Listen to Tony Atlas talk now, and the man will tell you that he may understand the backlash to his Saba Simba character of the early-90's, but he doesn't care much, because Vince McMahon helped save his life. Once a keen bodybuilder, going under the moniker 'Mr. USA', Atlas had previously held the WWF Tag-Team Titles (along with Rocky Johnson, father of The Rock) in 1983. Incredibly, Atlas would fall on hard times once he left wrestling in the late-80's, and was reportedly living on a park bench and hooked on drugs before McMahon brought him back to play the African character of Saba Simba. A lot of people felt the gimmick was inflammatory, and borderline racist, with McMahon saying that Atlas had legally changed his name to Simba and was paying homage to his African heritage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG5LI168rBo The gimmick didn't last too long, and for good reason, fans couldn't believe what they were seeing. This was a pretty ill-advised move from the WWF, and didn't go over well with anybody. Tony Atlas did his best in the role, but it was far from a winner, and could have ruined his career had he played it for any real length of time.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
