While the author did make some really good points, what he failed to do is mention the black wrestlers that he feels should have been crowned champion and why. Since he didn't do that, I'll do that.
Here is a list black wrestlers that I feel either should have been, could have been or would have been WWE World's champion and why I feel that way.
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| Ahmed Johnson |
Would Have Been Champion: Ahmed Johnson - I honestly believe that if it hadn't been for an amplitude of unfortunate injuries, Ahmed Johnson would have eventually been crowned WWE champion. Before his injuries, he had been experiencing a great deal of success. He had easily defeated Goldust for the Intercontinental championship, making minced meat out of flamboyant one who had up until that point defended the title against a long list of top superstars and he had everything that a WWE champion needed. He was a huge, monstrous wrestler with an incredible muscular physique, he was immensely popular with the fans and he had a ton of charisma. What killed Johnson's career was his inability to stay healthy. Had he not had to battle injuries so severely throughout his career, I believe the WWE would have gave him a stint as world's champion.
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| Rufus R Jones |
Could have been champion: Rufus R Jones - A man with attitude, a man with spunk, a man with the markings of a champion. Rufus R Jones wasn't champion probably for a number of reasons. First off, he was never in the WWE. Even if he had been in the WWE, he would have been in it during a time when WWE centered around Bruno Sammartino, centered around Bob Backlund or when it was beginning to center around Hulk Hogan. Do I believe that Rufus R Jones could have made a good world's champion? Yes, I do. Truth is, he would have been much like The Iron Sheik or Sgt. Slaughter in that he would have been a transitional champion, but I think he could have filled the role rather well.
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Junk Yard Dog
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Should Have Been Champion: Junk Yard Dog - Out of all of the wrestlers on this list, I feel the strongest about JYD. He was incredibly popular and over with the fans. Everyone loved him. I can remember when I first started watching professional wrestling and one of the first times I ever went to a large gathering where there were a bunch of people watching it on TV. I was at a friend of my Dad's house, and there were about 35-40 people at this party gathered around a big screen TV watching wrestling. They were sort of loud for the most part, but no where near as deafening as they were when JYD came out. He was to them, what Hulk Hogan was to me. Studying professional wrestling's history, I honestly think that JYD could have been the black version of Hulk Hogan. He was just that over and that beloved. If the WWE would have utilized him correctly, he could have been not only the biggest black professional wrestling superstar of all time, but one of the biggest professional wrestling superstars of all time. Was it racism? Was it simply a matter of timing? Was it because WWE already had their top star? Not sure of the exact reason but I feel WWE missed the boat on not using JYD to his full potential.
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| Kamala |
Should have been Champion: Kamala - During Hulk Hogan's 10 year heyday in the WWE, I think the WWE would have benefited taking the title off of Hogan and having him chase it a few more times. One of the people that he could have dropped the title to would have been the mighty Kamala. I never understood why the WWE took a character that could have been one of Hogan's ultimate foes, and practically made him into a joke. His feud with the Undertaker and later the funny vignettes with Reverend Slick were quite entertaining, but I feel that Kamala could have been used better. Here was a cannibal, a monster from the deep jungles of Uganda. WWE was consistently looking for frightening heels that would pose an actual threat to the immortal Hulk Hogan and yet they let the opportunity with Kamala slip right past them. I don't feel as strongly about Kamala as I do JYD, but he is someone I feel could have had a great feud with Hulk Hogan and spent at least a short amount of time as champion.
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| Bobby Lashley |
Would Have Been Champion: Bobby Lashley - You want to know why Bobby Lashley was never WWE champion? Bobby Lashley. That's right, the only reason Bobby Lashley was never WWE champion, is because of Bobby Lashley. It is his own damn fault he was never crowned the king. He has no one to blame but himself for why he never got his moment on top of the highest point of the mountain. He had only been in professional wrestling for a very, very short amount of time and he had already been given practically everything that the professional wrestling world had to offer him. If he wouldn't have picked up his bags and skedaddled out the door for a career in MMA so God damned fast, no doubt he would have been crowned champion. He's Brock Lesnar with darker skin and we've seen the God like status that WWE has granted Lesnar. Things would've been no different for Lashley had he stuck around in the WWE. The only reasoning why he isn't in the record books as a multiple time WWE world's champion is simply because he didn't want to be.
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| Viscera/Mable |
Could've Been Champion: Viscera/Mable - The timing would have had to have been perfect, but I think that Viscera/Mable could have been a great champion. It's unfortunate that his time in the WWE was during the time when Shawn Michael's and his clique controlled everything. The heel turn, along with being crowned King of the Ring, and his feud with Diesel already proved that he would have been a great opponent to take the belt off of Big Daddy Cool Diesel, and have Diesel chase him back for it. I wouldn't call it racism, as much as I would call it simply a matter of Shawn Michaels wanting all of his buddies to share the limelight and Viscera/Mable simply wasn't one of them. They guy was a great heel, easy for the fans to hate and someone that could have carried the title with prestige.
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| "The Natural" Butch Reed |
Would've/Could've/Should've Been Champion: Butch Reed - It's hard to say the exact reason why Butch Reed never carried the WWE World's Title. I suppose the easy answer is that he never stayed around long enough to have had the world's title put on him. Then again, I'm not so sure that would have ever happened even if he had stayed around longer. From what I gather from those that knew him, Reed's biggest problem was himself. Not that too many others in the professional wrestling world have a lot of room to talk. Reed was entertaining, had the huge, muscular body that McMahon seemed to always push and the guy was phenomenal in promos and interviews. Would he have been crowned champion during Hogan's 10 year tenure? I don't know. Could he have at least made a great opponent for the Hulkster to have feuded with? Absolutely. I think though that the two things that killed his chances the most at being champion were simply that he didn't stick around long enough and that he was in the Federation during a time when it was centered heavily around Hogan and his more than human opponents.
There you have it. That is my list of black superstars that could have, should have, or would have been WWE heavyweight world's champion.
Do you agree with my list? Would you add anyone too it?
Let's hear your opinions.
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