What Were they Thinking, Or Were They?
I know, it’s only pro wrestling, where the storylines ouside the squared circle are often as goofy as the ones inside, where the chairs and the challenges fly, where the differences between good and evil are so exaggerated that you can see their white trunks vs. black trunks scenarios from space, like the Great Wall of China.
Its the WWE, where Donald Trump and Vince McMahon fought by proxy, I think, unless they didn’t, for the privilege of seeing the other shorn of his locks like Samson. Whatever did happen with that match?
Anyway, I get it. Still, the latest storyline is troubling and tasteless, even for wrestling.
To ride some of the promotional flurry, and as it turned out, fury, of the Sopranos finale, WWE cooked up its own "whacking." If you missed it, check out the WWE Web site, where they are pretending that McMahon is "presumably" dead after a fiery car bomb engulfed his limo on Monday night after a RAW event.
WWE even put out a press release with the sad news, and there were links set up to potential reaction from his shocked family and "eyewitness accounts" of the explosion, pictures of the fireball, a reference to "a seared corpse hanging outside the limo," and news that the flags at WWE headquarters have been lowered to half-staff.
Maybe it’s just me, but when I can turn on the TV or open the paper and read about real men and women who have been killed in real car-bomb explosions fighting unscripted fights, it makes me want to not use that scenario as some gimmick to draw more eyeballs to the TV or sell a few more tickets to a WWE event. "Watch the Explosion" advertises one link on the site. Haven’t we seen enough of the real thing?
I think maybe the heads of WWE have had too many encounters with the turnbuckle to have been thinking straight on this one.
But hey, maybe it’s just me.
By John Eggerton
im not giving my name to a machine commented:
wwe isnt real by a long shot. its practically a soap like coronation street or eastenders. the undertaker has died like twenty times but hes still in matches. most people i know who are dead, decide to stay dead. if it really is real, if they did film a guy who walks like he's soiled himself get into a car and film it explode without turning of the camera because its rather pointless watching someone get into a car and drive out of a parking lot without knowing something would happen, its then no one really cares! what they even do isnt wrestling, its fighting, theres a HUGE difference. and of course i like the diva's storylines, like dawn marie kissing torrie wilson, but apart from that, cut the freaking drama and just show some entertaining wrestling! that's your jobs!
Michael commented:
There is a major difference between an explosion on "CSI," and the one at the end of Monday Night's "Raw." It's obvious that "CSI" is scripted, but pro wrestling is treated like it's actually happening, when it isn't. The WWE is treating this like it actually happened. It's a disgrace, and I fear that in the future, when someone in the organization actually dies, ala Eddie Guerrero or Owen Hart, the WWE will have to do some hard convincing that that person really is dead, and not just another storyline. BAD MOVE.
ladybeachcomer commented:
Mr. John Eggerton I could not have said it any better! It was awful! I know a few people who have lost family members in car crashes and/or even in battle! Things like this make it hard to stay a wrestling fan. It makes you wonder how out of touch these people are!
Phil commented:
10 WWE ideas& related storylines(in no particular order) worse than the limo bombing:
1.Rikishi runnign over Stone Cold
2. John Wayne Bobbit saving Val Venus from castration.
3. Mae Young giving birth to a hand. Scratch that-ANYTHING involving Mae & Moolah.
4. wwECW
5. Muhammed Hassan
6. Giving jobs to: Khali, Miz, Chris Masters, Lashley, Snitsky, any "Diva"
7. The "Kiss my Ass" Club
8. The "Higher Power"
9. HHH/Kane necrophilia
10.Eddie Guererro's real death used as an angle.
wwf111 commented:
I think the real issue here is that is this the lowest wwe has ever gone? the answer is NO. I've seen a lot worse, however this is the DUMBEST thing i think I've ever seen. I wasn't offended but I can't belive people who actually call the police and wonder if its real.
Nikki commented:
Is it just me or did the world suddenly forget the thousands of TV shows and movies that fictionally portray events of all sorts of graphic nature?
How about movies like "The Blair Witch Project"
Or shall we even go as far back as the infamous (and by the way now celebrated as brilliant) "War of the Worlds".
C'mon folks...it's entertainment. If you don't like it...use your remote, otherwise, get over it!
Jim commented:
Sorry to disagree with a majority of the comments...WWE stepped over the line big time again...even worse then when they had Muhhamad Hussan and his terrorist attack. Some subjects need to be treated with seriousness. And with all the recent deaths involving wrestlers and former wrestlers one has to tread lightly
EA commented:
The difference is WWE is trying to pretend this is real, with the press releases, flags at half staff, etc. while other TV shows don't do that. When any of the cast members on the Sopranos died, did they pretend they really got whacked in real life?
Val Stone commented:
This whole storyline is Amazing... It was put together very well. you have to remember that this is all entertainment. Vince IS NOT dead. If you watch the video of the limo exploding you can tell. It takes to long for vince to close the limo door and he seems to hesitate. Another thing... You shouldn't just single out the WWE for this and their storyline going too far when first off there are a whole bunch of shows that do the same thing and no one says anything. SO BACK OFF. IT'S JUST ENTERTAINMENT... ITS JUST TV.
JT commented:
I agree that this storyline is in poor taste, but what about the Soprano's, where two children were in a car that ran over their "grandfather's head"...It's not meant to be real, it's entertainment. The sole purpose of this is to further the story, and rumor has it this storyline was penned by a Hollywood writer, so stop making such a huge fuss about it, and get over it.
Also if you're such a good reporter, you would have known that the Trump vs Vince angle at Wrestlemania was for charity.
Trump said the 61-year-old McMahon persuaded him by making a "sizable" donation to charity. Both Trump and McMahon will donate their checks, an amount McMahon said should exceed $5 million.
So please stop vilifying Vince and the WWE, when it is just entertainment.
Peter commented:
I'd just like to add that you mentioned a reference to "a seared corpse hanging outside the limo". Unless you can provide me with evidence otherwise, I believe that is a factually incorrect statement. The WWE and its website have consistently been saying that he is "presumed" dead, and Vince will likely return sooner or later, as WWE.com said that firefighters found no body in the limo.
Josh commented:
Pro wrestling is fake, why wouldn't the storylines outside the ring be too? It's a fictional-based TV show. It's not documentary, it's not reality TV...it's scripted and it's fake. Obviously anyone with a brain knows that...so take a look at all the other fake shows out there that do similar things. And don't give me the kids watching bit. It happened at roughly 11:05. If you're child is up that late, I don't think what they're watching is the biggest problem in your household.
Jeff commented:
To all those that have lost someone in a tragedy, my condolences. However, WWE has a rating of TV-14. So, if your kid is under 14, they either shouldn't be watching, or you should be watching it with them. Those that are whining and complaining about this...do you want some cheese with that whine? Do you complain when a movie or a TV show does something similar like this? If you don't complain, you need to question yourself: Why are you singling out WWE? It's sports entertainment, people. Get over it.
Jeff commented:
WWE is notorious for always hitting new lows, but it can't possibly get any lower than treating it as though it's 100 % the real deal (ie. lowering the flags, 10 bell salutes, etc.). And I wasn't even against the angle when it happened, I think it makes for interesting television -- but a "Who ran over Stone Cold Steve Austin" storyline is as far as they should ever take these kinds of angles. WWE is seen as the male soap opera, but the beauty of wrestling over an actual soap opera is the realism that they try to create on every level -- once you bring a death angle into the picture (and treat it as real), that's crossing the line. I can't even understand it from a financial point of view -- as a public company, if the head guy that makes everything happen (and who is also very much a public figure) dies, shouldn't their stock in theory decrease as a result of perceived instability? On a side note, I'm sure Bret Hart must love that the 30 second cameo he agreed to be a part of on the show he vowed he'd never return to has left his character as a murder suspect! Don't know if you saw the show on Monday (I did) but by the end I felt like I had watched that Simpson's episode of "Who shot Mr. Burns." I'm sure somebody on creative had to have seen that re-run recently. Only difference is I'm sure Matt Groening didn't lower any flag at his office.
Y2J420 commented:
WWE doing this is no different than any other TV show doing it...
Get over it...it's called TV...don't just point out WWE for doing this, many TV shows and movies have cars exploding with people in them all the time...
danny commented:
it's not just you.