Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Remaster Honours The Creator Of An Iconic Trick

Since the early days of skateboarding culture, several juvenile and insensitive terms have been used to describe different tricks, but it looks like the Birdman himself is taking a stand with the upcoming Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 Remaster.

Tony Hawk took to his Instagram page to announce that The Mute Grab would be renamed The Weddle Grab in-game, to properly honour the first person to pull the trick off, Chris Weddle.

Around 1981, a deaf skater and Colton skatepark local named Chris Weddle was a prominent amateur on the competition circuit,” Hawk explained. “The ‘Indy’ air had just been created and named so somebody proposed that grabbing with the front hand should be known as the ‘Tracker’ air. Others countered that Chris was the first to do [it], so it should be named after him
– Tony Hawk via Instagram

After discussing the origins of the move with Weddle, Hawk decided it was time the name, which stemmed from Weddle being known as the “quiet, mute guy”, was changed to honour his fellow skating legend properly. Weddle requested the trick be named the ‘Weddle’ or ‘Deaf’ grab which at the very least would be more accurate – as Weddle put it “I am deaf, not mute.”. As positive and well-meaning as this move is, Hawk acknowledges it will be difficult to change the current lexicon which has become baked into skate culture.

“It’s going to be challenging to break the habit of saying the old name but I think Chris deserves the recognition.”

View this post on Instagram

For nearly 40 years, we’ve shamelessly referred to this trick as the “mute” air/grab. Here is the backstory: around 1981, a deaf skater and Colton skatepark local named Chris Weddle was a prominent amateur on the competition circuit. The “Indy” air had just been created & named so somebody proposed that grabbing with the front hand should be known as the “Tracker” air. Others countered that Chris was the first to do, so it should be named after him. They referred to him as the “quiet, mute guy.” So it became known as the mute air, and we all went along with it in our naive youth. In recent years a few people have reached out to Chris (who still skates) about this trick and the name it was given. He has been very gracious in his response but it is obvious that a different name would have honored his legacy, as he is deaf but not lacking speech. I asked him last year as I was diving into trick origins and he said he would have rather named it the “deaf” or “Weddle” grab if given the choice. His exact quote to me was “I am deaf, not mute.” So as we embark on the upcoming @tonyhawkthegame demo release, some of you might notice a trick name change: The Weddle Grab. It’s going to be challenging to break the habit of saying the old name but I think Chris deserves the recognition. Thanks to @darrick_delao for being a great advocate to the deaf community in action sports, and for being the catalyst in this renaming process. I told Chris tecently and his reply was “I’m so stoked!” And then he shot this photo in celebration yesterday. 📷: @yousta_storytellers_club

A post shared by Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk) on Aug 12, 2020 at 8:40am PDT

The Weddle Grab isn’t the only trick being renamed to honour Weddle, with the Weddle Backflip and Reacharound Invert also being renamed, much to the pleasure of Weddell, who is reportedly ‘stoked’.

So are we dude, so are we.

The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 Remaster will be kickflipping into our hearts on September 4th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. For those who have already pre-ordered the game digitally, a demo will be available from August 14th.