Tony Hawk has announced that the “Mute” tricks have been renamed in the upcoming Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 to respect Chris Weddle, who pioneered the trick. Weddle first christened the trick in the 1980’s and it has been known by this somewhat offensive moniker since then.
Chris Weddle, who is still skating to this day, is somewhat of a legend in the skateboarding scene. The deaf skater is most well-known for having created the “Mute” series of tricks years ago. The “Indy air”—a move where the skater grabs the toeside of their board with the back hand—had just come into being, so folks wanted to name it. For some reason, it became known as the “mute” air.
Chris Weddle was the first to master the trick, so it sort of became known after him, although for very wrong reasons. “They referred to him as the ‘quiet, mute guy,’” explained Hawk. “So it became known as the mute air, and we all went along with it in our naive youth.”
And now Hawk and other skaters want that to change out of respect. Hawk and other individuals reached out to the creator to ask his opinion on changing the name, and Weddle was very clear. “His exact quote to me was, ‘I am deaf, not mute,’” said Hawk, and now the move will be titled the Weddle Grab, Weddle Backflip, and Reacharound Invert.
“It’s going to be challenging to break the habit of saying the old name but I think Chris deserves the recognition,” said Hawk. At the very least it seems that Weddle is excited to see his accomplishments honored in a more fitting way.
Activision also commented on the change saying, “These tricks were created by Chris Weddle, a skater with hearing loss, who pioneered all three tricks,” the blog reads. “With the launch of the remaster, Vicarious Visions was happy to celebrate Chris’ legacy with the renames and hope fans enjoy these tricks, and dozens upon dozens more, in this demo and the full game.”
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 will launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on September 4.
