Unexpected announcement Regarding Belair….

Pro wrestling has always had a complicated relationship with race, largely due to its history of using stereotypes and offensive portrayals of its athletes. For decades, World Wrestling Entertainment, the largest pro wrestling company in America, has used offensive tropes of Black wrestlers on its programs while stunting the popularity of some of its most talented Black stars. In recent years, the company has showcased talents such as Kofi Kingston, Bobby Lashley, Bianca Belair and more, awarding them championships and mainstream attention for their efforts. However, there is still unrest among fans who still demand more representation higher up on the WWE cards. Last week, the company addressed those concerns head-on by integrating Black culture into its shows and tipping its hat to the WWE’s most loyal Black fans. The results show how far the WWE has come in Black representation and the stumbling blocks ahead.

The first sound you hear when you watch WWE premium live event Bad Blood, which was held in Atlanta on Oct. 5, is Future rapping the lyrics “my b— with it, too” off of “GTA” from his We Don’t Trust You album with Metro Boomin. As the song blares over the State Farm Arena speakers, WWE announcer Michael Cole runs down the matches for the show and cuts to a video skit in which WWE champion Cody Rhodes and WWE Hall of Fame and company chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque having Metro Boomin as the show’s ambassador. The live event’s hosts were Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair and Naomi, a triumvirate of Black women wrestlers who have emerged as some of the biggest stars in the sport, often going viral for their Black Girl Magic brand of wrestling.

The event felt like a celebration of the Black fans who have been the backbone of WWE’s popularity and its current surge in ratings and income — just look at all the hashtags and social media comments about a given episode of RAW, SmackDown! or NXT. However, Bad Blood wasn’t without legitimate criticism from Black fans. The show didn’t feature any Black wrestlers in any matches. And Cargill, Belair and Naomi are the only Black wrestlers featured during premium live events for months, and there hasn’t been a Black singles champion on the WWE main roster all 2024. Black wrestlers have also been absent from the most prominent feuds in the company.

The juxtaposition of a live event that catered to Black fans in a Black city with Black artists from that city while Black wrestlers were missing from the ring was too obvious to ignore. At the post-WWE news conference, Levesque, the head of creative for WWE, was asked about the lack of Black characters on the shows. His answer was disappointing

“I don’t see the difference in anybody. I don’t see the color, I don’t see the nationality, I don’t see any of it. I just see talent. I don’t see the difference between men and women. I see talent,” Levesque said. “We tell stories with those talent, how they can handle those stories, and how they can represent those stories, and how we can bring those stories forward. I don’t keep track of any of that. I do what’s relevant and what is best, the best in storytelling and what’s being delivered the best and then that’s what goes. No different than the men and women, who main events. Whatever the biggest stories are, that’s where we go.”