Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Weighs-In on If He ‘Counts’ as the First Black WWE Champion

Race has always been a hot-button issue in the world of professional wrestling, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson voiced his opinion on a particular topic regarding race in the WWE on Twitter on Tuesday night. While there have been plenty of African American world champions throughout the history of professional wrestling (Booker T, Mark Henry, R-Truth, Ron Simmons and Bobo Brazil to name a few), many fans have argued that there has never been a black WWE Champion. The major counterpoint to that statement would be The Rock, who held the title eight times throughout his career, but critics have often argued that Johnson “doesn’t count” because he is half-African American, half-Samoan and the latter half was often emphasized on WWE television.

The argument broke out once again between a few fans on Twitter on Tuesday. Twitter user @Audience__of1 wrote, “… He identifies as Samoan in WWE and was booked that way after Nation days. Was never booked, proclaimed, or titled as First black champion. And hardcore wrestling fans don’t name him as such as well. Thus nobody calls him a black champion. Anoa’i family background angle.”

Johnson spotted the argument and responded, explaining that he has always identified as both black and Samoan.

“Glad I came across this and I’ll give you guys some context & truth,” Johnson wrote. “I identify as exactly what I am – both. Equally proud. Black/Samoan. And my friend, let me expand your thoughts a bit here – I transcended race in wrestling so there was no ‘booked that way’. Thx guys.”

Johnson won his first WWF Championship at the 1998 Survivor Series when he won the “Deadly Game” tournament thanks to a heel turn and heavy interference from The Corporation. His last reign came in 2013 when he ended CM Punk’s 434-day reign as champion at the Royal Rumble, then dropped the title to John Cena at WrestleMania 29.

The source of the Twitter argument between fans started over the current WWE Championship feud between Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston. While it hasn’t been said out loud, it has been heavily implied that Kingston has been consistently stopped from earning a title shot recently because of his race.

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