shattered dreams
Hexagonal Hedonist
Like most fans of entertaining programming, I wasn't watching RAW last night. Somewhere in between being anxious for my next daydreaming session, being excited for the next Velvet Sky photo session, and watching paint dry, it must've slipped my mind. That said, I damn sure did not check Wrestlezone.com this morning to learn what I had missed. Too bad it was unavoidable to find out about some more slipshod booking designed for cheap excitement and zero direction.
But tell me this - what in God's name was R-truth doing with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth?
Listen, I get it. TNA is going the adult route and dirtying things up (language, partial nudity, for example) whereas WWE is trying to be the 'teletubby' promotion with its mild expletives and use of color. That's their marketing strategy - differentiation. It makes sense. But at the same time, you have to draw a line with some things, and smoking should be one of them. If you do not have someone smoking who is going to watch your show?
1. In almost any arena in almost any state, smoking is illegal to begin with. Fans are told not to smoke prior to the event, it is printed on the tickets, it is on signs outside. Most arenas have designated outdoor smoking gates where those in need of a nic-fix can go and breathe in each others filth. It's your right as an American citizen to die a slow death while simultaneously contributing $4 per pack in tax revenue. But how WWE was able to portray smoking in the arena after explicitly telling fans not to is sickeningly hypocritical. And I understand that the cigarette may have been a prop, and that fans can go see a broadway show that depicts smoking, but that brings me to point #2.
2. WWE is packaging its product as "soap opera" as opposed to TNA's "pro wrestling." At least it seems that way, I'm no expert on WWE. But they've historically packaged their wrestlers as 'walking t-shirt catalogs' and looked for fans to react to them as such. In that same vein, why WWE would want the guy that says whats up of its promotion to be seen heading to a major show doing one of the things that most hinders long-term vocal endurance baffles me. When The Sandman smoked in front of 250 laid off truck drivers back in ECW in Philadelphia (couldn't resist), it made sense, because he wasn't a soap opera star coming to the ring to dance and out enterain another professional soap opera star. He was a dude who busted himself open with a beer can and battered opponents senseless with a kendo stick. Rtruth is supposed to be a top guy in the #1 promotion in US Wrestling and he's got a smoke in his mouth.
3. If this is another way for WWE to take Truth's real life blackness and turn that into his heel character as a "life imitates art" angle, then it's even more deplorable. Dude for real? White demons get him sent out this way. If Rtruth did it on his own volition, stop the show and strip him of the that shred of dignity he had left.
4. Rtruth has FANS. Young ones. Probably the only reason Rtruth got the run he did in WWE was because he still managed to connect with young fans thanks to his vivid color, high risk vocals, and fun persona. Some of those young fans may have followed him anywhere, and now their hero is smoking on his way to the ring!? How irresponsible is this?
I try to give my readers a little bit more than just wrestling chat, preferring to juxtapose the fake world of professional wrestling with REAL cultural issues. A few months back I railed against fans who thought John Cena should turn heel, and I did so by comparing him to Tim Tebow and other guys who are who they are as much on their clean image and community influence as on their athletic talent. I have to invoke Tebow once again. Many football experts don't think Tebow can make the transition to a decent NFL quarterback, but that doesn't mean he's not still this humble, hard working, all-American kid. The Broncos recognized that when they drafted him, and while they may not have gotten Peyton Manning's arm or football IQ, they got a kid who won't derail their franchise with drug use, attitude, or (paging Brett Favre...) cockshots.
We don't know if Tebow will be a DECENT quarterback. At least we know he won't be an INDECENT citizen or sending INDECENT messages to Jenn Sterger.
With WWE, we get neither. It doesn't look like WWE, as currently constituted, will be a particularly DECENT promotion. The least they could do is take the high road with how they depict their talents. Shoving a cig in someone's mouth - a crowd favorite for that matter - reeks of desperation and classlessness.
Warm regards
But tell me this - what in God's name was R-truth doing with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth?
Listen, I get it. TNA is going the adult route and dirtying things up (language, partial nudity, for example) whereas WWE is trying to be the 'teletubby' promotion with its mild expletives and use of color. That's their marketing strategy - differentiation. It makes sense. But at the same time, you have to draw a line with some things, and smoking should be one of them. If you do not have someone smoking who is going to watch your show?
1. In almost any arena in almost any state, smoking is illegal to begin with. Fans are told not to smoke prior to the event, it is printed on the tickets, it is on signs outside. Most arenas have designated outdoor smoking gates where those in need of a nic-fix can go and breathe in each others filth. It's your right as an American citizen to die a slow death while simultaneously contributing $4 per pack in tax revenue. But how WWE was able to portray smoking in the arena after explicitly telling fans not to is sickeningly hypocritical. And I understand that the cigarette may have been a prop, and that fans can go see a broadway show that depicts smoking, but that brings me to point #2.
2. WWE is packaging its product as "soap opera" as opposed to TNA's "pro wrestling." At least it seems that way, I'm no expert on WWE. But they've historically packaged their wrestlers as 'walking t-shirt catalogs' and looked for fans to react to them as such. In that same vein, why WWE would want the guy that says whats up of its promotion to be seen heading to a major show doing one of the things that most hinders long-term vocal endurance baffles me. When The Sandman smoked in front of 250 laid off truck drivers back in ECW in Philadelphia (couldn't resist), it made sense, because he wasn't a soap opera star coming to the ring to dance and out enterain another professional soap opera star. He was a dude who busted himself open with a beer can and battered opponents senseless with a kendo stick. Rtruth is supposed to be a top guy in the #1 promotion in US Wrestling and he's got a smoke in his mouth.
3. If this is another way for WWE to take Truth's real life blackness and turn that into his heel character as a "life imitates art" angle, then it's even more deplorable. Dude for real? White demons get him sent out this way. If Rtruth did it on his own volition, stop the show and strip him of the that shred of dignity he had left.
4. Rtruth has FANS. Young ones. Probably the only reason Rtruth got the run he did in WWE was because he still managed to connect with young fans thanks to his vivid color, high risk vocals, and fun persona. Some of those young fans may have followed him anywhere, and now their hero is smoking on his way to the ring!? How irresponsible is this?
I try to give my readers a little bit more than just wrestling chat, preferring to juxtapose the fake world of professional wrestling with REAL cultural issues. A few months back I railed against fans who thought John Cena should turn heel, and I did so by comparing him to Tim Tebow and other guys who are who they are as much on their clean image and community influence as on their athletic talent. I have to invoke Tebow once again. Many football experts don't think Tebow can make the transition to a decent NFL quarterback, but that doesn't mean he's not still this humble, hard working, all-American kid. The Broncos recognized that when they drafted him, and while they may not have gotten Peyton Manning's arm or football IQ, they got a kid who won't derail their franchise with drug use, attitude, or (paging Brett Favre...) cockshots.
We don't know if Tebow will be a DECENT quarterback. At least we know he won't be an INDECENT citizen or sending INDECENT messages to Jenn Sterger.
With WWE, we get neither. It doesn't look like WWE, as currently constituted, will be a particularly DECENT promotion. The least they could do is take the high road with how they depict their talents. Shoving a cig in someone's mouth - a crowd favorite for that matter - reeks of desperation and classlessness.
Warm regards
