Opinion: Is There Still a Stigma Against African Americans in WWE?

Yesterday, there was an opinion piece about Naomi. I tried to talk about her talent and athleticism and why she hasn’t been given a full shot. Ultimately, it was just to get the conversation going about her WWE career.

The majority of the feedback somehow got twisted around to be about WWE’s issues with race and the lack of African-American world champions in WWE history. The conversation went away from Naomi almost completely.

Somehow, there was a consensus that Naomi had no chance to become the Women’s Champion because of her skin color, which really threw me for a loop.

It’s disheartening to me that the reaction was that “WWE” won’t let her win a world title because of her skin tone, and it had nothing to do with her ability in the ring.

Obviously, that is wrong. However, that isn’t what’s bothering me. What’s bothering me is that we as fans believe in this stigma that if you’re black in WWE, then there is a glass ceiling.

You really can’t deny WWE’s history with pushing far more white wrestlers than black wrestlers into the WWE title picture. That’s just history and it is what it is, unfortunately.

That seems to be the standard that fans are sticking to that proves WWE is still holding down people of color below the main event. My problem is why is that the measuring stick for success in WWE?

Of course, everyone wants to be the WWE Champion but look at all the success you can have outside of the main event. The New Day is one of the most successful stables in recent history, but when the rumors of the trio were first happening, they were rumored to be the “Nation of Domination 2.0.”

Yes, there is a history of WWE favoring whites over blacks. That’s undeniable. However, it’s 2016. We shouldn’t be putting down a solid talent like Naomi just because of her skin color and accept that’s the way WWE works.

If there is an issue and WWE is knowingly doing this, the last thing we should do is simply accept that he or she won’t become a World Champion because of their skin color. As fans, we’re responsible to change that.

We should be arguing for a wrestler because they’re talented performers and they deserve to become champions based on their work-rate and talent, not shooting them down because, despite a world of ability, they also happen to be African-American.

Us accepting that they’re African-American and they can’t reach the main event is a problem that we can fix. We are the WWE Universe. We don’t have to accept anything the way it is.

Do you feel there are still race issues within WWE today?