Only in the WWE can you see two executives screwing with heroes and telling the fans to stick it only to see them moments later promoting the Special Olympics and fighting bullies. And you wonder why less people are watching pro wrestling today than ten years ago?
[adinserter block=”1″]I get it. I know it is 2014 and the cat has been out of the bag a long time ago. I am really not one of these guys that sit around longing for the old school days I grew up with. That said, there is still something said about the illusion of pro wrestling. We all know the deal but yet subliminally WWE fans like to check the reality at the door and enjoy two hours of WWE for what it is. Yet the WWE have felt the need to continually remind its viewers that what they are watching is completely scripted and the heels, well they are actually nice people. Ironically the biggest offenders happen to be the two people with more to gain than anyone in the company, Stephanie McMahon and Triple H.
Let me say this before I continue. Triple H and Stephanie are two of the least popular people discussed online. I am not one of those haters. I have blogged several times about the greatness of Triple H. I think there is nobody as well-rounded as a performer in the business than he. As a heel, I don’t think Steph has ever been than she is right now. Unfortunately they just can’t have it both ways.
There is something very odd about the way these two are portrayed on television. They are the top heels. They have messed with all of the top heroes from Daniel Bryan to John Cena to CM Punk when he was around. Stephanie and Hunter took glee when Daniel Bryan was too hurt to wrestle and had to be stripped of the title. Stephanie has reveled in playing the b*tch recently in her feud with the Bellas. However for some strange reason we are constantly given a wink and reminded that these two people really aren’t that bad and they are just playing characters on television. Why this is constantly reinforced at the expense of the illusion has mystified me.
Am I overreacting? I don’t think so. Let’s take the WWE out of this and look at any television show. 24 is one of my favorite shows. What if 24 took the top villain of the show, Margot Al-Harazi and showed Judy Davis doing all kinds of wonderful things for charity during the commercials? What if FOX did that with Gordon Ramsey during Hell’s Kitchen commercials? It would seem incredibly strange wouldn’t it? It’d be hard to hate Ramsey for yelling at a poor woman who made a simple mistake when you know he’s really a nice guy and he is just hamming it up for the show right? Welcome to the WWE.
It started to really bother me during the anti-bullying campaigns. You’d see Steph out there with Triple H bullying Daniel Bryan yet she’d be portrayed in these commercials as a crusader against bullying. I just about lost it a few weeks ago on RAW. Just after she stripped Daniel Bryan of the WWE title she was showcased for her work with the Special Olympics. I applaud the work the WWE does with the Special Olympics and I am sure she is one of the champions, but why do we have to know about it right now?
Same goes for Triple H. This may rub some people the wrong but I am going to just say it. The WWE just announced a charity for the late Connor Michalek. It’s a wonderful idea and their tribute was incredibly moving. Yet when the press releases went out it was Stephanie and Triple H who are credited as starting Connor’s Cure. Triple H is even seen in the tribute video monkeying around with Daniel Bryan. I don’t know about you but it’s kind of hard to dislike these two for starting such a touching charity. It’s even harder to dislike Hunter and Steph after you watch that tribute video. What is the message that is being sent here?
[adinserter block=”2″]I am not saying that either one of these two should stop doing charity work. We just don’t need to know about it. We certainly don’t need to see it showcased on RAW every week! The irony here is that at some point they are likely to inherit the company when Vince walks away. They have more to lose than anyone by killing the illusion. Yet they have no problem being glorified at a time when they are supposed to be drawing heat as heels. I just don’t get it.
It’s time for these two to make a choice. Continue being the ambassadors for the companies and publicizing their charitable work or be the top heels in the number one sports entertainment company in the world. You can’t have both and expect fans to pay to see you get payback when they are constantly reminded about all of the good you do for people off-camera. It just can’t work!
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Yes, have the current faces do the charity promos. The heels can do them later – after they do a face turn.
That’s a great point
You know what really grinds my gears? When the wrestlers and commentators refere to the talent as performers! It breaks the immersion when they do this. They should refer to themselves as athletes, and wrestlers, but not performers. Actors are performers, and when I watch wrestling I want to get into it.