April 2023 Wrestling Discussion

[odessasteps]

You can add in Native/First Nation folks to that list, given the number of Italians who played them in wrestling,not to mention Adnan being Billy White Wolf. 

[cwoy2j]

5 hours ago, christopher.annino said:

Mohammed Hassan says yo. 

I'm a black guy and you couldn't tell 12 year old me or any of my family members who were watching wrestling that Johnny B. Badd was not black.

 

[DJ Hero Morganti]

10 minutes ago, cwoy2j said:

I'm a black guy and you couldn't tell 12 year old me or any of my family members who were watching wrestling that Johnny B. Badd was not black.

 

Same!

[Just Adam Bay Bay]

12 hours ago, JLowe said:

That’s the dude they stuck with the “woke” gimmick?

No he’s like a more modern Tyler Breeze. Lots of selfie type crap, and “viral moments”. 

[FourPostMassacre]

1 hour ago, cwoy2j said:

I'm a black guy and you couldn't tell 12 year old me or any of my family members who were watching wrestling that Johnny B. Badd was not black.

 

In his shoot he talks about attending some sort of celebrity event that was predominantly black that he was invited to because they thought he was black. 

[Elsalvajeloco]

2 hours ago, odessasteps said:

You can add in Native/First Nation folks to that list, given the number of Italians who played them in wrestling,not to mention Adnan being Billy White Wolf. 

I just watched the head dress ceremony with Tatanka from 1994 not too long ago. You got Strongbow standing in the ring with Wahoo, and it's like "really?".

Weeks later when IRS destroys the head dress (it's wrestling so you know that thing ain't long for this world) on Superstars, it is Strongbow that makes the failed save. I know it's ultra goofy 1994 WWF and Strongbow was an agent so it makes more sense logistically since he is already standing in the back, but you couldn't get a real Native American to make the save?

It's not like it made the segment any better cause God bless Chris Chavis but he couldn't act to save his life so it came off really bad between the crying and acting like Strongbow died in the ring. On top of it going forever, the fans didn't really have that much of a connection with Strongbow. 

[odessasteps]

Forgot to mention before maybe the oddest choice for a native gimmick: Junji Harata in Calgary as Sonny Two Rivers. 

[Niners Fan in CT]

When I was a kid I met Strongbow at a tiny little indy show and he autographed a picture and gave it to me, no charge.  I thought it was cool. 

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

On 4/1/2023 at 4:25 PM, Zakk_Sabbath said:

Seconded - she was great (edit: and by the way, also super patient with those of us who are trying to keep up with new terms/what's outdated or poor taste/still discovering themselves - legit thank you to her if she's reading)

Don't encourage her ego. Great. Pfft. I can barely make pancakes.

Why am I talking about myself in the third person? Hi y'all. Had to recharge (deleting literally all my social media helps!). Back now.

[Robert S]

13 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

There's a section of the world where a portion of America can't easily distinguish between someone who is Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Israeli, or Arab (or in this case, Half-Persian/Iranian)

Until a couple of years ago I thought that Taz was black, though his real name should have been a giveaway.

[odessasteps]

3 minutes ago, Robert S said:

Until a couple of years ago I thought that Taz was black, though his real name should have been a giveaway.

Pete?

[Curt McGirt]

*sigh* Senerchia

[Elsalvajeloco]

Surnames don't exactly tell the whole story sometimes. 

That said, I never thought he was black. Yes, there are a bunch of dark skinned Italian people who probably have Moorish ancestry or some shit. 

Mero, on the other hand, once I heard him talk more and more and then became the "Wildman" I knew he was anything but black. Maybe Samoan/Pacific Islander especially with that texture of hair, but not black.

[AxB]

Didn't Johnny B Badd get offered the key to the city of (his worked hometown) Macon GA, despite never having set foot there before?

[Elsalvajeloco]

3 minutes ago, AxB said:

Didn't Johnny B Badd get offered the key to the city of (his worked hometown) Macon GA, despite never having set foot there before?

Macon and the Macon Coliseum was a pretty regular stop for WCW so he would had to have been there at some point.

Now did he lean into? Yes, I don't doubt it.

[SirSmUgly]

41 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

Surnames don't exactly tell the whole story sometimes. 

That said, I never thought he was black. Yes, there are a bunch of dark skinned Italian people who probably have Moorish ancestry or some shit. 

Mero, on the other hand, once I heard him talk more and more and then became the "Wildman" I knew he was anything but black. Maybe Samoan/Pacific Islander especially with that texture of hair, but not black.

Voices don't tell the whole story either, though. There are plenty of black folks who speak white dialects with little indication that they're black if you're just talking to them on the phone. Which I guess I do. I remember only emailing and talking with the head secretary for my grad school department. She was visibly shook when I showed up in the early-aughts style of very baggy jeans, an oversized Ecko shirt, and earrings.

And my kicks were clean, too.

The hair is the best indicator that something is amiss, but even then, he might just be mixed, was my thing as a kid.

[odessasteps]

I bet there have been a number of workers that were put over by their worked hometown over the years. 

[Elsalvajeloco]

40 minutes ago, SirSmUgly said:

Voices don't tell the whole story either, though.

I have been a black for a long time. I have met black people from other parts of the country. I have yet to meet a black person who sounds like Marc Mero. I also had the visual component so it's basically confirmation bias.

Another giveaway is that Marc is from Buffalo, which doesn't have a large black population. However, the black population of Buffalo has a distinct accent. Have you ever heard Rick James or some his childhood friends he played in the Stone City Band with him? All those fuckers have the same tone and inflection. It's hilarious. 

[Elsalvajeloco]

27 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

I bet there have been a number of workers that were put over by their worked hometown over the years. 

You can argue that based on WCW being based out of Atlanta and most of the folks being living in Atlanta or the suburbs of Atlanta, Macon is close to being an actual hometown than a kayfabe hometown.

If you watch the Road Warriors late in their run in WCW and WWF, you can tell they gave up on the continuity of their hometown. It was Chicago. Then, it was both were born in Minneapolis but raised in Chicago (how does that work exactly by chance? Are they blood brothers? Did Chicago become like 10 minute trip from the Twin Cities?). Then they were born and raised in Chicago but moved to Minneapolis. It was all over the place. The commentators kept creating their own backstory.

[odessasteps]

It may also have been because Little Richard himself was born in Macon. 

[Elsalvajeloco]

1 minute ago, odessasteps said:

It may also have been because Little Richard himself was born in Macon. 

Yes, I know that. However, if you live in Sandy Springs in real life, you might as well be billed from Macon. That's different than Harlem Heat being billed from 110th street in Harlem, NY and being from Houston, TX with those thick ass accents. Not exactly a hop, skip, and a jump. 

[Dolphman 3000]

24 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

Another giveaway is that Marc is from Buffalo, which doesn't have a large black population.

It does now, but before White Flight it was pretty dire

The accent is inherited from when the city was largely white and Polish - Lex Luger's from suburban Buffalo and has the same accent

[odessasteps]

I need to look up where the Gang was from before he was billed as being from Halsted Street in Chicago. Guessing Crusher Broomfield was from somewhere does south. 

[Elsalvajeloco]

1 minute ago, odessasteps said:

I need to look up where the Gang was from before he was billed as being from Halsted Street in Chicago. Guessing Crusher Broomfield was from somewhere does south. 

Dude I was gonna mention OMG cause I watched a World Class show with him last night. The lower third on screen graphic said Chicago, IL, but Marc Lowrance said just Halsted Street. My thoughts in order:

1. Is he the entire street?

2. Is he like a vagrant?

3. Does he wonder about the street in that silly ass getup? He's probably gonna fucked up bad if he does that.

[Ziggy]

I think WWE really missed the boat with giving Xavier Woods some shine as a singles while Kofi is out. I thought it would have been cool to have Lashley vs Xavier at Mania as a replacement for Bray. It's strange that he hasn't had a singles push like Big E and Kofi. It's like WWE doesn't know what to do with him if he isn't with the other New Day. I think he would have really impressed if he got some good singles matches without the other New Day around. I know he was King of the Ring but he got hurt not long after. Now I'm hearing they're keeping him cold till Big E and Kofi returns. That would be great news if Big E returns,  obviously only if he is physically able to.