AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com
Coming up...more reader's thoughts on the Tim White columns, and on the thoughts about Sherri Martel shooting down the smark hecklers at the WWE Hall of Fame.
But first, much, much bigger news.
This week, Vince McMahon booked his biggest star ever.
It seems that at the WWE Backlash PPV, Shawn Michaels must face both Shane McMahon and Mr. McMahon. But Vince McMahon is a sporting guy, though. He's giving Shawn Michaels a partner in this tag team match: God.
No, I don't mean Dave Meltzer's "God" (as he's referred to him sarcastically more than once): HHH.
I mean THAT God....you know, the Almighty one...the one prayed to by Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and a world full of other folks.
On this past Monday's RAW, Michaels addressed the crowd, saying he was looking forward to getting past the McMahons, and wanted to challenge for the WWE Championship. McMahon's response was that since "divine intervention that helped him to victory at WrestleMania", he could have it again at Backlash. Since "no one ever wins a war against the McMahons", Michaels would get "God’s help" making God Shawn Michaels's partner at Backlash.
Yup. Vince McMahon is booking God in the main event of his PPV.
Does anyone wonder what payoff God gets for being in the main event of a WWE PPV? Or who cashes God's check for Him (or Her)?
Further, doesn't God being, well, God... get ultimate creative control in His contract whether McMahon wants to give it to Him or not? How will Vince McMahon get God to do the honors?
On to reader comments:
From "Tony":
"Hi there...
I've read your columns for a long time Bob and enjoy them a lot.
The Tim White thing is a problem though. To start with I have to say that I totally agree with you. The sketches are not funny and they are a law suit waiting to happen. If it did happen I wouldn't be particularly upset at seeing Vince squirm a bit - he's long overdue. The problem as I see it (and I could be wrong) is that he is running these skits to wind up the internet community. I really believe that is the sole purpose of them. No-one else has any interest in them whatsoever.
Going down the contacting advertisers route might work to a certain extent but it just seems wrong. We went through that a few years ago, ironically, in WWF's defence and admittedly it did work! To me it seems ignoring it, giving it zero publicity and treating it as the obvious droolings of McMahon's mind would give it the only response it deserves. He's a f@#&wit and sometimes f@#&wits just need to be ignored until they lose interest.
As for the Sherri Martel bit. Right yet again. Good for her, I always liked Sherri (read that as fancied the knickers off!) and I've had words with people chanting bollocks at wrestlers who've made a mistake in a match. Maybe we're just too old and too well mannered mate! LOL
Take care and best wishes from England!
Tony
Or maybe we have some idea of what wrestlers put their bodies through...and as a result, we don't act like ill-mannered morons. Writing stuff to newsletters and websites, or posting stuff on message boards critical of wrestlers is one thing. But yelling out stupid things to wrestlers that show how little you know about wrestling is another altogether.
From Paul Wilson, of Hull, England:
"Mate, you have to start a poll- which suicide attempt should Tim White NOT have survived? ...By the way, nice to see Tim enjoying himself in HoF crowd, sat just behind the McMahons! What are they trying to pull- it's just a disgrace and makes White as a character look even more stupid!"
So will what they have coming up next week...read below.
From Thelma Miles in Washington, DC
"I can’t believe they’re using a sniper angle for Tim White. I live in the DC Metro area where we lived in fear of even going to get gas due to the Sniper Slaying. This part of the country lived in total fear; even Starbucks had to stop serving people outside due to the sniper.
Many people were killed and a 13-year-old boy was seriously injured. How dare the WWE take something as scary as this and make a mockery out of it. I haven’t or never will watch this 'so called suicide attempt.' The only thing that needs to die is this 'angle.'”
I remembered the DC sniper after I wrote the last column. But especially in an age of terrorist fears, having a man (?) in a dark suit that looked an awful lot like more than one group of foreign terrorists we've all seen on the evening news...is plenty stupid.
From Jamal of New York:
"First of all I don't know how on earth any one in WWE or anywhere for that matter can find suicide to be a funny subject? Given the large amount of teen-agers and young adults who do give in to suicide and when you consider that this is basicly WWE's audience you would think they would have a little more respect for this problem. But since Vince has shown no respect for anything why should suicide hold any importance to him?...
...I still love wrestling but I can't condone the trash TV that Vince calls wrestling so now I pretty much only watch TNA. Sure it's not perfect but at least you dont have to hide the kids when it comes on!"
I think the whole concept of suicide being used as humor is disgraceful. Being a counselor professionally, maybe I'm too tuned into the very real feelings of people who are in despair over various life situations. McMahon's continual references to Tim White's "depression" also piss me off; as I know all too many people who have chronic depression and are treated for it, both through work and my outside life.
From James Weed:
"In response to the piece in your latest article about the "village idiots," all I can say is that there is a right time and place for comments and yelling, and there's a time when people need to just sit down and shut up. The Hall of Fame ceremony was just one of those times. No fan should have been yelling anything at anyone up there. Fortunately, it's a minority of fans who would do anything like that, but the minority is almost always the most heard.
However, I will have to dissagree with you about what happened at the CZW event. That fan who was chanting "Boring" has a right to his opinion, and he can voice it if he so desires. Wrestling fans are not known to be quiet about their opinions at an actual wrestling show. I can't agree with you on that. Again, though, it is a minority of fans who will do something like that. At events like the Hall of Fame, people should be ejected for yelling stupid crap at the wrestlers/inductees, but at normal wrestling shows, it's just part of the experience."
The same people who did "catcalls" at the Hall of Fame ceremony are the very people I've been talking about. They have little or no respect for the wrestlers they claim to be fans of. They don't understand squat about why matches are paced the way they are, that matches have a certain rhythm, and that (God forbid) rest holds ARE used in matches sometimes.
Well, folks, the latest "Lunchtime Suicide" shows Tim White inviting Josh Matthews "and all the WWE fans" to the Friendly Tap (the bar White owns in real life) for a "Celebration of Life"; the place where the first of these suicide attempts occurred on PPV. However, the vignette ends after Josh Matthews walks away, with White laughing with a sinister laugh.
Yup... this should be GREAT stuff for the Christian Holy Week..a "Celebration of Life" as part of "Lunchtime Suicide"... during the week that Christians celebrate the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ; as well as Jews around the world commemorating Passover, one of the two holiest times of the year for Jews (along with the High Holy Days around Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah).
Lord, I hope they aren't going to put on WWE.com what I think they're going to do.
Until next time...
_________________________________________________________
If you have comments/questions, or if you'd like to add the AS I SEE IT
column to your website, I can be reached by e-mail at bobmagee1@hotmail.com)