If you happened to watch that now infamous HHH & Booker T promo in real time, you know that it was likely the most disgusting & blatantly racist trash that the WWE ever aired.
Fast Forward to over 10 years later and they are trying their best to be as vague as possible about race with Kofi vs Daniel Bryan.
It’s obvious that the WWE is fully aware that airing a promo with a White man calling a Black man a nappy head will have their social media on fire in 2019. What they did this time with Kofi Vs Bryan is to use clever wording.
Not once was race ever specifically mentioned. But if you’re one of those people who refuse to stick your head in the sand when it comes to race, you picked up on the subtext right away.
Mr. McMahon telling Kofi “You don’t deserve it” just before taking away his title shot at Fastlane. Big E saying that “People like us” only get so far. And Daniel Bryan addressing the crowd while accusing Kofi of being bystander in his own life and sitting on the sidelines .. waiting on other people to push him to the top.
The racism is very passive aggressive but the implications are clear. Black wrestlers don’t deserve title shots. They can only get so far and Kofi is mediocre, sitting on the sidelines waiting for an affirmative action handout from the WWE.
The WWE didn’t beat anyone over the head with racism during this story line, it let’s you fill in the blanks as to what the characters are really saying. It’s definitely open-ended, and purposely leaves a big question mark: Are Mr. McMahon & Daniel Bryan really racist.
Kofi himself isn’t outright saying it’s racist but open-ended – in that it can apply to anyone. Well played Kofi. Well Played. Let’s see if the 11 yr quest culminates with the WWE championship at WrestleMania 35.Â
"It's everybody who has struggled."
A lot has been made of the phrase "people like us" when it comes to the #KofiMania story heading into #WrestleMania but @TrueKofi says it was left open ended for a reason. pic.twitter.com/pDO5IobfIF
— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) April 4, 2019