Controversial segment on IMPACT involving Orlando Jordan

[XgringolocoX]

I don't care one way or the other. I like seeing chicks go at it so I'd be a hypocrite if I'd complain. This wouldn't make me stop watching TNA, I just wonder about a lot of fans out there, or their parents that would have a HUGE problem with it. I don't think TNA is wrong from a social standpoint and I applaude them pushing the envelope. However I just think folks will tune out because of it and that's exactly the opposite of what they need right now. Not all controversay creates cash.

 

[Pedro08]

I don't care one way or the other. I like seeing chicks go at it so I'd be a hypocrite if I'd complain. This wouldn't make me stop watching TNA, I just wonder about a lot of fans out there, or their parents that would have a HUGE problem with it. I don't think TNA is wrong from a social standpoint and I applaude them pushing the envelope. However I just think folks will tune out because of it and that's exactly the opposite of what they need right now. Not all controversay creates cash.

I agree. I think it would be foolish not to look at the broader ramifications this potentially could have on TNA as it tries to builds an audience.

Whatever personal feelings people may have, and most on this thread seem to be ok with this, you have to ask yourself if this is something that will appeal to a broader audience or is this something that potentially could cause viewers to change the channel over to RAW on Monday nights?

Personally, I have said that it's a gutsy move, but I think it could be a potential ratings killer.

 

[jellmoo]

TNA is on Spike TV, a man's channel. A channel that prides itself on ass kicking and toughness. And as far as the kids comment goes TV-14 is still kids. TV-MA ala South Park would be different but this is still a show to get people into buying/supporting your product.

A gay man cannot kick ass and be tough? What exactly does sexual orientation have to do with toughness and ass kickery? Orlando Jordan is less tough than say... Manswers... because he is attracted to men?

And so what if kids watch? Are you seriously going to say that watching one guy kiss another guy is worse for a child than watching a man get savaged with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire? What about when AJ Styles and Ric Flair come to the ring with half a dozen girls? Or Samoa Joe holding a knife to his opponents throat?

This isn't about anything other than pissing off fans that do not want to see this kind of garbage on their TV sets. Call me a Bigot, Dinosaur or whatever you want to call me but I don't wanna see that crap on my TV.

This is about taking a controversial issue and running with it. The Bisch wrote a damn book on the subject.

And the word you are looking for is homophobe. Homophobe. You were close though.

Like I stated in my first post, I do not care what they do in private but when you start flaunting that crap in my face it insults me. WWE realises that the kids that watch the program are going to grow up wrestling fans and/or wrestlers themselves. So they try to be sensitive in what they portray on TV.

How very big of you to allow people to do as they like in private!

How does it insult you? How does it affect you in any way, shape or form?

And are you serious about WWE? This is their current incarnation which could change in a second. Do you remember the Attitude era? Do you remember Hot LEsbian Action? Billy and Chuck? Katie Vick? MAe Young giving birth to a hand? Doctor Heinie?

TNA on the other hand are trying to expand, and in all essence stay alive. So making unnecessary risks are not worth the turmoil and backlash this may have.

TNA has been doing nothing but taking risks since the new regime took over! They have to if they want to compete. May this will create turmoil. Maybe it will create interest. It will certainly create controversy. It also might gain mainstream media attention. Maybe it will backfire. Who knows?

Hell, I am still gonna watch Impact because I am a die hard. But keep the homosexuality off my screen please.

Or you could realize that it doesn't fucking affect you in any way, and learn to fucking deal with it. Maybe realize that it's the 21st century and that gay people exist and are active in our society.

 

[Musiq]

all i'm gonna say is, that I mentioned this in a post a long time ago, about TNA taking a chance/risk like this with his sexuality, and yes i made a couple jokes that obviously got under some people's skin cuz i got called a homophobe (which is far from the truth I could care less what he does in his personal life)
but I TOLD U SO!! haha

TNA is taking a risk, I don't care if he's bi or straight
like i said before, I still don't like him as a WRESTLER
would i like 2 see 2 dudes kissin? HELL NO, comeon that's rhetorical
would a girl like 2 see 2 girls kissin? most likely not but it depends obviously
point is, it's not gonna drive me away from watchin TNA
Orlando Jordan's sexuality will not prevent me from watchin a match of his, him solely as a wrestler and me not being a fan will

AND IF I WAS SPAMMING, I'M SOOOO SORRY SEND ME A RED THING 4 CRYING OUT LOUD!! LOL
Orlando Jordan...it's your life

 

[BlakkVI]

Blakk how was it executed? Do you mind telling us about it and explaining why it was distubing? And what made it so "vomit inducing"?

Seeing as how I have to recall it, basically, it was to my liking, too overly sexual from the moment they went from the ramp to the ring. The kiss itself wasn't "bad", just how the touchy feely nature of it all was just too much, even for the sake of taking chances/risks with the character. Didn't even seem as if it was needed IMO.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Sidious you proved that you are a clown.

Really? Damn. Please tell me how I managed to do this.

TNA is on Spike TV, a man's channel. A channel that prides itself on ass kicking and toughness.

Yep. So what better way to get big tough manly men all emotional about something than to put something on TV during a show that is geared for them, that completely goes against their own image?

Welcome to the concept of Faces and Heels. Except in this case, Jordan may be considered a Heel to them but indifferent to others, or maybe even a Face. This is Russo 101- there are no clear cut Faces and Heels with his traditional booking philosophy.

So the homophobes like yourself now have something to get your panties all in a bunch over.

Don't worry. I'm sure we may actually all get to see The Beautiful People kiss now with the direction they are going in, and I'm sure you will have absolutely no problem with that, thus exposing your own double standard.

And as far as the kids comment goes TV-14 is still kids. TV-MA ala South Park would be different but this is still a show to get people into buying/supporting your product.

When you are 14 years old, you are now in High School. Do you not think that High Schoolers have the slightest idea of what homosexuality is by this point? I kind of think Elementary Schoolers already grasp the concept of what it is, much less High Schoolers.

Pull your Fucking head out of your ass.

This isn't about anything other than pissing off fans that do not want to see this kind of garbage on their TV sets. Call me a Bigot, Dinosaur or whatever you want to call me but I don't wanna see that crap on my TV.

Well, you are a bigot and a homophobe. That much is clear from your comments. You may have some prejudicial anger issues you may want to get examined there.

Personally, I think Hornswoggle and DX kiddie humor is garbage too. You know what I am told when I complain about it? "Turn off the TV set while it's on."

I change the channel or something IF I am watching Raw and I see Hornswoggle come on. But I find that to be an inconvenience to do every week. So there is always the option of turning the show off, altogether. Maybe PG WWE is more up your alley, since you are so concerned about the Kids.

Like I stated in my first post, I do not care what they do in private but when you start flaunting that crap in my face it insults me. WWE realises that the kids that watch the program are going to grow up wrestling fans and/or wrestlers themselves. So they try to be sensitive in what they portray on TV.

It "insults" you now? Wow. You are personally insulted by this. Please elaborate on how something on TV involving a wrestling character "insults" you? Take us through your thought process, please, on why you actually feel "insulted" by this.

WWE wasn't very sensitive about that during the Attitude Era, now were they.

The wrestling business needs choices. And there are different age brackets that watch wrestling. TNA is becoming the organization for the group of fans that have outgrown WWE Kiddie Television and want something more adult.

Going back to what Vince said before in the Attitude Era when he was defending his programming, he said it is up to the parents to determine what is appropriate for their show.

Would you let you children watch an R rated movie unsupervised, assuming you were aware of it? No. It's called being a parent. It's not a wrestling organization's job to play "parent". That is the parent's job. And nor is it fair to punish fans who want to see a more adult product because there are kids out there.

Let the bulk of kids watch the WWE, and when they become older teens and adults, then they can make the decision on whether they wish to continue with WWE or go onto TNA, if they want something that more targets their interests.

TNA on the other hand are trying to expand, and in all essence stay alive. So making unnecessary risks are not worth the turmoil and backlash this may have.

Personally, I think it is. And it is all how the character is portrayed. It gets people talking, which is what it is designed to do. That equals publicity for the organization. And as Vince once felt, ANY publicity is good publicity.

It's no different here.

Hell, I am still gonna watch Impact because I am a die hard. But keep the homosexuality off my screen please.

BTW, do you see this kind of stuff from puroresu?? Hells no!!

We'll work on seeing if we can get the Beautiful People to french kiss for once with their entrance. Then, it will be okay in your book.

 

[Coco]

I see no reasonable objections to this in the name of "family friendly" television, simply because it's a double edged sword. Or something. Not sure if I have my metaphor correct, but I'll press on. Bold, I know. Some people seem to think it's okay to see heterosexual sexuality on the tube but don't you dare expose the children to those darn homosexuals. I'm not seeing it. Kids are seemingly becoming sexually active younger and younger these days. If you're really concerned about zee children, you would be against all sexuality on television, not just that of a homosexual nature. So if you're going to stand up against this for the children, at least go all the way. Don't be a two-face. Or a sword.

On to whether I object to this on a different basis, I probably will. Ten bucks say this is presented in a manner that's frivolous and adds nothing to the show. I don't go for shock TV for the sake of it. Also, boys kissing boys hasn't been truly shocking for a LONG time. So we get an angle that's there just to be there and "shock" us, and Jordan is liable to get a push just because he likes cock... The Motor City Machine Guns and every other talent NOT getting pushed because they aren't bi should find a way to accuse TNA management of letting their employees sexual orientation influence the way they treat them. That'd make me smile.

 

[ds41]

I don't see the big deal about this. As long as they do the gimmick in a way that's not disrespectful to homosexuals then I can care less. It adds to Jordan's character and IMO that's needed cause he's boring as shit normally. It gets people talking and seperates them from the PG crowd which I like. It gets TNA noticed and they need that. If folk have a fit over it then it gets them press and people will wanna see what the big deal is all about.

To the dude that says puroresu doesn't do that kinda thing it happens all the time. HUSTLE had Razor Ramon Hard Gay and RR Real Gay. They wore bondage gear, HG had the 69 driver where he shook his balls in your face before dropping you. They even had a fake HG and when the real HG went heel, they tagged up and did tandem kissing moves. Shonobu who freelances with Dragon Gate as well as other companies had a finisher called S.E.X and had a avalanche version called anal S.E.X. Mens Teioh is openly gay and even has his own fed called Mens Club that is all pretty boy wrestlers. DDT got 3 gay characters. Michael Nakazawa who oils himself to the point where you can't grab him, wrestles in a thong and grabs dudes balls for offense. There's a dude who I can't think of the name right now who wrestles in a school girl outfit and is super fem. Then there's the guy who takes the gay gimmick to a whole new extreme....Danshoku Dino. He kisses unwilling guys in the crowd. When he ground wrestles he tries to mount guys from behind. Kisses his opponents, his tag partners and manages to get opposing tag team to accidently kiss. His finisher is the Danshoku driver where he puts his opponents head in his tights then piledrivers him. The crowd loves him too. Japan doesn't seem to care that much about homosexuality.

 

[Schizophrenic]

Well anyone that watched Impact saw that TNA decided against airing the little clip in question. He was about halfway down the ramp and they began Joe's music and then played a clip of Joe and Bischoff talking. I can understand why they didn't air it and perhaps some of the talent made some comments about it really being more harm than help and they cut it. Either way that will probably end the discussion.

 

[Poɘt]

It looks like it was. I expected this to happen since it supposedly caused an uproar before it even aired. I guess wrestling isn't ready for this yet?

 

[Tiger Chaos Theory]

It looks like it was. I expected this to happen since it supposedly caused an uproar before it even aired. I guess wrestling isn't ready for this yet?

Well I suppose it isn't. It's quite a shame when TNA is willing to push the envelope and before it even airs they take grief for something that happens in everyday life.

 

[Poɘt]

Well I suppose it isn't. It's quite a shame when TNA is willing to push the envelope and before it even airs they take grief for something that happens in everyday life.

I have a feeling Spike wouldn't let them. Which is insane because Spike pushes the envelope when it comes to heterosexual content, yet a simple homosexual kiss is crossing the line (no pun intended).

The reason I think it's Spike and not the reaction from fans who read spoilers is because TNA has never not done something in fear of fan reaction. They usually do things to test the waters. The fact that they couldn't even test the waters may mean a higher power stopped them.

 

[Schizophrenic]

As much as I applaud TNA for doing something like this I understand Spike's reasoning if it was in fact them. I do believe the reason would be with comign this close to the live Monday start they don't want to risk losing any viewers and may allow it to happen once they have been live for a while.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

There's been a lot of buzz about that this week. From a business standpoint, maybe not showing it was the right decision. However, I'll remember this the next time someone starts going on a rant about how edgy TNA is or whenever I read another interview in which Hogan says that he wants to push the envelope.

 

[JJYanks121]

I'm kind of glad it went down as such. Not because I'm against it, but I'm against throwing something "controversial" out there just for the sake of being controversial. It's not like a story was created around it, its not like Jordan debuted in the company with men and women on his arm. They just decided to have him do a "controversial" act at a TV taping. If there was foresight, you might have seen it. My guess is that TNA has no idea where they would go with it and thus Spike was like "so why show it for no reason?" When they had no answer, it was decided to not show it. I think it's that simple.

 

[Schizophrenic]

You can't really use this against TNA when it was most likely Spike TV's decision not to air it. TNA can do what they want but in all reality Spike has the final vote on what heppens and what doesn't.

 

[Tiger Chaos Theory]

I'm kind of glad it went down as such. Not because I'm against it, but I'm against throwing something "controversial" out there just for the sake of being controversial. It's not like a story was created around it, its not like Jordan debuted in the company with men and women on his arm. They just decided to have him do a "controversial" act at a TV taping. If there was foresight, you might have seen it. My guess is that TNA has no idea where they would go with it and thus Spike was like "so why show it for no reason?" When they had no answer, it was decided to not show it. I think it's that simple.

That was another fear I had besides the backlash. I was willing to give TNA the benefit of the doubt and believe that having it well known the Jordan was Bi had a purpose and not just to stir up controversy. But if they did not then it wasn't a good idea to exploit Jordan's sexuality for ratings or press so I suppose I'm ok with Spike's reasoning as long as it wasn't just "two guys kissing ewww, not before Manswers".

 

[Spjadoe05]

Yea i don't believe it had anything to do with it not making sense. I believe it was because two men kissed. Regardless of how any of us feels about it, Spike markets it's entire channel toward younger heterosexual men. Having two men kissing on Spike tv would make as much sense as Lifetime showing the movie Showgirls.

 

[Pedro08]

Spike TV is the main source of TNA's revenue, so if they told them to cut that part out they will.

However, I just thought of something. What if Jordan did the kiss part on his own? I'm sure he got to ok to be escorted to the ring by his boyfriend and girlfriend, but perhaps he didn't inform them of his plan to kiss each one before the match.

 

[Schizophrenic]

^ You know I never thought of that. I'm sure TNA runs alot of tehri stuff by Spike before they film as well and if Spike wanted it gone then it probably wouldn't have even taken place but I never thought about Orlando doing it on his own. That's a fantastic point that I think should be discussed. Honestly it wouldn't surpise me considering damn near everything I have heard and read about Jordan is that he is a jackass and a cocky, arogant jerk at that so it wouldn't suprise me to find out he did it on his own and think "I'm a star and I'm getting a push. They won't do anything to me."

 

[El AlcoHALLic]

Personel opinions aside, Eric Bischoff has a nice business philosophy-Controversy Creates Cash. Remember how mainstream Billy and Chuck getting married was? The mainstream expsure was INSANE.

The reason the Beutiful People don't kiss is because they are portrayed as "Teases" They are above everyone else so why would they give in to the hopes of a class of people they they see as inferior?

I don't know what it's going to do for Orlando's career. Sleazy E is high on OJ and he's been on damn near every impact this year. I guess you gotta do whatever you have to do to stand out. If it works good for him. If it doesn't, well ve had the ringmaster before we had Stone Cold. You gotta keep tossing crap at the wall until it sticks.

 

[Savion83]

This is my first thread so go easy on me guys. In this thread I do not intend to offend anyone. Okay so apparently on last nights impact tapings Orlando Jordan was escorted to the ring by a male and female. During his entrance he kissed the female first and then he kissed the male. So my question is should tna be doing this? Especially how they are trying to feature their product towards the older viewer. I think it's wrong that they have two guys kissing but yet they won't have the beautiful people kiss. So basically what I'm saying is by doing something like have guys kiss wouldn't that actually drive the older fans away? I dont have a problem with homosexuals but at the sametime I dont want to see guys kiss each other especially on a wrestling program. Your thoughts.

I can't see how you don't have a peoblem with homosexuals? Which lead this whole angle is condoned by possibly Eric Bischoff since Bischoff is so high on Orlando Jordan right now? So what are you stating my friend are you condoning homosexuality like Eric Bischoff? Or something else??

 

[jmt225]

I think it's fucking lame as hell that Spike edited out Orlando Jordan kissing a guy.

Now, I didn't even watch Impact! Thursday and I certainly am no fan of Orlando Jordan, or seeing two guys kiss for that matter, but TNA is trying to show everyone that they're today's edgy wrestling product that most pro wrestling fans want. What's more edgy than a Bi-Sexual wrestler, fucking around with both a female and male valet? Not only is the idea genius, but that shit would get over and have people talking.

Plus, it's ridiculous to think about some of the shit Spike airs, but yet they want to edit out a kiss from two guys, on the same program that zooms into Velvet Sky's ass crack every time she makes an entrance, nonetheless. Give me a fucking break here; it's two lips touching for less than 2 seconds, what's the big fucking deal?

 

[The Doctor]

"Fucking lame" is right. If TNA wants to push the envelope like they say they, do, they need to break through things that some may consider "Taboo". Jordan's bisexuality is one of them.

Earlier, I praised TNA for allowing a bisexual character on air and trying to get rid of this ridiculous stigma that gay or bi people are pushovers. Now I am saying that they did the wrong thing by removing it from the program. Who cares if it was going to offend someone? Those people are backwards. From what I've read it's not like it was a full snogging and groping session, so who's it harming? If a bisexual wrestler turns you off a good show, then you have some issues with homophobia there.

Homosexuality and bisexuality is out there. And it's a topic not seriously covered by pro wrestling. If TNA wants to be "adult", then it needs to be able to tackle mature issues. Editing things like this out is just stupid.

 

[MisterRob]

This isn't edgy tv. Edgy tv has a meaning behind the edge. This entire thing is meaningless. I personally don't care whether he's straight, homosexual or bisexual, but there's absolutely no reason for it to be shown in this way on television because it does absolutely nothing for his character. It's clearly them just doing it to try to be 'shocking' and 'hip', when in fact it's neither. What it is is forced. There's just no need for it. Do you see two straight people kissing on Impact ever? When's the last time that happened? When there's a valet escorting a male does he get a kiss from her anywhere other then the cheek, if anything? There's just no purpose behind doing this, and it's not going to get Jordan over (Jordan will never be over). In my opinion, this is just another example of TNA trying to be shocking and push the envelope and failing, because they don't grasp the concept of what it means to do that.