UPDATE: WWE has issued the following statement in response to Myles' criticisms:
Albert Hardie Jr. (aka Jordan Myles) 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. 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.
NXT superstar Jordan Myles lays into WWE on Twitter, in protest of a t-shirt design that visually evokes racist caricatures of black people. Boasting over a decade of in-ring experience in the professional wrestling game, Myles first gained fame on the indie circuit under the ring name ACH, an acronym for his real name, Albert Christian Hardie Jr. A high-flying performing with charisma to spare, ACH was but one of many indie stars WWE's NXT brand has scooped up in the last few years.
Rechristened Jordan Myles, the former ACH made his NXT TV debut this past summer, as part of the NXT Breakout Tournament. The tournament featured eight wrestlers signed by WWE that had yet to debut on NXT programming, and saw Myles emerge as an early crowd favorite. Myles would pin Chinese wrestler Boa in the first round, before doing the same to Mexican heartthrob Angel Garza in the semi-finals. Myles defeated Cameron Grimes (former TNA X-Division performer Trevor Lee) to win the tournament.
Winning this tournament granted Myles the opportunity to challenge an NXT champion of his choosing, and unsurprisingly, he opted to take on NXT Champion Adam Cole. While Myles lost the match, he further established himself in the eyes of WWE fans. Unfortunately, things are no longer all smiles for the famously jovial superstar. Myles recently took to Twitter to voice his anger about WWE's first official t-shirt design for him. Featuring Myles' ring name over what resembles a bright red smile on a black background, the shirt has earned outrage for its similarities to racist caricatures of black people, especially the kind seen in old-time minstrel shows featuring white performers in blackface. Check out his tweets below.
WWE has yet to publicly respond to Myles' complaints and criticisms of the shirt, although as is mentioned above, it's no longer available on WWE's online store. That said, it's clear the shirt's mere existence has troubled Myles for awhile, leading him to finally speak out publicly. Myles is receiving a lot of support so far, although it doesn't appear that any of his WWE co-workers have backed him as of yet.
While Myles certainly shouldn't be blamed for standing up to what he feels to be an injustice, one wonders where this leaves his WWE career path, now that he's specifically called out WWE boss Vince McMahon and NXT boss Triple H by name. In a perfect world, they would simply apologize and promise to do better, with Myles allowed to resume his NXT career uninterrupted. However, McMahon has a reputation for holding grudges, and it's likely he's upset by the fact that Myles chose to take the matter public instead of handling things privately. Then again, it's possible Myles did attempt to do that, but his protests fell on deaf ears.
Source: Jordan Myles/Twitter