If the concerns of the subject of racism cannot come at a worse time, it certainly has in this era. During Black History Month, in which many of us were relying on references to Black History, the video game maker 2K unveiled a video game cover WWE 2K24 for the public to see. It featured wrestling superstars Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley, and yes Bianca Belair. For Bianca, this was the first time that an African American wrestler female wrestler mind you became significant first to have her picture featured on a video game cover. And of course, with Rhea Ripley on the cover, it also marked the first time that women were featured on the cover for the upcoming video game. But never mind Cody nor Rhea, the backlash was on Bianca. It appears that many in the wrestling community and I dare say the video game community had a tough time and were bothered that a Black woman was featured on a video game cover for the WWE. What is it about certain folks okay let’s call them: white people or white video game wrestling fans who go on to social media, and to bash Bianca all because she is a Black woman on a cover for a video game. Is this where we at? In 2024? Well, technically that is a surprise to me at all in which it doesn’t matter what year it is. There’s always going to be an excuse when certain folks don’t want to see a certain individual or individuals or a group on a certain type of cover because it doesn’t exemplify them. But we’re going to unpack this. We’re going to unwrap every single crevice of this subject because there is a group out there who is utterly confused and very hatefully dangerous when it comes to racism based on inheritance, based on self-hatred, and most of all is based on jealousy just because a certain person or persons have never reached the Pinnacle of success, but has to look at somebody else who has a success just to put them down. Oh, we’re going to unpack this today! And trust me by the end of this blog, I hope everybody can understand what’s going on.
Highlighted below is a Facebook posting courtesy of The Pro Wrestling World Facebook page and it features a mini summary or a commentary regarding Bianca Belair. Please take the time to read it below:
WWE Games posted a picture of the cover athletes for WWE 2K24 on IG and people are mad. Take one guess as to why….
People think Bianca Belair does not deserve to be on the cover.
Wrestling fans are usually miserable, so this isn’t shocking. Because of course, someone had to drag race into it. One such comment stated “𝘉𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬.”
You may think it’s just one comment, but I’m here to tell you a lot of guys think like this. I know this because you’re way too bold on the internet. And it goes far beyond not liking Bianca as a character (although if I asked why you don’t like her….). This attitude extends to several Black talent across the industry. Especially Black women. Mercedes Mone. Naomi. Bianca. Jade. Athena. Countless other Black women wrestlers are subjected to a barrage of nasty comments from a largely male dominated fan base which serves as a reminder…
Most wrestling fans are incredibly racist and terribly misogynist. Sit with that one.
The fact is Black people have made their mark in this industry. Let’s just look at Bianca…
• Undefeated at WrestleMania (3-0) • Former 3x WWE women’s champion • 2021 Royal Rumble winner • ESPN Female wrestler of the year (2022) • Longest WWE Raw women’s champion in history, longest women’s reign of the modern era (420 days) • First Black woman – along with Mercedes Mone fka Sasha Banks – to main event WrestleMania
And you really think a career resume like that isn’t good enough to be on a video game cover? Chances are your reasoning is unsavory. Bianca Belair’s career is already the stuff of legends.
And that’s on EST.
– WSM
Okay, pencils down. Now there are a lot of successful truths behind this commentary but I’m going to further stretch it and unpack it at the same time to the best of my ability. First of all, if you’re an individual of my age 47 years old and up, and have been playing video games for a long time since the days of Atari, and certainly the days of playing games like Wrestling Challenge or WWF Superstars, or any other wrestling video game that has been featured since the late ’80s and the early to mid-90s up until the 2000s. And you realize that the favorites from Hulk Hogan to Stone Cold Steve Austin, to Andre the Giant, Big Boss Man, and a host of others, even Sting, have all been featured on these wrestling covers for video games because they were the highest paid stars in the industry during their tenure. And it’s no surprise that they were the future stars because they were the ones who were making the most money for the company at the time. And yes, yours truly has had a knack of interest in the characters or being the characters in these games just to try to advance myself to the next level, and or to compete to win. But none of that was not on my list to complain. Now fast forward to the current day. When we see Bianca Belair on the cover of WWE 2K 24 and even though it spells a great accomplishment and a great outbreak of impressive expectations, yes, we should applaud her efforts in making it this far. But we must keep in mind as African Americans who are wrestling fans, there have been many wrestlers only a few that had a representation of us, and not a whole lot to draw from like Hulk Hogan or Stone Cold Steve Austin. There have been times that Black wrestlers had endorsed low concerns, and not enough praise because they were Black. That no one will ever see a Black wrestler wrestle in a major ring. That’s like saying:
No one does not want to see Black people in the wrestling business.
They have no place in the wrestling ring.
They have no place in commentary.
They have no place in the ring announcing.
All the other things that most African Americans and African-related individuals are doing currently in the wrestling game, you couldn’t see that more than 30 40, or 50-plus years ago during the height of segregation. Or during the height of Jim Crow as many will put it. There have been times that representation for Black wrestlers or black wrestling fans has come on terribly slow and the real reason I’m saying this is because this is what is transpiring right now. Yes, Black folks have always loved wrestling. I remember going to my first WWE live wrestling match in March 1992 when Milwaukee had the Bradley Center. I have folks in my family who had gone to wrestling matches when “Ivan the Terrible” was still in his prime at the MECCA Arena along with favorites such as the late great Da’Crusher. The main reason I’m mentioning Da’ Crusher here in Milwaukee is because he was a local wrestler who was a huge draw to everyone! But yes, we must talk about Black wrestlers. The first time I’ve seen a Black wrestler winning a World heavyweight championship it wasn’t the era of Booker T. It was the era when Ron Simmons won the WCW Heavyweight Championship in 1992 against Vader. That marked the first time that an African American wrestler Ron Simmons won a wrestling championship in the modern era of the sport. Now we could talk about Bobo Brazil and “The Big Cat” Ernie Ladd who also were champions, of Black wrestlers back in their heyday and they have won some championships in their tenure. We can also talk about “Soul Man” Rocky Johnson, the late father of the most electrifying man in sports entertainment, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. And, the grandfather of Simone Johnson, Dwayne’s daughter. Let’s not overshot that in the 80s, Rocky Johnson and his partner Tony Atlas defeated the Wild Samoans to become the WWE tag team champions and they were the first African American men to win a major championship. I remember seeing Ahmed Johnson win his first championship, the Intercontinental title here in Milwaukee, and was the King of the Ring in 1996. When speaking of The Rock, in 1998 The Rock won his first major championship title in the WWE becoming the first African American / Samoan wrestler to win the championship. Let’s keep in mind that The Rock is biracial for those who are keeping score at home. In WCW I mentioned Booker T. winning 5 championships, but he and his brother Stevie Ray won the WCW Tag Team Championships at least over 10 times and they were the first African Americans to win it. WCW had a history of not only winning championships under the singles holders but also for tag team holders and few of them were African American or Black if you will. For ECW, it was different in my opinion but yes there were a few Black wrestlers that won titles based on the ability to go to the “extreme” so to speak, and perform in front of their audience, and their various accomplishments that have been shown. D-Von Dudley, New Jack, 2 Cold Scorpio, and others competed. I’m not talking about when ECW was in WWE, but BEFORE they were in WWE.
So, what does all this mean? What does all this mean when it comes to black wrestlers and their accomplishments? Even though they are recognized, or are being recognized now why do some non-black and all wrestling fans who are a part of the “new movement” so to speak have to put down a black woman like Bianca Belair based on what she is bringing to the game right now, than those who have been pictured and also on a mantle for a long time? So many people are saying that Bianca Belair has no business being in the wrestling ring. They are saying that she has no business being on the cover of a video game cover that is out right now. Whenever I see comments coming from those who feel that Black people shouldn’t be allowed in this or that especially in the wrestling industry, it makes me sick to my stomach. It makes me so sick because of the fact that number one, I thought we have come a long way, but I am forever reminded that even though black folks in wrestling are winning now which is cool to see from my representation standpoint, I still think and have to face the reality that many of us still have this mantra that we have to be twice as good to get to the half like everybody else. And the reason why I say it’s not because it’s a line from Scandal, this is an everyday reference, and black folks have to been told to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and again to work twice as hard per se not just to impress the other guy just trying to catch up other people in a sense having no problem going through hurdles. But the fact of the matter is there are those of us who must jump through so many hoops and run so many obstacles, just trying to get to the finish line just like everybody else. That spells jealousy in my point of view not just because they were black, it’s the way that the plan was designed from the beginning. A way to make sure that we don’t make it, but lose to make it. That is how I see the concerns of the story when it comes to Bianca Belair. Now don’t get me wrong, there are those in the wrestling community who aren’t Black who want to see Bianca succeed. Let’s put that out there. Let’s put that out there in perspective but in the continuation unpacking this situation, what I see in the concern regarding this story is no different from what I read about every single day of discrimination, and also jealousy, and hate coming from the opposition who do not want to see other people succeed even further. This is what I see right now, and it may not be a shock to Black wrestling fans, but why is it a shock to non-black wrestling fans? The shock to them may be because most of them have never had that conversation with their African American counterparts. They never had that conversation with anyone who has gone to the mat with someone who was African American or Black in general but silenced them because the stories the other folks feel are all illusional. It is not.
This is an everyday reality that we are facing even in the 21st century and this discussion is still ongoing. Now don’t ever start quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the line about his “four little children will one day grow up in a nation not to be judged by the color of their skin, but by the continent of their character.” Well, the people who racially slammed Bianca forgot about Dr. King’s quote right there. But the fact of the matter is most of today’s generation folks don’t even read or comprehend. They never had that conversation with other Black people just to come together and sit down, shut up, and listen. They like to come over to Black social media pages and troll African American members just trying to bring attention, or just trying to “start some mess” as I like to call it. That’s all it is: it’s just a mess. And I’ll bet you that some of these folks who tore into Bianca are just jealous of her. From my understanding, Bianca is married to wrestling star Montez Ford. They are a real-life couple and from my understanding Bianca has children. She’s a mother. And I’ll bet you nine times out of 10, most folks won’t care about that. They will not care about her being a mother or being a wife coming from a good family having accomplishments in Track and Field in College, and making transitions to wrestling, winning championships, Royal Rumbles, and many others.
In the late 80s to early 90s, there was a TV show called “A Different World” and a scene and wish that there were White characters and Black characters in the same jail cell. It was an episode where one of the White characters played by Dean Cain talked about immigrants coming to this country who couldn’t speak the language, work hard, and make a valuable life for themselves and turning towards Kadeem Hardison’s character, Dwyane Wayne and asking him why can’t they see that? Kadeem’s character Dwayne responds by simply saying that even though their relatives were immigrants, he stated: “My family helped build this country”. And reflected that it doesn’t matter how many accolades he gets or how many successes he obtains he is just another “N-word”. . This is how I also see Bianca Belair being slammed on social media that it doesn’t matter how many accomplishments she gets or how many championships she wins or how much hard work and dedication she pours into, some still going to say “Look at that N-word right there.” That’s what they’re thinking. That’s what they’re assuming which no matter how many accolades Black folks get, there’s always going to be somebody else who will try to bring them down to their own ignorance. That is what I also see with this scenario concerning Bianca Belair. And even though this story is not a part of that sometimes Black people do this to themselves in a crabs-in-the-barrel mentality. As in a “self-hate” crabs in a barrel mentality. But we’re not talking about that. We’re talking about racism slander attacks online against a successful up-and-coming Black female wrestler, who never came from a wrestling family but has worked hard to break a new mold for herself to be the best she can be.
So, this is why I feel as a wrestling fan, excuse me an African American wrestling fan, that we need to be seen in these places too. And we need to be seen and heard in these places to make our mark very well-established. Keep in mind that way before Bianca Belair hardly anyone gave us any representation in this sport. Even though our faces and pictures may be seen or have been seen, the representation was slowly catching on.
For the Black Women wrestlers, I’ve seen them. Back before Bianca, I’ve seen Jacqueline dominate. When she became the first African American woman to be the WWE Women’s Champion like 25 years ago. I’ve seen Jazz compete and win championships in ECW and WWE. Including current stars of Naomi, Mercedes Mone (or Sasha Banks) Athena, and even Alicia Fox. And also I’m seeing the black women wrestlers doing their thing now in AEW, TNA, ROH, and even Women of Wrestling companies. So yes, it’s a new era. Get used to it, haters.
No matter what anyone thinks, black people will continue to be resilient despite the negative direction that others may assume. If those had been a lot smarter, they shouldn’t said anything that would affect their jobs, education, and scholarships. Many should know that these companies, schools, and I dare say the military would look into a person’s social media profile or comments and would reject the applicant due to what was said negatively! You haters better learn today! So even though the racist attacks on Bianca are somewhat decreasing with all the appreciation posts, which again is nice, racism is still a problem. Even in the wrestling community that has been lingering for a long time.
So in general, the struggle still continues. Even in the community of Professional Wrestling.
Stephen's Spot 
The Rant: Racism still sucks in the Wrestling Community.
Posted: March 14, 2024 in #blacktwitter, #TwitterShare, African American Stories and Viewpoints, Black Empowerment, Black History Month Viewpoints, Black stories that all should know and realize, Calling those out to be accountable!, Commentary by all means, Community Concerns, Controversial Factors, Editorial, Every American MUST realize!, Every International Citizen MUST realize!, Racism, The Issues, The Rant, Unapologetically Speaking, White Supremacy is a Problem!, Wisconsin African American CommentaryTags: Bianca Belair, Black History, Racism, The Rant, Wrestling Community, WWE, WWE2K24
If the concerns of the subject of racism cannot come at a worse time, it certainly has in this era. During Black History Month, in which many of us were relying on references to Black History, the video game maker 2K unveiled a video game cover WWE 2K24 for the public to see. It featured wrestling superstars Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley, and yes Bianca Belair. For Bianca, this was the first time that an African American wrestler female wrestler mind you became significant first to have her picture featured on a video game cover. And of course, with Rhea Ripley on the cover, it also marked the first time that women were featured on the cover for the upcoming video game. But never mind Cody nor Rhea, the backlash was on Bianca. It appears that many in the wrestling community and I dare say the video game community had a tough time and were bothered that a Black woman was featured on a video game cover for the WWE. What is it about certain folks okay let’s call them: white people or white video game wrestling fans who go on to social media, and to bash Bianca all because she is a Black woman on a cover for a video game. Is this where we at? In 2024? Well, technically that is a surprise to me at all in which it doesn’t matter what year it is. There’s always going to be an excuse when certain folks don’t want to see a certain individual or individuals or a group on a certain type of cover because it doesn’t exemplify them. But we’re going to unpack this. We’re going to unwrap every single crevice of this subject because there is a group out there who is utterly confused and very hatefully dangerous when it comes to racism based on inheritance, based on self-hatred, and most of all is based on jealousy just because a certain person or persons have never reached the Pinnacle of success, but has to look at somebody else who has a success just to put them down. Oh, we’re going to unpack this today! And trust me by the end of this blog, I hope everybody can understand what’s going on.
Highlighted below is a Facebook posting courtesy of The Pro Wrestling World Facebook page and it features a mini summary or a commentary regarding Bianca Belair. Please take the time to read it below:
WWE Games posted a picture of the cover athletes for WWE 2K24 on IG and people are mad. Take one guess as to why….
People think Bianca Belair does not deserve to be on the cover.
Wrestling fans are usually miserable, so this isn’t shocking. Because of course, someone had to drag race into it. One such comment stated “𝘉𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬.”
You may think it’s just one comment, but I’m here to tell you a lot of guys think like this. I know this because you’re way too bold on the internet. And it goes far beyond not liking Bianca as a character (although if I asked why you don’t like her….). This attitude extends to several Black talent across the industry. Especially Black women. Mercedes Mone. Naomi. Bianca. Jade. Athena. Countless other Black women wrestlers are subjected to a barrage of nasty comments from a largely male dominated fan base which serves as a reminder…
Most wrestling fans are incredibly racist and terribly misogynist. Sit with that one.
The fact is Black people have made their mark in this industry. Let’s just look at Bianca…
• Undefeated at WrestleMania (3-0)
• Former 3x WWE women’s champion
• 2021 Royal Rumble winner
• ESPN Female wrestler of the year (2022)
• Longest WWE Raw women’s champion in history, longest women’s reign of the modern era (420 days)
• First Black woman – along with Mercedes Mone fka Sasha Banks – to main event WrestleMania
And you really think a career resume like that isn’t good enough to be on a video game cover? Chances are your reasoning is unsavory. Bianca Belair’s career is already the stuff of legends.
And that’s on EST.
– WSM
Okay, pencils down. Now there are a lot of successful truths behind this commentary but I’m going to further stretch it and unpack it at the same time to the best of my ability. First of all, if you’re an individual of my age 47 years old and up, and have been playing video games for a long time since the days of Atari, and certainly the days of playing games like Wrestling Challenge or WWF Superstars, or any other wrestling video game that has been featured since the late ’80s and the early to mid-90s up until the 2000s. And you realize that the favorites from Hulk Hogan to Stone Cold Steve Austin, to Andre the Giant, Big Boss Man, and a host of others, even Sting, have all been featured on these wrestling covers for video games because they were the highest paid stars in the industry during their tenure. And it’s no surprise that they were the future stars because they were the ones who were making the most money for the company at the time. And yes, yours truly has had a knack of interest in the characters or being the characters in these games just to try to advance myself to the next level, and or to compete to win. But none of that was not on my list to complain. Now fast forward to the current day. When we see Bianca Belair on the cover of WWE 2K 24 and even though it spells a great accomplishment and a great outbreak of impressive expectations, yes, we should applaud her efforts in making it this far. But we must keep in mind as African Americans who are wrestling fans, there have been many wrestlers only a few that had a representation of us, and not a whole lot to draw from like Hulk Hogan or Stone Cold Steve Austin. There have been times that Black wrestlers had endorsed low concerns, and not enough praise because they were Black. That no one will ever see a Black wrestler wrestle in a major ring. That’s like saying:
No one does not want to see Black people in the wrestling business.
They have no place in the wrestling ring.
They have no place in commentary.
They have no place in the ring announcing.
All the other things that most African Americans and African-related individuals are doing currently in the wrestling game, you couldn’t see that more than 30 40, or 50-plus years ago during the height of segregation. Or during the height of Jim Crow as many will put it. There have been times that representation for Black wrestlers or black wrestling fans has come on terribly slow and the real reason I’m saying this is because this is what is transpiring right now. Yes, Black folks have always loved wrestling. I remember going to my first WWE live wrestling match in March 1992 when Milwaukee had the Bradley Center. I have folks in my family who had gone to wrestling matches when “Ivan the Terrible” was still in his prime at the MECCA Arena along with favorites such as the late great Da’Crusher. The main reason I’m mentioning Da’ Crusher here in Milwaukee is because he was a local wrestler who was a huge draw to everyone! But yes, we must talk about Black wrestlers. The first time I’ve seen a Black wrestler winning a World heavyweight championship it wasn’t the era of Booker T. It was the era when Ron Simmons won the WCW Heavyweight Championship in 1992 against Vader. That marked the first time that an African American wrestler Ron Simmons won a wrestling championship in the modern era of the sport. Now we could talk about Bobo Brazil and “The Big Cat” Ernie Ladd who also were champions, of Black wrestlers back in their heyday and they have won some championships in their tenure. We can also talk about “Soul Man” Rocky Johnson, the late father of the most electrifying man in sports entertainment, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. And, the grandfather of Simone Johnson, Dwayne’s daughter. Let’s not overshot that in the 80s, Rocky Johnson and his partner Tony Atlas defeated the Wild Samoans to become the WWE tag team champions and they were the first African American men to win a major championship. I remember seeing Ahmed Johnson win his first championship, the Intercontinental title here in Milwaukee, and was the King of the Ring in 1996. When speaking of The Rock, in 1998 The Rock won his first major championship title in the WWE becoming the first African American / Samoan wrestler to win the championship. Let’s keep in mind that The Rock is biracial for those who are keeping score at home. In WCW I mentioned Booker T. winning 5 championships, but he and his brother Stevie Ray won the WCW Tag Team Championships at least over 10 times and they were the first African Americans to win it. WCW had a history of not only winning championships under the singles holders but also for tag team holders and few of them were African American or Black if you will. For ECW, it was different in my opinion but yes there were a few Black wrestlers that won titles based on the ability to go to the “extreme” so to speak, and perform in front of their audience, and their various accomplishments that have been shown. D-Von Dudley, New Jack, 2 Cold Scorpio, and others competed. I’m not talking about when ECW was in WWE, but BEFORE they were in WWE.
So, what does all this mean? What does all this mean when it comes to black wrestlers and their accomplishments? Even though they are recognized, or are being recognized now why do some non-black and all wrestling fans who are a part of the “new movement” so to speak have to put down a black woman like Bianca Belair based on what she is bringing to the game right now, than those who have been pictured and also on a mantle for a long time? So many people are saying that Bianca Belair has no business being in the wrestling ring. They are saying that she has no business being on the cover of a video game cover that is out right now. Whenever I see comments coming from those who feel that Black people shouldn’t be allowed in this or that especially in the wrestling industry, it makes me sick to my stomach. It makes me so sick because of the fact that number one, I thought we have come a long way, but I am forever reminded that even though black folks in wrestling are winning now which is cool to see from my representation standpoint, I still think and have to face the reality that many of us still have this mantra that we have to be twice as good to get to the half like everybody else. And the reason why I say it’s not because it’s a line from Scandal, this is an everyday reference, and black folks have to been told to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and again to work twice as hard per se not just to impress the other guy just trying to catch up other people in a sense having no problem going through hurdles. But the fact of the matter is there are those of us who must jump through so many hoops and run so many obstacles, just trying to get to the finish line just like everybody else. That spells jealousy in my point of view not just because they were black, it’s the way that the plan was designed from the beginning. A way to make sure that we don’t make it, but lose to make it. That is how I see the concerns of the story when it comes to Bianca Belair. Now don’t get me wrong, there are those in the wrestling community who aren’t Black who want to see Bianca succeed. Let’s put that out there. Let’s put that out there in perspective but in the continuation unpacking this situation, what I see in the concern regarding this story is no different from what I read about every single day of discrimination, and also jealousy, and hate coming from the opposition who do not want to see other people succeed even further. This is what I see right now, and it may not be a shock to Black wrestling fans, but why is it a shock to non-black wrestling fans? The shock to them may be because most of them have never had that conversation with their African American counterparts. They never had that conversation with anyone who has gone to the mat with someone who was African American or Black in general but silenced them because the stories the other folks feel are all illusional. It is not.
This is an everyday reality that we are facing even in the 21st century and this discussion is still ongoing. Now don’t ever start quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the line about his “four little children will one day grow up in a nation not to be judged by the color of their skin, but by the continent of their character.” Well, the people who racially slammed Bianca forgot about Dr. King’s quote right there. But the fact of the matter is most of today’s generation folks don’t even read or comprehend. They never had that conversation with other Black people just to come together and sit down, shut up, and listen. They like to come over to Black social media pages and troll African American members just trying to bring attention, or just trying to “start some mess” as I like to call it. That’s all it is: it’s just a mess. And I’ll bet you that some of these folks who tore into Bianca are just jealous of her. From my understanding, Bianca is married to wrestling star Montez Ford. They are a real-life couple and from my understanding Bianca has children. She’s a mother. And I’ll bet you nine times out of 10, most folks won’t care about that. They will not care about her being a mother or being a wife coming from a good family having accomplishments in Track and Field in College, and making transitions to wrestling, winning championships, Royal Rumbles, and many others.
In the late 80s to early 90s, there was a TV show called “A Different World” and a scene and wish that there were White characters and Black characters in the same jail cell. It was an episode where one of the White characters played by Dean Cain talked about immigrants coming to this country who couldn’t speak the language, work hard, and make a valuable life for themselves and turning towards Kadeem Hardison’s character, Dwyane Wayne and asking him why can’t they see that? Kadeem’s character Dwayne responds by simply saying that even though their relatives were immigrants, he stated: “My family helped build this country”. And reflected that it doesn’t matter how many accolades he gets or how many successes he obtains he is just another “N-word”. . This is how I also see Bianca Belair being slammed on social media that it doesn’t matter how many accomplishments she gets or how many championships she wins or how much hard work and dedication she pours into, some still going to say “Look at that N-word right there.” That’s what they’re thinking. That’s what they’re assuming which no matter how many accolades Black folks get, there’s always going to be somebody else who will try to bring them down to their own ignorance. That is what I also see with this scenario concerning Bianca Belair. And even though this story is not a part of that sometimes Black people do this to themselves in a crabs-in-the-barrel mentality. As in a “self-hate” crabs in a barrel mentality. But we’re not talking about that. We’re talking about racism slander attacks online against a successful up-and-coming Black female wrestler, who never came from a wrestling family but has worked hard to break a new mold for herself to be the best she can be.
So, this is why I feel as a wrestling fan, excuse me an African American wrestling fan, that we need to be seen in these places too. And we need to be seen and heard in these places to make our mark very well-established. Keep in mind that way before Bianca Belair hardly anyone gave us any representation in this sport. Even though our faces and pictures may be seen or have been seen, the representation was slowly catching on.
For the Black Women wrestlers, I’ve seen them. Back before Bianca, I’ve seen Jacqueline dominate. When she became the first African American woman to be the WWE Women’s Champion like 25 years ago. I’ve seen Jazz compete and win championships in ECW and WWE. Including current stars of Naomi, Mercedes Mone (or Sasha Banks) Athena, and even Alicia Fox. And also I’m seeing the black women wrestlers doing their thing now in AEW, TNA, ROH, and even Women of Wrestling companies. So yes, it’s a new era. Get used to it, haters.
No matter what anyone thinks, black people will continue to be resilient despite the negative direction that others may assume. If those had been a lot smarter, they shouldn’t said anything that would affect their jobs, education, and scholarships. Many should know that these companies, schools, and I dare say the military would look into a person’s social media profile or comments and would reject the applicant due to what was said negatively! You haters better learn today! So even though the racist attacks on Bianca are somewhat decreasing with all the appreciation posts, which again is nice, racism is still a problem. Even in the wrestling community that has been lingering for a long time.
So in general, the struggle still continues. Even in the community of Professional Wrestling.
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