#3 Nationalistic Stereotypes
Especially since the WWE is based out of the USA, playing to the patriotic sentiment of the crowd has always been a salient selling point for the company. But when one Superstar is portrayed in the spotlight as a knight in shining armour based on a nationalistic point of view, it also requires another one to play the foil.
And in the WWE, inevitably, the villainous character as a foreign heel has become an overused and highly cliched character.
From Ivan Koloff and Iron Shiek to present day, when Rusev and Jinder Mahal have assumed the mantle of the ‘foreign devil’, not much has changed in terms of stereotyping Superstars that don’t hail from the USA.
I don’t mean to decry their methods, but to merely point out that having Jinder Mahal chant “shanti, shanti” while he goes on to unleash his rage on an unsuspecting jobber is hardly a sound plan if the WWE are looking to expand their global reach.
For the longest time, I was also confused if Rusev was Russian or Bulgarian. Anywhere will do I guess, as long as it isn’t from the USA. Perhaps it is that condescending mentality, that has to change.
