Black Excellence in WWE: Sasha Banks, Rich Swann and The New Day’s prideful, impactful photo

The old expression “a picture is worth a thousand words” rings louder than ever when Big E. of The New Day posted a photo with himself, Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston, Sasha Banks and Rich Swann.

There are 10 black wrestlers on the WWE roster. That number includes the entire RAW roster, the SmackDown Live roster and the 205Live roster. (If you included NXT, Angelo Dawkins and Ember Moon would make 12 total performers on WWE’s current payroll.)

That’s it.

Between those three shows, there are nine titles. Five of those 10 main roster black stars currently hold three of them.

Thanks to The New Day’s Big E. and this fantastic photo of him, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Sasha Banks and Rich Swann, the five of them came together to put themselves in a different spotlight that people have rarely seen in the professional wrestling industry.

First off, you’re right, Big E. — Black excellence indeed.

Professional wrestling has never been so black in the long history of the sport and it’s wonderful to see.

Sure, there’s Rocky Johnson and his son. You may have heard of him — used to go by the name of The Rock. Ron Simmons dominated the wrestling ring like he did on the football field at Florida State. Ahmed Johnson and Tony Atlas (Johnson’s tag team partner) were two of the strongest human beings alive, while Ernie “Big Cat” Ladd was one of the largest humans that ever lived.

But, the business has never seen a rise in stardom like what we’ve seen from all five of these extremely talented stars at the same time. It’s more than just holding the gold, though.

Rich Swann might have the best theme song in the wrestling world today and he’s leading one of the hot new trends in WWE with the revamped Cruiserweight division as their champion. His flare, in-ring ability and winning over every crowd with his performance looks so easy for him.

Sasha Banks, well … is what she says she is: a boss.

She has the looks, the fight, the charisma and the want to not only make herself better, but the entire brand of women’s wrestling, too. She’s taken the stereotypical, she’s-a-loud-black-woman-so-we’ll-call-her-ratchet chants from her early days with the NXT brand and turned it into gold as WWE’s resident boss.

Last summer, David Dennis Jr. wrote a great piece at UPROXX on the revolution of black superstars in WWE and this part on Banks was superb.

"The ratchet chant could have killed Sasha Banks. She could have fully embraced the audience-imposed gimmick and gone “ratchet,” wrestling as Halle Berry in BAPS and using press-on nails as foreign objects or something. Instead, Banks flipped the “ratchet” moniker on its head and became a woman who felt superior to the audience. If they’re lame enough to grab a buzzy slang word they heard on their black friend’s Lil Boosie album and start chanting it at the first black person they see in the ring, then maybe they are inferior to Banks. Sasha turned the “ratchet” chant into “I’m a boss.” Banks became the real-life version of the black women whose tweets I follow. She’s using the vernacular of “snatching wigs” and “snatching edges” that feels authentic."

And of course, there’s The New Day.

Big E., Kingston and Woods have taken a pathetic, horribly thought-out, hey-you’re-black-so-here’s-a-gospel gimmick and turned into one of the most entertaining acts for a stable in a long time for WWE.

When it came to the longest-reigning WWE Tag Team Champions in history, Dennis Jr. said that “their blackness is just part of who they are”.

That’s a fact.

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They’ve been able to intertwine black culture, pop culture and just being themselves into a gimmick and it has Vince McMahon swimming in a pool of gold like Scrooge McDuck.

Unfortunately, not everyone is on board with the rise of “black excellence” in WWE. There are some that can’t see past the color of one’s skin or so-called “divisiveness” from black stars pointing out that they’re black and them being on top seemed impossible years ago.

After Big E.’s photo went viral, there was of course (sadly) some negativity, which led to this response from Kofi Kingston.

This is from a tweet on Kingston’s official Twitter account:

"While much of the feedback has been positive, there has also been a lot of negative response with regard to the picture we posted illustrating Rich, Sasha, Xavier, E, and myself wielding our championship titles. Perhaps this is because many are in question of the motivation behind the post:It does not come from a place of malice, spite, or gloating. It comes from a place of joy and a place of happiness. We have a very strong sense of pride in being the Black People simultaneously holding championships in WWE. Historically in our nation, there was period in time where this would not have happened, followed by a long period of time where it became possible, but had not actually materialized. Now, we are in the time in which the possibility has become a reality.Why does this matter?It matters because even though it is hard for some to fathom, the fact is that there are many people who feel as though it is impossible to attain certain goals because of the color of their skin. This is why we must acknowledge the color of ours in this instance. It is important for people of all races, but particularly people of color, and especially the youth, to see that it is entirely possible to achieve your dreams and aspirations regardless of your race. We are a shining example who want to be a source of motivation for others to believe in themselves and do the same.Excellence is not the same as supremacy. #BlackExcellence is not meant to be divisive. For even if you do not fall into the specific category, you can still take enjoyment in our pride, because in the biggest picture, in a society that often focuses on the negative aspects of race relations, what has transpired with the 5 of us speaks positively to the progress we’ve made as a nation."

Kingston didn’t need to explain the purpose of the photo. It speaks for itself. If you can’t see the purpose and overall meaning of it, then you’re part of what’s wrong in this country and around the world.

Despite that, the fact that Kingston took the time to explain it as perfectly as he did should tell you that WWE is in great hands with these five black performers holding a good chunk of the championship titles in the company.

You’ll still see the stereotypes squeeze through. Remember Cryme Tyme? Hell, just watch R-Truth’s nonsensical act on a regular basis. A former world champion in TNA as Ron “The Truth” Killings has been relegated to the village idiot.

But, for every R-Truth character that deserves better, a rise in Sashas, Swanns and Kingstons has come and is still coming. (Watch a Cedric Alexander match the next moment you have available.)

Next: The New Day breaks tag-team title record on Raw

In the words of Wayne Campbell, “Excellent.”