Well, WWE. Ya had me and then ya lost me.
Far be it from me to rail in the name of political correctness. I'm a firm believer that sometimes, people can be a bit too easily offended by certain subjects. However, even people like myself who occasionally tread water aboard the S.S. Tasteless more times than they really should, sometimes realize that there is a time and a place to listen to reason and do the right thing.
Like a lot of fans who tuned into RAW last night, I felt confused, cheated, and just a tad disgusted.
Last week, I remarked at how well-written, fun, and well-done Monday Night RAW's three-hour show was, from top to bottom. The matches were excellent. There was some drama and suspense with the draft picks that were being switched between all three shows. And of course, there was the much-talked about culmination of the three-hour tour with the Mr. McMahon character getting inside his white, stretch limo only to have it explode, supposedly with him in it.
It seemed like a nod to all the hoopla surrounding the rather disappointing series finale of The Sopranos, giving the fans a gigantic explosion to satiate the craving for the blood of a power-mad leader of a mainstream subculture. What I initially liked about the "McMahon Go Boom!" storyline was that, at first, it didn't insult the intelligence of the fans. It appeared that this angle was saying "Yeah, we all know this is fake! Let's just have a little fun with this storyline!"
Much like Sopranos Mafia boss, Phil Leotardo's head-squishing sendoff to the Great Linguini Bar In The Sky, the "death" of the Mr. McMahon character could have provided shock value, a resolution to a major villain exiting the picture, and even a slight bit of comic relief if done in a "Ding, Dong! The Commish Is Dead" sort of way. Even faking his own death to finally get some love from his locker room would have made for a much more light-hearted storyline than what would become a seemingly blatant mockery of the long line of tragedies that have befallen many of sports entertainment's stars.
Initially, it would seem that the character of Mr. McMahon, who for all intents and purposes, the company's top heel, was to be written off the show indefinitely, possibly to allow the real WWE Chairman and CEO, Vince McMahon to take a more behind-the-scenes approach to his business. I had (perhaps incorrectly) assumed that he would be stepping back to allow some other wrestlers to step into the roles of a dominant heel, possibly with one per brand. Additionally, I had thought that the purpose of the draft would be to switch up the rosters and generate some new feuds and bring some midcard wrestlers to a more prominent level.
While I will admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the antics of (the character) Mr. McMahon and that he made for a highly entertaining villain, like a lot of fans, I thought it would be wise for him to step aside and give some of the talent pool a shot in the top heel spot.
Instead of letting the character of Mr. McMahon take a backseat, this week's edition of Monday Night RAW was chock-full of McMahon-ness. Even though he wasn't physically present on the show, it still revolved entirely around him.
The faux-death of Mr. McMahon took up the entire show, overshadowing what could have been a major, stand-alone storyline with the draft picks being introduced and given greater attention with less of an overwhelmingly McMahon-flavored backdrop looming in the wings.
Perhaps once things with the draft and the wrestlers had settled into their new homes and roles on their respective shows and several feuds had been carefully established, maybe then this ominous "Death of Mr. McMahon" storyline could have been used to generate more buzz and spice up the plot. From a business standpoint, it's throwing too much crap in the pot all at once and not giving fans an opportunity to properly digest it.
From the fans' standpoint, the show became less about the wrestlers than it did the Mr. McMahon angle. The operative word here is "wrestling", which is what wrestling fans tune in to see. Theatrics are part and parcel of sports entertainment and yet another reason why the fans continue to watch, as well. However, when the theatrics revolve solely around one performer -- on three separate shows, no less -- to say that things get stagnant is an understatement.
In the past week or so, it has been less of the job of the shows' respective announce teams to call the action and give color commentary than it has to sound bummed out and play along with this latest storyline. According to the announce teams, even the most jaw-dropping of hurracurranas is less about the athleticism of the wrestler than it is an unspoken dedication to the faux-demise of the Mr. McMahon character,
For the record, there was some terrific wrestling on last night's program. The World's Greatest Tag Team, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin took on the new, incoming draftees from Smackdown!, Paul London and Brian Kendrick (whom I privately like to refer to as "Bill and Ted" or "Wyld Stallyons." And don't tell me that you haven't noticed a vague resemblance between the two talented, young wrestlers and a certain '80s movie featuring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, either). I've been a fan of both "excellent" teams for a long while now and it was great to see them work together and really nail home the point that tag teams who develop a close, working relationship over several years to hone their complimentary skills are so much more entertaining than the cut-n'-paste method of slapping two random wrestlers together and calling them a "tag team."
Additionally, there was some solid wrestling within the women's division on the program, with Richmond, VA's hometown girl Mickie James getting a huge reaction from the crowd and some, as-always, innovative maneuvers from Melina, a RAW debut for Jillian Hall and continued improvement by Candice Michelle.
Ditto for great work by Jeff Hardy and Daivari, another ECW import making his presence known on a new show.
To be fair, all of the matches on last night's card were very good, maybe even better than average. However, thanks to this overwhelming new plot development, they didn't get the proper attention that they deserved.
The fans present in the arena seemed as if they were unsure of how to react or just very, very bored in-general. Mr. Kennedy, normally a promo-machine and big hit with the fans, all but laid an egg out there with his filibustering on the mike, making a verbal show of his tremendous respect for Mr. McMahon and vowing to dedicate his career to his kinda-sorta namesake.
Maybe the lackluster reaction was because some of the fans present for RAW had bought tickets before knowing of the draft and were anticipating on seeing some of their favorite performers on the show who had been switched to either ECW or Smackdown? Or judging by the staggering amount of boos and a few loose chants of "bull-(fill in the blank here)" when Mr. McMahon's daughter, Stephanie came out to continue the public McMourning on behalf of her family for this storyline, they were just disgusted with how much of their time had been sucked up and how little gratification this new angle had provided them with.
Her purpose out there was two-fold. Not only did she harp about the storyline death of her father, but apparently, we will all be treated to another three-hour Vince-capade on next week's Monday Night RAW, this time with a more solemn roster giving glowing appreciation for the newly-minted six-foot-under-saint, Mr. McMahon. Three more hours in addition to the two hours devoted to this angle on RAW, another hour on ECW, and yet another two hours on Smackdown!. Hmmm… Should I tape my cyanide tablet to the inside of my couch cushion now or wait until next Monday night?
At this point, what could have been an intriguing, new angle has deteriorated into a vanity project spanning several hours of television spread over several weeks. It's like a McMini-Series already!
Although I haven't seen ratings for this turkey of Gobbeldygooker proportions, online scuttlebutt amongst fans and the live reaction of the fans last night indicate that this hasn't been received too well.
While we've covered how bad this angle has become from a creative/business standpoint and from the fans' point of view, there is also how bad this angle is from a human perspective.
It's been a sad couple of weeks for wrestling fans. The real-life death of Jill Jarrett, wife of Jeff Jarrett, performer and at one time, part-owner of TNA, on May 23, 2007 was addressed both online and at Slammiversary with an emotional Jarrett speaking about his wife's long battle with cancer. Jarrett, sometimes loved, sometimes not, by the fans as a wrestler, was given the genuine respect, gratitude, and empathy of the crowd and wrestling fans worldwide. In turn, he thanked them for their support and paid tribute to the supportive and loving nature of his wife and mother of their three children in his own life path.
A few days ago, the legendary manager and women's wrestler, "Sensational" Sherri Martel passed away suddenly. Not only was Sherri a pivotal figure in at least four of the five major federations (AWA, WWF/WWE, WCW, and ECW) who held the Women's Championship belt in two federations at once and then went on to manage several stars who still grace the main event marquee to championships, from all accounts, the woman was a beloved figure by wrestling fans and wrestlers the world over. While she portrayed (and played it astoundingly well) a devious, sexual, and physically powerful woman; so many fans and wrestlers have mentioned what a helpful, influential, and kind person she was outside of the square circle. Whether it was dispensing sage advice on the industry, assisting in furthering other wrestlers careers, or just talking with fans and sharing her love of professional wrestling, Sherri Martel seemed like a rare, genuinely good human being.
So, instead of honoring a Hall of Famer who revolutionized women's roles in professional wrestling, not to mention a performer who wasn't afraid to go toe-to-toe with men in a very convincing and often brutal way, Sherri's tragic death at a young age was all but swept under the rug with just a graphic honoring her memory. While Vince's fake death garnered a ten-bell toll in his honor, a respected wrestler didn't even get so much as a video package to remind fans of her impressive achievements, let alone a final bell toll in her honor. Sherri Martel deserved so much better than a ten-second mention.
Barring even the immediate deaths surrounding the world of professional wrestling, there are some tragic moments that still hover in the background and are fresh wounds for many wrestlers currently plying their trade. Both Owen Hart and Eddie Guerrero passed away during their tenure as active roster members within the WWE and were given well-deserved, heartfelt, and respectful tributes. Fans were reminded that these men were people first, and performers second.
It seems that WWE has lost its human touch as of late. During the ten-bell toll for the fake-death of the character of Mr. McMahon, the entire roster was gathered to pay tribute to the "fallen" WWE Chairman. I didn't find the ten-bell salute to be insulting as some did. In keeping with the storyline, it made perfect sense. However, having the camera deliberately pan to the faces of Chavo Guerrero and Vicky Guerrero who so recently lost both an uncle (who was more like an older brother) and husband, respectively, was low.
To have Chavo give his testimonial on the "Let's Pretend!" version of Mr. McMahon's death was even lower. Then again, I'm not in Chavo Guerrero's position. I'm sure he didn't have his arm twisted into doing the promo and probably consented to doing it. However, of all of the wrestlers you could have singled out to have presented his in-accordance-with-the-storyline thoughts on this subject, Chavo Guerrero's presence only added a twisted shock value and even subconsciously, may have served as a reminder of a very personal loss for himself and his family.
It's one thing to milk the drama of a rather charged angle for storyline purposes. It is an entirely a different story when you exploit the very public, yet extremely personal tragedies of real people to further underscore scripted emotion.
The scripted tears shed by many performers who have had brothers-in-arms pass away and had emotionally bared their souls on television to remember them, degrade the memory of these wrestlers, all to progress a storyline for a man who didn't really die
It would be one thing to have it be a one-n'-done storyline or add an element of comedy to the formerly reviled Mr. McMahon character's demise. Instead, it's turning into a three-week gimmick with no end in sight at this point and taking over every show within the scope of WWE programming.
Wrestling fans may voice their very loud opinions at any given moment during a match or segment, however, we're not total cretins. Death touches us all in some way or another. While everyone handles it differently, at some point, the sadness of it eventually kicks in and hits home in the hearts of us all. It's the worst boot to the gut any human being can take, wrestler or not. Sadly, we've all been there and know how devastating it is to lose someone important in our lives.
When a performer or even a close relative of a performer passes away, we're all human. In this era of the "smart mark," fans know when to draw the line between the very real person who plays an in-ring role and the character they portray on a nightly basis. Fans are well-aware of the separation between reality and fiction. While we may boo the character we don't like, there comes a time when we cheer them on as people.
I can only hope this angle which started out with a "bang," winds to a close rather swiftly and that "the show goes on" with a little more compassion and reverence for a form of entertainment that is so unfairly maligned, and even more so, its performers.
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