Starting with Kofi Kingston, three of the last six WWE Champions have been Black.
Bobby Lashley had been WWE Champion since February before losing the title to Big E last Monday on WWE Raw.
While African American wrestlers have been marginalized throughout the history of wrestling, WWE has put more focus on Black wrestlers in recent years.
"I'm glad it's becoming more commonplace," Big E said on the Ringer Wrestling Podcast when discussing Black WWE Champions. "For me, I love having these conversations, I think they're important, but I think of it like the black quarterback discussion in the NFL that I feel like you don't hear much of anymore because there are so many. That's what I hope. I hope it becomes so common and we get so used to it that, 'oh, of course, it's just a dope wrestler who is black who has the World Championship.' I love having these conversations and it's still worth having because I think representation does matter and knowing the thought of black kids who want to be pro wrestlers and don't look at WWE programming and think, 'Oh, there are no black people doing this at a high level so maybe I'll do something else.' Knowing like, 'there are a lot of people who look like me who do this.' I think that's awesome. It's really cool. The thing that I do love is when I look around, I don't see black wrestlers who are put in positions merely because a quota needs to be filled. I look at the Sashas, Biancas, Bobby Lashleys, Kofis, Woods', Keith Lees, and look around and say, 'No, we're all just really dope and bring a lot to the table.' We're all our own men, women, and we're unique. Same thing as Street Profits when people wanted to compare them. No, they are not New Day. They are their own men and they are incredible at what they do. That's what I love seeing. It's a really good time, even outside the company, all the super talent black men and women who professional wrestling pays their bills."
Righteous Reg posted the Black Wrestling 500 in August highlighting the 500 best Black wrestlers. You can view the list by clicking here.
Big E is set to team with New Day to face The Bloodline on Monday's WWE Raw. Fightful will have live coverage of WWE Raw beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
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