It’s 2018, wrestling should be better than this.
During RevPro’s show this past weekend, Sam Adonis — real life younger brother of WWE’s Corey Graves — cut a promo that included calling audience members homophobic slurs.
Adonis is not new to controversy, using a Trump supporter gimmick in CMLL. That gimmick was good to land him in articles at Vice’s Fightland and other outlets of note. One can only assume that’s why he thought he needed to take it up a notch, making a terrible career decision by opening his mouth.
Andy Quildan put out a statement on Twitter, with the RevPro promoter apologizing for the situation taking place on his show.
Official statement will come tomorrow but to reiterate what I said at the show. I’m sorry. Pro Wrestling is a beautiful thing and sadly tonight we saw an ugly side of it. I’m happy to answer anyone’s concerns/questions & trust me when I say I’m just as disappointed as you guys.
— Andy Quildan (@AQuildan) August 5, 2018
Adonis, however, thinks fans should accept his pathetic attempt to “generate heat” and go along for the ride.
I did a "Pro Trump" gimmick in Mexico and I was called racist. The wresting fans let the story unfold then accepted me as one of their own.
— Sam Adonis (@RealSamAdonis) August 6, 2018
A book can never be understood by reading only the first chapter.
#enjoytheride
It’s disappointing anyone in wrestling thinks hate speech is still a viable option for getting heat. But it’s somehow worse the disconnect Adonis showed from the actual issue.
His “enjoy the ride” tweet was sent out five hours after a promoter had issued a public apology for Adonis’ actions — and even longer after the community let it be known they were not willing to accept “slurs as heat.”
His tweet doubled down on the fact he thinks what he did was fine and good, and that shows he just didn’t get it when the backlash hit. And worse, it blamed the fans for not just going with it.
EVOLVE wrestler Parrow, an openly gay man, later said he spoke to Adonis about the issue.
I made comment on @RealSamAdonis twitter before I knew he used terrible insensitive #lgbt word towards the crowd we have since spoke I believe he understands it was wrong,Why people in my own community are now upset with me Id rather educate peers why it’s wrong then attack them
— Parrow (@Parrow_) August 6, 2018
One would hope in 2018 it wouldn’t take a gay man telling you what you did was hurtful to have a bit of common sense. But here’s hoping Adonis learned something and is a better person going forward.
As for people “enjoying the ride” and “understanding the book,” I think that’s a big swing and a miss for ol’ Sam.
— blackheart;kelsey (@m4rvelgirl) August 6, 2018
Chapter 1. Racism
— Why All The Anger? (@WhyAllTheAnger) August 6, 2018
Chapter 2. Homophobia
Stops reading, throws the book in the bin where it belongs.
I don't read books written in crayon...
— Just Rev (@SneakyRev) August 6, 2018
It’s 2018. Wrestling really should be better than this.
- Ronda Rousey will wrestle on TV for the first time tonight, that’s gonna get a lot of people tuning in. That it’s against Alicia Fox — an occasionally great heel but somewhat unsteady hand in the ring — will be interesting. Join us for the Raw live blog tonight.
- We’ve got some other match announcements for the night’s show, along with our usual full preview.
- This weekend saw EVOLVE return for EVOLVE 108 and EVOLVE 109.
- Matt Hardy’s back and pelvis are fusing together? That seems ... awful.
- Miz still isn’t into the idea of facing Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam — in storyline, that is.
- Kenny Omega got all kinds of busted up during the G1.
Another week starts now, but at least we’ve got wrestling.
.@zacksabrejr catches @AKidWrestler into a triangle choke!! #TotalRumble8 @La_TripleWhttps://t.co/y9qFeDs8sP pic.twitter.com/tjTsLRtrMn
— LARIATOOOO!! (@MrLARIATO) July 4, 2018