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Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Serious Thoughts on Jon Stewart in WWE

Photo courtesy: WWE
By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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When the angle with Jon Stewart of the Daily Show and Seth Rollins started a few weeks ago, I rolled my eyes.  In fact, in my latest podcast on the Jittery Monkey Podcasting Network I dismissed the idea.  But after watching Raw this week, I don't mind the storyline.  In fact, I thought WWE, Rollins and Stewart pulled it off pretty well.


Photo courtesy: WWE

I'm still not sure that Rollins is the right guy for this role, at least with how the storyline started off.  I would have never pegged Mr. Money in the Bank as the type who would want to be a fake cable TV news anchor.  He's one of the best in-ring technicians on the WWE roster as well as one of the company's fastest rising stars.  I'm not convinced he NEEDS this angle.  But I know with the recent photo "scandal" the angle has provided a distraction from the "controversy".  

With that being said, I enjoyed what I saw Monday night (actually Wednesday afternoon on DVR). Until then, I felt like Stewart was belittling Rollins and wrestling/WWE in general with the way he spoke on the Daily Show.  There was a tone I didn't like.  Of course this was in Stewart's environment which is a comedy show.  But on Raw, I saw a different side of Stewart.  He seemed like a true wrestling fan, remembering greats like Bruno Sammartino, Undertaker and Mick Foley.  


Photo courtesy: WWE
Stewart was great (I get that he's a trained professional), but his appearance was much better than most celebrity spots I've seen.  He admitted his inadequacies to the much younger, stronger and athletic Rollins.  He put over his foe, something that many times gets overlooked in these situations.  Stewart sold the fear of being pummeled by Rollins and then performed a kick to the balls that made victims of bullies cheer out loud.

I still don't want to see Stewart wrestle as I'm having a Jay Leno flashback.  In reality, I don't think he's going to though. But I also don't see him and Randy Orton working together either as it seems inevitable that the Viper will soon turn on the Authority and feud with Rollins.  I'm not sure if the issue between Rollins and Stewart is now over or if there's more to come.  

Bottom line to all of this is I understand why WWE brings in celebrities, especially around Wrestlemania.  These storylines work much better when the celebrity is a fan of the business and understands how things work.  In My 1-2-3 Cents, Jon Stewart has accomplished that.  Kudos to him. 

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