Photo: Jordan Myles Instagram
Albert Christian Hardie Jr. — the professional wrestler who performed at the WWE under the named Jordan Myles — has quit the famed wrestling corporation, claiming racism.
In anexpletive-filled video rantposted to Twitter on Wednesday, the 31-year-old Texan dropped the news of his departure from the WWE.
“As of today I’d like to officially announce that I quit f—ing WWE,” he said. “I am no longer an employee.”
“I refuse to work for racist …,” Hardie said, cutting himself off and taking a deep breath before dropping a series of profanities. “I f—ing quit! F— them. I hate that f—ing company and everything they f—ing stand for. All they did was ever hold our f—ing people back.”
Hardie, who had risen to prominence under the name “A.C.H.” on the independent circuit, went on to say that he would now be going under the name “Super A.C.H.” He’s rebranded his social media display names to reflect that shift.
“Here is a more PG version of my live announcement: I QUIT!” he wrote in a follow-up tweet.
https://twitter.com/GoGoMyles/status/1194735781740531712
The WWE, who employs their wrestlers as independent contractors, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
In October, Hardie had called out the company on Twitter for a WWE T-shirt that he felt referenced racial stereotypes.
“I will keep posting this till my voice is heard. I’m not sorry for anything I say or do. Representation is important,” he wrote. “If this is [WWE CEO Vince McMahon] and [WWE executive Paul Levesque]’s ‘vision’ of me then this is a slap in the face to EVERY African American performer, fan, and supporter.”
“Why should I apologize for being honest?” he asked later, after backlash began. “Why should I not voice my opinion and state the facts about the state of the business? I’m proud to be a professional wrestler and I’m even more proud to be a African American. Stand with me and stand behind me.”
Reps for theWWE released a statement on the matter, claiming that he had “approved this t-shirt for sale.”
“As always, we work collaboratively with all of our performers to develop logos and merchandise designs and get their input and approval before proceeding,” they wrote. “This was the same process with Albert, and we responded swiftly once he later requested that the logo/t-shirt be redesigned. No t-shirts were sold.”
A new shirt featuring Myles’ namein a 90s-style cartoon fontwas later introduced in its place (As of Thursday, it is no longer for sale on WWE’s website).
https://twitter.com/GoGoMyles/status/1188393687983759360
https://twitter.com/GoGoMyles/status/1188829526727577605
Meanwhile, aside from the shirt incident, Hardie also slammed the WWE for hiring Hulk Hogan again.
Back in 2015, Hogan, 66, was fired from the WWE for repeatedly using the n-word. The wrestler, who had been associated with the WWE for nearly 30 years, apologized and was re-hired in July 2018.
“THE WHOLE WWE SYSTEM IS FRAUD! THEY CREATED THIS SYSTEM WHERE YOU CANT TRUST ANYONE, YOU GROW COLD, AND YOU GROW APART FROM WHAT YOU LOVE THE MOST!” Hardie wrote.
“The fact that @HulkHogan is still employed after giving the locker room an apology for being caught says enough,” he noted.
https://twitter.com/GoGoMyles/status/1188830667238457345
Hardie first started working with the WWE in February, reporting to its Performance Center training facility in Orlando, Florida.
Up until that point, the athlete had been wrestling for 10 years, making a name for himself for what the WWE describe as “his breathtaking aerial maneuvers — the type of stuff once thought to be restricted to the realm of video games.”
His NXT television debut came in July, in the first round of the NXT Breakout Tournament.
Perthe Internet Wrestling Database, Myles was last in the ring on Sept. 21, alongside Keith Lee in a match against Dorian Mak and Riddick Moss. He and Lee were triumphant.
source: people.com
