WWE News: Former WWE Champion Says Donald Trump Is Not Racist
This week, everyone watched as two controversial names were added to the cabinet of President Donald Trump. While many decried the choices of Betsy DeVos for Education Secretary and Jeff Sessions for the attorney general, others asked the public to wait and see. One of the biggest complaints about Sessions is his alleged ties to white supremacist groups, and that increases many people’s fears of President Trump.
Former African American WWE star Bobby Lashley spoke to Sports Illustrated this week about the controversy and said that he doesn’t buy into the notion that President Trump is racist in any way. Lashley, who worked closely with Trump when the president was in a storyline the WWE, said that he never saw racism from the man.
“I worked with him at WrestleMania, so when the media starts throwing all these accusations at him, I can tell you he was not racist.”
Bobby Lashley was part of the “Battle of the Billionaires” storyline where Donald Trump feuded with WWE owner Vince McMahon. The two billionaires each managed a wrestler at WrestleMania that year, and the stipulation was that the manager of the winning wrestler shaved the head of the other man.
Donald Trump chose Bobby Lashley to represent him while McMahon chose the monster Umaga. When Lashley won the match, Donald Trump and Bobby Lashley shaved Vince McMahon bald while Stone Cold Steve Austin held him in place.
According to Bobby Lashley, Donald Trump really helped sell tickets and promote the show by taking on the character of “The Donald,” and he really helped bring a lot of attention to the WWE at the time. Lashley then said that he helped make that one of the biggest WrestleMania events in history, and he can really make a change in the real world as well.
“He’s going to take abuse for the next four years, but when everything gets fixed, then we can elect someone like The Rock, who will make everyone feel good. There is a time for strict and there is a time for leniency, and I don’t think he is a bad person for the job.”
The relationship between Donald Trump and the WWE stretches back over three decades. Long before he managed Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania and shaved Vince McMahon’s head, Trump actually hosted two WrestleMania events. Both WrestleMania IV and WrestleMania V took place at Trump Plaza.
The relationship between Trump and the McMahon family grew from there. Later, when Trump was more of a reality television star than a businessman, he returned to the WWE. There was the Battle of the Billionaires storyline, and there was the infamous storyline where Trump bought the WWE from a financially struggling Vince McMahon.
That led to a battle of power that only lasted a few weeks before the WWE changed course. That storyline also included Trump offering to throw Vince McMahon’s money out to fans of the WWE. It was a funny moment, and Trump later remembered that the fans loved him more than Vince because Trump actually gave them money.
More recently, the WWE inducted Donald Trump into the WWE Hall of Fame. In 2016, the relationship between Trump and the McMahon family continued when Linda McMahon donated $6 million to the Trump super PAC. Trump named Linda McMahon to his cabinet as the Small Business Administration administrator.
While there are many detractors who remain scared of what the country will turn into under President Trump, Bobby Lashley is at least one of the people who wants to wait and see, believing that President Trump has the country’s best interests in mind.
[Featured Image by WWE]
