they did the dumb thing and changed the name anyway because they're too big to play it smart.
Cackling Co Pilot Kamala
Integral Poster
He's appeared on a major WWE PPV as WALTER!
Fall of Epic
Epic Reine
Yeah, that's the real issue here. It was a "don't fix what's not broken" move. He already had one name (which Vince loves) and was competing on WWE television, including a major appearance in Survivor Series '19, for the past 3 years under that name.
There is no way WALTER won't have an evil foreigner gimmick on the main roster. Seems inevitable. In fact, similar to Rusev, he'll probably be representing Germany since "damnit pal no one knows where Austria is!".
There is no way WALTER won't have an evil foreigner gimmick on the main roster. Seems inevitable. In fact, similar to Rusev, he'll probably be representing Germany since "damnit pal no one knows where Austria is!".
Dandy
Posts: 3,237
This is the company that gave us Bearcat Lee and then cut him immediately. I would believe just about anything from them now.
Cackling Co Pilot Kamala
Integral Poster
WWE is going to make WALTER a comedy character based on the "Sprockets" sketches on SNL since he just started watching the '90s episodes on Peacock.
"Dammit, Bruce. I thought the show went downhill after Belushi died but did you know Austin Powers was on the show? This is such good shit, pal."
"Dammit, Bruce. I thought the show went downhill after Belushi died but did you know Austin Powers was on the show? This is such good shit, pal."
Cackling Co Pilot Kamala
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Shinsuke Nakamura= alternating between Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury for some reason.
Cackling Co Pilot Kamala
Integral Poster
(Wrestler in question is Silas Young)
I saw that shirt on IG and I was like "Huh. That's random but cool that Silas Young is an ally." then I remembered what month it was and was like "Oh"
I'm mildly surprised (in a good way) that WWE's never done an awkward Black History Month release. Like I feel like they've done some limited edition stuff for African American wrestlers but we haven't gotten the SPECIAL EDITION THE UNDERTAKER: MAY PREDJUDICE REST IN PEACE t-shirt.
I saw that shirt on IG and I was like "Huh. That's random but cool that Silas Young is an ally." then I remembered what month it was and was like "Oh"
I'm mildly surprised (in a good way) that WWE's never done an awkward Black History Month release. Like I feel like they've done some limited edition stuff for African American wrestlers but we haven't gotten the SPECIAL EDITION THE UNDERTAKER: MAY PREDJUDICE REST IN PEACE t-shirt.
Dandy
Posts: 3,237
Nah. Vince would be more like:
“SABA SIMBA: CHUCK A SPEAR AT RACISM.”
“SABA SIMBA: CHUCK A SPEAR AT RACISM.”