Backstage Politics

[Blueshirt]

Whenever I read through these forums, I always get a healthy dose of people complaining about backstage politics. When certain wrestlers are pushed over others, it is always due to backstage politics. And I'm here to say, once and for all, that you are absolutely correct. Here's the deal, wrestling, like any other company or sports team in the world rewards certain people for doing certain things. People complain that HHH, Hogan, 'Taker, Michaels, and now even Austin had or have ridiculous pull backstage. Guess what? THEY SHOULD! If you are perceived to be the best at what you do, you should absolutely have a say in the way the company is run. Take, for example, a law firm. You have everyone in the firm and then partners. The partners run the show. They decide how to allocate bonuses and who should be made a partner. Often times lawyers who do EVERYTHING for the company are held back by greedy partners. And NO ONE complains because the partner, being one of the best lawyers in the firm, as earned the right to not only have his or her voice heard, but also followed. Sometimes in life you are related to the owner of the company you work for...and guess what you get special treatment. It sucks for everyone else, but they deal. Sometimes in life everyone thinks you suck, but the boss loves you and you get pull in the company. It is a simple way of life. The people who are carrying the WWE on their backs (Austin, Hogan, Michaels for a time) deserve special treatment. ANY smart boss will treat their best employees better than the others because it is simply smart business. And the people in these positions should exploit these positions for themselves because it is smart business.

 

[ThaRaph]

I will say this....alot of times when the IWC complains about how they believe certain wrestlers "need" to get pushes.....you find out that those "certain wrestlers" have bad reputations backstage and a sour attitude towards the management.

 

[Rated R SuperFan]

As a retired high school and backyard wrestler I understand the Backstage bullshit of wrestling people are always tryin' to get a better spot and will step on or over whoever gets in their way . it's just like any other profession truely and the IWC who think wrestler's "need" a push but don't understand the stuff that goes on backstage some of these guys do in fact have a bad attitude and have problems with the guys that get the push and the tv time and all the big matches . thses wrestlers that don't get the push are usually in the spot they are in because they stop working on themselves as wrestlers and characters a perfect example is "Gold Standard" Shelton Benjamin WWE wanted to put the ECW Title on him but felt he would be getting rewarded for being something less then Championship material so they stopped him just short of beating CM PUNK for the title . so theses guys get what they deserve becasue like it or not MOST of these guys that are getting the push deserve it due to Work ethics and they guys that don't get the push don't deserve them for the same reason .

Thanks for reading my post take care

 

[BernacK6]

Here's the Number One thing to remember....no one who posts on this thread has anything to do with the "WWE Backstage." Everyone on this site just loves to gripe and complain. I have read 5 other threads since last night and everyone is complaining about every part of Wrestlemania (except for Taker-HBK, which might go down as the greatest match ever & Steamboat's performance). Regardless of HHH's relationship to the boss, HHH has put over countless superstars, most notably at Wrestlemania (Batista, Cena, Benoit, Orton) and deserved to shine at the Silver Anniversary. I didn't like the end either, as it was too decisive and one-sided, but I don't complain about the result. HHH has earned the right to flex his pull and get a win at Wrestlemania. He will drop the belt to Orton. Let's all accept that this will happen. Why not grow the feud into something even more sadistic then it was heading into last night? Maybe, just maybe, WWE really does know what they're doing and this feud is just getting started. No one expected Orton to win the triple threat last year, but low and behold, he lost the title like 3 weeks later. With no build up. This will get more intense, and Orton will get the final say.

As for the main topic, pull is earned by making money for the company. The Kliq told fantastic stories and put butts in the seats. Hunter has been in command of the backstage for a long time now, and regardless of anyone's opinion of him, he is the benchmark in WWE right now. Everything goes through him, so deal with him winning last night. He hasn't won at Wrestlemania since WM19. I think he had one coming, and this buys WWE time to intensify the feud.

 

[rolltide_pisco]

backstage politics are all about the money...the higher on the card, the bigger payday you get...nuff said

 

[Scott Free]

Backstage politics are inevitable, and people using their pull to get into a better spot is a fact of life, yet, when it makes the product suffer, it STILL is wrong. The nonsense about "bad attitude" doesn't cut the mustard, a while back, not bending over for Pat Patterson was considered "bad attitude", so the it's a flexible point, HBK was reputed as having a "bad attitude" yet his performance made up for it, and so on. The point is, if the backstage politics make you want to stop watching or buying the product, they aren't acceptable, if they do not, one can live with them. Backstage politics prevented the Hardys from doing more in their match, catch the bit where Matt has a drop of blood on the forehead and a guy wearing rubber gloves steps in to clean it up while they cut to something else, no blood in an extreme rules match, interesting notion, but stupid. HHH/Orton was the main event due to backstage politics, it had a snowball's chance in hell to get more over with the crowd than the HBK/Taker match, yet, there it was, to end the show on a high note. The whole thing boils down to how much you're willing to take before you tell them to go fly a kite and stop playing their games on your dime.

 

[Wavy Crockett]

Well Last Night We Saw A Fine Example Of Backstage Politics With Triple H Retaining. Its Effectively Killed Ortons Push As He Got Dominated And Made 2 Look Weak Last Night . The Match Reminded Me Of The Triple H & Booker T Match From WM 19.

 

[FromTheSouth]

Orton is too big to have losing the Wrestlemania main event ruin his push. Guess what, he's still the top and best villain in the game right now.

I, too, have no problem with WWE's backstage politics. I think HHH is the guy I would least want to fight. They have built him to be the toughest guy in the company. It took them years to do it. HHH succeeded at lower levels. He had IC, European, and tag title reigns before he was ever a world champion. Undertaker was put on top immediately, and look what he's done. These two have built themselves up as brands. A little creative control is more than appropriate. Besides, Vince's reported ego and HHH's holding down of other superstars have to come in conflict sometimes, especially if both run as rampant as internet reports claim they do. In that case, Vince always wins. His ego is the check against backstage politics. He has the future of his business to look after. At some point, some youngsters are going to beat HHH, because Vince says they will.

 

[thepoo62]

My only concern with backstage politics is anyone's concerns with politics in how they effect an economy for example: supply and demand. Vince is the government and he "thinks" he knows what the fans want. There are lobbyists who influence him and sell him on ideas that really only benefit them but not the fans and ultimately we don't get what we want. Everyone on here is like "Triple H deserves it!"... but I say why? You think if RVD was given the mic for 20 minutes a night and the main event match for 8 years he wouldn't be the "benchmark" right now? The Kliq were great AND influential whereas Shelton is dumb and whines instead of kisses ass. Our loss I guess.

 

[Scott Free]

My only concern with backstage politics is anyone's concerns with politics in how they effect an economy for example: supply and demand. Vince is the government and he "thinks" he knows what the fans want. There are lobbyists who influence him and sell him on ideas that really only benefit them but not the fans and ultimately we don't get what we want. Everyone on here is like "Triple H deserves it!"... but I say why? You think if RVD was given the mic for 20 minutes a night and the main event match for 8 years he wouldn't be the "benchmark" right now? The Kliq were great AND influential whereas Shelton is dumb and whines instead of kisses ass. Our loss I guess.

Vince thinks he knows what the fans want, but not only that, he's convinced that they will take anything he feels like dishing out, and you can't blame him, there's tons of WWE conditioned lemmings out there, most will praise anything the WWE shovels without question, some will bitch and moan but still buy the WWE product, and THAT is the bottom line. As long as the WWE sells out at house shows, their merchandise moves and the ratings stay decent, nothing will change, it's business as usual and the backstage politics go on as routine. The only power fans have is the right to refuse to sponsor the product if they don't approve of it, that means stop giving money to the WWE in any way shape or form, I have made it a point of never letting Vince get a penny of my money unless there's something in it for me.

 

[reddevil69]

I don't think there is nearly as much politics in the WWE as there once was. These guys are all under contracts that guarantee them a certain amount of money.Someone like Orton is not being held back because he didn't win the title at WM25...the guy is still making a million dollars a year, do you think he honestly gives a shit about winning and losing? He is an employee and he has his role to play and he does it well and gets paid well for it. Shawn is currently under a contract that pays him 1.5 million per year, before PPV pay-offs and merchandise royalties.

I don't think for one second a guy in his position would bitch about losing a match. In 1996 when he was a trouble-making politician in the locker room, the champion was the single highest paid guy in the company and got the star treatment and lions share of house show and PPV revenue...that is why he and many other guys tried to step on one another to be champ, because it was the most money a wrestler could make and was the position with the most stroke in the company. Today, as it has been for the past decade the champ is not the highest paid nor does the titleholder have the most stroke. CM Punk had the Heavyweight title and I can guarantee he did not make more money and have more stroke than Taker,HHH,Shawn,Cena or Batista while he carried it. Same goes for Booker T,Mysterio,Edge, and Khali...they have all had that belt and I'm pretty sure they did not receive bigger pay-offs and bigger contracts than any of the Top 5 guys.

Taker,HBK,HHH,Cena,Batista,Edge and Orton are where they are because the fans want it that way, not because they bitch and moan and hold people down.Ask yourself a question: What would Sunday's Mania have been like without Taker and Shawn on the card? They are not holding anyone back, nor are they refusing to move out of the way. They are on top because they can do what no other wrestler in the company can do and that is deliver a match that has all fans interested and in the end lives up to the hype. They along with HHH,Batista,Cena,Orton and Edge get paid the big money because they put asses in seats and deliver the goods.