• Look Back In History
• Pmessages
• Quiz
• Stump The Staff
• Top Fifty
• Close

U.S. Conservatives Outraged As WWE Wrestler Jack Swagger Cast As Racist, Anti-Immigration Tea Partier

Posted: Feb 21st 2013 By: CMBurnham

World Wrestling Entertainment has angered American conservatives after casting one of its wrestling stars as a racist, anti-immigration Tea Partier who gets ?fan mail? from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

Jack Swagger is an ?American with twisted values on what his country should look like, complete with a xenophobic and slightly racist manager named Zeb Colter,? according to an article on wrestling news website Cagesideseats.com.

He?s now a significant player in the world of wrestling entertainment, scheduled to face off against World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio in the title match at WrestleMania29 on April 7.

He was also arrested for driving under the influence in Mississippi Tuesday night, according to TMZ, who reported the wrestling star had marijuana with him in his car after leaving a taping of Smackdown in Biloxi. The gossip site reported he was charged with DUI, marijuana possession and speeding all misdemeanors under the law.

WWE told TMZ ?Mr. Swagger is responsible for his own personal actions.?

The controversial ?All American? character was introduced to a chorus of boos last week by his manager/kayfabe uncle dressed in a baggy fishing vest and curly handlebar mustache for full politically polarizing effect, propped up over a podium with yellow ?Don?t Tread On Me? flags in the background.

Describing the heaving, sweaty and blond wrestler as a ?great American,? Colter also bemoaned the current state of America. ?I see people with faces not like mine,? he said. ?I see people that I don?t even know what they?re saying. They can?t even talk to me. And I look around and I think, where did all these people come from? But most importantly I think, how do we get rid of ?em??

The rant, which painted Mr. Swagger?s fight opponent as an illegal that gamed America?s immigration system, was punctuated with cries of ?We the People? from Mr. Swagger, getting pumped up in the middle of the ring.

While some brushed it off as pure entertainment and a good-natured jab at the more zealous of conservatives in America today, others were outraged by a representation of Tea Partiers they found offensive and inaccurate, calling Swagger nothing more than a ?xenophobic heel.?

The whole strange scene had conservatives wondering why WWE would create a character like Swagger, especially since the multi-million dollar entertainment company is owned by Vince and Linda McMahon ? well known Republican fundraisers.

Ms. McMahon has run for Republican office in Connecticut more than once, her latest failed run in November when she tried to win the seat of retiring senator Joe Lieberman, her campaign almost entirely self-financed.

Paul Joseph Watson at conservative blog Infowars.com writes that ?World Wrestling Entertainment has jumped on the bandwagon of demonizing Tea Party Americans as racists by creating a xenophobic character who espouses anti-immigrant rhetoric, as WWE commentators quip that he receives ?fan mail? from Alex Jones, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.?

He decried Mr. Swagger and Mr. Colter?s appearance on WWE?s Monday Night Raw, in which the characters talked about the constitution, the bill of rights and illegal immigration while standing before a ?Don?t tread on me flag? as ?divide and conquer tactic of cultural subversion? to try to craft racial divisions and portray Tea Partiers, libertarians and constitutionalists as extremists who shouldn?t be taken seriously in the political realm.

The fact that WWE is owned by the McMahons, ?part of the Republican establishment? suggests those ?near the top of the power structure? looks down their noses at grassroots conservatives.

Conservative entertainment website The Twitchy rounded up a number of the Twitter reactions to Mr. Swagger and Mr. Colter, which flowed forth after their appearance on Monday Night Raw this week.

?@WWE What the f?k are you doing with this Zeb Coulter guy? A heel with a Tea Party stereotype angle? Do you still want my money?? tweeted Mark Scudder.

?Yeah, the WWE is back to being racist. The Real American against the wealthy Mexican whose fighting for the poor,? tweeted Milly Del Negro.

In response to the criticism, WWE released a statement defending their storyline.

?WWE is creating drama centered on a topical subject that has varying points of view to develop a rivalry between two characters,? wrote Brian Flinn, WWE senior VP of marketing and communications in an email to the Hollywood Reporter. ?This storyline in no way represents WWE?s political point of view. One should not confuse WWE?s storytelling with what WWE stands for, similar to other entertainment companies such as Warner Bros., Universal Studios or Viacom.?

Writing for the Baltimore Sun, wrestling blogger Arda Ocal said it was good to see the WWE get mainstream attention but that the organization faces a huge double standard with many media outlets, ?critics and others [who] think WWE is again using political issues distastefully to generate interest in its brand of entertainment.?

Mr. Ocal does not count himself among the offended and he?s sure the WWE will benefit more from the attention than suffer from negative press.

?Senator John McCain once called [mixed martial arts] ?human cock fighting,? and he certainly will not cause the demise of MMA,? he wrote. ?These detractors will not be the downfall of WWE either.?

Mr. Swagger, known in real life as Jacob ?Jake? Hager Jr. has been wrestling with the WWE since 2006 under various names and in various storylines. Swagger is his most recent incarnation. Mr. Colter?s real name is Wayne Keown, but he?s better known as American wrestler Dutch Mantel. A former veteran of the wrestling organization, he made his return to the ring on Feb 11, 2013 under the name Zeb Colter.