I guess I just never saw Tony Atlas as a role model or typical of anything other than a stupid juicehead. No more racist than Kamala, which was pretty racist.

My problem with the E in that era was this self delusion they had that no one who watched the E watched anything else. You end up with Harley Race being royalty, Steve Keirn being an alligator hunter, DiBiase being a jillionaire, Dirty White Boy Tony Anthony being a plumber, and Dusty fucking Rhoades being whatever that abortion of a gimmick was. At this truly forgettable Tony Atlas gimmick. "Legally changed his name". Fuck you, Vince. I think it was less about overt racism than it was a lack of creativity and vision. Can you imagine what E Creative would've done with Magnum TA or Nikita Koloff? Or Sting, for that matter? A chimney sweeping Sting. That'd put asses in seats.

I was sitting in a little burger joint with the family not long ago. They had various magazines laying around, so I picked up the E's mag and paged through it. As a company, they laugh at those 80's gimmicks. The one that stands out in my mind was some really heartless shit said about the guy who was a garbageman. I can't remember his name. I was thinking it was such bullshit. You geniuses in Titan Tower cane up with this shit, told some worker to go out and do it, and he busted his ass to make it happen. And 20some years later that same brain trust mocks the guy. I think it's the culture at the E. Throw shit at the wall and see what sticks. I think it was less about Tony Atlas being Black than it was that Tony Atlas fit the costume. The costume sold the merch, and that's what it was (and is) all about.

Sure, there's entrenched racism in wrestling. Watts, Michael Hayes. Just like everywhere else. But that racism can be easily set aside for the sake of selling tshirts and big foam fingers.

Speaking of racism, Truth Killings got a 30 day stay home notice for smoking the fake reefer. And being a Black man in America telling the Truth.

Piper's commentary in the clip is gold. I'm sure he got a little talking to after the show was over.

A little Papa Shango using his Black Magic on the Ultimate Warrior and Mean Gene. Watch for some classic Warrior jibberish at the end.