With all the turmoil happening in the United States these past few days, even the realm of professional wrestling is not immune as scores of workers in the industry have commented on #BlackLivesMatter.
During one social media campaign, colloquially called Black Tuesday, people were urged to post a black square in solidarity with fighting anti-black racism, but the result was a lot of backlash activists saying it was distracting from important BLM information.
An alternative suggestion was to use one’s social media platform to highlight the achievement of black performers in various sectors. In professional wrestling, there are scores of black performers across the industry in every company.
In the spirit of amplifying black voices and achievements in wrestling, I would like to highlight some of the more well known African American professional wrestlers through history and today.
Ron Simmons
Before he was known as Farrooq, one half of the Acolyte Protection Agency with JBL and known for his everloving catchphrase “DAMN”, Ron Simmons was an accomplished singles competitor in his own right. A former football player, Simmons wrestled in WCW and in 1992 defeated Vader to become the first recognized African American World Heavyweight Champion.
Simmons would go on to have other prominent roles in the WWE, such as being the leader of the Nation of Domination alongside Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as well as the aforementioned APA, not to mention being one of the most recognized legends to pop up during WWE programming.
He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012.
Rocky Johnson
Despite being known during the 90s as the father of the man who would become The Rock, the elder Johnson was himself a trailblazer in the world of professional wrestling. Born in Nova Scotia, Canada in 1944, Johnson left home at age 14 and transitioned from boxing to wrestling during the 1960s.
‘Soul Man’ ended up teaming with Tony Atlas in 1983 and became the first African American WWE tag team champions. After he retired in 1991, Johnson had a hand in training his son, even making a short cameo on Wrestlemania 13 when he helped the Rock fend off an opponent beatdown.
Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008, Johnson passed away earlier this year at the age of 75.
Kofi Kingston
Photo courtesy of WhatCulture.com
The Ghanan native was first humorously billed as being from Jamaica, complete with a Jamaican accent until he was literally exposed live on air by Triple H. Over the course of a decades long career, Kingston captured about every singles and tag team title imaginable under the WWE umbrella: numerous reigns with the United States, Intercontinental and Tag Team Championships.
But Kofi’s biggest accomplishment to date was winning the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 35, becoming the WWE’s first African born world champion. He also holds the distinction of being the longest reigning tag team champion alongside his teammates in the New Day, a group originally started as a heel stable playing on the theme of the ‘power of positivity’, which ended up getting them over with the fan base.
Titus O’Neil
Photo courtesy of WWE.com
‘Titus Worldwide’ has one of the most charismatic personalities in WWE today, having broken out from the second season of NXT, to the Primetime Players tag team with his former partner Darren Young, to becoming the first ever WWE 24/7 Champion.
Along the way, Titus has been part of an almost one man stable he called Titus Worldwide, when Apollo Crews and Dana Brooke briefly joined him, and no one can forget his infamous slip underneath the ring during the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia.
But Titus deserves to be mentioned as a prominent African American in the professional wrestling industry for another reason: being a good role model. The number of charitable endeavours that Titus has been involved in, particularly with young kids and the United Way, is indeed an inspiration for many.
Shad Gaspard
I think we all know about this by now, but Gaspard making my personal list is not so much as what he did in the ring, but what he did outside of the ring…in fact, the last thing he ever did.
Known as one half of the popular tag team Cryme Tyme during the early 2000s in WWE with his partner JTG, Gaspard wrestled in Ohio Valley Wrestling and moved up to the main roster before being released in 2010.
He subsequently moved onto an acting career, starring in such films and television roles in Think Like a Man, Get Hard, The Game, and the From Dusk Till Dawn tv series. Gaspard also continued wrestling as well on the independent circuit with JTG, using the slightly altered team name “Crime Time”.
But tragedy struck last month, as Gaspard and his son were caught in a strong rip current while swimming in Venice Beach, California. After instructing the lifeguards to rescue his son first, Gaspard disappeared underneath the waves. Three days later, Gaspard’s body was found washed ashore.
A lot of these examples highlighted black professional wrestlers for their accomplishments in the industry and in charity, but Shad is worth mentioning for simply being human in a time when we all need to remember that’s what we all are.
An average professional doing the 9-5 grind who really loves wrestling across all platforms. Here's hoping wrestlers finally get some basic workers rights in 2021.
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