ACH may not have been able to quit WWE as simply as he wanted to, but while he may not be able to book indie matches just yet, he’s certainly not letting the company silence his voice. Over the weekend, the wrestler formerly known as Jordan Myles livestreamed a Q&A video on his Twitter, which provided a lot of insight into his state of mind.
Asked whether he’s able to move on from WWE, ACH responded simply: “Legally, no. Mentally, yes.”
As for where he’d like to go if he can get legally free:
New Japan, not that I got anything against AEW, but New Japan, I love New Japan. I feel like I got a lot more left to accomplish there.
He still wants to keep the focus on WWE’s racism towards him and others.
The WWE was racist to me because of the T-shirt that they produced for me. I was lied to, which really hurt my feelings the most. On top of that, if that was their image of me, what does that say about, you know, the kids, the African-American kids that watch it. Or just people in general that watch it, that felt some kind of way about that shirt, not just me. I think that that shirt was disrespectful, it was disgraceful. And on top of that, it was a slap in the face. Not only to myself, but all the viewers that look just like me. I think that that shirt was completely racist, and if you go back and you do the history, I mean yeah they’ve given titles and championships to African-Americans. But that doesn’t take away the fact that they have done things that were very insensitive to the African-American community. And I think a lot of people need to really look at that.
Some fans brought up Kofi Kingston’s recent title run as something that mitigates WWE’s racism, but ACH is unconvinced.
A lot of people have been telling me, “Well, what about Kofi?” Kofi, man, you can’t touch Kofi. Kofi’s one of the greatest of all-time, especially now that he became the World champion. Like, you cna’t put nothing on that. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that when you look at the history of WWE, all the stereotypes that they have created in the past. That is what makes them racist.
But he also makes the point that racism in wrestling is a broader problem than just WWE.
You have to look at wrestling as a whole. Whenever you see an African-American in any wrestling promotion, they’re usually limited to what they can do or what they can achieve. I’m just trying to achieve way more than just some World Title. I’m trying to reach your ears. I’m trying to reach your heart. I’m trying to make a difference, and that’s why I’m making a stand.
He also defends his choice to air his grievances on social media:
I know a lot of people aren’t happy with the decisions that I’ve made as far as the way that I voice my opinion on social media. And I will admit, a lot of it was definitely fueled off of emotion. But it was correct emotion. And I won’t take anything back, and I refuse to apologize because I meant it. And if I meant it, that’s why I said it. And that’s what’s most important.
He addressed concerns about his harsh criticism of Jay Lethal, but he didn’t really say much of substance on that issue:
There’s a huge story behind it. And to be fair and respectful, I won’t disclose that story. I won’t disclose that story because I won’t throw more salt on his name that I already have. And I think any issues between him and I? Now that it’s out there, I’m cool. Like, I’m straight. It is what it is, you know what I mean? But our beef is our beef. There may not be any beef. And to be fair, there ain’t no beef on my end. I said what I had to say and I’m done. I’m done with it, I got everything off my chest, it’s out there in the public eye. If anybody wants to know, your best bet is to ask him. Or ask around, there were a ton of people around.
And finally, he responded to questions about his own mental health.
The thing about the mental health is, I do suffer with anxiety. And I do suffer with depression, and I can have bad mood swings sometimes. But that doesn’t mean when I speak out, that I’m just speaking out and it doesn’t have any meaning behind it. The t-shirt triggered things from my past, and it all came up at once and a lot of anger from my past came up with it, as well. And that caused me to come at people the way that I did. Again, I’m not gonna apologize for what I said. What I said, I meant it. And that’s just how it goes.
(Thanks to 411Mania for the transcription.)
