Chris Jericho was back on Monday Night Raw yesterday evening and he had The New Day as his guests on The Highlight Reel. Everyone knew that it was going to be entertaining, but there was one line uttered by Jericho that got social media in an uproar. At one point, the Usos came out and referred to them as the “back of the bus brothers.” Immediately, a lot of people thought he had dropped a racial slur of some kind, but now other WWE superstars are trying to explain.
With The New Day as his featured guests, trash talk started and it brought out the Usos who stood across from the WWE Tag Team Champions as recapped by WWE . It was during this time that Jericho ended up throwing out a term that a lot of people are not familiar with and actually were quite offended by.
As reported by Cageside Seats, Jericho was actually setting upthe next match, which would be between the Usos and The New Day. While doing that, he referred to Jimmy and Jey Uso as his “back of the bus brothers.
Seems innocent enough, but longtime and hardcore wrestling fans know what that phrase means. Others took to social media and immediately began coming down on Jericho for saying what they thought was a racially charged insult of some kind.
It didn’t take long for other WWE superstars to come to Jericho’s defense, and it helped calm matters even more that many of them were African-Americans such as Mark Henry and Darren Young.
#WWE #RAW OK guys.The back of the bus bros comment by @IAmJericho means the guys that drink, play cards an stay up. Up front guys go to bed.
— TheMarkHenry (@TheMarkHenry) January 12, 2016
I’ll consign to that big @TheMarkHenry @IAmJericho
— nodaysoff D-Young (@DarrenYoungWWE) January 12, 2016
They weren’t the only ones to back up Jericho though. Former world champion and current Monday Night Raw announced John Bradshaw Layfield decided to tweet on the matter as well. He wasn’t quite as kind to those who were angry at Chris Jericho.
I was ALWAYS ‘back of bus’ crew, I thought u ‘hardcore’ guys knew everything-guess you are just out of touch trolls https://t.co/w7Lodr1M0T
— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) January 12, 2016
Things really started getting out of hand on Twitter and in a hurry too. People started calling Chris Jericho a racist and saying he was knocking down minority talent by insulting them racial slurs. Some even started bringing up Rosa Parks and saying that her situation from so long ago is what Jericho was referring to.
With the words “racist” and “racism” being thrown around, even more wrestlers came to the defense of Jericho. Both of The Dudley Boyz tried to get people to calm down and know that Jericho was doing nothing but using a term that all wrestlers know and understand.
To those who took @IAmJericho comment as racist…YOU are what is wrong with the world. Ignorant trolls!! #RAW https://t.co/xJaPsffgXE
— Bubba Ray Dudley (@BubbaRayDudley) January 12, 2016
Not a racist comment. It’s between us wrestlers in the back. that’s all that matters. @IAmJericho is a true friend. https://t.co/SdHjnYhv7T
— D-von Dudley (@TestifyDVon) January 12, 2016
Even after the Usos tweeted out a picture of themselves in the “back of the bus” with Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose, people still were fired up. The Usos tried to get people to relax, but there were many that were insisting on making it into a big deal.
This is the “back of bus boys”…relax people. @IAmJericho .had to let em know Uce pic.twitter.com/nA9a0YoShc
— The Usos (@WWEUsos) January 12, 2016
WrestleZone echoed the sentiment of many wrestling sites and the superstars themselves that the “back of the bus brothers” is merely an inside term known and used by wrestlers. Jericho had no intention of insulting anyone and he honestly didn’t.
Those that have come out and accused Jericho of being racist are wrong. It’s just a shame that even with all of those backing him up and trying to correct people, they still can’t help but make it a huge matter.
Chris Jericho has only just returned to WWE television and already there is controversy with one of the most well-known names in all of wrestling. He wasn’t trying to insult the Usos or The New Day with the “back of the bus brothers” comment, but many people on social media would much rather start things up.
[Image via WWE]