Black History Lesson: African American Wrestling

[nWoElite]

..Firsts.

Got this from an earlier post of Mark Henry and added my own little known facts.

1983
First African-American WWE Tag Team Champion: Tony Atlas

1990
First African American tag team to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship: Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons)

1992
First African-American WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Ron Simmons

1994
First tag team made up of two African Americans to win the WWE Tag Team Championship: Men on a Mission (Nelson Frazier, Jr., aka Mabel, and Robert Horne, aka Mo)

1998
First African American to win the WWE Championship: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
First African American to win the WWE Women's Championship: Jacqueline Moore

2004
First African American General Manager for World Wrestling Entertainment: Theodore Long

2006
First African-American Extreme Championship Wrestling champion: Bobby Lashley

2007

First African-American female professional wrestler to win the NWA World Women's Championship: Amazing Kong

Ron Killings was the first African American NWA Champion AND the first WWF Hardcore championship.

Ahmed Johnson was the first AA WWF InterContinental champion.

D-lo Brown was the first AA European Champion.

Elix Skipper was the first AA Cruiserweight champ.


I think I might have missed a few tho...

[TuneinTokyo]

Didn't Atlas win the WWF tag title with Rocky Johnson? If memory serves correct the first weekend that AWA All Star Wrestling didn't air on Saturday on TV 20, WWF aired a show on Sunday morning and Atlas/Johnson vs. Wild Samoans and Capt Lou accidentally hits a Afa with a chair.

Did I mix stuff up? If so who was Atlas' partner? Putski?

[Cyno]

Maybe Rocky Johnson wasn't on there because he's technically African Canadian. But yeah, Rocky Johnson was Atlas' partner.

[FailedGimmick]

Alicia Fox is both the first (thus far only) African American Divas Champion and the youngest Divas Champion

[spec]

I feel like Akeem should be on that list somewhere

[El Cokehead del Knife Fight]

Feb 10, 2012 0:23:08 GMT -5 spec said:

I feel like Akeem should be on that list somewhere

Akeem is too African-American for this list.

[DSR]

Justin King aka "Black Ref" should be on the list in some way.

[Deleted]

I'm a frequenter to the wrestling-titles website. It's a fun place to just check out title lineages, and learn something interesting. (Dennis Stamp, 4-time Texas Brass Knuckles Champion, for example.) Things like that interest me.

So going through the site, they have listed a "World Negro Heavyweight Championship". Mainly contested for in Southern states, they have to clarify "listing this title, in no way, promotes segregation of races in any way, shape or form". They add that just to let us know that it is part of wrestling history in a time, African-American wrestlers were not allowed to face Caucasian wrestlers in many parts of the country - Texas, for example. (It was so extreme, some areas wouldn't even let them in the building, so having an actual championship to contend for was a huge step forward.)

So, if you want to get technical, look that up and you'll have your famous African-American firsts.

[________ has left the building]

Feb 10, 2012 3:56:45 GMT -5 DSR said:

Justin King aka "Black Ref" should be on the list in some way.

First awesome Black ref.

And if I'm not mistaking, I think Teddy Long was the first Black referee for both WCW and WWF.

[Deleted]

Feb 10, 2012 9:58:03 GMT -5 ________ has left the building said:

Feb 10, 2012 3:56:45 GMT -5 DSR said:

Justin King aka "Black Ref" should be on the list in some way.

First awesome Black ref.

And if I'm not mistaking, I think Teddy Long was the first Black referee for both WCW and WWF.

Teddy was the ref who made the three-count when Rick Steamboat pinned Ric Flair at Chi-Town Rumble '89. (The original ref got "KO'ed".)

I'm not mad at ya, playa!

[DSR]

Feb 11, 2012 8:57:31 GMT -5 @sandman said:

Feb 10, 2012 9:58:03 GMT -5 ________ has left the building said:

First awesome Black ref.

And if I'm not mistaking, I think Teddy Long was the first Black referee for both WCW and WWF.

Teddy was the ref who made the three-count when Rick Steamboat pinned Ric Flair at Chi-Town Rumble '89. (The original ref got "KO'ed".)

I'm not mad at ya, playa!

I. Am. Shocked. That he didn't try to turn it into a tag team match, playa!

[Big Kahuna Burger]

Booker T is surely worth a mention.



From Wikipedia:

He is the most decorated wrestler in WCW history, having held 20 titles in the organization, including a record six WCW World Television Championships, and a record ten WCW World Tag Team Championships as one half of Harlem Heat with his brother, Lane "Stevie Ray" Huffman.

Booker is a six-time world champion: a four-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion in WCW, and a one-time WCW Champion and World Heavyweight Champion in the WWF/WWE. All six reigns were represented by the Big Gold Belt. He is one of four men to have held the Big Gold Belt in both WCW and WWE (the others being Bill Goldberg, Chris Benoit and Big Show), and the only man to enjoy multiple reigns with the belt in both companies. He was the winner of the WWE King of the Ring tournament in 2006, the sixteenth WWE Triple Crown Champion and the eighth WWE Grand Slam Champion. Also the ninth, and final, WCW Triple Crown Champion, he is the most recent of four men in history to achieve both the WWE and WCW Triple Crown Championships.

So Booker's firsts and records are:

*Most decorated WCW wrestler IN HISTORY
*Co-record-holder for most WCW Tag-Team Championships (with Stevie Ray)
*Record holder for the most WCW TV Championship reigns
*The first man to hold the "big gold belt" in WWE
*The last ever (real) WCW World Champion
*The last ever (real) WCW United States Champion
*The first African-American to hold the WCW Championship and United States Championship simultaneously
*The first and only African-American WCW "Triple Crown" Champion
*One of only two African-American WWE "Triple Crown" Champions (The Rock being the first)
*One of only two African-American King of the Ring winners (Mabel being the first)
*The first African-American to achieve both the WCW and WWE "Triple Crowns"
*The first and only African-American WWE "Grand Slam" Champion



P.S. He was also the first ever TNA "Legends Champion" (if that's considered a major title.)

[Kash Flagg]

Throughout the 60's and 70's, The Shiek and Bobo Brazil would trade the NWA US title (not officially sanctioned but a company champion) in Sheik's territory.

[Big Kahuna Burger]

Let's not forget the first ever African-American Million Dollar Champion, Virgil



and the first African-American to main event Wrestlemania, Mr. T!