WWE Swing: When Do You Quit?
June 13th, 2007
by MC
You tell me if this is indicative of “crossing the line”.
The above picture is what millions of Monday Night Raw viewers were left with recently, as WWE Chairman Vincent Kennedy McMahon was reported to supposedly have “died” in a fatal car bombing incident.
All arrows point to the fact that this is just another one of the WWE’s big time gags. Just something kayfabe to garner attention, it probably is.
Whether it is real, or shockingly true, we, media consumers, are led to ask one question quite vehemently:
“Has this recent skit become ‘too real’ for its own good?”
World Wrestling Entertainment has tons of fans who are minors. I don’t think they (nor their parents) would be well served to know that such violence is occurring in such close proximity to them. I know that pro-wrestling these days can be so much about being busted open, slammed through tables, and getting hit with chairs (i.e. ECW), but hey, “depicting” the death of a man via the “staging” of an explosion as shaking as the one we witnessed on RAW, would leave even the most hardcore wrestling fan reeling, even a little bit.
It’s never a whimsical thing to toy around with the concept of someone’s death. Never. Whether you are in the entertainment business or otherwise. Has callousness crept up our backs so much that we don’t give a hoot about what we see in media anymore? As much as Vinnie Mac’s managed to stage perhaps the most shocking stunt in the history of pro-wrestling (what’s more shocking, this, or Terry Funk bleeding himself to death during a barbed wire match? You be the judge), whether or not role play becomes successful, or is deemed worthy of commendation, depends BOTH on how a stunt is executed, and what a stunt is based on. In this case, the issue the “gag” is rooted in is way too controversial. Ergo, the value behind the manner through which the event was staged is compromised.
I do hope that WWE spin doctors stop this foolishness soon. I don’t want to seem hypocritical, but, perhaps the oft happy go lucky world of entertainment should put a premium on social responsibility for a change. Such a move might actually bring some respect, along with filled seats, onto the WWE, and sports-entertainment’s, resume.
The threshold between fantasy and reality has been blurred way too much already. Let’s not make the malaise called disillusionment in the face of priorities and good taste worse by shooting ourselves on the foot, and, consequently, scampering to remove the lodged bullet, with, of all things, our teeth.
(Your guess is as good as mine with regards to where the WWE will steer the McMahon death storyline next…poor wrestlers…instead of focusing on their efforts in the ring, the world has its attention on an accident that, well, is “purposely counterfeit”.)
-0-
June 13th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
so who else has noticed mr. mcmahon is still “presumed” dead. you think they would have announced his death by now but noo. and, another thing, if this was real, all news stations and all that would be all over it. also, there just happened to be like 15 photographers there to take a picture at the moment of the explosion.. very coicidental.
this is wwes lame crap. mr. mcmahon is alive and fine and yes.. wwe has stepped over the line here.
June 13th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
The following is an article from The Times-Leader in Pennsylvania… read this.
Did Vince McMahon, who’s bluffed and blustered his way into the ringmaster’s role of the testosterone-fueled soap opera that is professional wrestling, really fall for the old bomb-in-the-limo trick?
Though World Wrestling Entertainment would have you believe otherwise, the answer is no.
“No one was in any danger,” said Steve Poremba, a Wachovia Arena spokesman, of Monday night’s WWE RAW spectacle at the arena, though he would not elaborate.
A WWE spokesman echoed that, but also wouldn’t elaborate, instead pointing to a news release from the company and “reports” on its Web site. The release inferred that celebrities who have “less than flattering things to say about” McMahon, including real estate mogul Donald Trump, sportscaster Bob Costas, rapper Snoop Dogg and wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, might be behind a plot to bump him off.
Despite articles on the Web site that firefighters and federal agents are investigating, workers at the Luzerne County 911 Center confirmed that it was “a stunt” and that no emergency vehicles were called to the arena on Monday night.
“The ‘federal agent’ (referenced on the Web site) is definitely not the FBI,” said Jerri Williams, a special agent spokeswoman with the FBI’s Philadelphia office. “We have not been made aware of any car bombings. … We would definitely have been informed.”
But fans from across the country have been contacting local media to find out if McMahon, the chairman of the board of WWE, was actually blown up in a fiery limo-bombing on his so-called “Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night,” which was televised on USA Network. McMahon had walked out of the building to the waiting vehicle, so fans inside the arena saw the same televised live scene.
Only it was wasn’t live. Supervised by Zenith Pyrotechnology, based in Deer Park, N.Y., the explosion was actually filmed at the arena late Saturday night, the footage of the burning hulk taped Sunday night and the whole mess spliced together, said Andy Kratz, the township’s zoning officer.
“They did it, I believe, at 11 o’clock at night until 3 a.m., so no one would be around,” he said, adding that it was done in a section generally blocked from public view by the building and surrounding land features.
The pyrotechnics company had to get permits, which Kratz said it did about a week ago. “We have pyrotechnics shows in the arena all the time” for wrestling and ice skating, among other things, he said. “They say they do this quite a bit,” but usually not outside.
Representatives of the pyrotechnics company have not returned calls for comment.
Based on reaction from fans, who expressed indignation with the stunt, the story hook could instead hook itself.
“It’s messed up. A death is a serious matter,” said Kenny Noe, of Lakewood, Wash. “Wrestling is not about death. It’s about beating people up, maybe getting hurt.”
He referenced the actual deaths of several wrestling personalities in the past and said this incident casts a shadow over their memories. “What if Eddie Guerrero isn’t dead?”
“For (McMahon) to do something like this is ridiculous, if it’s a hoax,” Chris Dent of New Freedom, Pa., said, “… because the American public’s gonna wind up not watching his shows and it’s going to go down hill,” he said.
Still, they also agreed that the stunt will cause a buzz. “It’s just kind of weird, and my friends are probably going to be talking to me all day,” Dent said.
June 18th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Having two kids that watch WWE - and having them already have processed the death of Eddie Guerrero, I can only say - it’s tricky to continually tell them it’s not real - but that was….and now, explain that while Eddie’s death was real - Vince’s is not….it’s really not worth the trouble - I wish that they could see these kids, while they can get past the wrestling part - do know death is real and they are impacted.