The Wrestling Genius: Been there, done that

The United States of America is going to be led by an African-American man for the first time in its history. But a man of color in power is nothing new to the world of professional wrestling.

Wrestling integrated long ago, and champions of all races and creeds have worn gold inside the squared circle.

The first African-American to be a world champion in wrestling was Ron Simmons, who took the WCW Championship from Vader in 1992 and held it for four months. Simmons, known better as Farooq of the Nation of Domination in WWE, was the first African-American to hold a major world championship. Simmons was an All-American at Florida State University, and he is considered one of the best to play his position in college football history.

While Eddie Guerrero may be foremost on the minds of fans as a Latino world champion, he was actually not the first. Pedro Morales won the WWE Championship in 1971. Morales won the belt from Ivan Koloff and held it for about two years, eventually losing the title to Stan Stasiak.

The first world champion of Indian decent was crowned in 2007, with the Great Khali winning a battle royal to crown the champion. Khali held the strap for about three months, and is considered a national hero in India.

The first world champion of Japanese decent is Giant Baba, who won the NWA World Heavyweight Title on Dec. 2, 1974, from Jack Briscoe. This was back in the days when the NWA World Title meant something and wasn't just a piece of the past. Baba dropped the belt back to Briscoe a week later, but he would become a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, with his last reign coming in 1980.

So there you have it. While politics may have lagged behind, professional wrestling has shown that any worker can come up and become the top draw in the world, no matter their race, creed or color.

Dustin Watson is a professional wrestling blogger for the Linn County Leader, he can be reached at lclsports@shighway.com .