Why We Can't Have Strong Heels

[klunderbunker]

Because this kind of thing will happen.

So over the weekend, Kevin Owens was facing Roman Reigns at a house show. On his way to the ring, a fan in a Reigns shirt was trying to give Owens a high five. Owens told him to go buy an Owens shirt, but then said actually don't do that because he doesn't want a kid like that wearing his shirt and to never try and touch him.

Now, anyone with a functioning brain knows what Owens is doing here. In theory, the kid is going to be upset and then gets to see his hero spear Owens in half to shut him up. It's worked for the better part of ever in wrestling and it should work just fine here.

But unfortunately we live in a world where mothers with too much time on their hands have Facebook. Here's the response from the kid's mother (it's a long one):

Spoiler

“My heart is shattered. What started off as an amazingly awesome night ended in my 7 year old being completely heartbroken. My son is a huge WWE fan and a fan of just about every wrestler on the roster. He has a drawer full of everyone’s shirts but he chose to wear a Roman Reigns shirt since he has been a fan of his ever since he started watching. All night he was getting high fives from other wrestlers and was all smiles but for some reason when Kevin Owens came out he singled out my son and commented on who’s shirt he was wearing then told him “you should get this shirt. Actually don’t get this shirt I don’t want you to ever wear my shirt. Don’t you ever try to touch me.” All because my 7 year old wanted a high five and wasn’t wearing his shirt. My heart sank. He became visibly upset, sat down and kept staring at the gate. I couldn’t help it I started crying. He loves wrestling. He has a drawer full of just about everyone’s shirts, over 100 figures, so many accessories and just loves watching and going to events. The worst part is he was going to be getting a Kevin Owens shirt and hat for Christmas but now he doesn’t want anything to do with him. Kevin Owens was actually one of my sons favorites but now he says “he’s not even on the list of who I like.” This was finally an event that my whole family was able to attend: myself, my son, my mother who has been suffering from leukemia, and my father and we were all having a great time until that happened. For a show that is supposed to be family friendly Kevin Owens really crushed a huge fans spirits last night. My son is 7 not 15 or 16 where they can take someone they idolize talking to them like that but 7. We have been to many events: TLC, Smackdown, Hell in a Cell, NXT, and the draft. He doesn’t want to go anymore. He had previously asked me if the wrestlers who appear mean would ever do or say something to a kid and I said absolutely not they know better. Kevin Owens made me a liar and just showed everyone last night how much of a jerk he really is. To top all of this off after Kevin Owens lost to Roman Reigns and he was walking away from the ring my son was just standing there on his seat watching and Kevin Owens jumped towards him and yelled at him “I am your father” which made no sense but with the sudden movement and loudness made all of us jump and my son almost fell of his seat. My son is crushed and whenever he talks about it he tears up. I can’t believe a wrestler would actually treat a 7 year old fan this way. Shame on you Kevin Owens and WWE.”

Here's Owens' response from Twitter:

"A wrestler told my son not to not to touch him. I'm completely heartbroken...Well, not really but if I complain maybe I'll get free stuff!"

Probably not that far from the truth. The following link has a video of the incident. Check this out and see how DEVASTATING he's saying.

http://wrestlingrumors.net/mom-complains-kevin-owens-rips-young-fan/

If something like that is going to scar a kid, take him to Disney on Ice because wrestling is clearly too intense for him.

 

[Cena Is A Punk Rocker]

Haku vs Harley Race was the best match on the 89 Royal Rumble card.

 

[enviousdominous]

I rag on social media a lot, even though I use it extensively.

I think if Facebook had been around during the mid 90's, we'd have seen the same kind of tirade in regard to when Chris Jericho would rip apart fan signs because he thought they were patronizing him. I don't think this generation is any more or less emotionally sensitive, I think angry parents have more options for satisfying their blind rage.

Human beings have a warped sense of customer service, if you risk playing a villain in any artistic presentation then you risk having idiots threaten your career based on their impression of the character you're obviously portraying well. They feel gipped, but in reality they're being provided with a meaningful experience.

I hope that this incident with Kevin Owens can be used as free publicity, I'm sure that the kid's Mom was very happy to see Roman Reigns spear him as a consequence for his bad attitude.

 

[Papa Pillman]

This is so fucked.

How do people expect a heel to act after he has walked through the curtain?


Do the same people who would criticize Kevin believe that if they go to a theater performance and a child is scared by the play's antagonist, that the antagonist should temporarily break character from the stage to express to the child that he is not actually a bad person, but rather a performer portraying his role?

A discussion about when, and to what extent, a heel wrestler should keep kayfabe outside of the arena can surely be had in 2016- but to not expect a good performer to keep kayfabe during his performance is ridiculous no matter what era of pro wrestling we reside in.

 

[#tamale]

I'm going to apply armchair psychology and say that the mother is very overbearing.

These incidents are probably constant in the WWE, just not reported on because I think most fans get it. The mother just felt slighted by Owens and posted it on Facebook which is an absurd overreaction. It does speak to the issue of how social media has turned us into a entitled society.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

That's what happens when you have an audience that has no idea what wrestling is and how it works. That mother and the father should be damn proud they became part of the show.

Damn I can't even imagine all the saltiness going around during the 50s-60s-70s, when kayfabe was 100% there.

 

[OYDK]

http://wrestlingrumors.net/mom-complains-kevin-owens-rips-young-fan/

I think the editor's note from this link is even more ridiculous than the mother's post. This guy, a guy who writes about wrestling, says he thinks Owens went too far. "He's just a kid trying to have fun" this guy, who writes about wrestling, says.

Jesus Christ, I mean is this pro wrestling anymore or not? Did I step into the Mickey Mouse Club House by mistake? Might as well just make everybody a damn Looney Tunes character and be done with it.

WWE can't cater to this type of shit and I'm glad that they usually don't. When that starts to happen, real heels might as well disappear.

 

[@smarkmouth]

French Canadians simply do not respect your safe spaces. Great work, Mr. Steen.

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

This is insane. If this had ever happened to me when I was a young kid I would have been bragging about how cool that was and about getting a reaction out of the wrestler. Anybody who gets upset over that needs to not go to a show.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

It's still real to some it seems.

I'm not talking about the kid either.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

He had previously asked me if the wrestlers who appear mean would ever do or say something to a kid and I said absolutely not they know better.

She buys the kid all that merchandise but has no clue what wrestling is.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

The "I am you father" line was going too far but the rest seemed in line.

I blame smarks who cheer heels the most in all this. Today's generation don't understand how to appropriately hate. They're being wrestling-raised by monsters.

 

[Bernkastel]

In my opinion this is a product of WWE willingly killing the idea of kayfabe and running pro wrestling off the suspension of disbelief instead, which gets increasing more difficult the more social media evolves. In the pre-modern era of wrestling when kayfabe was alive this woman's reaction would have been normal. Now wrestling fans that are in the "know" of the industry look at incidents like this with amused irony.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

I like old school heels. Like when DiBiase made kid tap the basketball but kick the ball in process. Or how Sasha Banks worked that Izzy kid who loved Bayley. Great and easy stuff to bring you heat. Unfortunatly modern day WWE is PG TV so you cant have all those kids triggered in that way because, you know, kids buy merchandise. And although great heel move, at least Owens should know how easily is to trigger anyone. I mean, he blocked Sabrina The Teenage Witch on twitter for cryin outloud. And on top of that his kid got insulted by ESPN.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Donald Trump rang up to check if Vince was dead after the limo exploding angle.

 

[The Holy One]

I like old school heels. Like when DiBiase made kid tap the basketball but kick the ball in process. Or how Sasha Banks worked that Izzy kid who loved Bayley.

Yeah those are two great examples of heels actually being heels.

Unfortunatly modern day WWE is PG TV so you cant have all those kids triggered in that way because, you know, kids buy merchandise.

Or how Sasha Banks worked that Izzy kid who loved Bayley.

 

[Nate DaMac]

Donald Trump rang up to check if Vince was dead after the limo exploding angle.

Fucking mark.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

The real irony here is that this woman is complaining about the morality of Owens' behavior despite taking her child to an event where good guys and bad guys literally fight their problems away.

I'd imagine that's not exactly the base values she wants him learning.

 

[JoeMallard]

Because Vince is scared that at some point they'll get more over than Reigns, which WILL happen.

 

[Lowdown]

Before I make my point, I want to make sure that this isn't a knock on any of y'all that have kids. But after reading the quote from the mother, it just really solidified my belief that the way a lot of parents are raising their kids is *****fied. In all honesty, you're pissed and heartbroken that you're kid was thrown shade by a heel wrestler that's supposed to throw shade. It's what he gets paid to do. I can imagine that a good parent doesn't want to see their children have their feelings hurt, but this is wrestling. She should've schooled her son to how it works.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

That's the world we live in. Everyone gets offended by everything.

Owens isn't wrong. She'll get some free stuff because that's how this works.