I’ve never been one of those wrestling fans that goes on a message board and proclaims that he’s done watching wrestling because of one thing. I’ll admit, there have been times where I’ve shied away from the business out of sheer boredom; but I’ve never written it off in my life. I honestly don’t think I ever will. But I am someone who doesn’t take kindly to situations that makes me-as a viewer-question my own morality by watching the product being shown. Even though I wasn’t an avid viewer, if Dog The Bounty Hunter happened to be on my screen as I flipped the channel a view years ago, I would stop and watch for a few moments; or even finish the episode. That was until Dog fell into a big barrel of N-words during a phone call that would cause Dave Chappelle’s black white supremacist character Clayton Bigsby blush. From that moment, Dog hasn’t been on my television for any longer than the time it takes me to press a button.

Hey, I completely understand that racism is everywhere; even on TV. Racial satire has become something of a common thing on sitcoms and comedy shows like Family Guy and the aforementioned Chappelle’s Show. Even in pro wrestling we’ve had some racially disparaging moments. One moment in recent history (chronicled exceptionally in James Guttman’s first book-World Wrestling Insanity) involved then World champion Triple H informing upcoming challenger Booker T. that, “People like you don’t win championships.” Even though an underlying message of racial tension was used to add some heat to a feud that didn’t need it, never once did Triple H go out and start blasting Booker T. for being black. Not once did Triple H go on the radio and embarrass WWE by stating, “Yeah, he’s African-American, and his kind don’t win belts like us.” While the feud was grounded in racism, Triple H never expressed his possible dislike for minorities in a manner so hateful that it would make the Ku Klux Klan proud. But there’s one man who did, and continues to do so. And that man is Todd Clem. You don’t know who Todd Clem is? Well, Todd Clem is none other than Hulk Hogan’s favorite radio personality, and former TNA employee, Bubba The Love Sponge.

Shortly after the recent Haiti earthquake-a disaster that has affected nearly 3 million people, with over 230,000 of them being casualties-President Barack Obama decided that it was this country’s responsibility to help in any way it could. Once again, the United States of America attempts to help like any country with the resources should. And you know how our proud, flag-waving Bubba felt? Here’s what he tweeted just days after Obama’s announcement, “I say f*** hati. Why do we have to take care of everybody? our country is in shambles. Bubba."

First off, you notice Bubba can’t even spell “Haiti” right. But his ability to spell simply named countries is not the reason I’m writing. Like President Obama, people around the U.S. wanted to help Haiti in their own way-including TNA wrestlers The Beautiful People, Brutus Magnus, Mick Foley, and of course, Awesome Kong. Kong found out about the tweet like the rest of us, and took it personally. Kong confronted Bubba on Monday, January 18th, and beat the living crap out of him. Upon reading the happenings a day later, I couldn’t help but be proud that someone finally punched that fat racist in his mouth. While that might seem contradictory, I’ll admit that I don’t condone what Kong did. Just because you hear or read something you don’t like doesn’t mean you can just go and attack the person who said/wrote it. Kong getting reprimanded for her actions-no matter how justified they were-had to happen. TNA Wrestling is a business, and you can’t just have the inmates running the asylum.

But what about Bubba? Like Kong at the time, Bubba was currently hired by TNA. And on his free time, he voiced his opinion on a global network; badmouthing a country in dire need of help. His actions made not only himself look bad, but also TNA for having him employed. So how did TNA rectify this situation? By giving Kong her release from the company, and allowing Bubba to stay employed without even a slap on the wrist. Wait, what? The first half of that punishment was asked for by Awesome Kong, so no big deal; but Bubba getting off without a reprimand whatsoever got me questioning what TNA is really about. Just a day after the incident, Hulk Hogan joined Bubba on his radio show. Bubba was openly unapologetic over his Twitter comments, and felt that TNA and Dixie were in the wrong for being upset because his comments were done on his own personal time. Hulk added fuel to the fire by giving Bubba card blanche, “I tell you what, though, after what happened, if you had clocked her you'd have got away with it...but what happened, she deserved it…You did the right thing, it's all good, man. It ain't no big deal.”

After arriving in TNA, Hulk Hogan has become the face of the company. For him-in all good conscience-to tell Bubba that it’s no big deal belittles, not only the situation, but also the importance of actions and consequences in a business atmosphere. Do you think that if something like this happened in WWE, Vince McMahon would just let it go? Heads would roll in a heartbeat. We know how close Michael Hayes came to joining in the unemployment line for an off-color remark that wasn’t even said in malice. And even though he is still employed with WWE, Hayes’ position in the company was reduced after he returned, as well as his pay. But in TNA, racism is okay as long as you’re Hogan’s buddy.

As the weeks passed, talks of Kong suing Bubba came out, but nothing was confirmed. In TNA land, Bubba was getting a bigger role than just being a backstage interviewer as he was brought in as. Now, the man who embarrassed the company by spewing hate for Haiti and black women on a daily basis on his radio show was being pushed as the backup voice to The Band-Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Syxx-Pac. This was seemingly leading to a feud between Bubba and Hogan. Yep, Bubba doesn’t get punished, or even talked to about how his image is negatively affecting the company. No, Bubba gets rewarded with a push a majority of the much deserving roster would die for. Score another one for TNA and civil rights.

As much as I rag on TNA for their zany matches and confusing storylines, I’ve always tried to support them. I ordered their first pay-per-view in 2002, and continued to do so for years. I wanted TNA to succeed. But seeing someone like Bubba get pushes and precious TV while continuing his hatemongering started to sully my view of Dixie Carter and the TNA brass. How could Dixie responsibly sit back and listen to Bubba on the radio and say, “There’s no reason to release him,” while trying to make a product that will reach far and wide like WWE?

Last Friday morning, I decided to check the headlines on various websites. One title grabbed my attention, “Bubba The Love Sponge Confronts Awesome Kong On The Cowhead Show.” I stared at my computer in amazement as Bubba played his tough guy act over the radio, calling out Kong as a sucker punch artist. And the sad part is that was the nicest thing Bubba said. As Kong vehemently proclaimed, “This isn’t what I agreed to,” Bubba began throwing as much verbiage as he could. “Big fake black b****,” “Maybe we could sanction something, and give the proceeds to Haaaaiti,” “You stupid b****, I’ll kick your ass,” were just a few of the remarks between the time Bubba started talking and the time Kong hung up on him and Cowhead. As everything soaked in from those near four minutes of hate coming from Bubba toward someone who hasn’t verbally or physically interacted with him in months, I realized that I couldn’t, in good conscience, support TNA any longer.

People started to see TNA in the same light I did because after the audio of Bubba’s radio set up of Kong hit the Internet, many TNA fans began to swear off watching the product until Bubba was fired. It took four months, many protests, and four minutes of unabashed radio time for Dixie Carter to finally get it through her thick head that Todd Clem isn’t an asset to her company; he’s a detriment. Over twelve hours after Bubba’s disgusting tirade toward Kong, he was fired from Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

I guess Bubba’s radio odyssey that day with Kong was the final straw to break the camel’s back. Or was it the final straw in a long line of work/shoot moments to build up to one catastrophic moment? This is the pro wrestling world I’m writing about. This is the same company Vince Russo is employed by. Maybe this whole time I-and everyone else-was being made to look like a fool in believing this was real. Or maybe we are just trying to delude ourselves. For many of us, pro wrestling is a form of entertainment that we watch to get away from all the stresses of life-including racism and sexism. We don’t want our little piece of peace to be tainted by such a disgusting thing like violence toward women, mixed with hateful racism. And if we can turn a questionable situation into fiction, it brings pro wrestling back to that soap opera-like atmosphere we know and love. Even Hogan himself felt this was a great set up for something big during his previously mentioned visit on Bubba’s radio show, “I think this is really just the beginning of a match made in heaven.” In Hogan’s delusional world, this was the perfect genesis of a big, money-making interaction.

In reality, this was a situation where racial, sexist, and human ignorance brought forth violence and heartache; disrespect to a country crying for help, and a race of people misunderstood by those who have never had to suffer such indignities like the people in Haiti. Until April 30th, Dixie adhered to Bubba’s feelings and thoughts of racial hatred, female inferiority, and a lack of compassion for a people who need help in a moment when they can’t help themselves. And even though TNA has ridded itself of the cancer known as “Bubba The Love Sponge,” enough damage has been done to TNA’s image that makes me think that Impact will be making less of an impact on my wrestling viewing schedule from here on out.