The Incident
Wrestler James Anthony recently spoke out about a peculiar and unfortunate incident that went down at an independent wrestling event in late November.
Had a guy tonight at a show I was on say he didn’t wanna Wrestle me because I was black and took himself off SMH racist mother f***ers like you have no place in this business
— James Miranda (@87JamesAnthony) November 24, 2019
The incident drew attention from the wrestling community, leading to Anthony granting the Kayfabe Brothers an interview about the events, and wrestler Matt Develine’s refusal to enter the locker room on the evening of their scheduled match.
Promoter Daniel Smith gave the following comment regarding the unfortunate incident.
The only comment or statement I am willing to make is that I was taught as a very small child that we are all one race, and that is the human race. I do not believe in or condone judging someone by the pigment of there skin. I have had the chance personally to wrestle James Anthony once, and I would do it again. James is a very talented, and professional competitor and we are sorry he fell victim to something that should not exist not just in this business but in this day and age we have come further than this.
During the interview with Anthony, he details the incident, Develine’s refusal to speak with him the day of the scheduled match, and Develine allegedly refusing to wrestle him due to his ethnicity.
Recent Racial Remarks In US Wrestling Scene
After Jim Cornette made an ethnically and starvation insensitive joke on a recent episode of NWA Powerrr he would resign his position as a color commentator on National Wrestling Alliance broadcasts. The remarks that cost him his position and NWA’s announcement regarding the severing of ties are below. NWA would release a re-edit the episode of Powerrr without Cornette’s several hours after the initial premier.
Trevor Murdoch is mad, bad, and dangerous to know. He’s the only man I’ve ever known who could strap a bucket of fried chicken on his back and drive a motor scooter across Ethiopia. – Jim Cornette
Effective immediately: Jim Cornette has resigned from the National Wrestling Alliance. As an announcer on the November 19th edition of NWA Power, Jim made remarks during a singles match between Nick Aldis and Trevor Murdoch that were both offensive and do not meet the high standards of decency and good faith of the National Wrestling Alliance.
To ensure that such an error can never happen again, we’ve established new procedures of review for all NWA programming going forward.
We sincerely regret our failure in this regard.
Cornette’s remarks came shortly after he made questionable remarks about Emi Sakura stating she was a ‘fat Margaret Cho’ and comparing All Elite Wrestling ring announcer Justin Roberts’ appearance to that of a pedophile. Despite much attention paid to his comments on Sakura, the remarks play into the ignorant trope of all Asians looking the same. Sakura is of Japanese heritage, while Cho is of Korean background.
Cornette’s scandal came after older audio was released of him using the ‘hard r’ version of the n-word in an extremely negative racial context in the past.
I’m black but I can’t support this guy anymore ICYMI this is (context included) @TheJimCornette dealing with an altercation with Black fans in attendance.Also included,his take on slavery &how it affects white Americans. Also minority privellege is a thing?🤔#WrestlingCommunity pic.twitter.com/U9Om9Vl31o
— Elevate (@stopmestar) November 16, 2019
Recently on AEW Dynamite, announcer Jim Ross made an awkward statement regarding Sakura that left several fans scratching their heads due to its racial aspect.
https://twitter.com/GIFSkull/status/1199864289470734336?s=20
References in wrestling regarding a wrestler’s ethnic background and sexuality are under further scrutiny as society becomes more accepting of differences, yet there are some in the business who have yet to understand or recognize the change in culture.
