Why Has There Never Been A Black WWE Champion?

The WWE has been around since 1963, which is a whole lot of years. During the course of the company’s history, they’ve had white champions, Italian, Mexican, Canadian, Samoan, and a guy that was half black and half Samoan. But is that good enough? NO! And while we’re at, where are the Asian champions? Yokozuna was a Samoan guy pretending to be Asian. Just another example of the blatant racism exhibited by former President Jack Tunney. The WWE has never had a black WWE Champion and it’s starting to get ridiculous.

Here’s a list of former African-American “superstars” that were never WWWF/WWF/WWE Champion:

Junkyard Dog

Not since Negro Troublemaker, a wrestler who competed for Mississippi Championship Wrestling in the 1950s, has there been a wrestler with a more racist name. Sylvester Ritter didn’t live in a junkyard, nor was he a dog. In fact, he was forced to walk to the ring wearing a chain around his neck and dance while he was doing it. It was like a goddamn Minstrel Show. And fans ate it up. Especially the kids.

“Oooh, a black guy with whips and chains, who barks like a dog. Let’s cheer for him ironically!”.

It was so sad. And he took it all with a smile on his face. His reward? He was finally put into the WWE Hall of Fame. His daughter, who accepted the award, did not wear whips and chains at the ceremony.

Koko B. Ware

Another guy that danced around like he was a clown, but this time, instead of a chain, he carried around a bird. Vince was so worried about Koko breaking the law, that he teamed him up with a white guy named Owen Hart to keep him out of trouble. I’m surprised Koko wasn’t forced to call him “master”. As a team, they were dubbed “High Energy” probably because Vince thought Koko was on cocaine.

Ron Simmons/Farooq

Ron Simmons became the first ever black World Champion when he beat Vader for the WCW World title in 1992. You know why he became Champion? It wasn’t because he earned it. It was because his name was drawn out of a hat. Yeah, that’s how WCW did things. It was a smart move, however, because Ron Simmons was insanely over; and it was a good PR move for a company that was still trying to find an identity.

Later, he went to the WWF under the name Farooq, where he made his debut by attacking Ahmed Johnson. (Black on black violence). He later started a faction called the Nation of Domination, which was a less cool version of the Black Panthers. He never became World Champion again, nor did he achieve that much success in the WWF. He has since retired and is mostly known amongst fans nowadays for a catchphrase that isn’t witty or funny. Damn.

The Godfather

My favorite movie and also a guy whose character was that of a pimp. He would strut to the ring with several prostitutes, all the while dancing to porn music. Could you imagine if he became WWF Champion?

“And the Champion, from Las Vegas, Nevada, weighing 300 pounds, and being accompanied to the ring by Brenda, La’Tisha, Linda, Felicia, Dawn, LaShaun, Ines, and Alicia, Teresa, Monica, Sharon, Nicki, Lisa, Veronica, Karen, Vicky, Cookie, (he met her at an ice cream parlor), Tonya, Diane, Lori and Carla, Marina, Selena, Katrina, Sabrina, three Kim’s, Latoya, and Tina, Shelley, Bridget, Cavi, Rasheeda, Kelly, Nicole, Angel, Juanita, Stacy, Tracie, Rohna, and Ronda, Donna, Ulanda, Tawana, and Wanda, he is the WWE Champion…” Well, you get the point.

Ahmed Johnson

According to some interviews he did, he was supposed to be WWF Champion some time around 1996 or 1997, but “the man” held him back because he was black. I suppose that’s possible, or maybe it was because he spent most of his career botching simple moves and making out with Goldust. It’s probably a combination of all those things.

D’Lo Brown

Vince was so worried that D’Lo was part of a real gang, that he made him wear a bulletproof vest to the ring. On screen, he was part of the radical, Black Pantheresque faction called the Nation of Domination, but off screen, he was part of a real gang called “We Hate Whiteys”. One night, during a match with Droz, he took his hatred too far when he purposely broke Droz’s neck. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have made him WWE Champion after that, either.

Booker T

Booker T. was a five time WCW Champion, a WWE World Champion, but he was never a WWE Champion. Well, why not, sucka? He had all the talent, the in ring skills, the mic skills, the criminal record: he was a perfect candidate for WWE Champion, but it just never panned out for the guy. Things may have been different if he was white.

Jazz

Jazz was a really good wrestler. And a tough dude. I have no clue why Vince McMahon never pulled the trigger on him.

Viscera/Mable/Big Daddy V

He was a mountain of a man, who was pretty agile for a guy his size. He was with the WWE on and off for over 15 years, but he was never WWE Champion. Why not? Because they don’t make straps that big I suppose. RIP.

Will we ever see a black WWE Champion? I don’t know, but unless John Cena starts wearing black face, it probably won’t be any time soon.