Jewish professional wrestler Simon Miller speaks on antisemitism in wrestling

Simon Miller, a Jewish professional wrestler and one of the presenters of the WhatCulture Wrestling YouTube channel, which regularly posts wrestling-related content to over 2 million subscribers, appeared on the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism where he spoke on how issues of Jewish identity and antisemitism have been dealt with in the wrestling industry, both on and off-screen.

Mr Miller discussed how the Jewish identity of the wrestling manager and on-screen character Paul Heyman, who currently works in the global wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and, in a documentary on the WWE Network, revealed that his mother was a Holocaust survivor, has been presented in a positive manner that allows Mr Heyman to playfully draw upon his Judaism.

However, Mr Miller also touched upon the various reported instances in which Judaism and antisemitism were handled poorly.

Remarking on the fact that he read from multiple sources that a “Nazi character” was once pitched as a wrestler, Mr Miller said that he was not entirely surprised, given that this was reported to have occurred at a time “when wrestling was super-duper about stereotypes.”

Mr Miller also gave his thoughts about the way the Jewish identity of the wrestler Colt Cabana was infamously handled, during which, in the mid-2000s, the wrestler had signed with WWE under the character of ‘Scotty Goldman’. Mr Cabana would appear in scripted segments where, in post-edit and reportedly without his knowing, klezmer music and stereotyping sound effects were added in. 

The wrestler also alleged that one of the WWE trainers would refer to him not as “Colt Cabana”, but as “Kike Cabana”. To date, WWE has never commented on or disputed the wrestler’s allegations, but neither have they been confirmed.

Mr Miller said: “You see that headline and you’re like ‘What?!’ I mean, it’s really even hard to come up with the words for it. ‘Scotty Goldman’, the name alone…you’re like, ‘What did you do? Did you just type in “common Jewish names”?’ 

“And to add all the [sound] effects in afterwards…I always thought about it from a Colt Cabana point of view. It must have put him in such an awkward position, because you’ve made it to the top. You’re in WWE…and then the one thing they lean on you for is ‘He’s Jewish so we’ll make him a Jewish guy’. It almost undermines everything else that he’s done.”

The WhatCulture Wrestling presenter went on to say that it was “disappointing, because there’s more to it than that,” adding: “I’m not saying that you couldn’t come up with an interesting Jewish storyline if everything is treated with respect, but that’s the point…it’s not, is it? It makes you want to stop watching.”

Mr Miller warned that presenting Jewish wrestlers in a demeaning manner could have serious, real-world consequences. 

“To an audience that may be a little bit ignorant towards [Judaism] or maybe a little bit uneducated, that may just back up certain ideas or it may actually enforce ideas they never thought they would have had before,” he said.

Speaking on the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and WWE star Bill Goldberg, a wrestler whose Jewish identity had never been acknowledged on-screen, Mr Miller said that had it been acknowledged positively, it could have served as necessary representation for Jewish fans.

“Let’s say on commentary, every now and then you just mentioned that he was of Jewish faith, as somebody may do with sports commentary just to add a little bit of flavour to proceedings, as a little Jewish kid that would have been the coolest thing ever,” he said. “It’s representation, right? It makes you go ‘Well that’s a badass thing! Maybe one day I can grow up and do that too.’ It’s just how people think. 

“So, all of a sudden, you try and make a caricature out of it, all that’s going to do is tell the little kid watching wrestling that maybe their religion is a bit silly, which is just not true, and it’s not fair, and it’s dangerous. More dangerous, I think, than people realise.”

Mr Miller also spoke on his admiration for the wrestler Maxwell Jacob Friedman, known to wrestling fans as MJF, who is signed to the promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), the largest wrestling promotion in the United States after WWE. MJF, who is currently the AEW World Champion, has often used his screen time to deliver impassioned speeches about his Jewish identity and antisemitism, revealing that he was bullied at school for being Jewish. 

“I find it really inspiring, and really motivational. I really, really do,” Mr Miller said. “He’s made it to the top, he’s established. He’s been doing it the whole time, and he’s been shining a spotlight on [Jewish identity], and he’s been telling his stories. Be it on social media, or interviews, the fact he doesn’t shy away from it and the fact he’s tied it up in his character, and the fact that he’s proud of it…you look up to it, because you’re like ‘That is so cool to see somebody doing that,’ and he has shared terrible, terrible stories of some of the antisemitism that he has experienced in wrestling, especially growing up.”

Mr Miller praised the manner in which MJF has repeatedly called out antisemitism on social media. “It’s great, because if he is doing it, that should then roll downhill, and other people can get the confidence to go ‘Actually, maybe I shouldn’t let this happen, and I won’t let this happen.’ And as soon as you start doing that, it can really inspire change.

“I think he’s doing a really, really important job, and I bet it’s not as easy as he makes it seem because I imagine he’s been through some real horrible stuff.”

Mr Miller revealed that MJF’s experiences resonated with some of his own, stating that he has been on the receiving end of antisemitic abuse. 

He said: “The big one that always stands out to me was in my first job when I was working in a cinema…there was this one guy, we saw each other every day, and my Judaism came up. He looked at me and he just said, ‘Oh, we can’t be friends anymore. I’m not allowed to like Jews.’ It all came down to the fact that that is what had been instilled in him as a child from his family. ‘We don’t like Jewish people.’ I never found out why.”

The wrestler said that this experience had, over the years, caused him to be wary about who he would reveal his Jewish identity to.

This podcast can be listened to here, or watched here.

Podcast Against Antisemitism, produced by Campaign Against Antisemitism, talks to a different guest about antisemitism each week. It streams every Thursday and is available through all major podcast apps and YouTube. You can also subscribe to have new episodes sent straight to your inbox.

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel, television personality Robert Rinder, writer Eve Barlow, Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe, and actor Eddie Marsan.