Jason Powell over at ProWrestling.net reported this morning that Smackdown head writer Michael P.S. Hayes has been suspended from WWE for 60 days for using a racial slur while speaking with Mark Henry over WrestleMania weekend.
As Powell tells it, Hayes jokingly said something to the effect of, "I'm more of a n----- than you are." Mark Henry spoke up to management about it, and Hayes got the boot.
Let me take the opportunity to commend WWE for taking such a hard line on the matter. There is clearly no room for racism in WWE, and it's encouraging to see they stood behind Henry - you know, the guy they refer to as a "Silverback" gorilla, and who previously played the role of "Sexual Chocolate" and a member of the black militant faction The Nation of Domination.
I mean what kind of message would it send to such young African American superstars as Cryme Tyme - the two black wrestlers whose gimmick it is to rob people - or other ethnic superstars, such as the "Samoan savage" Umaga and the bumbling Funaki, who I believe speaks fine English in real life - if they allowed such racism to go unanswered? Why, it would be a disservice to all the minority wrestlers who have paved the way, such as Tony Atlas, who was re-cast as the spear-chucking African warrior "Saba Simba" in the early 1990's, or the sombrero-wearing "El Matador" Tito Santana.
Racism and racial stereotypes cannot and will not be tolerated in WWE - the home of jolly, rapping tag team Men on a Mission, Asian martial arts expert Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat - who is from Hawaii, voodoo practitioner Papa Shango, car theives Eddie and Chavo Guerrero, and Iraqi sympathizer Muhammad Hassan, whose parents are Jordanian and Italian.
Good for you WWE.
Comments (26)
You forgot the Iron Shiek from Iran or should I say Colonel Mustafa fro Iraq
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Mark Henry needs to reform the Nation with Elijah Burke, Shelton Benjamin, Kofi Kingston, and Big Titty V.
Management throwing around racial slurs was reportedly one of the many reasons Bobby Lashley was sick and tired of the WWE.
While I doubt the Freebird had any negative meaning behind his use of the word, you can't use it when you're in a management position talking to talent. I know the "old guard" have their ways but times have changed, to say the least.
As Powell pointed out, it will be interesting to see whether or not Mark Henry remains on SD! after Hayes returns.
It's a shame, but Henry speaking out against being called the N-word may be the worst career move he ever made. It put WWE management in the position of having to do something - maybe reluctantly so. The fact is that Hayes is more of a commodity to WWE than Henry is, so I'm sure WWE would have preferred to leave well enough alone, but they had no choice but to discipline Hayes. On the other hand, this whole thing might end up giving Henry a measure of job security. If he got fired anytime soon - for whatever reason - people will inevitibly wonder if this had anything to do with it.
Wasn't the whole deal with Hassan that he wasn't an Iraqi sympathiser at all, but in fact an "Arab-American" tired of everyone treating him with suspicion because of his ethnicity and religion? When he first debuted, I actually thought the character was a huge leap forward for WWE stereotyping.
The Hassan character could have been great, but the WWE stupidly didn't pull that infamous segment from Smackdown even though they had time to. How anybody thought a suicide bomber promo was going to fly that week was beyond me. Wait a minute, how long ago was that? Where's Seth with an explanation when you need him?
Racial stereotyping as part of a behind the times entertainment program is not exactly the same thing as a boss calling his subordinate a racial slur.
You know, in all of this I'm surprised no one has brought up Vince McMahon infamous greeting to John Cena from a ppv a few years back. Complete with Booker T looking on and giving his own reaction to it.
One could argue that what WWE writers and Vince McMahon have been doing for years is worse than what Hayes did - although both are despicable. Hayes' words offended one employee. WWE's racist, stereotypical characters and storylines offend thousands and thousands of minority fans - and any fans of originality, cleverness and good taste.
All jokes aside, though, WWE does derserve credit for disciplining Hayes. I don't think I'd be breaking any new ground by saying that a member of management calling a black subordinate the "N-word" should not be tolerated.
i remember when jbl did the nazi salute in germany a few years ago...and i remember wwe pushing jbl even HARDER after that...
wwe taking a stand against that idiot michael hayes was a great move...maybe now they can get someone smart to book the show permentantly
Thank you for listing the stupid, offensive things WWFE has done over the years. To think that company has any sense of racial harmony or awareness would be foolish. A real company would fire Hayes for saying something that ignorant.
We haven't even touched the surface of the racist angles in the WWF/E. 1997 alone was like a freaking race war, you had the Latino gang (Los Boricuas), the Black power gang (Nation of Domination), the skinhead/biker gang (Disciples of Apocolypse), and even a freaking Canadian gang (The Hart Foundation, as if you didn't know).
And saying a "real" company would have just fired an employee for making a racially insensitive remark is just being ignorant. While the WWE is not your typical company, they did the same thing any other company would have done on what appears to be a first offense, suspend them and probably send them to racial sensitivity training.
Top ten list of non black wrestlers who are more of a nigga then mark henry(thank you michael ps hayes)
Hello nerd "smark" ass busters" after getting the news today about the suspention of michael ps hayes for saying he was "more of a nigger then mark henry" I think it was a fucked up think to say but he might be right? Shit col debeers would be a bigger nigger then nark henry. Just playin non the less I would love to turn on wwe 24/7 20 years from now and watch the legands roundtable with good ol jim ross jerry the king ps hayes and some guest added to the show? Former ecw tag champ new jack former wwf coon koko b ware and teddy cracka ass cracka long along with I'm darker then most white folk ecw triple crown and former f.t.w champ taz. and I would pray this topic would jump off. And these wrestlers would be talked about as being bigger niggers then mark henry
10 The honky tonk man any man who got honky in his name is gangsta
9 Terry bam bam gordy
8 Batista(he rocked a tanktop tims and a pair of south poles I hate him in the ring but god he dress more niggaish then mark henry
7 yoshihiro tajiri
6 masata tanaka
5 sabu he gfot shot he rocks boondox shirts and he smokes dunb weed things I've never seen henry do
4 lance storm. If storm was black he would be a nation of islam member
3 super star billy graham
2 dusty rhodes(if you listen to dusty he sound black he cuts niggaish promo's dusty is gansta
1 american dragon bryan danielson why? I think the palest man on the planet is a way bigger nigger then sexual chocolate also herny bit his beard steez too bryan danielson congrats you are now a bigger nigger then mark henry
Top ten list of non black wrestlers who are more of a nigga then mark henry(thank you michael ps hayes)
Hello nerd "smark" ass busters" after getting the news today about the suspention of michael ps hayes for saying he was "more of a nigger then mark henry" I think it was a fucked up think to say but he might be right? Shit col debeers would be a bigger nigger then nark henry. Just playin non the less I would love to turn on wwe 24/7 20 years from now and watch the legands roundtable with good ol jim ross jerry the king ps hayes and some guest added to the show? Former ecw tag champ new jack former wwf coon koko b ware and teddy cracka ass cracka long along with I'm darker then most white folk ecw triple crown and former f.t.w champ taz. and I would pray this topic would jump off. And these wrestlers would be talked about as being bigger niggers then mark henry
10 The honky tonk man any man who got honky in his name is gangsta
9 Terry bam bam gordy
8 Batista(he rocked a tanktop tims and a pair of south poles I hate him in the ring but god he dress more niggaish then mark henry
7 yoshihiro tajiri
6 masata tanaka
5 sabu he gfot shot he rocks boondox shirts and he smokes dunb weed things I've never seen henry do
4 lance storm. If storm was black he would be a nation of islam member
3 super star billy graham
2 dusty rhodes(if you listen to dusty he sound black he cuts niggaish promo's dusty is gansta
1 american dragon bryan danielson why? I think the palest man on the planet is a way bigger nigger then sexual chocolate also herny bit his beard steez too bryan danielson congrats you are now a bigger nigger then mark henry
Top ten list of non black wrestlers who are more of a nigga then mark henry(thank you michael ps hayes)
Hello nerd "smark" ass busters" after getting the news today about the suspention of michael ps hayes for saying he was "more of a nigger then mark henry" I think it was a fucked up think to say but he might be right? Shit col debeers would be a bigger nigger then nark henry. Just playin non the less I would love to turn on wwe 24/7 20 years from now and watch the legands roundtable with good ol jim ross jerry the king ps hayes and some guest added to the show? Former ecw tag champ new jack former wwf coon koko b ware and teddy cracka ass cracka long along with I'm darker then most white folk ecw triple crown and former f.t.w champ taz. and I would pray this topic would jump off. And these wrestlers would be talked about as being bigger niggers then mark henry
10 The honky tonk man any man who got honky in his name is gangsta
9 Terry bam bam gordy
8 Batista(he rocked a tanktop tims and a pair of south poles I hate him in the ring but god he dress more niggaish then mark henry
7 yoshihiro tajiri
6 masata tanaka
5 sabu he gfot shot he rocks boondox shirts and he smokes dunb weed things I've never seen henry do
4 lance storm. If storm was black he would be a nation of islam member
3 super star billy graham
2 dusty rhodes(if you listen to dusty he sound black he cuts niggaish promo's dusty is gansta
1 american dragon bryan danielson why? I think the palest man on the planet is a way bigger nigger then sexual chocolate also herny bit his beard steez too bryan danielson congrats you are now a bigger nigger then mark henry
Top ten list of non black wrestlers who are more of a nigga then mark henry(thank you michael ps hayes)
Hello nerd "smark" ass busters" after getting the news today about the suspention of michael ps hayes for saying he was "more of a nigger then mark henry" I think it was a fucked up think to say but he might be right? Shit col debeers would be a bigger nigger then nark henry. Just playin non the less I would love to turn on wwe 24/7 20 years from now and watch the legands roundtable with good ol jim ross jerry the king ps hayes and some guest added to the show? Former ecw tag champ new jack former wwf coon koko b ware and teddy cracka ass cracka long along with I'm darker then most white folk ecw triple crown and former f.t.w champ taz. and I would pray this topic would jump off. And these wrestlers would be talked about as being bigger niggers then mark henry
10 The honky tonk man any man who got honky in his name is gangsta
9 Terry bam bam gordy
8 Batista(he rocked a tanktop tims and a pair of south poles I hate him in the ring but god he dress more niggaish then mark henry
7 yoshihiro tajiri
6 masata tanaka
5 sabu he gfot shot he rocks boondox shirts and he smokes dunb weed things I've never seen henry do
4 lance storm. If storm was black he would be a nation of islam member
3 super star billy graham
2 dusty rhodes(if you listen to dusty he sound black he cuts niggaish promo's dusty is gansta
1 american dragon bryan danielson why? I think the palest man on the planet is a way bigger nigger then sexual chocolate also herny bit his beard steez too bryan danielson congrats you are now a bigger nigger then mark henry
Top ten list of non black wrestlers who are more of a nigga then mark henry(thank you michael ps hayes)
Hello nerd "smark" ass busters" after getting the news today about the suspention of michael ps hayes for saying he was "more of a nigger then mark henry" I think it was a fucked up think to say but he might be right? Shit col debeers would be a bigger nigger then nark henry. Just playin non the less I would love to turn on wwe 24/7 20 years from now and watch the legands roundtable with good ol jim ross jerry the king ps hayes and some guest added to the show? Former ecw tag champ new jack former wwf coon koko b ware and teddy cracka ass cracka long along with I'm darker then most white folk ecw triple crown and former f.t.w champ taz. and I would pray this topic would jump off. And these wrestlers would be talked about as being bigger niggers then mark henry
10 The honky tonk man any man who got honky in his name is gangsta
9 Terry bam bam gordy
8 Batista(he rocked a tanktop tims and a pair of south poles I hate him in the ring but god he dress more niggaish then mark henry
7 yoshihiro tajiri
6 masata tanaka
5 sabu he gfot shot he rocks boondox shirts and he smokes dunb weed things I've never seen henry do
4 lance storm. If storm was black he would be a nation of islam member
3 super star billy graham
2 dusty rhodes(if you listen to dusty he sound black he cuts niggaish promo's dusty is gansta
1 american dragon bryan danielson why? I think the palest man on the planet is a way bigger nigger then sexual chocolate also herny bit his beard steez too bryan danielson congrats you are now a bigger nigger then mark henry
Top ten list of non black wrestlers who are more of a nigga then mark henry(thank you michael ps hayes)
Hello nerd "smark" ass busters" after getting the news today about the suspention of michael ps hayes for saying he was "more of a nigger then mark henry" I think it was a fucked up think to say but he might be right? Shit col debeers would be a bigger nigger then nark henry. Just playin non the less I would love to turn on wwe 24/7 20 years from now and watch the legands roundtable with good ol jim ross jerry the king ps hayes and some guest added to the show? Former ecw tag champ new jack former wwf coon koko b ware and teddy cracka ass cracka long along with I'm darker then most white folk ecw triple crown and former f.t.w champ taz. and I would pray this topic would jump off. And these wrestlers would be talked about as being bigger niggers then mark henry
10 The honky tonk man any man who got honky in his name is gangsta
9 Terry bam bam gordy
8 Batista(he rocked a tanktop tims and a pair of south poles I hate him in the ring but god he dress more niggaish then mark henry
7 yoshihiro tajiri
6 masata tanaka
5 sabu he gfot shot he rocks boondox shirts and he smokes dunb weed things I've never seen henry do
4 lance storm. If storm was black he would be a nation of islam member
3 super star billy graham
2 dusty rhodes(if you listen to dusty he sound black he cuts niggaish promo's dusty is gansta
1 american dragon bryan danielson why? I think the palest man on the planet is a way bigger nigger then sexual chocolate also herny bit his beard steez too bryan danielson congrats you are now a bigger nigger then mark henry
Michael Hayes needed to be suspended for that. He knows better. That word really shouldn't be acceptable coming from anybody. I think black people use it today because nobody has educated them on the origins of the N-word. Which leads people of other races to use it and cause social conflict. I could go on about that forever....
Mark Henry was right for saying something. He doesn't deserve to be called any negative term. Nobody does. I sure as hell wouldn't stand for it.
And the WWE does perpetuate stereotypes with some of their storylines and gimmicks, but a lot of them are entertaining. Cryme Tyme is awesome. Hassan would have gone to the top if UPN didn't flip out. The America vs. current wartime enemy storyline would have come back. Hassan was the total package. Finlay doing the shileleigh-and-having-a-leprechaun thing sucks because it's corny. And so on and so forth.
WWE was right to suspend Hayes, but I agree that some of their storylines convey stereotypes.
Oh please come on....
This is just another example of hypocrisy at it's best.
When alleged racism sells tickets it's ok (see JBL,Bret Hart)
When alleged racism sells no tickets, people get suspended or removed from WWE (see PS Hayes, Muhammed Hassan)
Well said Alfonso, here here.
What's next people having a go because Davey Boy Smith was called British Bulldog
I think people need to get a grip
If the N word is ofensive then why is it used by several Black music artists in music videos?
If people all want to be treated equal then it shouldn't be used by anyone no matter what colour(yes that's how you spell it)
As by using the word you are saying iam different to the next person and that blows the equality case out of the window
Finlay doing the shileleigh-and-having-a-leprechaun thing sucks because it's corny.
...and because it's the wrong national stereotype (he's from Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, not the Republic of Ireland).
I have to say, I'm still on the fence about this (the general debate, not PS's remark). Wrestling trades in stereotypes. It's a cartoon world, with big characters, it's inevitable.
Some characters are linked to a certain race or nationality. You couldn't have a white Papa Shango any more than you could have a black Hunter Hearst Helmsley (the original gimmick) or El Matador (who, by the way, didn't wear a sombrero).
If every black wrestler plays a strictly black stereotype, that's clearly racist. But that's clearly not the case - Charles Wright was saddled with at least three such gimmicks (Shango, Godfather and NoD member) but also at least two that are race-neutral (the Ultimate Fighting Machine and the Goodfather). Nelson Frazier spent some years as Mabel (although, FYI, he never rapped so far as I'm aware) but has spent far longer as Viscera (which doesn't appear, to me, to be a black stereotype). Other than a brief period with his "momma", Shelton Benjamin's run has been pretty stereotype-free. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any black stereotype that Lashley has ever portrayed. And so on.
I'm less clear on whether you're a racist company if you employ a number of characters, some of which play up to racial stereotypes, some of which are bad. I'm not sure it's quite as cut and dried as we're making out here.
What's next people having a go because Davey Boy Smith was called British Bulldog
Well, actually, why not? When has an English wrestler ever gotten over in the WWFE without (a) wearing a Union Flag on his pants or (b) acting snooty at some point in his career?
And no, Paul Burchill isn't over.
The Hassan character could have been great, but the WWE stupidly didn't pull that infamous segment from Smackdown even though they had time to. How anybody thought a suicide bomber promo was going to fly that week was beyond me. Wait a minute, how long ago was that? Where's Seth with an explanation when you need him?
It was July 7, 2005 - or that week, at any rate.
And yes, agreed, it was stupid (IIRC they carried Daivari out of the arena over their heads, like a martyr) - but, as with so much of this debate, the way it's described after the fact is interesting. I distinctly remember people describing Hassan's masked accomplices as "terrorists"...why? Where was the visual cue that could make anyone think that? Certainly not on Smackdown - they were masked, but that's hardly uncommon in wrestling.
The more I think about it, the more I think that a lot of Alfonso's list is being just as misremembered as suggesting that Hassan was an "Iraqi sympathiser".
With Saba Simba, for example, I believe that the gimmick was not a "spear-chucker" but a guy who decided to investigate his roots and to represent them while he wrestled (much in the same way that Tatanka has done throughout his career) - now, clearly, this is still a gimmick (I don't believe that Tony Atlas actually went off in search of his roots) but I'd say that's a positive character for black people rather than a negative one. Same with Tito, there was a series of vignettes with him going back to Mexico and immersing himself in the culture, then deciding to represent it in the ring.
...of course, a lucha mask might have been an easier way. But there we are.
It's been around for a long time. If I remember Dean Malenko's father, who is Jewish, had a Nazi-esque gimmick back in the day.
Boris Malenko was a "Russian," not a 'Nazi."
You might be thinking of Jewish manager Gentleman Saul Weingerhoff managing the "Nazi" Von Brauners.