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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Who's the Boss?

Vince, Triple H, Brad, & Vickie
Photo courtesy: WWE
By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

As much as I want this to be a blog about the popular 80's sitcom by the same name, it is not.  The task at hand today is addressing the maze of management that currently reigns on WWE programming.  I meant to tackle the topic last week, but got busy with other things.

The late, great Jack Tunney
Photo courtesy: WWE
I'm trying to be less negative about my posts, but this blog will take me away from that goal.  I miss the 80's and 90's when the "authority figure" was only on TV for special appearances.  Jack Tunney only showed up a handful of times to lay down the law.  Often times, his directives were read by the announce team or the back stage interviewer.  He wasn't a part of the weekly show or pay per view.  Even in the early 90's, when Roddy Piper and Gorilla Monsoon became "President" of the WWF, they very rarely were so involved in the story.

Triple H, Brad, & Steph
Photo courtesy: WWE
Right now, there are no less than 5 people vying for the role on WWE programming.  Brad Maddox is finding his way as the Raw General Manager.  Vickie Guerrero is the new GM of SmackDown.  Now, each week we're getting doses of Vince McMahon, the CEO, his son-in-law Triple H, the COO, and Vince's daughter Stephanie, Director of Creative (I think that's the title they've given her on air).  Let's not forget the two men recently relieved of their duties, Booker T and Teddy Long.  I suspect we haven't seen the last of them either.  And did I miss something or is Alex Riley hanging out with Brad now too.  Is he the assistant GM?

Past bosses
Photo from Bleacher Report
The constant rotation of authority figures is nothing new.  We saw the guest GMs a couple of years ago.  Then superstars have come and gone and had their time back in the spotlight.  It seems to me like it's a lazy way to work past stars or guys they have nothing for into some kind of on camera role.  I can accept a GM.  Maybe even an assistant.  But is it necessary to have the McMahon-Triple H faction on weekly as well?  I know this is all leading to some sort of power struggle between Vince and Trips, and Maddox and Guerrero are merely the pawns in the game.  I'd much rather see the company continue to focus on the wrestling, like the series of matches Daniel Bryan went through on Raw.  They were simply amazing.

I know it's the era of sports entertainment, but we're not all entertained by everything we see.  I hate to hate on anything, especially the Divas, but that segment on Raw with Miz and Jerry Lawler and the stars of the new Divas show was one of the worst segments in recent memory to me.  Many of these ladies are talented and need a chance to shine, not be part of a skit to promote a show on E!  But again, I get that the days of "wrestling" have been replaced for the most part with "entertainment."

Okay, ranting over.  Thanks for reading, I appreciate the support.


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