@ellis7796
FD, my 55 year old bus driver in North Carolina listens to your videos like a podcast while he drives the bus. He plays it over the speaker system so we can all listen, lol. Just thought you should know
@ForeignManinaForeignLand
I never got into WWE despite being a wrestler but a lot of what Unc dives into here can be applied to the experience of "wrestling while Black". I'll extend it to any sport but there's something special about grappling sports as it's so tactile, intimate and also dyadic. what ought be group therapy for my teammates and I often ended up being an afro atrocity exhibition that they got to explore at my expense.
@VolcyThoughts
“I enjoy destroying lives” was absolutely insane when I first heard it. Then 20 years later, I learned that he wasn’t acting. He really did enjoy destroying lives.
@ianbyrne465
I think the fact that Bobby Lashley (a guy who’s built like black Brock Lesnar, can move like a man half his size, and also has a background as an MMA champion, like Lesnar) never got more than a few fairly perfunctory periods with the title, despite being a Vince McMahon wet dream tells you all you need to know about Vince’s feelings on black people.
@doejersey
“So let’s talk a little bit about Vince McMohan” has to be the most loaded thing ever said on YouTube.
@justhearmeout3959
"one part athlete, one part stuntman, and one part actor" I never thought about it that way before.
@lilbilliam
PSA: This might be the first time me and FD disagree on anything publicly lol. So don't y'all go starting no drama when when my jawn drop. It is NOT a response video lol
@erichmyles4481
I can't believe a writer Wrote the nappy hair line, and then let him win. That's crazy
@elreytriton
Kamala is my grandfather. He was an 8th grade dropout raised by a single mother of 4 that got in trouble a lot as a teen in a very small town in Mississippi. He eventually straightened up and started driving trucks in his 20s and got married. Memphis wrestling became a thing and he kept being told he should try it since he was so tall and large. Jerry Lawler kept coming up with gimmicks until he came up with the Ugandan Giant one. He had to pay for his own travel, lodging, and food. Manager given to him by the wwf was getting huge cut. The other wrestlers like the Ultimate Warrior and etc had everything paid for. The money he was making seemed like a lot because he was from Mississippi but he was getting ripped off. He said they were told that losing a match paid more money. The other wrestlers kept telling him the money was funny and he should say something to Vince. By the time he said something to Vince, Vince smiled and told him he could leave whenever he wanted if he was unhappy. His generation of wrestling was over by then. Chris Hedges spoke about this years ago saying wrestling was another caricature of America. Blonde haired blue eyed white guys defeating giants, savages, and foreigners.
@subalternprecariat
Vince McMahon doesn't play a character. He was playing a character up until the steroid allegations and the Attitude Era. Vince plays himself.
@chrisballard6410
The most devastating part of Booker T’s loss to Triple H was how weak it made him look. The breadth of time between HHH hitting the pedigree and covering him for the pin lasted an eternity. It may as well have been a squash match. It wasn’t just damaging to Booker’s image, it was disrespectful.
@the-homosaur
One of the craziest things about Kofi winning was apparently Danielson had to go fight to make his win happen and convince McMahon that it was important and the fans would love it. They did all that story and Vince STILL didn't want to finish it. I don't really f with WWE anyway but I'm so glad that Vince is gone from the biz, rest in piss
@emmaarmo379
Something that I really appreciate about your content is that for long-form video essays, you are relatively concise. I've seen a lot of video essays recently that have about 20-30 minutes of actual content stretched out to 3-4 hours. This is a long video, but it's paced well and deserves that length
@thisizn8
It's so hard to explain how epic Kofimania was and how much it was needed for long time minority fans. As a latino, Eddie Guerrero beating Lesnar was that moment for me. I was overjoyed for Black fans that got to see Kofi's rise to the title.
@hackprefect
55:10 Not only did Booker lose, it takes a full 15 seconds for him to get covered and he just takes the pin. 15 seconds is a lifetime in matches like that, and it just shows the level of callous disregard the company had for Booker. WWE was openly hostile to WCW talent after the buyout and merger, due to Vince's aforementioned petty bullshit. That and the Kofi/Brock squash will always leave a bad taste in my mouth that no amount of Sasha/Bianca main events (a moment that legitimately makes me cry to this very day) will ever wash out.
@Lyhnmyu
This was an extremely dope video. Didnt even feel like an hour man. It just breezed by. I had no idea of all this wrestlin history man.
@deadmanthehekatonkheire994
As a Black man (South African), I stopped watching wrestling over a decade ago for the same reasons you stated. But when I caught wind of Kofi's match with Daniel Brian I was glued to my TV screen, watching every second of it. Because of the dread that loomed over me the entire match, I managed to convince myself that I was only watching because I had nothing better to do than watch the WWE give me false hope only to dash it away at the last second. Let me tell you the way I screamed when Kofi won that match. I was high on life the whole week, you couldn't tell me nothing. All for this sporting event I hadn't cared about in so long. I never went back to watching the WWE even after that. I just always wanted that moment to be the last thing I remembered about this company that had let me down so many times. Thanks for this great video.
@maxthemannequin4143
"To non-wrestling fans, this seems silly." Nah. I don't give a single solitary shit about wrestling, but listening to you tell Kofi's story of triumph after so many setbacks has me crying. What an incredible story.
@Amelthon
I'm not a wrestling fan, but just from seeing your recap Kofi's story you had me so invested in it. I get it. I barely knew about most of these people an hour ago and I was still going to be mad if that match had had a bullshit ending.
@always_serpico