WWE quietly removed a new Trick Williams T-shirt from its online shop following online backlash from fans who called the merchandise racist.
The shirt, which debuted on WWE Shop on Monday (September 21), played on Trick’s “Lemon Pepper Steppers” catchphrase by depicting the United States Champion’s white boot encircled by fried chicken wings.
The reaction to the shirt was overwhelmingly negative on social media. Some fans called it ugly, while others questioned if A.I. had created the design.
But more
problematic for WWE were the fans who objected to what they characterized as racism given the fact that the company approved fried chicken imagery on a T-shirt for a Black wrestler.
“Seeing that racist ass Trick Williams shirt…..WWE didn’t learn s**t from the ACH incident. They are who they are,” wrote one person on X (Twitter), referencing a T-shirt made years ago for former NXT talent Jordan Myles, now known as ACH, which critics said resembled blackface.
“That Trick Williams shirt is crazy,” an X post read. “How did it make it past literally anyone.”
“Between the Converse ad and the new (god awful) Trick Williams shirt, I think every company should hire one black dude whose one and only job is to quality check graphic design on whether it’s offensive or not. And their job title can be ‘racism checker’ with an executive office,“ another X user wrote.
One X comment said, in part, that “I always thought their [WWE] racism was a little more subtle.”
There were people who defended WWE, though, including social media users who speculated that Trick himself might have approved the design.
Racist or not, the shirt was nonetheless derided by nearly everyone for being unappealing.
As X user @elfprovids wrote: “I just don’t see it as racist. It’s a visual representation of a phrase he uses. Is it an ugly shirt? Yes. But I think it’s a stretch to compare it to the Jordan Myles debacle. Does show that diversity is needed in all rooms though. Somebody should have said it was ugly.”
What are your thoughts on the T-shirt? Is it blatantly racist? Should someone at WWE have caught on to the notion that it might be construed that way? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
