The WWE has been operating since the ’80s under the leadership of Vince McMahon and was around for even more years with his father in control of the promotion. However, while there have been many names that have held the WWE, and before that the WWF world title, it wasn’t until Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson in 1998 that a man of African-American heritage won a world title in the WWE. While there had been other minorities to hold the WWE world title, such as Latino Pedro Morales and Iraqui wrestler the Iron Sheik, The Rock was the first black man to hold the title. Now, a relative of The Rock, Roman Reigns, is wrestling for a chance at the world title, and in an interview with CBS Sports , Reigns talked about the struggles of minorities to move up in the WWE.
Roman Reigns Thoughts On Minorities Struggles In The WWE
Roman Reigns said that he does not believe there is a struggle for minorities anymore in the WWE. He did not dispute the fact that the struggles happened before, though. While Reigns is Samoan, he is a multi-racial professional wrestler — half-Samoan and half-Italian. His cousin, The Rock, is also multi-racial, part-Samoan and part-African American.
There was also a high-profile move in 2017 when the WWE put the title on Jinder Mahal, advertised as an Indian wrestler, although he was born in Canada. The WWE has been more open in the last two decades, with men like Booker T and Mark Henry holding the title and representing the black community, while names like Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio have represented the Latino community.
According to Roman Reigns, in today’s WWE, it has nothing to do with skin color or nationality. Roman said that all Vince McMahon cares about now is a person’s background and character. Reigns said that McMahon told him that he only cares that a person is a good person, and that trumps wrestling skills and promo abilities. Minority or not, Roman Reigns said that Vince McMahon just promotes a wrestler based on who they are inside.
Roman Reigns Future In The WWE
Roman Reigns is also a three-time WWE world champion and is fighting at the Elimination Chamber this weekend for a chance to win the WWE Universal Championship for the first time, the Raw version of the WWE world title.
In the same interview, Roman Reigns also said that he is excited about getting another chance to win a world title , and that all starts at the Elimination Chamber on Sunday night. Reigns said he would win that match and move on to WrestleMania 34 , where he will main event against Brock Lesnar.