The Issue With Zema Ion

[ABMorales787]

We know Zema Ion is responsible for Jesse Sorensen's injury. That can't be ignored because we saw it happen on live TV. However now there's an issue looming over him whether he should feel bad for what he did or if he should play off the fact that he nearly paralyzed a man for heat. On Impact this week, he brushed all of that off by saying " this is wrestling, not ballet. Injuries happen. And if I break more necks along the way for success, so be it". Yeah, the quote isn't exact, but it's more or less what he said. He never said he was a crippling monster or anything, he just said "it happens". Though the commentators thought otherwise and made it sound like he was trying to paralyze Sorensen on purpose and he's some sort of heinous, careless monster.

I don't get why though. It was an unexpected event, and TNA seems to rather focus on hoping for the best for Sorensen rather than play off it for Ion's benefit. I realize there's potential, but for one, making Zema Ion feel sorry would mean re-writing the script due to something totally unexpected and him playing on it would mean he's getting benefits for screwing up a man's neck. I don't like either. I'd much rather have Zema brush it off as an accident and move on. But TNA still seems on the fence as to what do to on that particular circumstance.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I think you're reading too much into the commentary here on both accounts. TNA is making the best of an unfortunate scenario by pushing Ion as an opportunist—albeit one who legitimately injured another wrestler—who is simply not remorseful because he's focused on himself, which is in and of itself a very heelistic (is that a word?) characteristic.

The commentators are playing that up by calling him selfish for doing so, which plays into and brings the whole thing full circle, or will when Sorensen eventually returns (because you know he will) to exact revenge on the guy who nearly ended his career.

 

[OneTooManyPunts]

It's the difference between kayfabe and scripted story lines. Yes, TNA could really milk the injury to build up Ion, but given that it could have cost Jesse his career, and his life, it would be in the poorest of taste. I don't know much about Ion, but I doubt he'd really want the fact he seriously injured a fellow wrestler to become his calling card.

His in ring work, is for the most part solid. His character, is in need of some further definition. He plays the cocky heel well, but the whole hairspray and vanity thing was something TNA has already done...with The Beautiful People no less. He will put on a good match with A Double..but he's not wearing the X Division Title any time soon.

 

[shattered dreams]

The easy way out would be for TNA to never mention it again. They aren't mentioning it for Ion's benefit, they are mentioning it for Jesse's. Sorenson gets paid for appearances. The kid basically had his dreams dashed in a split second. Keeping him in a story is to everyone's benefit if long term goals are still in place. It might give him the hope he needs to make it through tough rehab. His story to tell right now is the reality of what happened to him. To remind people of that they need someone to blame, not someone else to feel sorry for.

 

[WJDwjdWJDwjd]

What they need to do is play it up more and make Ion use it more. We see this type of stuff week in and week out on WWE TV when someone gets hurt. Heels that injure faces always play it up. As long as Sorensen is okay and will be able to walk and possibly perform again, I feel Ion should be able to use it to get over. It happened in the middle of a very important match that Ion ended up winning. He's already benefited from it. Why not have him get on TV and thank Sorensen for his X Division title shot each week? We all know Sorensen is going to be alright in the long run, so why not let the heel get over with this incident.

 

[zephyrs]

First off, I think it's unfair to blame Ion for Sorensen's injury.

I don't see a problem with TNA and Ion using Sorensen's injury as part of a storyline, so long as Ion and Sorensen are comfortable with doing so.

Ion's biggest problem right now is his crappy ring name. I get a weird Dungeons and Dragons vibe from it that doesn't fit in with his character.

 

[SyndicateSaint]

I'm really surprised that they didn't go the ECW era Chris Benoit route with it. I expected close-ups of his hands and us seeing "Crippler" Zema Ion going against Aries for the title. I'm honestly, a little disappointed actually. If Sorensen gives the green light on it, they should have Ion become a crazy "reckless" heel in the X division, and drop the Rick Martel thing he's doing now.

 

[Greydon]

I believe this will end up being the success story TNA is looking for. Yes, they had it with Jesse Neal, but it was dropped shortly after his debut. This could work for both men. If they need to repackage Ion then this incident is the catalyst. Sorenson comes back and he will be the story of overcoming the odds. You could package him as The Miracle Man Jesse Sorenson. Or repackage him as a safety commissioner, and telling people what they are doing is not safe. Have him interrupt matches during big spots. Either way, we will see him back, and that is a good thing.

This incident might be TNA's way of saying at the start of each show. "We are trained professionals, please don't try this at home." Or a new brand of shirts saying "Wrestling maybe scripted, but the injuries are real."

 

[Madeye36]

Well, TNA put it out there & now you guys are talking about it. Exactly what they want to happen. What is wrong with them playing it up? Wasn't Randy Orton the Legend Killer? Doesn't Mark Henry have the Hall of Pain? Ion doesn't fit the "killer" or "Crippler" mold, he's a high flying X division worker, My opinion, nothing wrong with playing it up, I'm sure he feels bad that it happened but you can't act like it didn't. Just like what was said earlier, we all saw it live on TV.

 

[theshadowranger]

I'd have zema Ion come out with a football that has a neckbrace around it. It looks like jesse will make a comeback so when he does, hype it up and get a good feud out of it.

 

[mral82]

I think Zema should play it up just like Owen did back in 1997 after he accidentially broke Stone Cold's neck. Owen even went as far as to mock Austin w/ his meaning of the 3:16 read "OWEN 3:16 says I just broke your neck." It happens just like Barrett was gloating over Orton's injuries. Zema should play off of it. I think he has a bright future ahead of him and will be the X Division Champ when Jesse comes back from this and will beat him for the Title.

 

[MrHashasheen]

I'm perfectly fine with what they're doing. Zema's getting some good heat out of this, and if he eventually wins the X-Division title before Sorenson comes back, there's a ready made money feud.

At the same time, Jesse's supposedly being paid per appearance like a lot of lower-level TNA guys are, so this video-hype stuff is getting him paid and keeping him in the spotlight till he makes his return as a face chasing after Zema.

 

[Lowdown]

Some folks might view it as in bad taste. No one really wants an accident like this to happen. Ion is being portrayed as an opportunist now like someone mentioned earlier. Its almost reminiscent of when Steve Austin was injured against Owen Hart back in '96 or '97.

 

[Vintage]

Ion gimmick is a nod to his mother. Has it been done before. Yes. Is anyone currently doing it anywhere? Not that I'm aware of. I don't see the problem especially since it's a dude doing it this time and not the BP's. Give him a chance to get over first before you type out his future endeavored letters. Its not like he has any control over what happened with Jessee and how TNA chooses to handle it on tv. Wrestling has always been about turning negatives into positives or working something that broke kayfabe into the show.

 

[jobesukulele]

Killjoy I think TNA have you marked mate.

What we've seen on TV from Ion isn't hwo he's acted backstage. For all we know Ion could have been to the hospital and visited Sorensen several times already.

As for the accident itself it was clearly both their fault equally. Ion had his knees tucked and Sorensen didn't sprawl correctly; he flinched and cowered instead of trying to catch Ion.

 

[Cena's #1 In My Heart]

Sorensen is a tremendous wrestler. Better than half the guys in the WWE.

This is going to give him more babyface love, and he'll come back more popular than ever. And he was already pretty over with the Orlando crowd due to his amazing in-ring abilities.

Zema Ion is also a pretty dam good wrestler, I like what TNA is doing with these two young guys. I have no issues with it.. and neither should you..

Do you hear Jesse Sorensen or his mother complaining about what Zema Ion said? No. Their not a bunch of stupid fans who are going to get worked up over something like that when it is clearly going to come out with both of these guys looking better than they had mbefore.

With that said... I wish Jesse the best in his recovery and I can't wait to see him in the ring again.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

All in all, I think they're taking the safest direction they can and it's probably the best choice to make. When you look at all the deaths of wrestlers over the past decade, the inherent dangers of wrestling itself and the view that society has with any and all sports or events combat related then TNA is being wisely cautious how they approach this.

They could go the route of really having Ion play off of this and potentially draw tremendous heat. Going that route also opens the possibility for TNA to get a great deal of negative attention in the eyes of fans, wrestling insiders and even people who aren't into wrestling. TNA can't pretend that it didn't happen, as we've all seen it, but having Ion just sort of brush it off casually and not harping on it does make him look like an opportunistic jerk, so mission accomplished.

Way back when, the WWE used Hawk's real life struggle with alcoholism as part of a storyline and, looking back on it, the whole situation was tasteless and without class. At the time, we never really gave much thought to it. A lot of us here were just kids and didn't really know any better. However, the internet has come along and the veil surrounding pro wrestling has been pierced, so there's no going back. If TNA really played this whole angle up, it'd probably come off with the same sort of classless lack of taste as the Hawk storyline.

But, here we are talking about it, the commentators are acknowledging it while "properly" denouncing Ion's seeming indifference & casual approach to it. There's heat on Ion and, if Sorensen does make a return, there's potential money in the feud. All in all, TNA doesn't really have to go any further than this. Sure, they could go much further and come out with some content that'd probably be great crash tv, but, again, this is one of the things TNA has been moving away from for a while now and it's contributed to the company's overall improvement of the product.