WWE made a serious mistake when they introduced the 2021 WWE Hall of Fame‘s legacy inductees over WrestleMania 37 weekend.
Ethel Johnson was recognized by WWE as the first African-American female wrestler in history but when acknowledging Johnson, the company instead showed a video package highlighting Sandy Parker, who wrestled several years after Johnson.
WWE was called out for their mishap on Twitter and the company later deleted and clips that were shared on social media. Family members of Johnson spoke to Chris Bournea to set the record straight.
Johnson’s eldest daughter, Shelly Adams started the conversation by correcting WWE’s claims of Johnson being the first African-American female wrestler. Adams explained how her mother was not the first female wrestler of African-American descent, but was the first black female champion.
“They inducted her as the first African American female wrestler. She needs to be inducted as the first African American female champion. They did not contact anybody. I didn’t get any contact until after I reached out and saw what they put up. I contacted WWE. They contacted me back, I told them what the errors were in the video. They said they were going to correct it. They didn’t know when the corrections were going to be made. They recently reached out to me and said they made the corrections, but I can’t find the original advertisement or video. I don’t know what they corrected,” Adams stated.
Adams would go on to say that the only way WWE can salvage the situation is, “If they come out, apologize, and recognize the history before, then we can move on.”
Johnson’s niece, Kim Goodwin Martin explained how the family only knew of the wrongdoing when it blew up on social media, saying that the family felt ‘disrespected and embarrassed’.
“How come you didn’t invite us to accept the award on behalf of my aunt? You didn’t call us because you knew you were doing wrong. They had plenty of time to get the information. They decided to put out what they wanted to put out. What they put out was untrue. It should be on the site with a big apology,” Martin said.
The first to call-out WWE for their mistake was Johnson’s granddaughter Michaiah Goodwin, who said, “They only care when something blows up. If it wasn’t for articles, I’m not even sure they would’ve tried to change it.”
(h/t to Fightful for the quotes)
Related: 2021 WWE Hall Of Fame Legacy Inductees Highlighted By Ethel Johnson
