Ryan Garcia’s WWE debut wasn’t the feel-good celebrity crossover the company was probably hoping for. Within minutes of showing up on RAW, fans were flooding social media accusing WWE of giving a platform to a boxer whose past racist comments and off-screen controversies haven’t been forgotten.
Garcia made a surprise appearance during the July 27 episode of WWE RAW, siding with The Judgment Day before smashing Joe Hendry with a guitar and helping the group beat down Hendry and Danhausen ahead of SummerSlam.
The storyline wasn’t what grabbed everyone’s attention. Instead, fans immediately began posting about Garcia’s history, including his use of anti-Black slurs and offensive remarks about George Floyd and Muslims during a social media audio chat. Others also brought up allegations surrounding his personal life, questioning why WWE decided he was the right celebrity to feature on one of its biggest television shows.
One fan took to Twitter and mocked the decision, writing: “Yeah let’s bring in racist boxers.” Another brought up allegations involving Garcia’s former wife, posting:
“Didn’t his wife have a restraining order against him after he threatened to kill her family and then trashed her house?”
A third fan reminded everyone exactly why Garcia became so controversial in the first place.
“The same Garcia that used anti-Black slurs and made offensive comments about George Floyd and Muslims during an audio chat on social media.”
For plenty of fans, that history was enough to sour the entire segment. One fan said Garcia’s appearance was “another reason why I don’t watch anymore,” calling him “a celebrity that is as racist as they come.” Another questioned what message WWE was sending by putting Garcia in such a prominent spot on RAW.
“So if you offend and use racist words against black people, you still can get treated like a celebrity in the WWE.”
Garcia may have walked into RAW as The Judgment Day’s newest celebrity ally, but by the time the show was over, that wasn’t what people were talking about. Online, the guitar shot, the beatdown and the SummerSlam storyline were all drowned out by one question that kept coming up over and over again: Why was Ryan Garcia on WWE television in the first place?
What do you think of WWE’s decision to feature Ryan Garcia on RAW despite his controversial past? Let us know in the comments below.
