The big news in the wrestling world over the past couple of weeks has undoubtedly been Bradshaw's little Nazi demonstration in Germany and the subsequent fallout. While I'm sure it was shocking to the folks over at CNBC who recently hired Bradshaw as an on-air personality, anyone who watches WWE knows that cultural sensitivity has never been a high priority.
This situation in Germany is simply a symptom of a larger issue in WWE that often flies under the radar: foreign wrestlers tend to be stereotyped and vilified. Talent ends up being wasted because WWE doesn't think that North Americans will want to cheer anyone who doesn't look or sound like them.
That's an odd view for a company that prides itself on being an amalgamation of professional sports and Hollywood, two industries that are full of successful non-English speakers. While talent and charisma have allowed guys like Sammy Sosa and Jackie Chan to become stars in North America despite their loose grip on the language, WWE seems to think that it takes more than that to be a star in the world of wrestling.
Background check
For most of pro-wrestling's North American history, cultural differences have been exploited for the benefit of business. The record books are full of blonde-haired, blue-eyed champions like Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan, and Sting continually turning away the challenges of foreign foes like Ivan Koloff, the Iron Sheik, and Yokozuna.
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| "Come on, you've seen my gimmick. Even racism is an improvement." |  |
Thanks to technology, the world is a much smaller place today than it was just 30 years ago. As a result, people are generally more open-minded these days. But according to Vince McMahon, that's not the case when it comes to wrestling. He made that clear earlier this month on the Canadian talk show "Off The Record" when he was asked why Chris Benoit's hometown was switched from Edmonton to "now residing in Atlanta" as soon as his title push started.
"It's about the popularity of the performer," Vince explained. "There's a bias in the United States in terms of Canadians, and I dare say there's a bias in Canada in terms of those from the United States, but not as strong. In the image of the biased American, [changing Benoit's hometown] helps Benoit's image."
If you look at the WWE roster, this kind of "cultural adaptation" isn't an isolated case. Chris Jericho is "now residing in Manhattan" even though everyone knows he's from Winnipeg. Eddie Guerrero is supposedly from El Paso, Texas, when he actually grew up in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Of course, if you're a heel, then it's fine to be foreign. Sean Morley is from Las Vegas when he's good-guy Val Venis, but he's from Toronto when he's bad-guy Chief Morley. Christian and Test are both still "from Toronto" even though they actually "now reside" in the United States. Then there's Gail Kim who's actually from Toronto in real life, but since she's Asian, she's promoted as "from Korea." (No city needed because apparently Korea's just that small.)
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My personal favorite instances of cultural adaptation, though, are Akio and Sakoda. Both men are promoted as "from Japan," but Sakoda's real name is actually Ryan and he's from Los Angeles. Akio's real name is Jimmy, and he's not only from Georgia, but his family's not even Japanese
