JTG Talks How Black Wrestlers Are Portrayed In WWE, How Cryme Tyme Gimmick Happened

I recently spoke with former WWE star Jayson Anthony Paul, f.k.a. JTG, who was promoting his new book, Damn, Why Did I Write This Book?. During the interview – which was conducted before the Hulk Hogan controversy and will be published here on Wrestling Inc. later this week – JTG discussed his time with WWE, having heat in the company, speaking out against WWE and getting punished, issues wrestlers have with Triple H and more. He also talked about getting the Cryme Tyme gimmick.

"Well, there's two aspects to the Cryme Tyme gimmick," JTG said. "There's the look of the characters. At first, I didn't want to do it. My original partner was Abraham Washington. He called me up when we were in amateur class in OVW. He said we had an amateur show coming up, and he said if we were trying to get signed we needed to come out with bulletproof vests, fitted hats, a whole bunch of chains. We should wrestle in jeans and Timberlands. I said absolutely not, it's too stereotypical, and I already bought tights and wrestling boots. He talked me in to it, and we did the amateur show. We blew the roof off at the amateur show.

"The characters, me and Shad came up with that. We did some vignettes down in OVW after we won the titles. Our trainer Al Snow said 'you don't have to wrestle every week to get over, do something to get your characters over, show some personality.' Shad and I went out on your own and put those vignettes together that you saw on WWE. It was two different vignettes, but with WWE there was better production."

JTG also noted that the way African-American wrestlers are portrayed in the company is a little behind the times.

"I think the reason is that on the creative team there aren't enough people of different backgrounds and age groups," JTG said. "If they bring in someone who can bring in someone who can bridge that generation gap, I think the African-American wrestlers will have more up-to-date stuff."

Make sure to check back later this week for our full interview with JTG. You can purchase his new book, Damn, Why Did I Write This Book?, at PayHip.com by clicking here.