Justin "Gay"-Briel

[The Con Volt]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who caught this subtle comment by David Otunga tonight. Another joke in a line of supposedly "non-PG" comments on WWE programming. Now this point has been made a lot recently concerning borderline prejudice "jokes" in the WWE. People have been screaming up and down this board condemning Michael Cole and other announcers about jokes ranging from Sheamus' unfortunate skin tone, to Vicky Guerrero's weight. And to be honest, I didn't really give a damn about those, considering the difficulty of condemning a caucasian for making a joke about another caucasian's skin color and I really don't think too many people care about the feelings of Vicky Guerrero. But for whatever reason, Otunga's subtle gay comment struck a nerve with me tonight. (No, I'm not homosexual myself) This just pissed me off because yet again, like the previously mentioned jokes, it obviously has no place in the PG era. Now I personally wouldn't be surprised if it came out tomorrow that Justin Gabriel is in fact homosexual, but I also wouldn't stop supporting him. I think he has some of the best talent to offer out of any of the NXT rookies and that wouldn't change with a revelation of his sexuality. And if we're being honest, I wouldn't be surprised if that Joke was unscripted. It just doesn't seem like something the WWE writers would knowingly allow an employee to say in front of a crowd full of fans under the age of facial hair.

So if this was in fact not scripted and a possibly genuine feeling that Otunga has towards Gabriel, what does this mean? Well If I were in a position of power that encompassed the ability to take away a considerable amount of mic time from David Otunga, I would start there. Don't care if you're gay or gay-basher, this comment was simply uncalled for. It's the kind of thing that could come up in a anti- Linda McMahon political ad. "A vote for Linda McMahon is a vote for bigotry." May seem far-fetched, but this IS politics we're talking about.

Anyways, I'll wrap this up. I personally think this however subtle comment was way out of line on Otunga's part. But what do you guys think?

 

[The Doctor]

I'm under the impression that none of the NXT promos are scripted.

That said, I think it was just Otunga taking the easy way out in order to insult Gabriel, who had just insulted Otunga. Nothing was really meant by it, it was just an easy childish insult.

Do I feel offended? Meh, not really. I don't care. It's a word that really shouldn't be used as an insult and is unfortunately commonly used that way in our language, but it's not like the guy went up to Gabriel and said "YOU'RE SO GAY!". Most that'll happen is Otunga will be booked to lose his next match and GLAAD will call on him to apologize.

It wasn't meant to be homophobic, it was just a cheap shot. Doesn't excuse it, but it also makes it not a big deal as it could be.

 

[The Con Volt]

I'm under the impression that none of the NXT promos are scripted.

That said, I think it was just Otunga taking the easy way out in order to insult Gabriel, who had just insulted Otunga. Nothing wa really meant by it, it was just an easy childish insult.

Do I feel offended? Meh, not really. I don't care. It's a word that really shouldn't be used as an insult and is unfortunately commonly used that way in our language, but it's not like the guy went up to Gabriel and said "YOU'RE SO GAY!". Most that'll happen is Otunga will be booked to lose his next match and GLAAD will call on him to apologize.

t wasn't meant to be homophobic, it was just a cheap shot. Doesn't excuse it, but it also makes it not a big deal as it could be.

Haha, yeah. That does seem to be their M.O. now-a-days. And it's interesting you should mention that possibly none of the NXT promo's are scripted. That would clear up a whole lot of confusion on my part. Obviously the matches are booked, but besides that, it seems as if it's free reign most of the time for these guys. Although, WWE has been caught a couple of times in this show's history for scripting the challenges a certain way, yet they don't quite turn out how they planned. Take tonight for example. Justin Gabriel obviously won the challenge, but a part of me thinks that Skip Sheffield was supposed to win it. Because Matt Striker said that Skip Sheffield was in the lead when he had clearly lost by 2 seconds, at least. And I'm not about to insult a former teacher's intelligence by saying he got the number's wrong. So this leads me to believe that either Gabriel did it too fast by the scripts writing, or Skip Sheffield did it too slow. But there's just no hiding the fact he lost, so the just went with it. Another example, coincidently also involving Sheffield, was the rock 'em-sock 'em challenge a few weeks ago. When Sheffield faced Darren Young, they got themselves in a cluster-fuck of a situation when Sheffield clearly fell off the pedestal first, when he was supposed to win. Only this time it was a little easier to hide.

Anyways, back to the actual topic. This will most likely blow over with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, you're probably correct Doc. But it just ate at my skin a little to see that kind of carelessness. What this will probably lead to is more strict scripting if they are in-fact not scripted right now.

 

[Schizophrenic]

Considering a fraction of RAW and maybe half (maybe) of SmackDown audeinces saw it I highly doubt a damn thing will happen. Jus tproves that Otunga is not good on the mic other than trying to come up with something on the fly and having to resort to something that dumb. I don't think Gabriel is gay (I may be wrong) and if he is, don't expect it to come out since the girls need someone to scream for since Jeffy left.

 

[Saritafan]

Are you kidding me??? you will not believe how many "gay" jokes have been made in WWE, theirs to many to count. Remember when Cm Punk was rambling on about being straightedge, Triple h said "well Punk, i'm glad to hear you're straight". Theres a gay joke but no one cared when that was said. When I heard Otunga call Justin gay, I really laughed because even though I am a big fan of Justin, I always thought he was gay because he of the way he acts and the fact that he use to be a former male model.

All Otunga did was defend himself because justin insulted him first and I think it's very childish to keep bashing Otunga just because he's not the best wrestler

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

I did happen to catch that little "Justin Gay-briel" line that David Otunga put out on NXT this past week. To tell you the truth, it caught me a little by surprise and I didn't fully know what David Otunga meant by it. Was he trying to subliminally inform to the world that Gabriel was in fact gay or was he trying to take an easy way out and childishly insult Justin? I'm not sure, but to tell you the truth, I really don't think Otunga meant anything by it. Justin Gabriel didn't look to be very insulted by it at all, but I'm not sure whether he knew about it beforehand or not. I'm sure it meant nothing and I hope it doesn't cause any type of trouble with the WWE or Otunga himself.

 

[Jonnie Walker]

I caught the remark, and I didn't really care, because people say it all the time. Sure there will be some minor backlash, but it will fizzle out. I honestly wouldn't doubt Gabriel being Gaybriel, because he was a male model, and he used Candice Michelle's theme music in FCW before when he was Justin Angel. But if it was just a childish cheap-shot like I think it is, then it's pretty typical. Many men call other men gay if they get insulted, either that or say they have a "Little dick". I can't say I don't say something is gay on occasion. Is it offensive? To be quite honest, since I don't get offended when I get called cracker or when people make fun of me because I'm mixed, I won't get offended if someone calls someone else gay. I don't get offended if I get called gay, because I'm not, and I have a pregnant girlfriend. What I'm trying to get at is it won't be a big deal.

 

[Andy 2 Randy]

Gotta say somthing, The word 'Gay' is used by so many kids that are under the age of 11, and no one really cares about it! the fact that Otunga used 'Gaayy-brial' was a bit harsh, but what if Justin is infact gay? he wouldn't care, nor would any gay viewer. Otunga is just crap on the mic, end of! (Im Not Gay BTW)
It's just one of the 'Jokes' that WWE are making, to make the immature, PG kids giggle, to laugh and say 'He Said Gay!' us mature viewers just need to ignore the kiddy playground remarks and watch the real action, Hornswoggle in a hot-tu....i mean the true superstars like The Miz or Sheamus, the ones that make WWE worth watching!...Im just sayin'...

 

[Ferbian]

I believe if there was any kind of hatred coming out from that comment made, we would've been seeing it already reported somewhere, and since it hasn't been reported, I think it slowly went under the radar, which I feel that it should have either way.

The word was very subtle and I wouldn't be taking much seriousness into it, seeing as they're just trying to further a storyline and create some tension between the many wrestlers that the show includes, and therefore it's a way to gather cheap heat and a cheap insult, therefore I believe all we should be seeing taken into this, would be some kind of match.

 

[My$terio_Fan]

OMG, I totally hope it's true. He's very hot, great body, accent, the whole 9 yards. But anyways, who know's, who care's(except me).

It was obviously just a joke and a play on his name. I doubt there is any real life heat with these two, and I honestly don't see the WWE even caring. I understand the concern over using the word "gay" as a negative(like Ontuga was applying--same way if someone's race was made fun of or something)but it was just a light joke, no harm done.

But if it came out that it was true that Justin was gay and David legit was making fun of his sexual orientation or trying to defame him, than the WWE would have to take action and repremend Ontunga and do damage control. But again, it was just a lame joke from a lamer wrestler who probably couldn't think of anything for his promo so he went the 6 year old route.

 

[Honkey_Kong]

OMG, I totally hope it's true. He's very hot, great body, accent, the whole 9 yards. But anyways, who know's, who care's(except me).

It was obviously just a joke and a play on his name. I doubt there is any real life heat with these two, and I honestly don't see the WWE even caring. I understand the concern over using the word "gay" as a negative(like Ontuga was applying--same way if someone's race was made fun of or something)but it was just a light joke, no harm done.

But if it came out that it was true that Justin was gay and David legit was making fun of his sexual orientation or trying to defame him, than the WWE would have to take action and repremend Ontunga and do damage control. But again, it was just a lame joke from a lamer wrestler who probably couldn't think of anything for his promo so he went the 6 year old route.

If it was true, Gabriel could easily sue the crap out of the WWE if he wasn't on-board with it. I don't think Gabriel's gay, but if he really is, it shouldn't be announed on TV. Let him have a career and be known as Justin Gabriel the wrestler, not Justin Gabriel the gay wrestler.

 

[Lyson Rayne]

I'm going to agree with most of the other posters and say it was just a childish shot by Otunga with no real hate behind it, except maybe he was frustrated that the other rookies were lobbying to get him eliminated (IF the promos aren't scripted, but whatever).

Sidenote: It doesn't matter if Justin Gabriel really is gay, but just because he was a male model doesn't mean he's gay. We live in a more metro time and if from what I know he was fairly successful as a model, and you do what you can to make money. Granted, I wouldn't doubt it, but his sexual orientation should have no effect on his career.

 

[future admin]

All this is doing, is sparking a feud. Sure, it's on the edge of being non-PG, what about all those times triple H has said crap, I think that is a little worse. So yeah, all he was doing was sparking a feud

 

[Avrusha92]

It was very childish of David Otunga, if Justin is gay then dont say it on TV...From then on youll know Justin as the gay wrestler, kind of like Adam Lambert is a gay singer.
Woah...Has anyone noticed Gabriel and Lambert are identical, one is legit gay, and one is metro probably...Gabriel is most probably Metrosexual by the way he dresses, has his hair, and was a male models...Girls hell do love him, hes good looking, has a great fit, etc.
But back to topic, WWE is actually edging out on their PG Rating...i feel that they realized that kids who are 10-12 already use cussing, and are rude etc.
Kids arent such goodie goodies like back in the day, but still WWE shouldnt use any racist, or sterotype comments.

 

[The Con Volt]

But back to topic, WWE is actually edging out on their PG Rating...i feel that they realized that kids who are 10-12 already use cussing, and are rude etc.
Kids arent such goodie goodies like back in the day, but still WWE shouldnt use any racist, or sterotype comments.

To me, this is the root of the issue. Over time, things become less controversial. What would have gotten a movie baned nation wide in the 70's would hardly be pg-13 now-a-days. I still believe that Otunga was a fool for the statement, but I can understand that this type of thing could pass for pg in today's society. Doesn't make what he said ok, but I can see the point you guys are making that this isn't as such a big deal now.

 

[Rabies]

thought it was funny otunga said that since he seems more flaming than gabriel. the way he talks, very fem. when gabriel first started they compared him to adam lambert, so wwe planted the seed of him being gay or bi. but even tho otunga would never come out of the closet, i think he's a down low brother, so to speak.