"Period, end of story" - Vince Russo addresses Bobby Lashley's viral comment after AEW Full Gear (Exclusive)
Bobby Lashley was bold and honest during the AEW Full Gear post-show press conference. He took offense to being asked about black champions. Vince Russo reacted to Lashley's comments and backed the All Elite star's views on the matter.
The All Mighty defeated Swerve Strickland, a former AEW World Champion, at Full Gear 2024 and was accompanied by his Hurt Syndicate stablemates during the post-show scrum. When a journalist asked Bobby Lashley about how it felt to wrestle a black star who previously held a world championship, Bobby responded by saying it was time people omitted the "black" term altogether when referring to titleholders.
Unsurprisingly, the former WWE Superstar attracted a lot of attention for this take, which became a big topic during the latest episode of Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws. Vince Russo supported Bobby Lashley's claim and stressed that a champion was just a champion whose role was to represent the company appropriately.
The former WWE writer believed the decision to make someone champion wasn't related to their race or color. It had to do with pure ability and dependability as a top talent, as Russo explained below:
"Yeah, bro, a champion is a champion. Period, end of story. You are putting a title, your faith, your belief in somebody that you feel is going to represent your company in a positive way. A champion is a champion, bro. It doesn't matter what nationality, race, color, creed, I mean, a champion is a champion, man. It is a very important spot to be in and I'm with EC3, I don't think it has anything to do with color. I think it has to do with who is the best man or woman for the job, period." [From 11:00 to 11:50]
Former WWE writer Vince Russo says it is a "numbers game" while reacting to Bobby Lashley's statement
Vince Russo has seen the evolution of pro wrestling, having been heavily involved in the creative direction of the WWE during the Attitude Era. Russo had seen how rosters have changed and recalled that the locker rooms might not have had many black talents before the 2000s.
He's observed the indies in recent years and noted the increase in the number of African American performers, which probably explained the trend of more black champions emerging in various companies, including WWE and AEW.
"Was it really not normalized, Chris? Because I would love to see the statistics. I've got to tell you, like, even working indies, bro there was a lot fewer black wrestlers, now it's a numbers game. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am. I think there were a lot fewer black wrestlers back in the '70s, '80s, and even into the '90s. Now it's a numbers game." [From 13:38 onwards]
Bobby Lashley's AEW run has gotten off to a dominant start as he's undefeated and could eventually pursue championship gold in the company.
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