WWE’s latest celebrity crossover is putting an ugly spotlight on what appears to be a very simple policy: if someone is famous enough, their baggage may not matter.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer argued that Ryan Garcia’s name value and ability to generate mainstream attention outweighed the boxer’s history of racist comments when WWE decided to put him in a major RAW angle.
Garcia appeared during the July 27 episode of RAW, smashed Joe Hendry with a guitar and joined Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh in attacking Hendry, Danhausen and the Minihausens. WWE did not hide Garcia in the crowd or give him a quick camera shot. The company put him directly into a featured storyline heading into SummerSlam. Meltzer believes that decision showed exactly how WWE views controversial celebrities when there is enough fame attached to their name.
“I know Nick Khan is very liberal when it comes to bad people if they’re famous. Ryan Garcia is as bad as—I mean, for all the people that people have gotten mad at in wrestling and wanted to blacklist out of wrestling, Ryan Garcia supporting the KKK and all of the racist stuff that he has said…”
He then described what he sees as WWE’s line in the sand. Stay famous, stay useful and there may still be a place waiting on television.
“If you’re not in jail, you’re fair game for WWE. It’s a consistent policy if there’s not a conviction. I think if you’re a big enough star, even if there is a conviction, you’d be okay.”
Garcia has a boxing fight to promote, and his appearance gave WWE another shot at landing coverage beyond the wrestling bubble. Meltzer said that mainstream value appears to be the real priority. He then boiled the entire situation down to fame outweighing everything else.
“They’re promoting his fight, and that was their idea of getting publicity, getting him on SportsCenter and getting them into the mainstream, because to them, a guy like Ryan Garcia is mainstream.”
“That’s all that matters. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. Are you famous? Are you an influencer? If you are, cool. If you’re not, you can be a great person and it doesn’t matter because you’re not famous enough.”
Garcia’s appearance drew backlash, but WWE still gave him the guitar shot, the beatdown and the money position beside one of RAW’s biggest factions. The message was hard to miss: controversy can be worked around when the celebrity brings enough attention.
WWE wanted a famous name, mainstream exposure and social media traffic. Garcia delivered all three, and his past was not enough to stop the company from putting him under the brightest lights.
Do you think WWE allows fame to outweigh controversy when choosing celebrity guests? Leave your feedback below.
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