The snap judgments that stereotypes allow us to make about people work for professional wrestling because wrestling is a lowest common denominator-driven industry. Pro wrestling is rarely ever high concept stuff, as even with multi-level characters like CM Punk, The Undertaker or Bray Wyatt, Punk was a "sanctimonious jerk," while 'Taker can easily just be "a big, bad dude," and Bray Wyatt, "a creepy redneck." So while Xavier Woods can walk through the curtain as an intelligent African-American who is about to get his Ph.D., portraying Woods as "smart guy" isn't exactly simple without making him a walking version of Damien Sandow's early persona or Lanny Poffo's early 90s run as the mortar board and robe wearing "Genius." Instead, Woods being a likable black man who loves to dance (whose educational achievements are constantly put over on commentary) is what we get instead. WWE is an American-based country with global appeal. For well over 400 years, Americans of all races have come to enjoy the charismatic dancing exploits of African-American men. Be they Savion Glover or Gregory Hines to James Brown or MC Hammer, it's a well-respected fact that many black men can dance in an appealing manner. In a lowest common denominator world, Xavier Woods has a better chance of creating an instantaneous connection with the crowd by dancing and smiling than by touting his considerable academic achievement. Is this unfortunate? Certainly. However, the problem isn't with WWE, as, well, they're just the capitalists exploiting an American history that has come to be begrudgingly accepted and sadly respected, too.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
