WWE faces backlash for featuring Ryan Garcia on Raw

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Triple H with boxer Ryan Garcia | (from Triple H’s X account) WWE has been hit with backlash from fans for featuring boxer Ryan Garcia on the most recent episode of Raw (July 27). The controversy around Garcia stems from racist and homophobic comments he publicly made in the past. In July 2024, the World Boxing Council (WBC) expelled him for using racial slurs against Black people and making anti-Muslim comments. In a livestream, he also made offensive remarks about George Floyd, a Black man who was murdered by a white police officer in 2020, as well as disparaging comments about the LGBTQ+ community. WBC lifted its ban on Garcia in November, 2025, and he has since won (and still holds) the promotion’s welterweight championship. When he was punished by WBC, he posted a message on X (Twitter) in which he said he was sorry to “everyone I offended.” Garcia also wrote that he was struggling with substance abuse and would be entering rehab. Despite his punishment and apology, many people still don’t welcome seeing Garcia’s face on television, including many WWE fans who were upset the company welcomed him on Raw with open arms. During his appearance on Raw, Garcia appeared during a musical segment which saw Joe Hendry and Danhausen skewering The Judgment Day. The boxer then revealed himself to be aligned with the villainous stable after smashing Hendry with a guitar before Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh joined in on the beatdown of Hendryhausen. Ryan Garcia has aligned himself with The Judgement Day 🫢@RyanGarcia | @DomMysterio35 pic.twitter.com/Y4cucyyyiq — WWE (@WWE) July 28, 2026 Soon after the segment aired, fans took to social media to reshare messages and audio in which Garcia made hateful comments. “WWE did not endorse Ryan Garcia’s attacks on LGBTQ+ people. It did something else, It decided those attacks were not important enough to keep him off television,” one person wrote on X. “WWE’s Love Has No Labels campaign named race, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity among the people it welcomed. Ryan Garcia attacked people across those same groups. TKO still found a place for him on WWE’s TV.” “Ryan Garcia is a deplorable human being,” another X user wrote. “The fact that TKO employs this a*****e is sad but he is someone who can make them money because he has his fans and he has people that will pay to see him get his ass whipped Just a terrible situation altogether.” One message read: “Every now and then I’m asked why I stopped watching WWE. The constant affiliation with racist, homophobic, transphobic pieces of subhuman garbage like Ryan Garcia is exactly why.” “You know there’s a team of people who evaluate the risk reward and they collectively decided that being racist, homophobic and islamophobic wasn’t a deal breaker,” wrote another person on X, expressing a common sentiment about Garcia’s appearance. Veteran wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer also took note of the fallout WWE has experienced from the Garcia spot. Ryan Garcia appeared on WWE Raw: "If you're not in jail you're fair game for WWE. It's fine. It's a consistent policy. There was outrage to it but if that guy would've been on AEW there would've been 10 times the outrage. I really am starting to think that the outrage stuff is… pic.twitter.com/dQs47RLPsb — Wrestling Observer (@WONF4W) July 28, 2026 “If you’re not in jail, you’re fair game for WWE. It’s fine. It’s a consistent policy. There was outrage to it, but if that guy would’ve been on AEW there would’ve been 10 times the outrage. I really am starting to think that the outrage stuff is tribal,” Metlzer, who has frequently been criticized for being partial to AEW, said. What do you think about Garcia’s appearance on Raw, Cagesiders? Let us know in the comments.