Does WWE Have a Potential Black WWE Champion on the Roster?

Weighing the various options for the first black WWE champion.

With the brand split imminent, it seemed as good as any time to look at an ongoing controversy for the WWE — the lack of a black WWE champion.

It’s one of those sticky issues for WWE that won’t fully go away until a black superstar holds the same title belt with the lineage dating back to Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Steve Austin, John Cena, etc. Yes, The Rock’s father is Rocky Johnson, but the lets consider anyone else.

With other promotions ROH and TNA Impact having black champions on top of their promotions recently only makes WWE seem stubborn in their resistance to a headlining black champion.

Potentially splitting up the rosters and creating another world heavyweight title could pave the way for a black star to hold the main belt, but is that guy even on the roster? And if so are they on a future WWE champ career path? There’s one, but he’s a major longshot.

It’s all about positioning the talent. The Ringmaster wasn’t going to set Steve Austin on a rocket to the WWE title, but he wasn’t immediately out the running like Henry O. Godwinn, Aldo Montoya or No Way Jose.

Booker T reinvented himself into King Booker. That’s a gimmick that could have easily just been a comedy mid-card act, but Booker was so great at it he rode that popularity all the way to a World Heavyweight Title reign.

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But looking at the current roster, there’s not a lot of guys who could break through to becoming even a viable WWE title contender. Rule New Day out. Kofi’s best shot was squashed after his feud with Randy Orton years ago. Xavier Woods doesn’t pass the big guy test. Big E? Maybe. He could undergo a serious metamorphosis ala young DX-era Triple H and become a deadly focused main event star. More likely Vince McMahon will remain amused with his dancing trio tag champs.

If WWE brought back the same Ron Killings who was the man early on in TNA he was a guy who could have been a very viable WWE champ. Sadly, the Truth is he’s stuck in network special dark matches. Titus O’Neil is a guy who deserved better booking, but despite being a great company ambassador he’ll be lucky to win the U.S. title.

The best bet is probably Apollo Crews. Unlike most of the others, Crews isn’t positioned as a dancing, singing or rapping superstar. He’s just a wrestler. That’s an unusually rare positioning of a newcomer. Apollo has the opportunity to define his character without the burden of a goofy gimmick. McMahon isn’t in the habit of tossing out brass rings to just anyone so Crews is going to have to ensure he continues performing at a high level and find some way to connect with the WWE Universe.

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Looking to the future, the best bets might not be official parts of the roster. ROH’s Moose and Cedric Alexander are incoming stars that have the look, charisma and skillset that could be appealing as top tier opponents. Alexander has more of the promo abilities McMahon wants in a main star, but Moose has the intangibles that should make him an instant player right away.

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