I just had to post to say that I'm disappointed with World Wrestling Entertainment. Last night, they probably 'killed off' a great character of supposed Arab-American genetics all because, after trading him, Muhammed Hassan(whom my girlfriend thinks is the hottest man ever), off to their "B-Class" show, SmackDown!, the network the show is on decided they would not allow his character back on the air after an event that aired on 7/7/05 depicted him dropping to his knees in apparent prayer and having masked men rush out behind him to beat down his opponent in the ring, The Undertaker after the Undertaker beat up Hassan's manager, Divari whom Hassan pushed into The Undertaker. So after they all beat up on him and all, the masked men raised Davari into a laying position and carried him out high in the air apparently as a martyr.
7/7/05 was also the date of the first attacks on London but the WWE show was taped three days before and WWE didn't have time to edit out all of the events and all mentions of it throughout the taping so they aired it as it was but overlayed a large warning to sensitive viewers before the events in question took place.
So anyway, he's been off of TV since then because of UPN's 'demands'. Instead of just transfering him back to the show that made him a top heel in the company in the eyes of many, they have apparently decided to shelf his angle and many speculate that he will be sent to WWE's developmental division, OVW.
Of course, nothing is known with certainty as of now. He could be transfered back to Raw after some time. Or maybe he will take on another persona of a 'reformed anti-American'... I don't know. It is more likely, however, he will be sent to OVW to work on a new character to be on SmackDown! sometime in the coming months or even years.
Now I'm sure none of you give a damn about this, but it kind of gets to me. I like the rebelious Vince McMahon of old that didn't care who he'd offend, knowing that it'd bring in the fans, harden the base, and stuff his pockets just a little more. But it seems that he's going through the cycle again. In the 80's and early 90's he did the same sort of PC crap, then in the mid 90's he "Tore open the creative envelope" and got raw and edgy. People tuned in. People bought what he was sellin'. Then he bought out his competetors and now he and his company are content to chill in the 'safe zone', creating a low calibre product that is worse now than their worse competitors from years past.
So why was he 'killed off'? To prevent people from being angry with the company... Tails are tucked between legs and Vince's legendary 'grapefruits' are mere raisins in the hands of sponsers.
So how did they do away with the character? He was powerbombed through the stage and shown laying below after 'suffering' from nothing more than a reportedly horrible match that WWE had set up for him, bleeding badly and was soon transported to the hospital. Even his page on WWE.com says for his recent news that he was hurt badly by The Undertaker.
So now that I've bored you all to death, I'll just sum things up quickly. An Arab-American character was exploiting the terrorist label most Americans placed upon them all after 9/11 and because a few people got offended, a company that was once rebellious crumpled and removed a successful character and a great wrestler and entertainer to keep from making a few people uncomfortable...
Fuckin' Jesus, man. The world is going to hell.
-=The Prynce
10 comments:
hahaha..I once thought it couldn't get any hotter than the rock.
I haven't watched wrestling in like 5 years now. when the undertaker changed his shit and turned into a biker, that was it for me.
I don't think Arabs make good heels. First, they all have to live up to the rep of the Iron Sheik, which I'm sure is pretty damn impossible. Second, they're kind of current events sensitive. We're not always fighting them. Remember Sgt. Slaughter during the Gulf conflict of the early 90's? I doubt it's conincedence that it was pretty much the last time he stepped in the ring.
We pretty much quit watching when they merged ECW, WCW, and WWF. I don't really think I've seen a whole match since they changed it to WWE. I was really getting into ECW, because they made it a bit more interesting, especially for being pretty plain for the most part.
Biggest wrasslin' letdown? The return of the Warrior in WCW. He should have beat Hogan a second time.
I miss the NWO so much. I think that was pretty much the coolest thing that happened to wrestling. I still remember seeing the fans reaction when Hogan turned for the first time. That moment, the emotion flowing through the building, that's what wrestling is really about. If it weren't for the NWO, I would have never switched channels. WWF will always be my favorite though.
I haven't even bothered with TNA wrestling. Anyone who gives Jeff Jarrett more than 5 seconds of airtime deserves to be shot.
And one more thing; Jericho SUCKS! :P Has he ever managed to do a promo without laughing at himself halfway through it? You wouldn't believe the shock and dissappointment I felt when the Millennium Countdown ended and it was HIM that walked out.
Favorites: Old School: George "the Animal" Steele
Silver Age: Tie between Ultimate Warrior/Randy Savage
Current: Stone Cold
Undertaker becoming a biker was a terrible move. It ate me to my core. I was so happy to hear they brought him back recently on Smackdown! but I rarely watch it unless I see a spoiler saying the bWo is gonna be on.
That's true about having to live up to the Sheik. But I was seeing him as being in a role more like the Hart Foundation meets Iron Sheik meet Nation of Domination which I thought would be able to carry on even if all of the anti-Arab sentiment was gone.
Almost all of the Nation memebers went on to be top faces in WWE as did Slaughter. Although some people just aren't any good as faces and I do sort of think Hassan would be horrible as one.
That merger was cool at first. I mean with the 'invasion' angle and all. Then it got boring and repetitive. I hated WCW but it kept WWF on their toes.
I LOVED ECW! I was actually what I'd call a 'casual viewer' for about two years until I started hearing about the ECW PPV WWE would be putting on. Then I started tuning in more often to see if I could catch any of my favorite ECW guys. The Rise and Fall of ECW PPV was great and so was the PPV. It made me have hope for WWE, knowing that they backed the whole thing.
The week before the 4th, Raw was actually really good. Since then... Its be sort of OK.
The Warrior himself is a letdown. He shows up for like two months and falls off the map for a year.
NWO was great. That was everyone was entertaining. I never really liked WCW too much, but it was scores better than WWE is now. But that was a time when, in all 3 companies, it was all about the electricity and emotion and not about trying to branch out into as many different forms of entertainment as possible and be as PC in it all as they can.
NWO went downhill too, though, when they branched into two factions. I mean, it was alright at first but nothing great. Then the LWO. But that was around the time I wouldn't even waste my 8-9PM hour on WCW.
TNA is ok... Nothing great. I see it much like I used to see WCW. In its last days on FSN, I would watch when I could for Raven. He was about the only one worth a damn on the show. But when they move to Spike, I may watch for Raven and Rhyno.
I actually used to like Jarrett. Back in WWF, I mean. He was a good heel and a great wrestler but not great enough for TNA to give him the NWA title so much. They should give him a break like WWE is doing with HHH. Neither are very entertaining anymore.
Jericho now is... not too bad. Back in WCW, I loved that dude! I tend to pull for heels and he was the best! The way he used to get mad and throw fits and almost cry... That was the best. And the ponytail on top of the head... He used to kick so much ass.
He was cool at first in WWF, too. I dug the way he interupted The Rock, whom I have never liked as a face and only more recently as a heel.
Jericho has potential but last I heard, WWE isn't using him for anything big because he is/was unsure if he'd resign later this year because they weren't using him.
On tonight's Raw, Jericho w/ Fozzy will have a 'battle of the bands' with John Cena... What a boring sack of shit this is shaping up to be. Cena is an OK wrestler and a horrible entertainer. If you haven't seen him, he's WWE champion and a lame ass wigger. Not even a current wigger! He's a early 90's, Vanilla Ice wigger! Miserable...
The best 'old school' for me would have to be JYD, right off the top of my head. But I'm sure I'd have another with some thought.
'Silver Age', as you put it... I dunno. I used to love the old school Sting back then. And 'Flyin' Brian Pillman.
Current... I dunno that I have one. lol. I've always loved The Blue Meanie. But its probably between Vicsera, HBK or Carilto as far as people I've actually seen on TV recently. But for TNA it's Raven and Abyss.
-=The Prynce
oh god. I think the ponytail was the worst thing about Jericho.
Yeah, I always liked the J.O.B. Squad. And the Flock. I was the Blue Meanie for Halloween once. And they're finally going thru the the bWo? That would almost be worth tuning in for again.
People like John Cena are the reason I stopped watching. I don't really like wrestlers that don't have a gimmick. I can't believe they gave him the belt. That completely devalues the damn thing. At least HHH doesn't have it. What happened to Brock Lesnar? He was a monster. Does Kane still wrestle without the mask, or at all? I always liked Kane, before they tried to give him a personality. His appearance was one of my favorite plots ever.
Carrie - That's blasphomy. I curse my hair for being curly, wishing I could pull off that sort of ponytail.
Unfortunately about all that remains of the JOB Squad is in the bWo. Al Snow's nowhere to be seen. Foley's retired. I can't remember too many other JOB Squad memebers right off, though.
WWE was basically frightened into bringing back the bWo. At the ECW PPV, there was a big ECW/WWE brawl in which JBL (formerly Bradshaw) punched the Meanie in the head as hard as he could. Meanie had like 14 staples in his head from a prior event but JBL reopened them. Backstage and all, JBL was talking shit to Meanie because apparently had a tough time with JBL when he was in WWE back in the day and he called JBL a bully for taking liberties and being sloppy in the ring. So for that, JBL was angry and hit Meanie. WWE didn't punish JBL in any way for his actions and superstars were getting angry. Meanie had thoughts of suing (and he still does, he says) and a few weeks ago on SmackDown, the bWo (Stevie Richards, The Blue Meanie, and Nova) came out and beat the shit out of JBL and vandalized his limo. In the altercation, Stevie said on an interview I read online that he swung a chair at JBLs head harder than he has ever swung one before (and that's coming from an ECW guy!) and JBL got busted all up. Stevie said he thought he may get fired but he said its worth it to get him back for Meanie.
All of this was a shoot except for the whole SmackDown deal. Stevie really did hit him as hard as he could, though.
So then last night at a PPV, the bWo had a match against the Mexicools (Juventude, Suer Crazy, and Psicosis) but I'm hoping that means they'll be keeping Meanie.
Stevie was still signed with the company any way as was Nova but Nova was and still is also wrestling as 'Simon Dean', a guy who basically sells health shakes.
I love Meanie, too. I had blue hair back in the day and people called me Meanie for it.
The flock made WCW watchable for a long time in my eyes.
John Cena has a gimmick it's just a shit one. I think its disrespectful to give him the belt. And he fucked it up by making it a 'spinner', too.
Jericho and Carlito are both about to have shots at it so maybe one of 'em will get it.
I don't dislike wrestlers without a gimmick-- or at least an unreal gimmick. Like Stone Cold had a gimmick but it wasn't anything fantastical. It was a touchy redneck who liked beer. I live in the South... It was believable! lol. William/Steve Regal never had a real gimmick but he was cool.
But I know what you mean. I just don't like crappy gimmicks like Hogan and all of that.
HHH finally is off TV which makes the watchability go up by about 20% to me.
Brock Lesnar pussied out and decided to play football but they didn't want him, he sued WWE for a lot of money but WWE are now bitches and they recently hired him back. The fans will almost certainly hate him. He and Goldberg's final matches were against each other and they HATED them and called 'em both sell-outs.
Lesnar's sloppy though and hurts people... Kinda bad.
Kane is still around and maskless. I don't know if you've heard about the real-life situation with Matt Hardy, Edge and Lita, but put Kane in Hardy's position and that's Kane's current story line.
During the time of Kane's first appearance, I was have felt the need to hurt someone if I would have had to miss an episode of Raw. It was just the good. And the monster they made Kane out to be-- ripping the door off of the cell to get to The Undertaker... Those were the days. Or like when the lights would die then everything would be red and Kane would come out and destroy anyone in the ring as they put up their most futile efforts and just leave with Paul Bearer after he was done.
It may be a little silly, but I love that sort of undamagable being gimmick. Well, when its believable, I do. Kane was believable but the other assholes to come after like Goldberg weren't.
Speaking of which, GILLBerg was another JOB memeber. lol. Remeber him?
Golddust... I loved Golddust...
-=The Prynce
didn't jericho have a perm???
thats funny, because i was just talking to carrie about Gillberg. Who's First?
The only wrestlers I liked that didnt really have a gimmick were Chris Benoit, and the Iceman, Dean Somebody. It's been so long I forgot his name.
How many matches have you seen in person? I saw a few when I was a kid (Hart Foundation vs British Bulldogs in a cage, Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy, Bossman [RIP] vs Randy Savage). I've been to RAW once. I think it was one of Test's first appearances, when he was part of the Corporation. God, I hated him and that whole plot.
I thought "the powers that be" were pretty cool in WCW, when they made Hacksaw the janitor.
I'm almost certain Jericho never had a perm. He may have had slightly curly hair at one time but not as curly as mine. I get Shirley Temple curls if I'm not careful... =(
Gillberg had scary strength... The pyro during his entrance... frightening. And I dare not neglect his bad-ass hyphenated tatoo!
I've been to 3 events. One was in the late 80's or early 90's when I was little. I'm almost certain it was WCW or an indie show with WCW stars 'cause I'm sure it was in a gym... I remember Cactus Jack and Lex Luger from that show, mainly.
In 1997 I went to an event that lasted for what seemed to be ages that was a house show. It was the night before the PPV that had Sable and Mero (I love Marc Mero!) vs/ TAFKA Goldust and Luna. The matches were all top names and the main event was Kane vs Vader. Vader was not back offically at this point after being fucked up by Kane with a wrench. I saw the Nation when Rock was the head of it and all of Jim Cornette's NWA teams... Dem wuz da dayz...
And more recently I went to a kick ass indy show. Go back to my posts from March/April of this year and you can see who all was there and all.
The Corporation was mediocre at best. I loved the Ministry but when it becamse the Corporate Ministry... I kinda was lost and didn't know what to think.
I don't think I recall 'the powers that be'. Was this before or after Hacksaw's cancer troubles? Towards the end of WCW, I didn't even waste that hour from 8 until 9... I was done with 'em. lol.
-=The Prynce
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