01/05/2012 – Velvet Jones: Black in Wrestling America
From Velvet Jones:
Near the end of last year, I did a show for my trainer Bill DeMott's New Energy
Wrestling. While I was there, I saw some familiar faces like Nigel Sherrod, Thunder
and Lightning, and Micah and Tracy Taylor. I also got a chance to meet Luke Gallows
for the first time as well as Mikal Judas. I had a long conversation with Kimberly
Spades (five feet of woman never looked hotter). I got the chance to talk to two more
guys that I'd never met before.
They were a father and son African-American tag team called Team Throwdown (love
the name). We exchanged facebook names and stuff and have been talking back and
forth to each other since then. The father (Certron Payne) is known professionally as
the Natural Born Playa. Playa has had a successful career in the Carolinas. Recently,
he posted on facebook about - what he perceives to be – the lack of opportunities for
black wrestlers in the business. Below is his post:
I was asked by a young black Male around 15years old and his father" who has
watched my Son and myself wrestle They Asked why we were not apart of one the big
Two or one the well known Indy Feds. All I could say was we haft to keep putting our
work out there and sending it out to promotions and one day you might see my son or
both of us on one the big Two. But it got my son and I thinking" and l...ooking over our
careers and work in the ring. We looked at other wrestlers on the Indy and the big two
and even compared our work to the ENTERTAINERS in The Big One" And what we
observed was not surprising but hurtful.We as Black wrestlers have been devalued.
Or lets just put it out there we are less or seen not as powerful in stature as our couter
parts are in this buisness,not saying all promoters or federations are that stuck in
time, But the them rings true.No matter how well you work or put a guy over black
wrestlers are very devalued and pertrayed as inferior.If I am wrong in my studying
looking back at the greats like Ernie the Kat Ladd,BoBO Brizil,Thunderbolt Patterson,
Great workers great Entertainers but Not a NWA,WCW Title Evere"Always the Brides
MADE" but Never The Bride. I am Open to correction .Peace. - Certron Payne
(Natural Born Playa)
There are many sides to this story. First and foremost, I take a look at my own career.
As a wrestler, I wanted to be recognized and capture the audience's eye the minute I
walked out the curtain. With that, I chose a pimp gimmick. I bought a full pimp get-up
for $175 online and was quickly tabbed “The Purple Pimp Daddy”. After getting my
name out in Georgia, I wanted people to recognize me more for the wrestler I was
becoming than the gimmick I had. And while pimping is only a small part of Black
culture, it was still a negative character. With so few Black wrestlers on the scene, I
think that maybe the promoters – who were schooled in the old school ways of
wrestling promotion – have not evolved with the times.
I liken Black culture to another culture that it spawned: hip-hop. When Kool Herc
birthed the genre in the Bronx in 1973, people thought it would be a passing fad. It
started off as party music. Eventually, it took on many forms. It birthed party anthems,
real-life ghetto situations, and cautionary tales. The late 1980's saw an Afrocentric
movement as well as gangsta rap in hip-hop. The 1990's and 2000's saw the entire
culture expanding, hip-hop millionaires, international rappers, and corporate America
jacking the culture for their own financial gain. The point here is that hip-hop has
grown to be more than what it was.
You could compare Black culture to a spectrum. I was born in Newark, NJ. In the eyes
of some people, I would be labeled a thug simply from where I was born. However,
I've never sold or used drugs, graduated high school, am on my way to a second
college degree, working on a third, and have never been in trouble with the law. Still, I
could easily be stereotyped because of where I am from. Look at the two most
prominent tag teams on the Georgia scene. The Washington Bullets are an exciting
clean-cut tag team. Nothing about them says ignorance or negativity. On the flip side,
you have the Usual Suspects. I know both of these guys personally and have worked
with them both in the past. Murder is beyond cool and AJ is just AJ. However, the
characters they portray breathe life into every negative stereotype some people still
have about young Black men: unmotivated, void of direction, and angry for no reason.
The men behind these characters are in no way like the wrestlers they portray as both
are the complete opposite of their in-ring personae. They don't bake cakes, but they
are far from tempermental idiots as well. Maybe me and Kimbro being the fun-loving
team Doc Gayton wanted us to be kinda balanced that out when we were there.
Is there racism in wrestling? Not on my end. For most of my career, I have been the
most prominently featured wrestler in the GIWA. Yep, my black ass has more
Heavyweight title reigns than anyone and has held that belt off and on for the better
part of the last five years. I personally think that as long as there is evil in the world,
racism will never die. That's the reason I never spoke to Jody Hamilton when I was in
RPW. He's an old-school bigot. I also think that no matter what color you are, you have
to bring more than just one tool to be pushed. You have to have that “IT” factor. Sure, I
think Shelton Benjamin should have not only a Money In The Bank victory to call his
own but a World title as well. Why that never happened is anyone's guess. Mark Henry
is one of the biggest, Blackest wrestlers to come around the pike in a long time. His
World title journey was nothing short of impressive. Still, you can't tell anyone how to
run their business. For anyone who wants a first-hand history of not only how Blacks
are treated, but interact with each other in the business, I suggest you read Atlas: Too
Much, Too Soon by Tony Atlas and Scott Teal. You'll find racism does occur in
wrestling. The source of it will surprise you.
To bottom line it: the fault can go both ways. Old-school promoters need to school
themselves on the advances and growth or African-American culture. As Black
wrestlers, we are in the minority, so we have to be careful what we represent. That's
why I dropped the pimp gimmick in the first place. You are your own product in this
business. And if you put out a product that exemplifies hard work, positivity, and a
dedication to your craft, you will excel – no matter WHAT color you are.
One....
From Velvet Jones:
Near the end of last year, I did a show for my trainer Bill DeMott's New Energy
Wrestling. While I was there, I saw some familiar faces like Nigel Sherrod, Thunder
and Lightning, and Micah and Tracy Taylor. I also got a chance to meet Luke Gallows
for the first time as well as Mikal Judas. I had a long conversation with Kimberly
Spades (five feet of woman never looked hotter). I got the chance to talk to two more
guys that I'd never met before.
They were a father and son African-American tag team called Team Throwdown (love
the name). We exchanged facebook names and stuff and have been talking back and
forth to each other since then. The father (Certron Payne) is known professionally as
the Natural Born Playa. Playa has had a successful career in the Carolinas. Recently,
he posted on facebook about - what he perceives to be – the lack of opportunities for
black wrestlers in the business. Below is his post:
I was asked by a young black Male around 15years old and his father" who has
watched my Son and myself wrestle They Asked why we were not apart of one the big
Two or one the well known Indy Feds. All I could say was we haft to keep putting our
work out there and sending it out to promotions and one day you might see my son or
both of us on one the big Two. But it got my son and I thinking" and l...ooking over our
careers and work in the ring. We looked at other wrestlers on the Indy and the big two
and even compared our work to the ENTERTAINERS in The Big One" And what we
observed was not surprising but hurtful.We as Black wrestlers have been devalued.
Or lets just put it out there we are less or seen not as powerful in stature as our couter
parts are in this buisness,not saying all promoters or federations are that stuck in
time, But the them rings true.No matter how well you work or put a guy over black
wrestlers are very devalued and pertrayed as inferior.If I am wrong in my studying
looking back at the greats like Ernie the Kat Ladd,BoBO Brizil,Thunderbolt Patterson,
Great workers great Entertainers but Not a NWA,WCW Title Evere"Always the Brides
MADE" but Never The Bride. I am Open to correction .Peace. - Certron Payne
(Natural Born Playa)
There are many sides to this story. First and foremost, I take a look at my own career.
As a wrestler, I wanted to be recognized and capture the audience's eye the minute I
walked out the curtain. With that, I chose a pimp gimmick. I bought a full pimp get-up
for $175 online and was quickly tabbed “The Purple Pimp Daddy”. After getting my
name out in Georgia, I wanted people to recognize me more for the wrestler I was
becoming than the gimmick I had. And while pimping is only a small part of Black
culture, it was still a negative character. With so few Black wrestlers on the scene, I
think that maybe the promoters – who were schooled in the old school ways of
wrestling promotion – have not evolved with the times.
I liken Black culture to another culture that it spawned: hip-hop. When Kool Herc
birthed the genre in the Bronx in 1973, people thought it would be a passing fad. It
started off as party music. Eventually, it took on many forms. It birthed party anthems,
real-life ghetto situations, and cautionary tales. The late 1980's saw an Afrocentric
movement as well as gangsta rap in hip-hop. The 1990's and 2000's saw the entire
culture expanding, hip-hop millionaires, international rappers, and corporate America
jacking the culture for their own financial gain. The point here is that hip-hop has
grown to be more than what it was.
You could compare Black culture to a spectrum. I was born in Newark, NJ. In the eyes
of some people, I would be labeled a thug simply from where I was born. However,
I've never sold or used drugs, graduated high school, am on my way to a second
college degree, working on a third, and have never been in trouble with the law. Still, I
could easily be stereotyped because of where I am from. Look at the two most
prominent tag teams on the Georgia scene. The Washington Bullets are an exciting
clean-cut tag team. Nothing about them says ignorance or negativity. On the flip side,
you have the Usual Suspects. I know both of these guys personally and have worked
with them both in the past. Murder is beyond cool and AJ is just AJ. However, the
characters they portray breathe life into every negative stereotype some people still
have about young Black men: unmotivated, void of direction, and angry for no reason.
The men behind these characters are in no way like the wrestlers they portray as both
are the complete opposite of their in-ring personae. They don't bake cakes, but they
are far from tempermental idiots as well. Maybe me and Kimbro being the fun-loving
team Doc Gayton wanted us to be kinda balanced that out when we were there.
Is there racism in wrestling? Not on my end. For most of my career, I have been the
most prominently featured wrestler in the GIWA. Yep, my black ass has more
Heavyweight title reigns than anyone and has held that belt off and on for the better
part of the last five years. I personally think that as long as there is evil in the world,
racism will never die. That's the reason I never spoke to Jody Hamilton when I was in
RPW. He's an old-school bigot. I also think that no matter what color you are, you have
to bring more than just one tool to be pushed. You have to have that “IT” factor. Sure, I
think Shelton Benjamin should have not only a Money In The Bank victory to call his
own but a World title as well. Why that never happened is anyone's guess. Mark Henry
is one of the biggest, Blackest wrestlers to come around the pike in a long time. His
World title journey was nothing short of impressive. Still, you can't tell anyone how to
run their business. For anyone who wants a first-hand history of not only how Blacks
are treated, but interact with each other in the business, I suggest you read Atlas: Too
Much, Too Soon by Tony Atlas and Scott Teal. You'll find racism does occur in
wrestling. The source of it will surprise you.
To bottom line it: the fault can go both ways. Old-school promoters need to school
themselves on the advances and growth or African-American culture. As Black
wrestlers, we are in the minority, so we have to be careful what we represent. That's
why I dropped the pimp gimmick in the first place. You are your own product in this
business. And if you put out a product that exemplifies hard work, positivity, and a
dedication to your craft, you will excel – no matter WHAT color you are.
One....
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