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Well. That escalated quickly. In less than 24 hours, after his recorded, racist comments were leaked to the media, Hulk Hogan is persona non grata in the WWE. He was fired from the company he helped build. The WWE took down his biography page on the Hall of Fame, and they pulled down all of his merchandise. 2K will no longer feature him in their new video game. The response has been immediate and almost Benoit-esque in its efficiency.
Lest you think that these are extreme measures, Hogan made some extremely racist statements. A sampling: “I mean, I’d rather if she [Brooke, his daughter] was going to f*ck some n*gger, I’d rather have her marry an 8-foot-tall n*gger worth a hundred million dollars! Like a basketball player!...I guess we’re all a little racist. Fucking n*gger.”
But Hogan isn’t the only wrestler who’s been accused of making racist statements. Racism has long been rumored and long been a problem in wrestling locker rooms. Today, we’re looking at 12 wrestling personalities who, according their peers, have said horrifically racist things. These are not wrestlers with racist gimmicks (and trust us, there are plenty of those), and these aren’t wrestlers who were "in character" (which isn’t fantastic, but is also a common excuse). These were wrestling personalities who said these things in the locker room, or backstage, or when the camera wasn’t rolling—IRL, in other words. Wrestling personalities such as…
Road Warrior Hawk
Targeted: 2 Cold Scorpio
Back when 2 Cold Scorpio and Road Warrior Hawk were in WCW, Scorpio noticed that Hawk was kissing up to Ric Flair a bit too much for his liking. He ribbed Hawk for it, and Hawk responded to it by muttering “f*ck you n*gger” under his breath. The two men would later come to blows, and Scorpio took to carrying around a shank, just in case he got caught off guard.
Jessica Havok
Targeted: R-Truth, Mark Henry
For a hot minute, it seemed like the former TNA Knockout was going to sign with the WWE. But then, her old tweets resurfaced (even though she tried to frantically delete them). Among the things she said: “At KFC right now...channeling my inner n*gger xD” and “*sigh* I hate n*ggers.” She also managed to insult both Mark Henry and R-Truth specifically: “LOL Mark Henry is pissed! Who took his watermelon? :p” and “I bet he [R-Truth] likes watermelon.” Havok apologized for her remarks, but suffice to say, she never really made it big.
Andre the Giant
Targeted: Bad News Brown, Kamala
The Eighth Wonder of the World is beloved worldwide, but he also has a history of saying some pretty offensive stuff. One time, he called Bad News Brown a "n*gger" on a bus ride, and Brown took exception; he threatened to stop the bus and go at it outside, right there and then. Andre backed down. Andre also targeted Kamala with racial epithets in the territory days, and they had several physical encounters over it, including an instance where Kamala pulled a gun on the Giant. They eventually became very friendly; it was Andre, in fact, who helped bring the Ugandan Giant to the WWE.
Unknown Member(s) of the WWE New Generation Locker Room
Targeted: Ahmed Johnson
Ahmed Johnson was a stiff hard hitter during the New Generation era, and he was also the first black Intercontinental Champion in history. And apparently, some racist scumbag in the locker room wanted him to know it; Ahmed said in an interview that he had “Congratulations N*gger!” keyed into the side of his car, and he had a toy monkey with a noose around its neck planted in his locker area. Ahmed says a witness told him it was Steve Austin who keyed the car. And although no one can corroborate that, Austin doesn’t have the rosiest racial history himself. His ex-wife Debra, whom Austin beat several times, claimed that Austin wanted her to change the TV channel whenever there were black people on.
Cody Barbierri
Targeted: Alberto Del Rio
This particular incident was ugly and recent. WWE Social Media Manager Cody Barbierri told Alberto del Rio backstage that he should be handling the catering backstage because he was a Mexican. Del Rio got in the guy’s face, and when Barbierri didn’t apologize, del Rio slapped the taste out of his mouth.
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You’d think that Cody Barbierri would have been fired, and that would have been the end of it. But instead, del Rio was fired for his physical actions, and Barbierri was allowed to leave on own accord shortly afterwards. Del Rio put the WWE on blast, stating that the racism and offensive comments extended far up the corporate ladder, although he declined to name names.
The Rock
Targeted: Himself
Ahmed Johnson recalled a disturbing incident backstage; he saw The Rock talking with members of D-Generation X, and Johnson claimed that The Rock was denying his black heritage. Rock is half-black and half-Samoan, but he allegedly told DX that his mother slept with a white man, which is how he was conceived. One can only imagine the locker room atmosphere backstage, if The Rock felt the need to lie about his ethnic roots.
The Ultimate Warrior
Targeted: Iranian student
Yeah, yeah, "Rest In Peace" and all that, but now that enough time has passed, let’s be real; the Ultimate Warrior was an insane, hateful dude. After retiring from wrestling, Warrior had a second career as a motivational speaker and right wing nutjob. The College Republicans at the University of Connecticut invited him as a guest speaker, and Warrior spent his time onstage making them regret that decision—among other verbal gems, he told a student of Middle Eastern descent to “get a towel.” The Republicans issued a formal apology for inviting him in the first place.
Ric Flair
Targeted: Teddy Long
Teddy Long got targeted for racism when he worked in NWA, and it was right out in the open. In an interview, Long claims that Ole Anderson called him a n*gger directly to his face, and the Nature Boy approached him backstage and said, “N*gger, do you like working here?” Flair is heavily rumored to replace Hulk Hogan on Tough Enough, but if Long's claim is true, then is Flair really that much of an improvement?
Bill DeMott
Targeted: Osmund Cherry
Bill DeMott was the former head trainers at WWE Developmental, and he was a colossal jerk and a bully. In a memo to the higher ups, rookie Austin Draven made several complaints about DeMott, including that he regularly made fun of a Mexican wrestler’s accent, and he told Osmund Cherry to “go back to Africa.” Knowing this, his history of homophobic remarks, his physically dangerous hazing, and the complaints of other rookies as well, the WWE kicked him to the curb. Good riddance.
Vince McMahon
Targeted: Carlito
Yes, even the Boss himself doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. Former WWE writer Dan Madigan recalled when Vince approached him and Carlito backstage; the Boss had some feedback for Carlito’s character. According to Madigan, McMahon said, “Hey, can you spic it up some? Y'know, spic it up when you talk?” Madigan was appalled and uncomfortable, and tried to play it off as a joke.
Triple H
Targeted: Ricardo Rodriguez
Ricardo Rodriguez supported Del Rio’s allegations of widespread racism in the WWE. Rodriguez stated in an interview, “Triple H would call me a bumblebee; I was in Puerto Rico not too long ago and I saw Savio Vega and he used to call him a bumblebee and then I found out he called Super Crazy a bumblebee.“ It appears that Triple H is a Simpsons fan in addition to allegedly being a jackass.
Michael Hayes
Targeted: Mark Henry
Hayes’ history of racist remarks is well documented; Booker T confirmed that Hayes used the n-word backstage, but laughed it off, saying that Hayes considered himself black. But not everyone felt the same way. And when Hayes told Mark Henry, “I’m more of a n*gger than you are,” the World’s Strongest Man understandably hit the ceiling. Hayes was suspended for 60 days, but managed to keep and (still keeps!) his job as a WWE road agent.