10 Times WWE Blatantly Used Racist Stereotypes

4. The Headshrinkers

Jinder Mahal Shinsuke Nakamura
wwe.com

Until Fatu dropped the grass skirt for a mawashi, every Pacific Islander in WWE had been presented identically, thanks to the company seemingly thinking they were.

If it wasn't the Headshrinkers being shown as basic, hard-headed savages, it was The Islanders before them, or The Wild Samoans yet further back. In some cases this could be put down to family tradition - the majority of Samoan wrestlers in WWE's long history have been derived from the Anoa'i clan - but whether following a directive from above or simply following in their kin's bare footprints, the Polynesian presentation was undeniably racist.

The member of the Anoa'i family one man to escape these stereotypical trappings in WWE was the big-boned Rodney: instead, he was repackaged as a standard Japanese menace, Yokozuna.

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Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.