The Real (K)N Word

Courtesy: WWE

By Chad Smart
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter
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That title will, hopefully, make sense in a few sentences.

I don’t want to live in a world where a person can’t be racist. Not saying I think racism is a good thing. I happen to think racism (in any form) is a personification of ignorance. I’ve always preferred to get to know someone and then hate them based on whom they are instead of hating people based on what they are. 

If you’re reading this, you’re probably aware of footage being released of Hulk Hogan using racial slurs during a private conversation he wasn’t aware was being taped. In light of this tape becoming public knowledge, WWE severed ties with Hogan and have scrubbed his existence from their website. This leads to the title of this blog. The real (k)N word that is, in my opinion, ruining society is, Kneejerk. 

For whatever reason, WWE felt the need to take such extreme measures over a situation, which faded out faster than the wrestling career of the last Tough Enough winner. Sure, Hogan’s rant was all over the news the day the story broke. But since then, mostly silence. My daily work revolves around celebrity gossip and “news” and other than seeing some random footage of wrestlers being asked about Hogan, there has been no other major coverage of the leaked footage. 

I have no problems with WWE firing The Hulkster as judge on Tough Enough or putting out a statement saying they don’t agree with what he said and his opinions don’t reflect those of WWE. But to try and erase him in a similar fashion as they did Chris Benoit is insane.  That brings me back to the kneejerk reaction we as a society have accepted as normal. 

Look at the recent attempts to ban the Confederate flag as well as the outrage over the killing of Cecil the lion. For some reason, when something happens that people don’t agree with the initial reaction is to go into overdrive with public outrage. 

Whether you agree with what Hulk Hogan said, the fact is those comments were made in a private conversation. I’m willing to bet most people have made statements in private that if made public would cause the same type of backlash. Does that make Hogan’s use of racial slurs acceptable? No, However, trying to erase Hogan from history or make him out to be one of the worst persons ever does nothing either. 

Donald Trump and Mike Tyson way back when...

WWE removed Hulk Hogan’s name and picture from the Hall of Fame section on their website. You know who is still listed as Hall of Famers? Donald Trump and Mike Tyson. If you’ve been paying attention to the 2016 Presidential campaign of Donald Trump, you’re aware he has made several disparaging remarks about Mexicans. Remarks that several people find equally as racists, if not more so, as Hogan using the N-word. WWE hasn’t issued any public statement distancing them from Trump.  Mike Tyson is a convicted rapist. WWE has made no comments condemning Tyson.  

Michael Hayes

Sure, WWE could say Trump and Tyson don’t work for them so their words or actions aren’t reflective of WWE. Is that okay though? Even if you overlook that double standard, what about the fact Michael Hayes is still employed by WWE after going up to Mark Henry in 2008 and saying, “I’m more of a N-word than you.”  Sure, Hayes got a nice paid vacation, but still works for WWE.  Is it because Hayes is less publicly known and works backstage while Hogan is one of the biggest names in the wrestling world so it’s easier to cover up Hayes’ comments? 

I support WWE’s decision to cut ties with Hogan if they feel his actions could be damaging to their brand. I just happen to think they went a little overboard in their reaction. When the story blows over and they eventually bring Hogan back, WWE will look even more foolish for overreacting.  The big lesson to be learned for everyone, not just WWE, whenever something happens that may offend you before reacting wait a day or two to gather more information.

Kevin's podcast on Hogan

Will Mayweather KO WWE?

Mayweather vs. Big Show
Photo courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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I'm going to admit I know very little about the world of professional boxing.  Sure I know the names of Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Mike Tyson.  But until 2008, I'd never heard the name Floyd "Money" Mayweather.  The only reason I'd heard of him then was because of his involvement in a wrestling angle prior to WWE's spectacle Wrestlemania 24.

Knockout punch with some brass knuckles
Photo courtesy: WWE

Mayweather, who is 5'8'' and weighs 158 pounds was paired against The Big Show.  As his name implies, he's big.  Big Show stands 7'0'' tall and weighs in the neighborhood of 425 pounds.  The match was booked very well and with some dirty, underhanded antics by the boxer and his team, he got the knockout victory.  When you understand that WWE is more about the entertainment and less about the sport, it's easier to accept these types of outcomes.

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao

Fast forward to 2015 and Mayweather is booked in a huge fight against Manny Pacquiao.  I'd heard his name before, but for the most part I am unfamiliar with his record in the ring.  I couldn't name one other opponent he's faced.  But the hype surrounding this fight was more than I'd ever seen before.

Mayweather in 2012
Photo courtesy: Getty

Many on social media have been bringing up Mayweather's criminal past.  I decided to do some research and was pretty surprised by what I'd found.  Mayweather has a long history of domestic battery and battery charges.  He's served time in jail for the crimes too.  The biggest shock was some of these convictions were BEFORE his match against The Big Show.  Prior to the fight with Pacquiao, Mayweather banned a couple of female reporters from covering the contest.  That actually lead ESPN reporter and long time WWE supporter Michelle Beadle to send out this tweet.

I understand Beadle's concerns and wonder if Triple H's support of Mayweather will end up costing WWE relationships with others in the mainstream and sponsors.  I think if Mayweather was a WWE Superstar, he would have been future endeavored a long time ago.  But maybe I'm missing the real point here, Mayweather's nickname "Money".  Controversy creates cash, right?  Mayweather has served SOME time for his crimes.  Does that mean he's changed?  But looking at his rap sheet, there's been a repeated pattern of abuse.  

Mike Tyson WWE Hall of Fame
Photo courtesy: WWE

Mike Tyson, who is in the WWE Hall of Fame, is a convicted rapist.  He served three years in prison of his crime and seemingly has turned his life around.  He was given a second chance, which is what the prison system is set up to do.  However, I think it's still too early to use the "forgive and forget" approach with Mayweather.  I know no one from WWE is reading this, but I don't think the COO publicly supporting a man who has abused women is exactly best for business.  

Then there's the whole debate over the reasoning for Chyna not being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.  But that's an argument for another day.  

HomerMania

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents
Listen to the My 1-2-3 Cents Podcast now!

I've updated last year's post of Homer Simpson taking over during some big Wrestlemania matches.  Obviously the pics on the left are mine, but the copyright goes to the WWE of all the ones on the right.  Just wanted to get that out of the way.

Politically Correct, When It's Convenient

AW Enterprises
Photo from: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger & Chad Smart

@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.

 Randy Orton's past backstage behavior (defecating in diva's bags) and barely getting a slap on the wrist.  

  

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.

Mania Memories: Gold for Stone Cold

The new champ (WWE)

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

For several years the WWF was struggling in the Monday Night Wars with WCW.  Ted Turner's deep pockets were able to lure some of Vince McMahon's top talent away.  By the time Wrestlemania 14 rolled around, the pendulum was starting to swing back into Vince's favor.  Mike Tyson, Shawn Michaels, and Stone Cold Steve Austin are a big reason why that happened.

In the main event of Wrestlemania 14, Austin challenged the Heartbreak Kid for the WWF title.  Michaels was cockier than ever, having scored impressive wins over the Undertaker in the months leading up to Mania.  He had also beaten Bret Hart in the infamous "Montreal Screwjob" and fans were still a little bitter to say the least.  Austin was the anti hero, who really picked up steam and fan support the year earlier at Wrestlemania 13.  Having won his second consecutive Royal Rumble, Austin was the number one contender and going to Mania.

1-2-3 

Mike Tyson was brought in as an enforcer for the match.  But weeks before the big bout, Tyson pledged his allegiance to DX (Michaels, Triple H, and Chyna) thus stacking the odds against Austin.  Little did we know, Tyson had a trick up his sleeve and was actually in cahoots with Austin and when the ref in the match took a bump, Iron Mike jumped into action and made the three count.  A new champ was crowned and a new era was about to officially get underway.  When HBK came to from the Stone Cold Stunner he'd received, he argued with Tyson before the former boxing champion cold cocked Michaels and knocked him out.  Fans at the time had no idea this would be the last wrestling match HBK would be in more than four years.

Other talent would soon start rising to the top as a result of the events at Wrestlemania 14.  The Rock was the Intercontental champion and successfully defended against Ken Shamrock.  The Rock was months away from his own run as the WWF champion too.  Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk in a stocking over his head) beat the New Age Outlaws in a dumpster match for the tag team titles, however the decision was reversed.  I don't remember what the technicality was, but it happened the next night on Raw. Triple H was successful in defending the European title against Owen Hart.  These two had a pretty good feud going on at the time.  It was a pleasant surprise.

Painful...

Goldust was going through some changes at that point, and was known as The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust.  He was no longer with Marlena and instead hanging out with Luna Vachon.  The two were feuding with Marc Mero and Sable and came up short in their match against the married couple.  Taka Michinoku beat Aguila in a WWF light heavyweight championship match.  And the Undertaker returned after being in a casket set a blaze to defeat his brother Kane.

LOD 2000 (WWE)

Another surprise at 14 was the return of the Legion of Doom.  This time Hawk and Animal were known as LOD 2000 and their new manager was a bikini clad Sunny.  The legendary team won a tag team battle royal that included 14 other teams including the original Rock n Roll Express and a new version of the Midnight Express (which didn't hold  a candle to "Sweet" Stan Lane and "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton.)

Kane meets Pete (WWE)

The stars were also out at Wrestlemania 14 with former Bill Clinton (alleged) lover Gennifer Flowers and Pete Rose.  This would establish the running gag of Rose and Kane having issues at Manias to come.  It also lead to Rose being the first celebrity inducted into the Celebrity Wing of the WWE Hall of Fame.

Overall, I loved this card.  It was the start of a new era in wrestling.  I think after a lame Wrestlemania 13, 14 definitely gave the company and the business for that matter a much needed shot in the arm which ultimately ended up changing wrestling forever.

What are your thoughts on Wrestlemania 14?  Am I overselling it?  Share your impressions here or on our Facebook page.