Part 1: WWE - Wrestling With Morality, by Joe Turner
TV shows addressing social issues is nothing new. TV writers use the advantage of being seen by millions to channel their opinions through their on-screen characters, and this can serve as a both entertaining and educational. In the 80s, we had Very Special Episodes. Today, we have hot shows like Orange is the New Black and Under The Dome making metaphorical comparisons to real life issues through their storylines. As with everything, some shows just do it better than others. Glee is well known for addressing social problems, but could never match up to the genius of South Park’s satirical stance on everything.
While most shows should be commended for at least trying to tackle serious subject matters, some TV writers need to stay the hell away. And there’s one major culprit out there: WWE.
While most shows should be commended for at least trying to tackle serious subject matters, some TV writers need to stay the hell away. And there’s one major culprit out there: WWE.
Wrestling is largely known for its stupidity. I was barely a teenager when the WWE famously tackled some questionably large issues for an industry based on grown men touching each other, and I remember it confusing the shit out of me. Take for example when the tag team champions married each other for some reason. Or when the WWE voiced their opinion on the pressing issue of geriatric interracial abortion. If there’s one thing that’s certain in this life, it’s that we can always rely on the WWE to deliver a positive message for the youth of today. Such as when...
WWE Tackles... Disability
I like to keep up to date with what’s going on in the wrestling world. I admit, I still find it entertaining. I noticed a thread recently on wrestlingforum.com asking the pressing question of why doesn’t the WWE hire many disabled wrestlers? The answer is simple. The WWE like to beat the shit out of disabled wrestlers.
Enter Zach Gowen, a one legged wrestler who, in order to win his WWE contract, had to beat the largest athlete in the world in what Vince McMahon shamelessly referred to as the first ‘real’ handicap match.
Enter Zach Gowen, a one legged wrestler who, in order to win his WWE contract, had to beat the largest athlete in the world in what Vince McMahon shamelessly referred to as the first ‘real’ handicap match.
Image Credit: givemesport.com
‘I could have paid for a new leg with some change in my back pocket, but instead I just threw him down some stairs.’
If you just read the caption above, you might think I was lying, but I’m not. Vince approved a spot where a one-legged disabled man was thrown down some stairs by a mother fucking UFC champion. But it doesn’t end there, the WWE later hired another disabled character named Eugene, but this one was head mental, not leg mental. Eugene was a massive retard. He just came to the ring and got himself in all sorts of hilarious situations, much to the dismay of the WWE fans, who eventually realised that the writers had actually assumed they were stupid enough to enjoy this gimmick. Of course, Eugene just got his ass handed to him every week.
And to top it all off, as if being disabled wasn’t enough, both wrestlers ended up fighting in Juggalo Championship Wrestling.
And to top it all off, as if being disabled wasn’t enough, both wrestlers ended up fighting in Juggalo Championship Wrestling.
WWE Tackles... Coping with Death
The Big Boss Man is funny as shit. Anyone who agrees to a storyline involving feeding a man his own dog must have had a sense of humour. But the Big Boss Man’s repertoire of bizarre storylines doesn’t stop there. And there seems to be a common theme denoting his career, and that theme is death.
Aside from the aforementioned dog-eating incident, Boss Man was involved in possibly the most surreal incident in WWE history, and I mean actual WWE history, not the kind of WWE history which Michael Cole claims about every match every week.
Aside from the aforementioned dog-eating incident, Boss Man was involved in possibly the most surreal incident in WWE history, and I mean actual WWE history, not the kind of WWE history which Michael Cole claims about every match every week.
Image Credit: wikipedia.org
Boss Man was involved in a feud with the Big Show, who at the time was coming to terms with the recent death of his father. First of all, this feud began when Big Show dropped a garbage dumpster onto Boss Man’s car, and from here on it only gets more stupid. Boss Man then put Big Show through a series of traumatic events, involving smashing an heirloom of Big Show’s family with a hammer, contacting Big Show’s mom and forcing her to reveal that her son was a ‘bastard’, and writing a poem about his dead dad.
With the deepest regrets, and tears that are soaked
I'm sorry to hear your dad finally croaked
He lived a full life, on his own terms
Soon he'll be buried, and eaten by worms
But if I could have a son as stupid as you
I'd have wished for cancer, so I could die, too
- Big Boss Man
Classic Boss Man, right? Sure. This insane story was then topped off with one of the greatest incidents of all time, even by wrestling standards. The Big Boss man interrupted Big Show’s father funeral, attached his coffin to the back of his car, and hauled ass like a scene from the shittest action movie ever made.
While Big Boss Man’s career has been hilarious, some might say that he took his interest in death too far, when he died.
While Big Boss Man’s career has been hilarious, some might say that he took his interest in death too far, when he died.
WWE Tackles... Addiction
Hulk Hogan is one of the most hated men on earth at the moment due to some overheard racist remarks on a sex tape or something. Who cares, right? Nothing Hulk Hogan says should offend anyone. If we want to hate on someone, why not hate on CM Punk? A Google search of his name is quick to bring up a list of people who hate him. This could have something to do with CM Punk’s outspoken ‘straight edge’ attitude towards narcotics of any sort, something which CM Punk is a real life advocator of.
So this is a character telling the WWE audience (made largely up of impressionable children and teenagers) that drinking, drugs and reckless lifestyles are a bad thing, and life can be enjoyed without the need for any of these things. The WWE then pitted the straight-edged CM Punk in a feud with Jeff Hardy, a notorious pisshead known for regularly being off his tits. Pretty open and shut case of good guy versus bad guy. Order versus recklessness. A life of decency and honor versus being high as balls. Easy, right?
So this is a character telling the WWE audience (made largely up of impressionable children and teenagers) that drinking, drugs and reckless lifestyles are a bad thing, and life can be enjoyed without the need for any of these things. The WWE then pitted the straight-edged CM Punk in a feud with Jeff Hardy, a notorious pisshead known for regularly being off his tits. Pretty open and shut case of good guy versus bad guy. Order versus recklessness. A life of decency and honor versus being high as balls. Easy, right?
Image Credit: wwezone.org
Wrong. In typical WWE fashion, the guy who peddled a life of sobriety was the bad guy, and the actual real life junkie was considered the good guy. It would seem that CM Punk had the last laugh, however, as their feud ended with a ‘loser leaves WWE’ match. CM Punk won the match, and Jeff was doomed to a life of obscurity and jail time.
The message that kids can take away from this? Don’t live a reckless lifestyle like Jeff Hardy did, or you might end up in a living hell.
The message that kids can take away from this? Don’t live a reckless lifestyle like Jeff Hardy did, or you might end up in a living hell.
Part 2: WCWhat The Fuck is Going On, By The Cunt
Like our friend Joe, I grew up watching wrestling, not realising how ridiculous it all was. To me Sgt Slaughter becoming an Iraqi sympathiser during the first Gulf war meant precious little to me. I didn't understand what any of it really meant. All I knew is that the fat guy who used to love America, hated it now. Wrestling tried to tap into people's very real hatred of Iraq at that time for ratings. It was only as I grew up and my intellect (and cynicism) became more useful, that I realised that every time wrestling tried to deal with an important social issue, it wasn't trying to raise awareness or show a realistic view of things, it was trying to be entertaining.
I didn't follow WWF as a teenager like Joe did, my Dad cancelled Sky Sports when he realised Wolves would never be in the Premiership long enough to justify the cost, so I had to make do with watching Monday Nitro, on TNT, on er... Friday night. Hence, my sketchy social storylines come from WCW, starting with...
I didn't follow WWF as a teenager like Joe did, my Dad cancelled Sky Sports when he realised Wolves would never be in the Premiership long enough to justify the cost, so I had to make do with watching Monday Nitro, on TNT, on er... Friday night. Hence, my sketchy social storylines come from WCW, starting with...
WCW Tackles... Racism
Booker T is no stranger to his race being exploited for the purpose of entertainment, like Vince McMahon throwing out the N-bomb then strutting past him or Triple H treating him like a second class citizen again for the angle. Nothing that came out of the WWF can even come close to WCW though. Time for a history lesson.
In the early 90's, WCW had a manager in their company called Colonel Parker. He was modelled on the legendary manager of Elvis, Colonel Tom Parker. In case you didn't know, he was an old school Southern gentleman. A plantation owner if you will. WCW in its infinite wisdom decided that he should be the manager of the debuting Harlem Heat.
In the early 90's, WCW had a manager in their company called Colonel Parker. He was modelled on the legendary manager of Elvis, Colonel Tom Parker. In case you didn't know, he was an old school Southern gentleman. A plantation owner if you will. WCW in its infinite wisdom decided that he should be the manager of the debuting Harlem Heat.
Image Credit: mandatory.com
This on its own is a fucking amazing piece of racism. If there was a being that ate racism, they would be smacking their lips at this one. I mean it is bad enough that a guy that looks like a plantation owner is walking two black dudes to the thing, it gets even worse when you hear about the original idea, which included Colonel Parker purchasing Harlem Heat and then leading them down to the ring in chains.
Fuck me, bearing in mind the WWF allowed Roddy Piper to do whatever the fuck he wanted, which included bashing a Polynesian man on the head with a coconut, making jokes about straight up slavery and doing an interview in half black face. Even that has still have nothing on the straight up batshit mental levels of racism here.
It wasn't just racism that WCW went utterly crazy with though...
Fuck me, bearing in mind the WWF allowed Roddy Piper to do whatever the fuck he wanted, which included bashing a Polynesian man on the head with a coconut, making jokes about straight up slavery and doing an interview in half black face. Even that has still have nothing on the straight up batshit mental levels of racism here.
It wasn't just racism that WCW went utterly crazy with though...
WCW Tackles... Addiction
Have you ever heard of Scott Hall? He was pretty big in wrestling in the mid to late 90s. Known as Razor Ramon in WWF, he was an upper mid carder, which to you non wrestling fans means he wasn't Hulk Hogan but he was the next step down. And no, that doesn't mean he didn't call people racial epithets but still crossed the street if a black dude was walking towards him.
He left WWF in 1996 and moved to WCW where he went by his real name and reinvented wrestling with Kevin Nash.
He left WWF in 1996 and moved to WCW where he went by his real name and reinvented wrestling with Kevin Nash.
Image Credit: oldschooljabronies.wordpress.com
Enough of the history lesson. Scott Hall loved booze and drugs. He loved them so much that Keith Richards is jealous. WCW were aware of this, considering his addiction issues became uncontrollable during his time there. They were so aware of it, that they changed his on screen character in mid 98...
To 'Last Call' Scott Hall. A rambling drunk. Who vomited on his boss.
If you thought it was bad when WWF made the addict beat the clean living man, how about the company taking advantage of someones real life demons.
To 'Last Call' Scott Hall. A rambling drunk. Who vomited on his boss.
If you thought it was bad when WWF made the addict beat the clean living man, how about the company taking advantage of someones real life demons.
WCW Tackles... Disability
Vince Russo is many things. He helped bring WWF back from near death at the hands of WCW in the late 90s. He and his friend Ed Ferrara jumped ship to WCW to try and work their magic there.
Going off on a tangent, there is a legendary announcer in the wrestling world. Jim Ross. Jim Ross is from Oklahoma, and he suffers from Bell's Palsy. It means that half of Jim's face becomes pretty much paralysed and it affects his speech.
Going off on a tangent, there is a legendary announcer in the wrestling world. Jim Ross. Jim Ross is from Oklahoma, and he suffers from Bell's Palsy. It means that half of Jim's face becomes pretty much paralysed and it affects his speech.
Image Credit: crazymax.org
It would be pretty shitty to make fun of this, it's not a nice condition, it would be especially shitty to do it on national television.
In 1999, Ed Ferrara debuted his on screen persona, Oklahoma. Oklahoma was a Southern man, whose face was scrunched up on one side. Affecting his speech. This was different to the last two exploitation devices utilised by WCW, this one was during its death knell. Maybe even, the final nail in the coffin.
I like to think that television has evolved to the point where complex social issues can be conveyed in a sensitive and intelligent way. I have seen some fantastically powerful television, from Pembleton wearing his dress blues to salute a colleague who had taken his own life in Homicide, to Walter White dealing with his cancer diagnosis in Breaking Bad. Unfortunately, Wrestling has been unable to fully integrate with the real world. It continues to stay inside its bubble and continues to be incredibly offensive about how it handles serious social issues. It's great isn't it?
In 1999, Ed Ferrara debuted his on screen persona, Oklahoma. Oklahoma was a Southern man, whose face was scrunched up on one side. Affecting his speech. This was different to the last two exploitation devices utilised by WCW, this one was during its death knell. Maybe even, the final nail in the coffin.
I like to think that television has evolved to the point where complex social issues can be conveyed in a sensitive and intelligent way. I have seen some fantastically powerful television, from Pembleton wearing his dress blues to salute a colleague who had taken his own life in Homicide, to Walter White dealing with his cancer diagnosis in Breaking Bad. Unfortunately, Wrestling has been unable to fully integrate with the real world. It continues to stay inside its bubble and continues to be incredibly offensive about how it handles serious social issues. It's great isn't it?
By Joe Turner
Joe is one of the many writers we have at Foul Entertainment, known for Plenty Of Catfish. He is a main stay on the voice cast for Disagreevances. He's also responsible for the artistic design in our games.
Joe is one of the many writers we have at Foul Entertainment, known for Plenty Of Catfish. He is a main stay on the voice cast for Disagreevances. He's also responsible for the artistic design in our games.
By The Cunt
Email The Cunt
A hidden face of the crew, The Cunt is main coder for Foul Entertainment games. He is currently documenting the progress of our game, Foul Fantasy, in his dev blogs.
Email The Cunt
A hidden face of the crew, The Cunt is main coder for Foul Entertainment games. He is currently documenting the progress of our game, Foul Fantasy, in his dev blogs.