10 WWE Storylines That Were Probably Racist

By Scott Carlson /

6. Saba Simba

It sounds weird to say this since he€™s a prime offender of racist behavior, but thank God for €œRowdy€ Roddy Piper. When WWE €˜debuted€™ a new superstar decked out in tribal gear €“ including a headdress and a shield €“ it took Piper all of three seconds to correct Vince McMahon€™s introduction of Saba Simba by blurting out, €œHold on, that€™s Tony Atlas.€ What made the segment so surreal was listening to McMahon claiming that Atlas, a former WWE Tag Team Champion and Mr. USA, was proud of his heritage (with no mention of where he was descended from), and Piper scoffing that that was a ridiculous claim and he looked foolish. Piper immediately burying the gimmick probably saved the day. Otherwise, Vince might have tried to have Kamala and Saba Simba form a tag team.We see it all the time with superstars being repackaged and reinvented, but taking a guy who had been around in professional wrestling for 15 years as just a strongman and turning him into a dancing tribal performer is just ludicrous.