The Tiffany Stratton Controversy Was Never A True Controversy
Recently, there was a major issue online regarding WWE Superstar Tiffany Stratton. The newcomer posted a video on her social media feed that some saw as “too far.” Thus, we now have the “Tiffany Stratton controversy,” which became a trending topic for a while online. However, many felt that the video was incredibly innocent without any issue at all. Considering Tiffany did not seem to have any intention behind it, and it was even created by a fan and not herself.
The video in question appeared on her Instagram story a few days ago. The fan-edited video involved her hitting Jade Cargill off of the ring apron during a match on WWE SmackDown, with Bianca Belair looking on. All in all, that part was not seen as an issue by anyone.
While this literally came from a match on TV, with no real issue, it also contained audio. This was where the actual problem came in. The soundbite came from someone known as Shooney Da Rapper. In the video, Shooney can be heard saying “Black B*tch.” Which then sees Stratton elbowing Cargill off of the apron in the video. You have to closely to hear the word “black” unless you recall this specific audio from its original source.
Shooney is known for doing a lot of battle raps. As a black woman herself, saying something like this is not really a problem. In fact, the line used in the video comes from one of her more notable lines. In it, she says: “I said Black, B*tch!”
While it is possible that Stratton knew of Shooney, that cannot be guaranteed. Shooney is barely known, and you have to really try to come across content related to her or you’d never know she existed.
IS TIFFANY STRATTON IN TROUBLE?
Some people wanted her head for this, but that is a bit much. While racism is still alive and goes on often across the world and the United States, sometimes accidental racism can happen. In this case, most believe Stratton did not do anything with any intention behind it. Stratton even deleted the video when fans made her aware of how unhappy they were about it.
This is likely when Stratton was informed about the audio. You can hear the word “b*tch” pretty easily, but she may not have heard the other part. That said, the video was only up for a very short window. It is said that WWE did not have to get in touch with her to do so, and she did it on her own. Of course, WWE’s Talent Relations likely had a talk with her about this.
Let’s be frank for a second here. She made a mistake, which is why we have this Tiffany Stratton controversy at all. She’s only 24 years old, which to be fair, is old enough to know better. We should not overlook that. However, mistakes and issues can happen on social media when it comes to young people. That said, she’ll know better for the future.
According to PWInsider, the reaction backstage over this big Tiffany Stratton controversy has been positive for the young WWE Superstar. She is not in any major trouble with WWE and has no heat with management or even Jade Cargill for that matter. However, WWE did likely punish her this past week on SmackDown.
Stratton was a favorite to not just be in the finals for Queen of the Ring, but to actually win it. Instead, Bianca Belair beat her, ending her run in the semi-finals.
THE TIFFANY STRATTON CONTROVERSY BS ONLINE
A lot of crazy rumors have come out about this, mostly from terrible places. Some people online truly did call for her to be released over the video. That alone was a bit problematic, but it was a very small minority of people who wanted that. This entire Tiffany Stratton controversy was hardly a controversy, to be fair. Yet due to how people talked things up online, some people made things seem worse than it was.
Probably the person who enabled this most from the media was Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer. He claimed that the incident was a “pretty significant situation behind the scenes at WWE.” He continued this by adding “Lots of fans sent the video on X to Paul Levesque.” Dave then claimed that if “Stratton wasn’t a star, she would have been fired instantly.”
In the old regime under Vince McMahon, the old man likely would have fired anyone even over the slightest controversy. Regardless of how big they are or their potential to become even bigger. Keep in mind, he released Daniel Bryan years ago over something relatively tame just because it went slightly beyond “PG.”
Yet this regime tends to take things seriously when they become a problem. They do not, however, jump to conclusions and randomly fire people without giving them the benefit of the doubt.
STRATTON’S LIKELY PUNISHMENT(S):
This Tiffany Stratton controversy still forces WWE’s hand a bit. However, releasing her when there is no need to do so would be insane. Especially when Triple H (Paul Levesque) is fine with punishing Stratton in other ways, which is for the best. Again, the prevention of winning Queen of the Ring was a big move. It is actually similar to a punishment Triple H himself experienced years ago over the Kliq Hug.
On top of this, Stratton is considered the favorite to win the Women’s Money in the Bank match. As of now, there is really no one else that people could see winning the match. It is honestly a perfect match for her, as it’ll allow her to utilize her daredevil tactics to the fullest. However, while she will likely be in the match, that might be it for her here.
She might very well lose out on winning this as part of her punishment, as well as lose out on her current main event push for the time being. Beyond this, we do not see things going much further. According to reports, WWE planned on Tiffany being a champion before the end of the year. This can still happen, it just might be later than originally intended.
