Black History Month Roundtable: Celebrating Black excellence in wrestling

What about Black wrestling moments overall? Even those before you were born?

Anthony: Pretty much all of The Rock’s work during the Attitude Era.

Chris: While it didn’t quite register for me the first time I saw the show, the sight of seeing Booker T close one of WWE’s Big Four PPVs, Summerslam 2001, against The Rock for the WCW Championship was pretty great. Sure Rock spent most of that feud pretending he didn’t know who Booker was and yes, it took place during the botched Invasion storyline, but a main event is a main event.

In terms of history, few things top the visual of Ron Simmons beating Vader to win the WCW Championship. Everything about that match, from Jim Ross’ call to the hot crowd to the utter elation on Simmons’ face after the referee counts the final fall to all the babyfaces coming out to celebrate with Simmons perfectly encapsulated the importance of the moment.

Phil: Sandy Parker’s WWWA World Championship win means a lot to me as a big fan of women’s wrestling. She is the first black woman to win a world title and I just admire her so much for everything she overcame to do it. Give the story of Sweet Georgia Brown and many other black women who didn’t get to make that kind of mark before her, it says a lot about her courage and dedication.

Raphael: Ron Simmons winning the WCW Title.