Long before he became Intercontinental Champion in WWE under his real name, Marc Mero competed in WCW as Johnny B. Badd after signing with the promotion in 1991.
Badd was heavily modeled after rock ‘n’ roll icon Little Richard, leading many wrestling fans to believe Mero, who is not of African descent, was a Black man.
Taking to social media, Mero reacted to a comic panel featuring Johnny B. Badd that portrays the character with dark skin and looking nearly identical to Little Richard. Mero said that people are still confused about his ethnicity to this day, but he makes it clear that he’s never been too concerned about the confusion.
“To this day I still meet people that think I was black. Can you blame them! LOL! Then again it doesn’t matter whether I was black or white, I was a Badd Man!”
To this day I still meet people that think I was black. Can you blame them! LOL! Then again it doesn't matter whether I was black or white, I was a Badd Man! https://t.co/13JsVEe0Js
— Marc Mero (@MarcMero) March 9, 2023
Marc Mero’s Wife Sable Apologized To The WWE Locker Room Upon Her Return To The Company
Marc Mero’s wife Rena, known professionally as Sable during her time in WWE, was a controversial figure all her own. While she received high praise from fans during the height of her popularity, by the time she departed the promotion for the first time in 1999, she was an unpopular figure backstage due to her arrogant attitude.
When Sable made the decision to return to WWE in 2003, she needed to apologize to those backstage in the company to resolve lingering tension. Mero discussed the situation during a recent interview with Steve Fall.
“And I’ll never forget she said to me, I think she was just getting a little, just disappointed with her Hollywood career. And she said, ‘What do you think about me going back to the WWF?’ And I said, ‘Oh, my gosh, absolutely not after suing them after everything we’ve been through. I know that the other wrestlers are disgruntled, you’re not going to be liked there. I can tell you right now, Vince will never take your phone call.’ And she said, ‘I already called them’ and I was blown away.
“But still supported her like if that’s what you want to do, I’ll stay home and take care of our daughter and so she went back to wrestling and she had to apologize to certain people. I think it was The Undertaker or Stone Cold or certain people. Vince made sure that she apologized because a lot of people were upset that she was coming back.
“She did that and made amends and went back and you know, had to do what Vince asked her to do. And, you know, then, unfortunately, you know, she fell in love with another wrestler, and while we were still married, and found out about it, and that’s when I filed for divorce and moved on in my life.” (h/t WrestlingNews.co)
The other wrestler in question was none other than Brock Lesnar, to whom Sable has been married since 2006.