Why does wwe always have black people dancing?

Jello Biafra

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A lot of it is relying on old school wrestling tropes when it comes to black wrestlers. While not 100% of black wrestlers back in the day were the smiling, dancing happy Step n Fetchits, that was a persona that was placed on the majority of them and for some reason it still resonates with some wrestlers/executives/bookers in the business.

Swann bothers me because his schtick is almost an indentical copy of the bullshyt that Iceman King Parsons, Pistol Pez Whatley and Koko B. Ware used to do and that shyt just irks me.
 

BodeineBrazy

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A lot of it is relying on old school wrestling tropes when it comes to black wrestlers. While not 100% of black wrestlers back in the day were the smiling, dancing happy Step n Fetchits, that was a persona that was placed on the majority of them and for some reason it still resonates with some wrestlers/executives/bookers in the business.

Swann bothers me because his schtick is almost an indentical copy of the bullshyt that Iceman King Parsons, Pistol Pez Whatley and Koko B. Ware used to do and that shyt just irks me.

Why does it irk you? There are certain tropes that transcend time in the broader (white) scope of entertainment, if you want nuance's you have to watch niche shyt.

Thats in any field.

Black Wrestlers are going to dance, be mindless enforcers, or "athletic". Just what middle america is comfortable with from a black man.

Sports, Entertainment, and that's it. It's really just a mirror of society breh.

Just have to accept it at this point.

I think us as black people need to have a firmer grasp on how we are perceived by society on a cerebral level.

This is going to get to deep so ima stop here.
 

R=G

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Why does it irk you? There are certain tropes that transcend time in the broader (white) scope of entertainment, if you want nuance's you have to watch niche shyt.

Thats in any field.

Black Wrestlers are going to dance, be mindless enforcers, or "athletic". Just what middle america is comfortable with from a black man.

Sports, Entertainment, and that's it. It's really just a mirror of society breh.

Just have to accept it at this point.

I think us as black people need to have a firmer grasp on how we are perceived by society on a cerebral level.

This is going to get to deep so ima stop here.


:laugh::laugh::laugh:
 

DANJ!

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Spoke on this before... like a few others have said, it depends on who it is. Lotta these people weren't made to do these gimmicks, some of it's their own ideas, some of whom have done these things before even being in WWE. Naomi for example is a dancer anyway. R-Truth entire gimmick since he started was the rapping and dancing. Koko B Ware, if I'm not mistaken was doing a Michael Jackson gimmick before he came to WWF. Obviously a lot of these gimmicks are racially-descript, but I also doubt some of the ideas aren't their own. There's nothing about the New Day's promos that makes me think "some square white guy definitely came up with that".

Look at it like we look at other TV shows. There were people who said Martin was a negative stereotype show because he did his own kind of humor which to some "made Black people look bad". But maybe Martin Lawrence didn't wanna do Seinfeld humor, maybe he wanted to do Martin humor. I didn't see anyone Jewish worried about how Jerry made them look... :yeshrug:

Now as far as how it affects the way black people are perceived... honestly, I wish we'd stop givin' a fukk. I wish we could be ourselves and not care what another race (or even ourselves for that matter) think they know about us.
 

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At this point I don't think this is all Vince's doing, I think it's the wrestler's themselves coming up with these gimmicks.

Nothing against Swann,who is a great wrestler, but I'm sick of seeing Black wrestlers who are either dancing buffoons or "just happy to be here". We need some legit badass and serious characters for once.

The last good black heel was Mark Henry. They don't even have black heels anymore. Titus barely counts and Darren Young's singles run was a flop.

Meanwhile companies like ROH and TNA have had black heels who not only got strong booking but also had long reigns as World Champion.

As did Swann, whose entire gimmick on the indies was dude who dances all the fukking time. It's the only thing that got him signed, since it's the only thing that made him stand out from all the other random flippy guys.

Also his theme/chants made him stand out too.
 

(Lean Ambrose)

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Go fukk yourself, Midwest
At this point I don't think this is all Vince's doing, I think it's the wrestler's themselves coming up with these gimmicks.

Nothing against Swann,who is a great wrestler, but I'm sick of seeing Black wrestlers who are either dancing buffoons or "just happy to be here". We need some legit badass and serious characters for once.
Swann legit makes me cringe with all that dancing and goofy ass facial expressions...
Dude be making them ol stereotypical "ooga booga" original birth of a nation face gestures...:scust:
 

mrken12

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Why does it irk you? There are certain tropes that transcend time in the broader (white) scope of entertainment, if you want nuance's you have to watch niche shyt.

Thats in any field.

Black Wrestlers are going to dance, be mindless enforcers, or "athletic". Just what middle america is comfortable with from a black man.

Sports, Entertainment, and that's it. It's really just a mirror of society breh.

Just have to accept it at this point.

I think us as black people need to have a firmer grasp on how we are perceived by society on a cerebral level.

This is going to get to deep so ima stop here.
Other successful companies have black wrestlers who don't dance or fall into stereotypical gimmicks. Let's not make excuses for WWE's laziness and lack of creativity.
 

BodeineBrazy

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Other successful companies have black wrestlers who don't dance or fall into stereotypical gimmicks. Let's not make excuses for WWE's laziness and lack of creativity.

That's what I said, u have to watch a niche product to get a legit black champion.

RoH, TnA etc. are niche products.

It's not making an excuse. This is fact.

It's to be expected in this country, they are catering to a broader (white) audience.
 

mrken12

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That's what I said, u have to watch a niche product to get a legit black champion.

RoH, TnA etc. are niche products.

It's not making an excuse. This is fact.

It's to be expected in this country, they are catering to a broader (white) audience.

And how has that been working? Ratings have been going down the toilet over the last few years. You mean to tell me they can have women main eventing PPVS but don't know how to write a unique character/gimmick for black wrestlers? They're claiming to be a more progressive company but can't escape the same hackneyed stereotypes for non-white wrestlers?
 

BodeineBrazy

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And how has that been working? Ratings have been going down the toilet over the last few years. You mean to tell me they can have women main eventing PPVS but don't know how to write a unique character/gimmick for black wrestlers? They're claiming to be a more progressive company but can't escape the same hackneyed stereotypes for non-white wrestlers?

Nobody outside of maybe Bray, Jericho and Cena have solid characters on the Main roster. Not talking wins and loses, just character. Everybody else is written pretty flimsy, we all take what we can get, but tbh most these guys characters are trash.

We can't be upset that white (racist) writers, create stereotypical black characters. Even if they aren't racist they are basing their characterization off of what they know. You ain't gonna have a black Jake the Snake or Stone Cold, your not gonna have black Brock. Because that shyt is threatening to them. That's just what it is.
 
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