Which is more fake? Politics or WWE Wrestling.
It seems that in Connecticut, where former WWE CEO Linda McMahon is running for US Senate, her opponent is calling out the WWE for a lot of bad things. Things that the WWE are disputing in a very BIG WAY.
Given the FACT that both Democrats and Republican have appeared on WWE programming from time to time, especially around election time to garner the WWE Universe vote, did the Democrats open a can a worms (or whoope a$$) attacking the WWE??? They might have a fight in Connecticut, but in firing the shots; they have involved fans around the country. WWE isn’t the TEA Party; they are more like the BEER Party. But they are voters and they know that it is just entertainment – to insult them may result in more angry voters.
Don, before you start doing political play by play on this you ought to start looking into the very real life and death issues involved in this. I’ve spent the last 20 years writing about them, and they’re as real it gets.
Bruce, as a experienced professional in this matter, I invite your comments. Do you think this is a Political Play weeks before the election or as McMahon suggests an attempt to damage the reputation of his company? Would they (WWE) be doing this if Linda wasn’t running?
Hi Yall,
Well of course…it’s both. Vince isn’t going to do anything that’s not self serving…& he can help Linda. Believe it or not, I’ve actually watched debates between Linda & her opponent & she mopped the floor with him every time!! His only argument against her to date has been to attack WWE at every turn (workers as independent contractors, WWE toys made in China (by Mattel), steroids, sexual & abusive programming….if I were Vince, I’m swing back with the clout of the WWE fan base too!
It’s all about power with the McMahons…..They are looking for a new Power Play with Mrs. McMahon headed toward the Senate….They have lost some interest in the WWE and they are searching for a new way to be in control…..
Great time for TNA to make their move……The Hardys can bring some new enthusiasm to TNA….
McMahons on the POWER PLAY….
Of course it’s a political play, but it’s a legitimate one. People run on their records, and opponents run against them. Linda McMahon is running on her record as CEO of WWE. The appalling number of wrestlers who died or had their health ruined because of the standards her husband set in the industry, the lack of benefits and insurance the company paid because of the shady “independent contractor” status of the wrestlers (how are they “independent” if WWE can keep them from working for anyone else? What about all the taxes they dodge paying?) or the millions of dollars they took from the government to grow jobs even as they cut them? That’s part of her record. The sexual and violent content they market to children is also part of her record. Vince McMahon has benefitted from setting the bar so low with the type of entertainment he features (not to mention the old “Who cares if all those wrestlers are dead, isn’t that stuff fake?” stuff this article started with) that the media ignored most of these issues until his wife ran for Senate. The issues the media is bringing up are legitimate, and may end up saving lives. In fact, with WWE banning Somas in the last month I’d say the media coverage already has.
My friend Bamm Bamm, who is the only one including Linda I’ve heard of who thinks she mopped the floor with her opponent at any point during those debates, is pretty indicative of those fans who put their own entertainment above even the lives of the wrestlers they enjoy so much. The irony is, if things had been different Bamm Bamm, a former pro wrestler, could have been one of those WWF independent contractors in the eighties, and the odds of him being around to cheerlead Linda would have gone down considerably.
Andy? Well, he spent years sitting with me every week while we talked about these same issues on radio stations around the community and the best he can come up with is “hey, maybe the even less responsible competition, currently featuring a plaintiff under indictment for felony drug charges, can get a leg up! Wouldn’t that be great!”
Oh well. Every teacher has his failures.
While Bruce, my friend, makes some interesting points:):)..he does fail to mention the full time with benefit jobs that WWE has created…granted, their track record up until recent years was pretty weak, but no more so than anyone else “in the biz”. I guess you’ve forgotten those “personal services” contracts Ted Turner had his talent signing:):)
Not to mention that her opponent was Secretary of State or the state Department of Labor head or something like that…& never once brought a state investigation into all of these alleged problems with WWE…sort of blows his credibility out of the water. Luv ya Bruce!!! Oh, & after their 1st debate, McMahon’s polls went from a 20 point deficit to an 11 point deficit, so apparently, I’m not the only one who thought that…..
Bruce, thank’s for the educated answer.
The “Andy Show” or “The Hardy Show”, which one will hit the million mark first? Professional atheltes or professional actors, we all have our faults…..The years of extensive training wears on our minds and souls…..I have been where these men have been and I am lucky to be living to talk about it….
I’ll have more to say when the book hits the shelves…..
Again, we could go back & forth on this forever…but do you really think Eddie Guerrero wasn’t on painkillers & roids before WWE, how about Chris Benoit..do you think that was all on WWE…how about Brian Pillman..all WWE?? Of course not..I could go on forever & let’s not even get started on the Von Erich clan.
Yes, wrestling is a dirty business for the performers….& some make the mistake of falling for the easy way around things (roids, painkillers, drugs) etc…but, as we’ve seen, it falls on all professional athletes (steroids in baseball & even the current helmet to helmet debates in football) that there’s going to be risk involved.
Maybe Bruce misinterpreted what I was saying (or maybe I should have stated my position better) Conditions & benefits for the performers could (& should) be much better on all levels…but if you’re talking about someone who knows how to generate revenue & create jobs..it would be hard to argue that Linda McMahon doesn’t know how to do that….