WWE has acknowledged the conversation about the underrepresentation of black male talent on their pay-per-view shows, an issue that has been a major talking point online.
The lack of racial diversity, particularly for black Superstars performing at prominent events, has been attracting attention and criticism. It’s been over a year since a black male wrestler claimed a victory at a PPV event.
This matter was discussed on the “Fightful Select Weekly Pod” podcast, where Sean Ross Sapp confirmed WWE’s awareness of the fans’ sentiments. He relayed,
“WWE has been made aware of it. It’s a thing that I don’t think that like came to mind necessarily. I’ve never heard anyone say, ‘Yes this was intentional’ or anything like that. I did hear people saying, ‘Well that’s obviously something that will be addressed now.’ But we’ll see how it’s addressed. It’s more about black male single talent getting featured.”
A victory in a singles match at a WWE main roster pay-per-view hasn’t been seen by a black male talent since Bobby Lashley won over Brock Lesnar by DQ at the 2023 Elimination Chamber.
The most recent record of a black male wrestler securing a match by pinfall/submission on a pay-per-view was Lashley’s triumph against Austin Theory in SummerSlam 2022.
The upcoming WWE Bad Blood 2024 will be the third consecutive pay-per-view without participation from a black male wrestler. The event will be presided over by Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair.
Recently, Swerve Strickland responded to speculation that WWE regards his AEW contract as excessively priced by asserting “They only complain when a Black person gets paid.”