WWE Shop pulled a new Trick Williams t-shirt on Monday after fans accused the design of leaning on racist imagery, according to reports from WrestleZone, Ringside News and Fightful.
The shirt was built around Williams’ “Lemon Pepper Steppers” catchphrase and featured his signature white wrestling boot surrounded by fried chicken wings, with the phrase also printed on the back. Fightful reported that the shirt was released on Monday and drew immediate backlash before being removed from WWE Shop less than 24 hours later.
Ringside News reported that fans quickly criticized the imagery as racially tone-deaf, pairing a Black performer’s catchphrase with fried chicken graphics. WWE has not publicly commented on the reasoning behind the shirt’s removal beyond taking it down from its online store.
Williams has used the “Lemon Pepper Steppers” line as part of his character work, and WWE Shop had built the shirt design directly around that catchphrase before pulling it in response to the criticism.
