AW Enterprises Photo from: WWE |
@my123cents on Twitter
The recent release of Abraham
Washington has raised a lot of criticism in the online world. Chad and I
decided to weigh in on the situation too. Chad is out of town for the
weekend and emailed me a few of his comments, so I figured I would tie both our
thoughts into one blog because for the most part we are in agreement on the
termination.
For those of you not familiar with the
situation, a couple of weeks ago on Raw, AW said Titus O'Neal was "like
Kobe Bryant in a Colorado hotel room...unstoppable." A few years ago
Kobe Bryant was ACCUSED of raping a woman in a Colorado hotel. He was
never convicted, in fact the case ended up being thrown out.
The night the comment was made Michael
Cole and Jerry Lawler came back from a commercial and apologized. I had
to rewind my DVR because I didn't even catch the comment. I figured AW
would probably get slapped with a brief suspension and/or a fine and be back to
action soon enough. But when he appeared the next night at the SmackDown!
taping, I figured it was all water under the bridge. Then nearly two
weeks after the incident, WWE released Washington from his contract.
A rep from the WWE issued this
statement to TMZ: "Unfortunately,
Brian Jossie, playing the character of A.W. was terminated because he continued
to exhibit poor judgment by making offensive and inappropriate comments on
live television and on social media."
AW Enterprises celebrate Photo from WWE |
I've talked with some of my friends
about this and probably the worst thing about the joke is that it's so
irrelevant at this point. The whole Kobe situation first came to light
nearly 10 years ago. I think for many people the joke went right over
their heads. But Linda McMahon is running for the U.S. Senate again this
year, and let's face it, AW just became a victim of that. There was
nothing wrong with what he said and the WWE is pretty hypocritical for letting
him go (keep reading for those examples)
Chad's 1-2-3 Cents:
AW's comment was barely a joke. No
offensive words were said. The charges against Kobe were thrown out, so actual
"rape" gets less punishment than a poorly worded comment about it.
Mike Tyson at the WWE Hall of Fame Photo from WWE |
Think about it this way too. The
WWE fires AW for making a veiled reference to an alleged rape four months after
inducting Mike Tyson into their Hall of Fame. If you remember, Mike Tyson
was convicted of raping a woman 20 years ago. At the time of his
conviction, Tyson faced up to 60 years in prison for his actions, instead he
served three years of a six-year sentence. Remember, Tyson RAPED a woman
and not only was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, but he became a huge part
of the company in 1998 when Steve Austin was red hot. AW made a joke
about an ALLEGED rape and got fired.
AW's firing of course set him off in the
world of social meeting, posting several tweets about his former employer and
how they do business. Would AW have been brought back in 5 months had he
kept his mouth shut ala Daniel Bryan (he choked Justin Roberts with a tie on
Raw during the Nexus invasion and was fired during Linda's first run for
senate)
More double standards:
Several years ago, Vince
McMahon in a backstage segment called John Cena, "my nigga." This was
said right in front of Booker T and Sharmel (not that it matters who it was
said in front of, but rather the fact that it was even said.) We don't
recall any backlash on this incident.
DX can still say "Suck It."
Just a few years ago they did the whole "Vince likes Cock"
angle, which included a t-shirt with a rooster and that phrase. That's
not exactly a family friendly or "conservative" message to send is
it?
Does the TMZ culture we
live in cause WWE to overreact because any little "controversy" will
be spread and debated for hours/days whereas 10 years ago any remark would have
died an hour after the show ended?
More of Kevin's 1-2-3
Cents:
Chad makes several valid
points. This is a company that ran an angle on necrophilia several years
ago. They've had hints of incest in story lines in the past. And they
even used stock footage of the OJ Simpson Bronco chase during Roddy Piper and
Goldust's match at Wrestlemania XII. I know OJ was never convicted of the
double murder of his ex-wife and her friend, but he did stand trial before the
footage was used by WWE. Controversy and envelope pushing are the things
that lead to many of the successful story lines for the WWE.
Linda McMahon is running for senate |
I think it's clear if
Linda McMahon wasn't running for office AW would still be employed. It's
not fair to the fans or the wrestlers that the WWE is toning itself down for
politics. It's even worse that someone would attempt to use the situation
against McMahon in her run.
People who don't know
wrestling need to be educated that this is entertainment. The wrestlers
and managers and divas are all playing roles. It's a continuous story on
TV. Lighten up folks there are bigger fish to fry than some guy making a
lame joke nearly a decade late.
But the bottom line (as
Stone Cold would say) is that the WWE is the McMahon's company and they can
fire anyone for any reason they see fit. We as fans don't have to like
it. But at the end of the day, it's Vince's right to do it.
You know we want to hear
your thoughts. Post them here or on Facebook.
Thanks for the support.
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