Overall, ESPN did a fine job airing its first WrestleMania this past weekend. The network covered it like a major sporting event on SportsCenter, expanding the WWE’s mainstream bona fides. But ESPN’s involvement also all but guaranteed that someone on its roster would turn the moment into a commentary on race.
And that’s exactly what happened.
OutKick has previously detailed how ESPN’s David Dennis Jr. strives to be the next Jemele Hill and Bomani Jones. His entire schtick depends on filtering stories through the lens of race and racism. For context, he’s the personality who said Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad “mortified” him and urged Caitlin Clark fans to stop watching the WNBA.
He’s embarrassing. He tries too hard.
While ESPN has spent the past few years finally firing most of its race idolaters, Dennis remains part of the rotation, at least for now.
As a result, he used his platform this week to celebrate WrestleMania as the “blackest of all time.”
“Oba Femi crushed Brock Lesnar, avenging all of the black stars Lesnar has beaten over his career,” Dennis said in an X clip.
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“The future is brighter and blacker than ever in wrestling, in general, and especially in WWE. It is something to celebrate, something fans have been waiting on for a long time,” he concluded.
A colleague echoed the theme. “WrestleMania 42 showed that WWE’s future is black,” Marcus Shorter wrote for ESPN, pointing to Femi, Trick Williams, and Je’Von Evans.
“WrestleMania 42 was not only a coming-out party for the company’s young black male talent, but also a statement that WWE is betting on that future,” he wrote.
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Is that so?
Dennis and Shorter are correct about one thing. Oba Femi dismantling Lesnar was a defining moment, signaling his position as a top-tier star of the new era. But Femi’s push has nothing to do with race.
Despite the narrative ESPN is pushing, Femi’s skin color doesn’t make him any more or less unique.
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There was once a performer named Dwayne Johnson, better known in wrestling as The Rock. Heard of him? He has WrestleMania wins over, wait for it, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and John Cena.
Five women have main-evented WrestleMania. Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks are two of them. President Donald Trump handpicked (in storyline) Bobby Lashley to represent him in WrestleMania 23 in the “Battle of the Billionaires” against Vince McMahon. Lashley and Trump were victorious.
The history of professional wrestling is full of performers of different ethnicities, from black to white to Samoan to Hispanic to Japanese.
Moreover, as someone who was there for both nights of WrestleMania this past weekend, I can assure you that no one in the crowd, before or after the event, cared about the performers’ skin color. Only people like Dennis bothered to notice. The rest of us were focused on the performances.
And as strong a partner as ESPN is for WWE, this type of race-baiting is something other partners don’t provide.
Further, people like Dennis fail to understand that they hurt black performers by championing them on racial grounds.
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Lamar Jackson is not a polarizing figure because of anything he has said or done. He’s disliked because ESPN personnel accuse those who criticize him of racism and great white hope-ism. Ryan Clark, Cam Newton, and Robert Griffin III made Jackson unlikable.
A similar dynamic could emerge here. And, for Femi’s sake, that would be unfortunate.
Outside of Roman Reigns, no one drew a stronger reaction in Las Vegas than Femi. At just 27, he has an aura that few before him have ever embodied. With Reigns, Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, and Seth Rollins all further along in their careers, there’s a legitimate case that Femi could anchor the next generation of superstars.
But he may have to do so while overcoming ESPN’s push to racialize the conversation around him.
