The WWE's complex "Black" history
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- Опубліковано 17 тра 2024
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00:00 Why do black people love wrestling?
05:00 The earliest days of black wresters
17:00 Troubling patterns in black wrestling gimmicks
20:20 Some thoughts on Vince MacMahon
31:25 Some scattered victories for black wrestlers
37:26 What exactly was the Rock cooking?
51:56 Black wrestling's lowest point
55:56 Kofimania
01:13:09 What goes up...
01:15:45 Final thoughts
edited by @NeedlessNick - Спорт
Something that always pisses me off is the excuse people give for Shelton Benjamin never being a world champion. People would always say “He’s not good on the mic” or “He doesn’t have charisma”. Meanwhile, Jeff Hardy is a multi-time world champion. Jeff was definitely not the best on the mic, and despite them trying to force the narrative of him being the “charismatic enigma”, he has the charisma of paint drying. And I love Jeff, but it is what it is.
Jeff has the charisma of a Shameless character. "Enigma" was their excuse buzzword for "bad but we're gonna lie about it"
Also Jeff addiction was soo problematic and yet they still gave him the shot
To be fair though, the hardy boys are black
bro that's cap Jeff was levels above Shelton, he had severeal legendary WrestleMania and SummerSlam matches, not just one superkick that made it to highlightreels. Also Jeff was very beloved by the the sparce womens audience in this male dominated product, you don't have that often. He truely was charismatic in his artsy kinda way + of course his outfit and his moveset. Shelton was closer to a default create a wrestler in that kinda regard. + Shelton didn't have the benefit of being part of the attitude era. So please stop with the cope and don't state you subjective opinions as a fact
Shelton Should've Definitely Been A Champion But To Say Jeff Had No Charisma Is Crazy. Man Was Jumping Off Scaffolds
FD, my 55 year old bus driver in North Carolina listens to your videos like a podcast while he drives the bus. He plays it over the speaker system so we can all listen, lol. Just thought you should know
Best bus driver ever 😂
Do you think FD thinking to himself, "damn, how's this gonna sound on the bus though?" while recording now? 😂
I'm 43 in Selma NC, that's a cool bus driver lol
Absolutely badass busman ❤❤❤
@@autoimmunedefficiencysyndrome 50/50 chance
“I enjoy destroying lives” was absolutely insane when I first heard it. Then 20 years later, I learned that he wasn’t acting. He really did enjoy destroying lives.
The phrase "when someone tells you who they are, believe them" springs to mind. I never really thought Vince was playing a character. It came too easily to him.
@@ThatElfTorunn You can see him discovering "the character" when he went to Memphis. On the one hand, it's cool to see someone learning to present this version of themselves. On the other hand, yeah, you can see the sheer joy in him in letting loose that malice and not having to pretend.
Vince doesn't understand the meaning of kayfabe.
Whose life did he destroy? He's helped more people in his lifetime than you and others will do in ten lifetimes.
@@deepblue8143 Owen Hart and Chris Benoit come to mind
Fun fact, Scooby Doo (2002) only had literally only ONE black guy in the whole run time. He was a voodoo guy lmao.
Dam right
More than one would have been too spooky
thats crazy i never thought of the black representation in scooby doo 😭
The Harlem Globetrotters?
@@calbaccus I think he's talking about the live action movie with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Matthew Lillard.
I can't believe a writer Wrote the nappy hair line, and then let him win. That's crazy
"one part athlete, one part stuntman, and one part actor" I never thought about it that way before.
Oh shit, this gonna be good.
There are more theater kids in in Indy wrestling nowadays than people who could be considered "athletes"
How did you think about it?
That’s what I appreciate about the sports entertainment aspect of professional wrestling. Logan Paul thrives off of this aspect, as you can learn the bumps and moves on the fly
@@Loch1210 I'm gonna be completely honest. For most of my life I thought of wrestling as crap, at least the wrestling were talking about here. Mostly because my dad would watch it when I was a kid and I swear it was the only thing he ever seemed happy about.
Fiq is who opened my mind up about it. He's piqued my interest, but I still never fully understood it. Prolly still won't (fully) after this video but I'll understand it at least understand it better than I once did.
Kamala is my grandfather. He was an 8th grade dropout raised by a single mother of 4 that got in trouble a lot as a teen in a very small town in Mississippi. He eventually straightened up and started driving trucks in his 20s and got married. Memphis wrestling became a thing and he kept being told he should try it since he was so tall and large. Jerry Lawler kept coming up with gimmicks until he came up with the Ugandan Giant one. He had to pay for his own travel, lodging, and food. Manager given to him by the wwf was getting huge cut. The other wrestlers like the Ultimate Warrior and etc had everything paid for. The money he was making seemed like a lot because he was from Mississippi but he was getting ripped off. He said they were told that losing a match paid more money. The other wrestlers kept telling him the money was funny and he should say something to Vince. By the time he said something to Vince, Vince smiled and told him he could leave whenever he wanted if he was unhappy. His generation of wrestling was over by then. Chris Hedges spoke about this years ago saying wrestling was another caricature of America. Blonde haired blue eyed white guys defeating giants, savages, and foreigners.
Thanks for the story! Vince really is a carnie.
Kamala was always one of my Favorites.
I remember him as Sugar Bear Harris before his Kamala gimmick. He seemed like a really good man in real life.
Kamala was responsible for a lot of butts in seats its so unfair that he didnt benefit from the money he made wwe
Cornettes needs to listen to Hedges view on wrestling
Honestly wasn't expecting this to be my top 3 F.D Signifer video. The build up starting from the history of wrestling to Kofi Kingston's story had me shedding tears. Brought up memories of watching wrestling with my auntie. Great video essay F.D.
Tell Owen Hart's wife how "fake" wrestling is...
@stephen9302 He died performing a ridiculously dangerous, STAGED entrance into the ring. I think Owen's wife knows he was in a scripted, sports entertainment industry that has wrestlers perform dangerous acts for the fans thrills. It's a shame how he died, many in the industry say it was unnecessary.
This was an extremely dope video. Didnt even feel like an hour man. It just breezed by. I had no idea of all this wrestlin history man.
It legit pisses me off that they had the strongest man in the world and relegated him to a shitty name and being in a relationship with a 70+ year old women. His Hall of Pain run was phenomenal
lol it’s cus he wasn’t good at the time let’s be real it took Henry a bit to find himself in pro wrestling
@@ShadowCloutJutsuHis Hall of Pain run only came about because Vince was effing with him.
And he got that run after the backlash when fans found out that Micheal P Hayes told Henry he wasn't good enough to become champ even if it was his honest opinion at the time but it backfired thankfully we finally got to see Henry cut loose
“So let’s talk a little bit about Vince McMohan” has to be the most loaded thing ever said on UA-cam.
Literally one of the most evil people. But he definitely knew how to make a wrestler and a good show.
Like he's fucked up but without I just honestly don't see wrestling getting to the level it is today @@doejersey
As long as that wrestler has a steroid build that he can drool over.
@@fromoakandrowan2794 "You want your 5 star matches? Your 30 min classics? Not me! I WANT BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT"
@@Firebertunironically, he ‘hated’ Kane, so.. somewhat…
This was sooo good!! As a 35 year old ‘black’ woman, I know NOTHING about wrestling, and never truly cared but I REALLY love Wale and was on the fence of going to Walemania here in Philly next week. I bit the bullet and bought my ticket and was simply hoping for the best but you truly helped me to understand the allure of wrestling!! I’m so excited to go to the event now & I won’t be completely lost or confused with all of the fanfare about Wrestlemania. THANK YOU & Great Job!!! This was so well done 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Sensational storytelling. Sometimes you find a gem. Hopefully WWE allows the story you shared to remain on YT. GREAT JOB🤘
I second that 👍👍
It's so hard to explain how epic Kofimania was and how much it was needed for long time minority fans. As a latino, Eddie Guerrero beating Lesnar was that moment for me. I was overjoyed for Black fans that got to see Kofi's rise to the title.
I was so happy to see this in person. It was my very first Wrestlemania and just close enough to Canada. I went on a whim cause it was always a bucket list item for me, and I was so glad it was this one. Being in that audience was otherworldly when Kofi finally got his win.
and it was so incredible seeing Brock end it in 5 seconds. the difference between a real main event star and a forced one
Th fans wanted that belt and him and he deserved to be world champion he paid his dues and earned it.@@BabyMaharaja0
@@BabyMaharaja0he’s not though
@@BabyMaharaja0yeah, Kofi was able to put on a hell of a show, whereas Brock is just a big guy
I never got into WWE despite being a wrestler but a lot of what Unc dives into here can be applied to the experience of "wrestling while Black". I'll extend it to any sport but there's something special about grappling sports as it's so tactile, intimate and also dyadic. what ought be group therapy for my teammates and I often ended up being an afro atrocity exhibition that they got to explore at my expense.
Social spaces surrounding wrestling as a sport just have never seemed healthy, and I really think it's because a lot of wrestlers use the violence inherent to the sport to avoid any discomfort they may feel regarding how intimate the sport is.
@@mars7304big agree- all of my wrestling friends and I fall into the category of “you wouldn’t know by looking at us”. As a girl people were always surprised I liked wrestling, and if they were also into it they were heavily skeptical of my boba fides (all girls are fake fans, we know this! 😂). I feel like this is true of so much nerdy fandom though, right? Star Wars fans are literally everyone, but the super fans- toxic AF. Way to try to gatekeep the monoculture!
@@kilgore_trout_37 The hell is monoculture?
@@kilgore_trout_37 I'm a little confused. I meant wrestling as Foreign meant it. The Greco-Roman style singlet-wearing no-homo contest of a sport.
The one in the Olympics.
@@kilgore_trout_37foreign was talking about the actual award
This is by far my favorite video you’ve done. I’ve had a complicated relationship with pro wrestling my entire life. Been a fan since 1986 when my cousin got me in to it. Would go to the WWF house shows at Selland Arena in my home town of Fresno California and hang out after trying to get autographs or even shoutouts from the guys as they left. Used to meet a few guys when I’d go hang at my godmother’s newspaper stand at the hotel across the street where they stayed. So as much as I loved all of it, it was rough seeing caricatures like Slick and Rocky King (NWA jobber with an Afro) and Tony Atlas repackaged as Saba Simba and Koko B Ware having to sing everything. And worse, guys like Jesse Ventura saying racist stuff like “he’s shuckin and jivin” describing Black wrestlers. So the detail of this…much appreciated. Because the way those folks reacted to Kofi, that’s how 13 year old me was for Ron Simmons. The top spot is recognition. To get that, it means you have to be seen three dimensionally. And far too often, Black representation was stereotypical, superficial and cynical. It’s nice to see that’s slowly changing.
Most enjoyable episode yet! My favorite subjects all rolled into one episode! Keep up the great work FD!
In Rock’s book, he spoke about not wanting to be typecast as an “angry black man” while in The Nation. He said he took his father’s advice about not talking “jive” or becoming a stereotype so he didn’t marginalize himself.
However, Rock embraced black culture because his gimmick was based on Deion Sanders & his fashion choices echoed Puffy, Biggie, Tupac & Suge with the Versace shirts, sunglasses & gold chains. Rock even used a cover instrumental of Biggie’s “Hypnotize” as his entrance theme in 1998.
Personally, Rock lived with Mark Henry early in his career & bought his house around the corner from D’Lo. He also only traveled with Mark Henry, D’Lo & The Dudleys because they weren’t into drugs. Rock never even traveled with his Samoan relatives that were on the roster.
This!!!!❤
Rock never embraced black culture. To this day he reps his Pacific Island roots almost exclusively and that's fine. Lets not rewrite history. Versace shirts and gold chains isnt black culture.
@@AJ-lq3jz that’s not true. When he came to the main roster he was traveling with Mark Henry (who he was already living with) and Brian Christopher joined them when he came up to the main roster. The only relative he had on the road in 1997 was Rikishi (aka The Sultan) who traveled with Undertaker & The Godwinns (BSK). Rock is the one who got Mark Henry put into The Nation an entire year afterwards due to their friendship .
No let’s be real here the Rock did not want to be seen as a Black wrestler and he said it on his Insta live when he was talking about Owen being in the Nation. He didn’t have to schuck and jive, that’s not the ONLY thing Black people are good for WTF that in itself just FURTHER proves how and why he tried to alienate himself from being seen as a Black wrestler. It’s why he has ALWAYS carried himself as a Samoan wrestler and ONLY brought up being Black when his father was mentioned. But they ALWAYS put more emphasis on him being Peter Maivia’s grandson.
Just look how Samoans are treated. Way better than the Black talent, second only to the White talent. What’s funny is they mostly ALL put on Black man personas aside from Umaga and Roman to get over while The Usos, Rikishi, Rock, kinda Solo. Rosie and Jamal. Like come on…they use Samoans to be their Black culture even though they have actual Black people on the roster. The only Black wrestler Vince ever really liked was Bobby Lashley and he’s one out of HOW MANY?
Prime example, the Rock said on his live he put Owen in the Nation because he didn’t want it to be all Black people and didn’t want their angle to be about being Black but it was the WHOLE POINT of the Nation. HE just didn’t want to be boxed in. But anytime a Black celebrity came on the show back then the Rock was the one affiliating with them in some way. He was sure to make us all remember he was Black THEN when he wanted to social climb in those “urban” spaces.
He had NO issue ever being called a Samoan wrestler. He never tried to detract from that EVER. Don’t let the fact that he BASED his character off a Black man confuse you. Only being Black when it’s convenient for him isn’t helping his case. Look at him now that he’s more himself in wrestling. He’s NOTHING like how he used to be, not even HALF as good. He basically had to put on Blackface to get where he’s at. Smfh.
@@Yvanehtnioj2000 Exactly, typecasting wasn't the issue, it was the race that was. He knew being seen as black in wrestling would stiffle his career. Truly weapponized his proximity to blackness
Kofimania running into Brock, just the most deflating thing.
Especially now knowing for sure that Brock was a POS. The stories were there in the past but the most recent one serves as concrete confirmation
Brock, vinces personal ubermensch
Literally two days later was THAT Hell in a Cell match between Seth and The Fiend. It nearly killed both their careers
Combined that with AEW Dynamite's debut beating NXT that week and WWE 2k20's release. WWE couldn't stop taking Ls in 2019
Also, remember that happened on the debut episode of smackdown on Fox.
This was a really fantastic video and I'm glad you spent the time and effort to put it together.
I'm disappointed this isn't getting more love. This is one of my favorite videos you've done in a long time, and I'm a longtime fan.
Vince McMahon doesn't play a character. He was playing a character up until the steroid allegations and the Attitude Era. Vince plays himself.
You sir are correct
He’s been himself since the Montreal screw job at the 1997 Survivor Series
@@dumisatonyjohnson8145 yep in fact they themselves mention McMahon started to be himself as the villain after the screw job on the "9 lives of Vince McMahon" documentary by vice TV.
He is a rerepublican.
“I love mankind, but I find to my amazement that the more I love mankind as a whole, the less I love man in particular.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the Brothers Karamazov, talking about Vince McMahon and all the other exploitative owners, probably.
IDC how you feel about it but Durag Vince was hilarious 🤣.It seemed like he was being his true self then.Michael Jai White said it best in that you can't hide from the camera.
The most devastating part of Booker T’s loss to Triple H was how weak it made him look. The breadth of time between HHH hitting the pedigree and covering him for the pin lasted an eternity. It may as well have been a squash match. It wasn’t just damaging to Booker’s image, it was disrespectful.
Totally unnecessary for storytelling and totally spiteful anti-WCW nonsense on top of implying the racist is correct. A shameful chapter.
Wrestling legend Sting said he didn't go to WWE because he saw how badly they disrespected Booker T and called it "disgraceful treatment of a megastar."
Agreed, losing wasn't so bad. It's the idea that Booker was so weak, he couldn't kick out after almost 20 seconds before a pinfall happened.
It was just HHH being spiteful.
That kind of thing is why stevie ray didn't go
To this day I don’t rock w/ Triple H bc of this
I’m 21 years old right now and I grew up through the PG era. When I was younger I actually used to say I wanna be the first black WWE champion ever. Kofi was somebody I lived vicariously through for years whenever I watched wrestling, and when he won the title, I genuinely immediately cried because I didn’t actually think it was going to happen. This video really made me feel seen like as a black man
How? how can another video essay on this hell site make me cry like Im 6 years old jumping on the couch watching wrestling with my dad. Dammit man... I swear I'll learn better than to click on these videos at work.
"To non-wrestling fans, this seems silly." Nah. I don't give a single solitary shit about wrestling, but listening to you tell Kofi's story of triumph after so many setbacks has me crying. What an incredible story.
fr this vdeo just completely change my opinion about wrestling and helped me understand why so many people love it
i know this video is about more than wrestling but another good well produced intro into why people like it is found in EmpLemon’s video on Monday Night Raw. It’s really just theatre (not to detract from FD’s point of the video though)
right there with you
Tbh I thought it was a bit disingenuous. Trying to portray what Randy did as racist when in reality REAL wrestling fans know Orton has always had a terrible temper and played in role in several people being fired including Mr Kennedy who was a white man with blonde hair. Meanwhile, he downplayed what Triple H and Michaels did to The Rock (trying to get him fired) as “backstage antics” and claimed the Triple H and Booker storyline had “racist undertones” as though it wasn’t plain, in your face racism. I’m sensing heavy favouritism towards certain white wrestlers.
It was a rip off copy and paste from Bryans story. Nothinf special
This is such a great video, well spoken, well researched and very informative / entertaining, awesome work FD 👏🏽
This recap and conversation gave me the same chills I felt watching the matches. You had me tearing up...
55:10 Not only did Booker lose, it takes a full 15 seconds for him to get covered and he just takes the pin. 15 seconds is a lifetime in matches like that, and it just shows the level of callous disregard the company had for Booker. WWE was openly hostile to WCW talent after the buyout and merger, due to Vince's aforementioned petty bullshit. That and the Kofi/Brock squash will always leave a bad taste in my mouth that no amount of Sasha/Bianca main events (a moment that legitimately makes me cry to this very day) will ever wash out.
It's stuff like that that gives me pleasure watching their downfall. Yeah I'm being just as petty as them.
@@blackjack23ablethey ain’t going down anytime soon but aew is
The Booker T thing stopped me from consistently watching wrestling ever again.
@@mike04574 But AEW....
- Cult of Mcmahon Worshipper
I remember undertaker beating the shit out of DDP. DDP didn’t even get to touch Taker. It was insane
"They wanted to see the American Hero wrestle a cow... that's how it worked."
-F.D Signifier 3/22/2024
I laughed hard at that line.
They had Jesse Owens out there racing horses.
....Kofi Kingston wasn't a "Foundational Black American (FBA),so that doesn't count...
A little surprised by no mention of Mark Henry's world heavyweight title, and the 'destroyer' archetype they gave to both him, and Karma within a few years
Absolutely loved the video anyway, amazing storytelling, great job
Kharma was such a "blink and you'll miss it" WWE run due to issues in her personal life at the time, sadly. She deserves more flowers - as Awesome Kong in TNA she was one of the key players in the revival of US women's wrestling!
I know he was not nearly as big in the WWF/E, but I think you are missing a massive figure in terms of black babyface wrestlers by omitting Junkyard Dog. Junkyard was MASSIVELY over in Mid-South in the late 70s and 80s. I think Mid-South deserves a mention for having a number of black babyfaces and heels that got to the top of the region. Because it started, and always was majorly a part of, places like Louisiana and Mississippi and parts of the South that were pre-dominantly African American Bill Watts would allow pushes for a number of black and hispanic wrestlers. Now Cowboy Bill Watts was not a progressive guy by any stretch, but he wanted to get asses in seats and that meant appeal to your audience. I think it's a crime to leave out JYD in the discussion of black wrestlers though.
Bianca vs Sasha was one of the few times I ever teared up watching wrestling; and I didn’t even care about the match leading up to the event because it felt like WWE trying to check off another “first” but when match started, and the ladies started crying during the opening stare down, it hit me. Even if it was a calculated decision from a billion dollar cooperation that doesn’t change the fact that this was something that would’ve never happened a decade ago and for the first time black boys and girls got to see themselves in the main event of the biggest show in the business.
It helps that the match itself was really good. Bianca especially looked like a million bucks out there.
@@SpiteHook09 Yeah the current womens division is leagues above what it used to be when I was a kid.
I don't watch wrestling but UA-cam showed me the clip you're talking about and even I cried haha
Another thing that made this feel important is the sheer bond that those two seemed to share. Sasha being the often overlooked vet and Bianca being the talented, yet inexperienced and anxious challenger.
@@fjr4205Pretty sure the full match is available on the WWE's channel
As a Black man (South African), I stopped watching wrestling over a decade ago for the same reasons you stated. But when I caught wind of Kofi's match with Daniel Brian I was glued to my TV screen, watching every second of it. Because of the dread that loomed over me the entire match, I managed to convince myself that I was only watching because I had nothing better to do than watch the WWE give me false hope only to dash it away at the last second. Let me tell you the way I screamed when Kofi won that match. I was high on life the whole week, you couldn't tell me nothing. All for this sporting event I hadn't cared about in so long.
I never went back to watching the WWE even after that. I just always wanted that moment to be the last thing I remembered about this company that had let me down so many times.
Thanks for this great video.
RACIST
One day recently, hearing updates on Big E's neck injury caused me to be in a funk all day. The New Day are brilliant performers and have positively touched so many people. You chose a great time to get out, seeing a man who deserved it get a prize he earned.
@@darrengordon-hillfor wanting Black wrestlers who kicked ass to be acknowledged?
@@darrengordon-hillbro what
There's so much i want to say about this video. The way this hits every mark so seamlessly is just perfect. FD you are one of the best and most concise essayists and storytellers on this entire platform. Hearing your perspective only to have me once again remember that Sasha and Bianca fight legitimately made me cry, your words have so much power, and the experience of what it means to have your wins in such a struggle, although i may not relate to it i definitely empathize and its only because of people like you with such profound meaning behind every word thay I have the privilege of learning and growing. So thank you and never let ANYONE shut you down, I will always be in your corner as long as you always stay being the great and sincere man i feel i know you as.
Man, this was an incredible piece of work. Thank you so much.
Something that I really appreciate about your content is that for long-form video essays, you are relatively concise. I've seen a lot of video essays recently that have about 20-30 minutes of actual content stretched out to 3-4 hours. This is a long video, but it's paced well and deserves that length
Seriously an epidemic of this lately, and also video essays that turn out to not be essays at all, just a meandering re-reading of a timeline without any point or thesis. I’ve started so many of these that you gotta get halfway through before it’s like- oh, this isn’t going anywhere, we’re just having a chat I guess?
People really yappin’ and saying nothing on this platform. FD saving my sanity.
Agree!
Probably comes from his curriculum admin experience
I find that I'm getting to like 8 minutes with more and more videos and I'm like, "you've said that three times now and haven't gone anywhere else, I know where this is going"
Bro, had me mid sip "SHUT THE F#@K UP!" Not gonna lie. I lost my drink.
I hollered. That was completely unexpected and absolutely appropriate. 😂😂
shit scared tf outta me 😭 i thought i was gonna chill for an hour 😂
It was friggin brilliant!!🤣🤣🤣
Yeah, that was pretty startling and incredible.
Would you happen to have the timestamp of the "stfu" moment?
1:11:00 "I know, to non-wrestling fans, this seems silly," he says while I, someone who doesn't follow wrestling, have tears streaming down my face at the *energy* and *joy* of Kofi's success. It's a testament to the medium, to the fans, to the wrestlers, and to *you* how well-constructed all of this is. I didn't choose to cry, and if I was given an active choice I probably wouldn't have, but the sheer emotion, the tension bubbling and threatening to boil over.. it's incredible.
If someone can come away from even only watching that section and still think it's all silly nonsense, we live on completely different planets.
This was so well done. Really appreciate this and totally agree
Bro trying to break the record for most thumbnail changes.
Almost changed as many times as Big Show turned from face to heel and vice versa.
The 16 time thumbnail changer
pretty sure he changed the title at least once too.
It's so when it pops up in your recommendations you think it's a different video that you weren't interested in before. I added it to my watch later yesterday and today it has different title and thumbnail. I don't even watch wwe videos so idk why they even recommended it to me
👉🏽🥸
I’m a 40 yr old, black, straight woman who grew up on wrestling. I remember writing letters to an injured hulk Hogan when I was a kid and was inconsolable after Owen Hart.
I stopped watching by the time The Rock transitioned into Hollywood and the Attitude Era ended. But I was a fully involved fan- went to matches at the LA Forum, posters on my wall (even got one framed 🙃), fabulous moolah and all. 💅🏾
All this to say, IVE NEVER watched one second of Kofi and never knew he existed. However, legit tears fell down my face when I watched your clip of him winning the championship, but also while not being a stereotype or heel.
It’s crazy how representation is so powerful. Wonderful job, hun. BRAVO. 🙌🏾
A black person being a fan of hulk hogan is crazy
@@Tito-ze4hw chill out, I was literally like 7. 😂
What’s really crazy is I thought Hulk was light-skinned until I was 8, after my letter writing campaign 😂,… cuz he said ‘brother’ and I didn’t understand what tanning was. 🥴
I’ve never said this in public… please be gentle 🫣
@@dta1329 lmao that's wild but adorable
@@dta1329You cut out right before one of The Rock shortest and arguably best run(Hollywood). I stayed with it a little longer(like I remember a brand new Kofi Kingston). Wrestling was my favorite thing to watch for half my life.
Glad you got to experience the Kofi story it's pretty incredible. I also stopped watching for a long time around then (I think a lot of folks did.) Also since you mentioned Owen, I'm from Calgary and was lucky enough to meet him and Brett back in the 90s when they came to a Cub Scouts event thing I was at and Owen might have been the nicest and most approachable person I ever met. I'm still kind of in disbelief about what happened to him.
Enjoyed this very much, king!! It's been a long time since I watched an hour long video that's this intriguing and informative.
Time to watch FD give me another crisis
@@CollectCarsNotRingsI honestly think that’s a disingenuous reading of their content, they’re just critical of things even the things they like. Hence why FD made a video praising canibus while also being critical of certain things he did. Being critical and being positive or speaking positively aren’t necessarily seperate.
@CollectCarsNotRings 😂😅😂
Hilarious.
The subtle nuances of your sarcastic sense of humor may be lost on the internet.
ikr...im kinda sad now
I’m a 17 years and counting wrestling fan and yeah man the industry can fucking SUCK sometimes. It gets to fly under the radar bc people give all the vitriol to Hollywood and the music industry (deservedly so btw) but pro wrestling can be just as bad
@@CollectCarsNotRings this gotta be bait
I like video essays about wrestling so much more than real wrestling.
Reminds me of that south park EP. People literally didn't care if it was fake it was about the acting soap opera. Then when a real wrestler complains that make fun of him cuz real wrestling looks gay AF.
lol... is it that bad these days to you or you just kind of grew away from it?
U sound as me
@reggiejames8626 eye grew away
Watch better wrestling. I promise there is great stuff out there
I can’t get over how good your longform video essays are, just how rich and authentic and factual, and yet emotional content is. I was watching while I’m out doing gig work today and literally, and only as a shade tree wrestling fan, started crying when the part of the video where Kofi won the belt was finally here. Just incredible stuff, I really don’t think there’s anybody out there doing what you’re doing with such an academic and yet street wise background and deconstruction breakdown. I’m gonna go buy a nebula subscription today just because of how much I enjoy the content you’re putting out, and I’m sure there’s other good stuff out there, but just how cerebral and yet how real to life your stuff is, is a breath of fresh air
The description of the big match in this video was so well done. This isnt a topic ive cared about before or ever seen or know much about, but i cried and was shocked as though i was there.
Absolutely amazing work
PSA: This might be the first time me and FD disagree on anything publicly lol. So don't y'all go starting no drama when when my jawn drop. It is NOT a response video lol
Appreciate the heads up, but we all know anyone who *needed* to be told this is gonna act an ass anyway
You right@@Fooactabut just thought I'd do my due diligence anyway🤣
Can’t wait for that to drop
thank god please stand up for me bc i cant get behind this one either
I’m ready to start needless drama over a misunderstanding. Where can I set up the pitchfork booth for the time-honored tradition of mob chaos following the public disagreement of two beloved content creators?
"People like you don't deserve to be World Champion." - HHH
That’s honestly the worst case since that was pretty damn recent and triple h had no business winning that.
Also wanted to quickly add that unlike the blatant exploitation of ppl like vigil or the more subtle history behind brock and kofi. This was uncomfortably pretty real with the insults and reality of the situation in the storyline. Brought up crime, the entertainment stereotype and everything. And after overcoming the odds. Triple h made it seem like everything said was right in a structural level.
This is the worst one for me for those reasons. The others are either too subtle or blatant for it not to reach that sweet spot of uncanny discrimination and it’s effects in real life. Systemically and in the story. Booker was not meant to win which sucks.
I’ll never forgive him for this
I love hate HHH for that cuz let's be honest without his affairs with Stephanie...i highly doubt he would have been relevant.
@@wrestlinganime4life288 That's pretty much a lie.
never forget
Great video! Never got into watching wrestling but I really enjoyed listening to you analyzing it, sharing your perspective, & experience as a fan
Honestly the best YT video ive seen in a while. It was super well put and thought of. Im a new fan a of wrestling so I did come in with some background info, but I still learned a lot. Specially about the significance kofimania had on black fans when it aired. 10/10 would love to see more videos on wrestling!
Mike Jones, the wrestler known as Virgil for much of his career, passed away in February of 2024 after suffering two strokes and being diagnosed with cancer. He retired from wrestling in 2000 but stayed fairly active in the scene for the rest of his life, including a brief return with DiBiase Jr in 2010. According to WWE he had a math degree from UVA and became a high school math teacher after retiring from wrestling, so he probably wasn’t a Republican. Apparently nobody knew his real age and people thought he was a decade younger than he really was (he was 72).
Dude lived the kayfabe, even after dying.
Rip 🙏
FD acting like we wouldn't watch 4 hour video essay by him is so funny
😂😂😂😂 I would gladly watch 4 hours
Bruh! This was an excellent analysis! Sharing it now.
Vince McMahon being grimey is like finding out Santa Clause ain't real all over again🤣
I love your videos! I have been watching your content for a few years now, and you really know what you're doing. The way you articulate your points and back-them-up with research is such a reprieve from what I usually see in the zeitgeist of bologna that is the Internet. I grew-up watching 'W.W.E.: Smackdown v. Raw', playing the games, and watching a few character films, and watching W.W.F., and this gave me a lot of knowledge I didn't have and just as much affirmation of that of which I was already aware. I always look forward to hearing what you have to say.
My dad used to wrestle under the moniker “Sargent Lewis” with Memphis wrestling and my mom used to tell me about how they would always cheat him out his money
I hope that someday, your dad finally gets what he is owed and so much more. I hope you and your family are doing wonderfully.
Carnie bullshit!
Yeah I heard Jerry Lawler was horrible to his wrestlers when he ran Memphis
Everybody got cheated.
@@ibn1989 I might be biased but I always thought of Lawler as like...the opposite of Stu Hart. I might be indoctrinated since I'm from Calgary but every Stu Hart story I've ever heard was about how he seemed kind of stoic and evil but gave everyone a fair shake and paid people well whereas Lawler seemed super approachable and charismatic and is/was an actual cheapskate and a legit monster.
It’s crazy because I never hated Booker T lol, even as a heel, my friends and I loved him after he switched to WWE. Mind you, I’m Hispanic and most of my friends were Black and Hispanic. He was awesome in Harlem Heat and exploded after. I remember him and Eddie Guerrero being in these really special places for us.
I’ve fallen off of wrestling for years, I’m just kinda passed it. But I still get little updates here and there. And I gotta tell you, I’m watching with tears in my eyes watching Kofi win the belt. It’s a truly special moment and something that only wrestling can produce because it’s theater. Because you buy into it, knowing that it’s a show.
That said, Brock Lesnar ain’t shit when it comes to wrestling.
Everybody loved Booker T. Those matches with Benoit were epic and that's why everybody loved him.
Kurt Angie whooped his ass for real anyway.. fuckem, he ran from UFC also, rampage Jackson would have whooped his ass
Booker t when I never knew who he was, appeared in WWE, and It was clear that he was one of best wrestlers in the company, when they stopped treating him like a WCW reject
damn uncle you have 2 videos now in my list of favorites for this year ngl i was shedding a tear
This was the most interesting topic in a while. This was a really cool video. I especially liked the history part in the first half.
Fr. Brought back some memories. Also made me realize I can't believe how into this I used to be.
I had stopped watching WWE in mid 2018, Kofi Kingston was one my childhood favorites so when i heard about his Mania push i started watching them again. Seeing him drop the belt to Brock (especially with everything we know now through Ms Grant’s lawsuit) fills me with a rage i can’t quantify
And yet (or at least in my case), we can't stop watching
BIG BLACK DIGGS!
Ok, Im with you. Didnt deserve the squash that he got from Brock. However, at that time, when Kofi had the belt. It didnt feel like the championship was the main event. His run was similar to hangman's reign in aew. Their peaks were winning the belt, their reigns were lackluster and by the end of it they were seen as mid carders again. They were never main event talent and thats fine.
@@iThinkMyNamesBenH Kofi was absolutely main card talent. His rematch against Daniel Bryan was the only match I watched that entire year. Or did you forget that Kofi reached headline status a decade before up until Randy Orton literally went to management and got him demoted.
Brock Lesnar has been considered overrated since Wrestlemania 30 for breaking the Streak and fighting Bill Goldberg
I was supposed to start my wrestling training almost 10 years ago at Reality of Wrestling (Booker T's promotion) but my health took a dive again. 10 years later, this fall I will finally enroll. It's been one of my dreams since I was a little girl to wrestle!!! Love the content! Keep it up!
Good luck. RoW is one of the best gateways to NXT. I hope you succeed.
@@thatoneguy9473 Thank you so much!!!
Good luck
I started training at JPWA about 2 years ago. That's Kane and Dr. Tom Prichards school. I ended up breaking my collarbone during training. I haven't been back since I healed. But I definitely want to give it another try.
@@aye_its_karate6169 Omg I'm so sorry about that! Give it another go!!!
I'm not a wrestling fan, but just from seeing your recap Kofi's story you had me so invested in it. I get it. I barely knew about most of these people an hour ago and I was still going to be mad if that match had had a bullshit ending.
This video is amazing, thank you for informing me of a side of wrestling I regret I never thought of. It really opened my eyes and this deserves millions of views
Oh god that fucking thumbnail. This is gonna be a wild ride.
Aaaaaand he already changed it.
Keep surfing that crazy algorithm.
What was it originally @@andrewklang809
which one, he's got 20 of them
Meaning @@nickjohansen9038
11:54 "The first black actor to ever win an Oscar was Sidney Portier for a movie called Lillies of the Field" no, he was the first to win an Oscar for leading role, the first Black actor to ever win an Oscar was Hattie McDaniel for supporting role in Gone with the wind in 1939.
she’s an actress, sidney is an actor. he stated what he said correctly
Also, I assumed he meant Best Actor
@TR-tt1fq the word actress has been obsolete for a fair few years now, they generally just use actor or female actor for women in the field now.
@@user-jb1mb5xh9t if it was obsolete, then the oscar categories would include both sexes instead of their respective categories…
@@TR-tt1fq funnily enough, I don't base my knowledge on whether or not the oscars do it.
This was very well done. Outstanding work on this.
This video gave me shivers and even made me teary-eyed. This was such a passionate and insightful look at the topic, and your storytelling was so effective. (And I'm someone who, while I enjoy wrestling when i watch it, I haven't watched much of it so I came in without most of the context or investment in the topic). This video will definitely stick with me!
As a black woman that is a WWE fan this was an awesome video!!! 💯
I still remember when I first saw Bianca on the Mae Young Classic. Green, naturally, but I was rubbing my hands together thinking, “She has it! Give her the same time and grace given to other girls (blondes) and she will run this!”
She is legit their woman Cena…which I don’t like completely, because she’s also an amazing heel.
Nice...I'm impressed.
What do you think of Jade? Same, black woman WWE fan and none of my girls give a shit so asking that question to them would go over their heads lol
@@KA-ys5ps Now, that she’s getting actual training, soooo much potential. They’re setting up this 6-woman tag, so she can get all of her good spots in without getting exposed too soon.
PS: Do you watch NXT? Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson are on the come up. Real quick about the men: HBK and JB are doing everything right with Trick, Melo, and Oba.
As a Puertorican who grew up idolizing wrestlers and loving wrestling and one being just a few years older than you, it's weird how the dynamics worked differently between the island and the mainland.
The longest reigning World Champion in Puerto Rico's most important wrestling organization (World Wrestling Council) was Carlos "Carlito" Colón, father to WWE's Carlito Colón.
He's what in Puerto Rico we affectionately call a "Mulato", a dark skinned Puertorican and he battled a lot of the 80's WWF wrestlers who would make their way to Puerto Rico like Kamala, Abdullah The Butcher and many other African American wrestlers.
These international wrestlers, from some of the interviews they have done as well as the Puertorican wrestlers and promoters, said they enjoyed coming to the island because they weren't discriminated against and many of them won the belts and battled for years for the top promotional spots.
I still recall the Colón/Abdullah match like it happened yesterday and I gotta say, to this day one of the absolute best rivalries I can remember.
Always enjoy your content. Amazing to see the growth of the channel.
Awesome video! Many great points made, many moments I watched live remembered. I subscribed like a week ago after the industry plant video, another banger! Thanks for the content 😇
The whole part of my Kofi Kingston made me tear up. Great job! Thank you for this video! 🙏🏽
I'm surprised at no mention of Junkyard Dog. He was the only black wrestler I even knew in the 80s as a kid. He was in the cartoon and had toys and everything.
This is very much a millennial pov
Yeah JYD was a glaring omission but there's a Dark Side of the Ring that covers him pretty well.
Maybe he didn't see JYD growing up
@@eldraenpharr8222 He also missed Coco B Ware
Yeah, JYD seemed like an obvious mention.
When New Day came in to fight for Kofi's chance??? And then the Usos forfeit in solidarity???? I've never watched a wrestling match and I teared up just listening to that story arc, the plot and the way you describe it just tugged my heartstrings. That plot wouldn't feel out of place in a battle anime tournament arc.
Good video!!
Watched this entire video. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Great work
Bro every time I search up this video it always takes me a while cuz of the multiple different thumbnails😭😭😭
Loved the vid tho, keep it up bro🙏🏽
The Usos and new day storyline made me cry. They were incredible rivals who bled together and the Usos could have used all that rivalry to destroy them but instead they thought what they were having to go through was wrong. So they gave up their spot and took punishment for it if I remember right, because of how much respect they had for them and wanted them to have a chance to finally succeed
Fun fact about Virgil: He’s only named that because Dusty’s real name was actually Virgil. It’s yet another intended jab of The American Dream, and with this one, I question its subtext.
Well damn
Was surfing UA-cam and discovered this channel. I like this channel, Mr. Signifier has very interesting topics.
I am late to the party, FD. I saw the thumbnail and the subject "Wrestling" and was like, "Nope, sorry FD. I'm skipping this one," but this video was top tier. Sorry your view counts aren't up to snuff. You are a legend, keep making videos.
Which is why bianca belair is such a fresh of breath air. The company promote her outside wwe constantly while still be being face
a fresh of breath air!! 😂
I have 2 issues with bianca: 1. her character is little ms perfect. she always smiles, she is a tier 1 athlete from a tier 1 college, comes from a good home, says her prayers, eats her vitamins, etc. she is john cena, back when everyone hated john cena, except she gets away with it because she is a black woman. she particularly bores me, and I think I'm not the only one that feels that way, because what's she doing for mania with all the hype behind her? the good news is she looks like she is going heel and hopefully she can pick up some charcter depth she can take with her when she goes back face.
2' now that they have their token black chick, they can continue to shit on the other black women on the roster. so yeah, bianca is on the cover of wwe 2k24 and she has her own reality show, but naomi just got squashed on last week's smackdown, and b-fab cant even get a match on tv. i want black WOMEN to have success in this business, not just a black woman.
Honestly, yeah, she's among my top 3 female wrestlers right now
@@dpo5000 What is wrong with her being a top athlete and coming from a stable household? That's some hater shit to imply she hasn't been through any kind of adversity.
Bianca isn't Cena. Cena was the most white meat babyface that ever babyfaced. Whereas face Bianca is still sassy a lot of the time (like that six-woman promo on RAW before elimination chamber 2024).
Saying she gets away with anything for being a black girl is almost laughable. People online were racially targeting her for simply being on the cover of a VIDEO GAME just 3 weeks ago. She has to deal with scrutiny like that on a daily basis. Cena doesn't.
Your talk about tokenism doesn't make much sense. Naomi/Trinity is actively involved in a storyline at the time of this comment, Jade has been given the star treatment without even having a match, and then you got girls like Lash Legend, Jakara Jackson and Kelani Jordan being regularly featured on NXT.
Bianca didn't get the main event push for being a POC, she got the push for having "it" factor.
@@dpo5000Her back story is real, and she’s more likable.
I'm not a wrestling fan by any means, but the way you described Kofi Kingston's path in his career had me at the edge of my seat. It truly is a great story born from happenstance due to someone being injured, and you did justice to it in the retelling of it.
WWE is being saved by black women today. Bianca, Jade, Sasha, Naomi.
Sasha Banks left WWE over a year ago, she’s with AEW now (and going by Mercedes Moné)
I wouldn’t say saved but they definitely help
Lol😂
Sir, as a 40 year old gas station pizza eating Iowan, I can honestly say you are an amazing storyteller. Phenomenal video, had me gripped the entire time. I stopped watching wwe in the early 2000s, but have been slowly coming back, and you have definitely contributed to that. Wish you and yours all the best
Booker t is one of the most talented in ring performers ive ever seen and was so likeable he deserved the wwe title
I was a diehard Sting fan back when I was a kid. Booker T was the only wrestler to reach up and grab my nasty sticky little 7 year old hand at at a house show and I switched up immediately. Been a fan ever since.
Booker T. was downright amazing, and he had the shoulders of an NFL linebacker, with traps that made all the other wrestlers. He fought looked kind of just fat and under developed. Is finishing move, was one of a kind, and it’s tragic that such a top-notch pro didn’t ever REALLY get his roses when he was at his prime and it was his time.
Thanks for this great video. I will share it and check out nebula thanks bro keep it up🤜🏼🤛🏼
I never thought of Sabu as an "evil foreigner". He was more of a reckless, win-at-all costs daredevil who barely spoke himself. He never pushed a foreign angle at all by my memory.
The Kofi WM build had me a GROWN BLACK MAN crying. IT FELT REAL!!! That crappy Brock loss made me come back to reality!!
Could never get into the new day, as their is a difference between dancing like Too Cold Scorpio and shaking your butt like a unsavory woman.
Believe it or not FD, I work with Slick. He is a substitute teacher at my Elementary School.
Entertaining dude I gotta say.
I would love to sit in on one of his classes
What an incredible narrative! Loved your story telling each and every word!
i let my nebula sub lapse when the curiosity stream collab ended but... y'all really were the point of that duo. I canceled cs once it stopped including nebula and now i gotta go back. Ive been spoiled by y'all getting to just use the damn clips... sub to nebula y'all it's worth it
I am not even black but Latino and I shed tears for Kofi winning. I was a big fan of him from the get go and was totally invested with his story. We stopped watching at the same time but mine because of AEW and refusing to support the evil of VKM any longer after the Saudi deal. Kofi being buried was the last show I watched of theirs in its entirety. Great video because I vividly remember seeing the wrestlers from the late 80s and 90s and not thinking anything of it but as an adult seeing how they had racial undertones. You put this video together fantastically and this is why I love your content.
It's funny I relate to this because I'm Black but felt the same when Eddie won the title and also when Roman won. When Latino's and Samoan's win, it feels like they're representing all minorities somehow.
Booker T losing to HHH was really one of the worst things they ever did
Well done, well researched, absolutely captivating video. Thanks for this!!
Happy to hear that you revisted wrestling and seen that it has gotten better. Still needs some work but man is it getting better.
You know, when you recontextualize wrestling as a long-running soap opera, it makes me think about how much more entertaining the catfight between Joan Collins's Alexis and Linda Evans's Krystle on Dynasty would've been if the two had gotten into a wrestling ring and body slammed each other! 😂
Lmfaoooo 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I've actually been calling it a soap opera in speedos since the early 2000s. It really is just a soap opera for people who like lots of really silly stories and an element of hyper dramatized "danger".
And I don't say any of that disrespectfully. At the time I started calling professional wrestling "As the Ring Turns", I lived in a house full of wrestling hyper fans. The kind of guys who were following all WWE and ECW shows, other hyper local wrestling orgs, and were at a live event somewhere at least once a month. I don't have anything against professional wrestling or its fans, but I can't pretend it isn't, at least in part, just a soap opera for a different crowd.
@@RevShifty
Same with some comic books. Spider-Man is mainly a melodrama with acrobatics and super science. Far too many Spider-Man comic runs and adaptations forget this, but the reason why Spidey has had staying power is because of that element.
@@fluidthought42yes! People don't understand that the "Parker Luck" factor is a real thing were the character is fated to have a shitty love life in exchange extreme luck in beating bad guys.
Bendis does a fantastic job of answering the question what if Peter Parker had a better love life? The Ultimate Spider-Man run sees him gather a larger harem than a Tenchi Muyo Movie!! But the downside is he does not have come back to beat the villian Rizz anymore.
Unfortunately a lot of readers were too busy going nuts over him being placed by Miles Moralez. Which is just dumb because 616 Peter Parker still exists. I guess it's just another case of a black guy not getting a fair swipe at the championship belt 😅
@@arnezbridges93
I mean I wouldn't mind Peter having both a better life _and_ more realistic drama. Frankly, Marvel needs to hire people more suited to writing romance and drama, because as is the writing staff is deathly allergic to writing for Mary Jane Parker.
I just started my pursuit to be a pro wrestler this past November and this video came at the perfect time for me 🙏🏾 you got a subscriber out of me
Good luck! I hope you have good experiences pursuing your passion.
Good luck! I hope you make it!
I hope to see you in AEW one day.
Good luck bro
Where you based out of?
Thank you for this video, definitely made me reflect 🔥
Well this explains how FD and Super Eyepatch Wolf got cool with each other
My father is in the hospital and this is my first day staying home and taking care of my house. Seeing this upload brought me some joy. Thank you FD🙏🏽
Do I know anything about wrestling? No. Will I watch every second to support a fellow creator I highly respect and look up to? 100% ❤❤❤
Seriously. I haven't watched or cared about wrestling in 30+ years. And I'm still going to watch FD talk about it for almost an hour and a half.
Sometimes caring about a creator's work takes effort. But FD will make it all seem worth it and like it was no no big deal.