Posted in: Hustle Is Posting Right Now Hustle Is Posting Right Now: Volume 52 ("Racism 2" Edition)
By Hustle
Jul 14, 2009 - 10:02:47 PM
Good lookin out, Ro.
"Thoughts at a thousand miles per hour.."
This week's intro line is being brought to us by the one and only Andre 3000. That about perfectly describes how I think. My mind sometimes goes too fast for its own good, and it can often get in the way of my column writing. Either way, it sets me apart from the rest of the pack, so I learn to deal with it. Welcome back, boys and girls, to yet another edition of the column that has more styles than a fashionista's closet.. Hustle Is Posting Right Now. That, undoubtedly, makes me the man that sits 90 degrees underneath palm trees.. ya boy, Hustle, back in the building once again. How's everybody doing out there in ReaderLand? Folks, we are now 4.. count em.. 4 days.. until my 27th birthday. Big things will be poppin off Saturday night, I can tell you that much. I just hope I don't end up in jail or something afterwards, as that may put quite the kibosh on next week's column. Something else that needs the kibosh put on it is this here intro, so, uh, I think it's about that time. Shall I proceed? (Yes, indeed.) Less dew eet!!
Two weeks ago, I wrote a column on racism, and I discussed just how racist Vince McMahon (WWE, as a whole, actually) is or isn't. Here we are.. fourteen whole days later.. and I'm still waiting for someone to come along and change my mind. I've had a lot of you leave me feedback about the subject, and while I did receive a few arguments that tried to counter what I said in my column, most of them weren't very well put-together, or they just didn't have any real evidence to back any of their claims up. For those of you that missed it, here are some of the points that I made in v50, as well as an important add-on that I'm.. adding on.. now:
- Vince McMahon, as the good businessman that he is, can't see "black" and "white", but only "green".
- There are minority employees all throughout the WWE, from a Ring Announcer to the company's Physician, Road Agents, Announcers, a Referee, etc.
- The definitions of "racism" and "stereotype" are completely different
- There are plenty of "go-to" stereotypes that pro wrestling has used for a countless number of years
- There are currently 28 full-time minority wrestlers on the roster, who, between them, share a total of 58 title reigns (including 9 World/WWE/ECW Title reigns) and 2 Royal Rumble victories
Look at that last one again, ladies and gentlemen. Looking over the rosters of Raw, ECW, and Smackdown, you'll come up with 28 minority wrestlers, male and female, that are full-time performers for the WWE. Adding up their title reigns while they were under employment to Vince McMahon, you get 58 total reigns. I understand that not everyone is a math whiz, but that's an average of slightly more than 2 title reigns per person. A whopping 9 of those 58 reigns were for the titles in the company.. WWE Title, World Heavyweight Title, and the ECW Title. If that weren't enough, Vince decided to be nice enough to give Royal Rumble victories to 2 (!!) dirty, stinky non-caucasians. Of the 28 names, 15 of them have held a title during their time with Vincent Kennedy McMahon.
Because I'm in a stupid mood and feel like compiling ridiculous stats for absolutely no reason:
- There are currently 45 full-time "caucasian" wrestlers on the roster, who, between them, share a total of 232 title reigns (including 67 World/WWE/ECW Title reigns), 6 Royal Rumble victories, 2 King Of The Ring crowns, as well as a victory in Money In The Bank
This one definitely deserves some breaking down. First of all, 232 is the total I got after I removed all of the various Hardcore Title reigns from people, because, let's face it.. that title shouldn't count. Of the 45 names, 31 of them have held a title during their time with Vincent Kennedy McMahon. That's a higher percentage of caucasian wrestlers who have been given titles VS non-caucasians, and that's much more total title reigns for "Whitey". However, these numbers are a bit misleading, and you know what that means.. time to break it down even further:
- With the 28 minority wrestlers currently on the roster, the average time that they've been wrestling for WWE (on the main roster, and not time spent in developmentals) is approximately 3.4 years
- With the 45 caucasian wrestlers currently on the roster, the average time that they've been wrestling for WWE (on the main roster, and not time spent in developmentals) is approximately 5.2 years
Take a look at that difference. It shows that a lot of the minority wrestlers on the current wrestler haven't really been with the company for all that long, and are still working on making their way up the proverbial totem pole. However, the average number of years working for Vince McMahon's company isn't the statistic that really sticks out to me. I dug and dug, and I looked a little deeper to found the following:
- Of the 28 minority wrestlers currently on the roster, you could only call 3 of them "sure-fire" Hall Of Famers (Batista, Rey Mysterio, & Mickie James)
- Of the 45 caucasian wrestlers currently on the roster, you could call 13 of them "sure-fire" Hall Of Famers (John Cena, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Edge, Chris Jericho, Christian, Big Show, The Undertaker, Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Kane, & Goldust)
You could make an argument for one or two others on the minority side, as well as a half-dozen or so on the caucasian side, but those are the numbers we'll go with for the time being (although a future column on the subject sounds like it could be in the works). Those 13 caucasians account for 179 of the 232 total title reigns, which is a huge chunk. The 3 minorities account for 23 of the 58 total title reigns, which, while still a large percentage in its own right, isn't anywhere near the other number. The numbers become quite similar once those Hall Of Famers are all removed. It tells me that, outside of some of the greatest names the professional wrestling world has ever seen, titles and pushes are given out on a pretty even basis between minorities and non-minorities. It tells me that, if given a few more years for some of the minority wrestlers to "season" a bit, the numbers could (and should, for that matter) shift towards their side. It tells me that, even with all the buzz and discussion that has taken place in the land of LoP in the past several weeks, there really isn't a very strong case to be made that Vince McMahon is racist, nor does he run a racist company.
You know what I think is a real problem with World Wrestling Entertainment? No, not racism. Sexism. Hell, while we're at it, homophobia, as well. I think there are much clearer cases to be made about sexism and homophobia than there are about racism or anything that comes along with it, and yet, they don't get the same amount of publicity as the problems with race do. That's unfortunate, if you ask me.
Homophobia is a problem, not only within the wrestling community, but in society, as a whole. Case in point? It's legal for minorities to get married, isn't it? Exactly. Let me say this, first of all, to get it out in the open.. I have absolutely no problem with gay people, or the gay lifestyle. Throughout high school, one of my closest friends was gay, and I even have a gay cousin or two sprinkled in my family tree. While I'm accepting of it all, it just isn't something that wrestling has dealt with properly as of today, July 14th in the 2009th year. Let me ask this question, and I ask it in all seriousness:
Would it really be hard to believe that a homosexual man could be "tough"?
By "tough", I mean that he doesn't need to be presented as a "sissy".. or as someone who screams like a woman.. or as someone who is coming to the ring with makeup, a feathered boa, and whatever else wrestling has used to say "Hey, look at this homo here!!".. or as someone who mentions his homosexuality, directly or indirectly, in every interview and/or backstage segment.. or as someone who is more interested in feeling up his opponents than trying to kick their asses.. or anything else that the world of professional wrestling has tried to do to their "gay" characters through history. Seriously, folks.. would it be difficult to buy into a homosexual wrestler as being a "legit" character? Let's say, for example, that.. Triple H (shut up) was "gay", but absolutely everything about his character was the same as it is now, from his in-ring attire to his entrance music, etc.. would people still look at him in the same light? Hell, would he have even won a single World Title, let alone the 817 that he's actually won? Would he still be "The Game"? Would he still be "King Of Kings"? Think about it for a bit. I'd love to hear what you folks think about that.
What about the Divas? Look, I enjoy a perfectly good piece of Eye Candy just as much as the next guy, but I don't see what the problem is in pushing more of the Divas as anything more than Eye Candy. I just don't see a whole lot of purpose in putting attractive half-naked women in wrestling matches if they can't wrestle. There are plenty of ways for me to get my fix of attractive half-naked (or fully naked) women, without having to watch them wrestle terribly. If it was up to me, WWE would have to choose one of two options.. either get all the women off the roster, or work on making your Divas more "legit". There are several of them on the current WWE roster that can actually wrestle, and there are several more floating around the world of wrestling that don't have "major" contracts and are just waiting to be scooped up. There's plenty of wasted time during every WWE TV show. Enough so that they could easily add a few minutes to the Divas matches they have. Instead of watching Brie Bella VS Michelle McCool (for example) for 2 minutes, I'd much rather watch Beth Phoenix VS Sara Del Rey (for example) for somewhere in the 8-10 minute range. It's not asking for too much, in my opinion.
Am I becoming a softy in my old age?
Hustle Highlight Of The Week: Rey Mysterio VS Chris Jericho from Smackdown gets the HHotW nod this week, and really, you shouldn't have expected anything else. They put on another classic match, and at this point, I'm almost 100% convinced that it is physically impossible for them to have a bad match with each other. They were given nearly 25 minutes to work with this time, which is almost unheard of for televised matches in this day and age (especially ones that are for midcard titles), and they made every one of those minutes count. This is one of those feuds that, on one hand, I would enjoy watching every week, but on the other hand, I don't want to get too much of a good thing and become sick of it. Props to both men, though. They're definitely two of the best in the world at what they do.
Honorable mentions would be.. Yoshi Tatsu VS Shelton Benjamin (ECW).. "Pretty Ricky" (Smackdown, and yes, I'm pretty surprised that I enjoyed it).. CM Punk's promo against Jeff Hardy (Smackdown).. Brock Lesnar VS Frank Mir (UFC 100).. Brock Lesnar's post-match interview (UFC 100).. Yoshihiro Akiyama VS Alan Belcher (UFC 100).. Georges St Pierre VS Thiago Alves (UFC 100).. Dan Henderson's knockout of Michael Bisping (UFC 100).. Kelly Kelly's sneakers (Raw).. MVP VS Jack Swagger (Raw).. Big Show's Spear on Evan Bourne (Raw).. Mark Henry and Chris Jericho's interaction with each other (Raw).. Mark Henry being given a fan-friendly hand gesture that will do nothing but help him get over even more with the live crowds (Raw).. Seth Green's job as Guest Host (Raw).. The Orlando crowd, that stayed hot throughout the night (Raw)
Writer's Note: Be on the lookout for my mini-previews of the upcoming pro and collegiate football seasons, sometime in the next few weeks. I have no idea how in-depth they'll be, but I'm sure the pro one will contain my picks for awards (MVP, Rookie Of The Year, etc) and the postseason, while my college one will contain a Top 10 (at the very least) and my Heisman pick. Should be fun times.
What Hustle Is Listening To Right Now: "Lookin 4 Ya" by Andre 3000.. "Craigslist" by Weird Al Yankovic.. "Freeway's Beard" by Freeway.. "The One" by Slaughterhouse.. "Lyrical .44" by Damian Marley, Method Man, & Redman.. "Back To Life" by Corneille.. "Spellbound" by Lacuna Coil.. "Hallelujah" by Bishop Lamont & Xzibit.. "Imma Do It (Remix)" by Fabolous & Ya Boy.. "Feel Me Flow" by Naughty By Nature.. "T.R.O.Y." by Pete Rock & CL Smooth.. "Move It Like This" by K7.. "Girl I've Been Hurt" by Snow.. "Ambitionz Az A Ridah" by 2Pac.. "Protect Ya Neck" by Wu-Tang Clan.. "Reunited" by Wu-Tang Clan.. "C.R.E.A.M." by Wu-Tang Clan.. "Triumph" by Wu-Tang Clan.. "I'm Bad" by LL Cool J.. "Mama Said Knock You Out" by LL Cool J.. "I Got You Babe" by Mario Winans.. "Miseria Cantare" by AFI.. "(sic)" by Slipknot.. "Psychosocial" by Slipknot.. "Woo-Hah! Got You All In Check" by Busta Rhymes.. "Rhymes Galore" by Busta Rhymes.. "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See" by Busta Rhymes.. "Morning Ride" by Fiji.. "Fall In Love Again" by AZ.. "Missin You Like Crazy" by Lukie D.. "It A Ring" by Tonto Irie.. "I'm Dope Nigga" by Method Man & Redman.. "City Lights" by Method Man, Redman, & UGK.. "Kinda Like A Big Deal" by Clipse & Kanye West.. "24/7" by Kevon Edmonds.. "When Can I See You Again" by Babyface.. "Never Keeping Secrets" by Babyface.. "Same Song" by Digital Underground & 2Pac.. "Shores Of Waiehu" by Ekolu.. "She's Music To Me" by Ekolu.. "When I Hear Music" by Debbie Deb.. "One More Try" by Timmy T.. "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force.. "Don't Stop The Rock" by Freestyle.. "Let The Music Play" by Shannon.. "Spring Love" by Stevie B.. "Party Your Body" by Stevie B.. "Because I Love You" by Stevie B.. "Show Me" by The Cover Girls.. "Catch Me (I'm Falling)" by Pretty Poison
Bag it. Tag it. Ship it out of The Trap. Yes, folks, another edition of HIPRN is in the books. I want to thank each and every one of you for riding with me yet again. Let me just get this out of the way right now.. I'll be revisiting this subject in the very near future, but it may or may not be next week. In doing research for this column, I stumbled upon different things that needed to be mentioned, but they didn't make the time restraints on this week's edition, otherwise I definitely would've made this column a bit longer. I still have a few pages of hand-written notes (I'm such a nerd) and statistics to use, so this definitely isn't the end of this. Hell, it gives me a lot to write about, so I'm not complaining. Keep your peepers peepin for that. Until then, it's time for me to go watch Public Enemies (aww, no clever rhymes?), nah'mean? From the target of North Korean missile attacks, I bid you farewell (hopefully not permanently, though). Aloha and Mahalo Nui Loa.
”I'm exceedin expectations, you barely meetin quota.. I give it to em straight, you cut it with baking soda..”
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