7/7 Smackdown

[Guest Sass]

My condolences go out to you Cam. You were one of the first people I thought of, along with Nik, when I saw the morning news on Wednesday. I was relieved to see you were safe but also glad you were not hurt either. I wish the best for your friends that were hurt or killed in the blast.

 

Your friend should also not give the WWE the time of day. They don't deserve it. She doesn't need to watch any of their stupid pet tricks. On that note, I hope she makes a speedy recovery.

 

As long as the 40 + age range runs wrestling, with their offspring being groomed by them to continue on with the family business, wrestling will never be non-xenophobic or devoid of tasteless angles and gimmicks. Hopefully that changes with the next generation of workers and front office staffers.

[goodhelmet]

Because I don't know how I feel about this ...

 

... is this different from Eddie Gilbert and the Koloffs burying Bill Watts under a Russian flag during the Cold War?

Completely different.

 

Ivan Koloff, Nikita Koloff, etc. were white. There was never any discussion of religion or race. It was simply a matter of nationalism and/or jingoism, whatever you may think it is. This had racial overtones, religious overtones, and was also bad television.

 

I equate the Russian angle to something like the Un-American angle or the Hart Foundation angle of 1997. Pitting countries against each other and exploiting world issues that had negative consequences (and esp. allowing it to run AFTER they knew the bombings had taken place! ) are two completely different things. I am really shocked that you, of all people, did not pick up on the difference.

[Al]

I have not seen the angle last night, nor have I any desire to. Having read the spoilers, the idea of watching such a stupid, offensive display when I could be doing ANYTHING else was more than enough incentive to me to not watch Smackdown last night.

 

I don't want to say I am done with watching WWE. But if angles like this are what they are going to produce, I am not going to watch it.

[Guest Sass]

Meltzer let's the venom loose. From today's WO update:

 

It's nice to see that every now and then, when you forget how sleazy to the core the WWE is, last night they remove all doubt. Bluntly, the WWE, as a business, would be up shit creek right now if it wasn't for Europe, and to thumb their nose as the company's single hottest market simply because they live in a bubble in Connecticut where there is nothing but wrestling and the real world doesn't exist, just amazes me. The fact the company realized they couldn't air the Undertaker-Hassan angle in England shows they at least thought that much, but still, they put it on their web site anyway, needlessly, just to prove how insensitive they are.

 

It was bad enough airing it in the U.S., because it only seems to show wrestling fans around the world either how callous the company is, or the company's judgement that its fans would only care if something of the sort happened in the U.S. The fact the angle got no heat in Sacramento on Monday when it was taped showed a misjudgment, but Smackdown last night was 90 minutes of a 120 minute show filled with misjudgments.

 

Those happen all the time and that's part of creativity. You try things you think will work and sometimes you're not in tune with your audience and they don't. I can understand that when you have a dud heel character that you groomed to work with top people, and on a show with little heel depth, it leads to desperation. Sometimes desperation doesn't work. That was fine for Monday.

 

But both WWE and UPN showed an incredible lack of class for airing the segment in wake of the events of earlier that day in London. The fact they put the crawl there in the first place indicated they both realized it and really didn't care. Do you realize that when WCW was losing $60 million, they never came close to being this sleazy. Dumber, sure. But never this sleazy. And this company is still making a nice profit, so there is no financial desperation here, just a complete lack of class.

 

And what's the upside? Nobody is buying a PPV to see Muhammad Hassan no matter what the angle. If you can't draw money against Hulk Hogan in his first match in almost two years, you can't draw money. Yeah, you can be a mid-card cheap heat character. Personally, I think Daivari is great, and Hassan is a great talker and obviously needs work as a wrestler. But what they expected out of the angle, drawing money originally with Austin and Hogan, didn't work in one case and was dropped in the other case. But that's neither here nor there.

 

Trying to exploit deaths for a wrestling angle drew incredible heat and was a financial flop in 1991. Ratings were so bad on an NBC special trying to exploit the Gulf War that NBC dropped WWE programming, a gigantic blow. They had to move Wrestlemania that year because of a lack of ticket sales. It wasn't because NBC had any qualms about taste, but simply the economic laws of the jungle. When you do a controversial angle, it is a success if you turn on more people than you turn off. In this case, you had something that turned on almost nobody, made many feel like taking a shower, and brought needless pain to many on a day that they really didn't need that out of their mindless entertainment.

 

And even if that isn't the case, it only goes to confirm the negative general public perception of wrestling, and unfortunately, the unfair portrayal of its audience believing they like stuff like this, as the lowest common denominator. WWE should remember that next time a tennis match that does a 1.3 rating in prime time can charge more for advertising, or when the NHL comes back and sponsors who wouldn't touch WWE with a ten foot pole will sign up for a sport that has horrible ratings and is coming off not even playing for a year due to labor relations problems, and they cry how unfair life is and that the big decision makers just don't "get it." The problem is, they do "get it." The ones who don't really need to be looking in the mirror.

Damn, I agree with everything he said. I rescind everything I said about the angle being "money" or a success for Hassan. I still think it's stupid WWE pet tricks but I'm not going to defend the WWE here. I'm sorry everyone.

[goodhelmet]

Seriously... I am glad you changed your mind and apologized.

[Guest Sass]

Oh yeah, while I'm being humble...

 

cngrts 2 sprs.

 

I am not going to spell that right Helmet. Firgue it out...

[Guest brian]

Sass, you're drunk. Go to bed.

[Guest Sass]

I wish.

 

I haven't drank in years and intend to keep it that way. But man, last night would have been the best time to have a relapse. Plus, I have terrible sleeping patterns as it stands anyways. Drinking will just make me take a leak every 5 minutes too. When I drank, I pissed it out all the time.

 

It's 9:25 right now too. There's no way I'm falling asleep.

[Guest SweetMama Scaat]

Not to restart the arguement, but for the record Mr. Sass was not alone in his intial assesments:

 

Taken from Rick Scacia

 

OK, we have to talk about this, right? Muhammad Hassan's "Terror Cell" attacking the Undertaker. On the night after terrorists killed 50-something people in London.

 

Let me just go ahead and get this out of the way upfront:

 

If this bothered you (I mean REALLY bothered you, not just annoyed you, but OFFENDED you enough to write or e-mail about it), and you're not living in the UK and weren't directly affected by Thursday morning's events, then you may kindly kiss my ass.

 

Seriously.

 

Don't get me wrong: there was a lot wrong with that bit. But none (zero, zilch, nada) has anything to do with subway bombings in London.

 

Fact: WWE taped this on Tuesday. This was not an attempt to capitalize on current events, or even a willful ignorance of current events in order to press ahead with a tasteless angle. They just didn't know. They couldn't know. And thus, they can not be label evil in this.

 

Fact: Hassan's "terror cell" didn't bomb the Undertaker or use any form of imagery that had anything resembling any ties to what happened in London. Hassan's goons didn't fly model airplanes into the ring to crash into Taker, nor did they come up from the hidden subway under the ring with suicide packs strapped to their chests. They beat the crap out of him with pipes and a garrote. You people gonna bitch if men in striped suits come out and save Nunzio from an attack next week? Assuming Nunzio ever gets on TV again, that is? Of course you won't. Re-fucking-lax.

 

And the BIGGEST FACT OF ALL: it's time to fucking quit worrying about what other people think about you, and actually THINK about something before you SAY something about it. Because sure: the easy thing to do is to respond with "Yeah, sure, I guess that could have been handled better by WWE" if some overly-sensitive, self-righteous, wants-to- prove-he's-more-socially-aware-and-sensitive-than-you douchebag blurts out "Hey, did you see SD!? That was pretty disgusting what they did.". You respond that way because you don't want to be thought of as a bastard or a bitch. But admit it: if you stop, think about this, and aren't a completely spineless wussbag, then you don't mean it. Because no rational human being looks at a tragedy like what happened in London and thinks "It is incumbent upon a pro wrestling company to respond to this horrible incident in a responsible, conciliatory, and apologetic fashion." If you think this, kindly pop off out back and shoot yourself in the skull. You know who should feel sorry for what happened in London? You know who should apologize? You know who should be vilified for bad behavior? THE FUCKING TERRORISTS. They? Did something wrong, very wrong. WWE? Did nothing wrong, not a damned thing.

 

I mention this because I know there is some small subset of people out there who really lack and perspective and they honestly WILL get their panties bunched over WWE running a "terror cell" angle after what happened in London, and they WILL BELIEVE THEIR OWN BULLSHIT. I can't help that. But those people who are genuinely offended are more than likely also the types who will be in a rush to confront you with smalltalk, or post on message boards, or even (hey, Keller, guess what? I killed a few braincells visiting your sit today!) pontificating about it for an audience. Because it's just as important that YOU KNOW they are offended, and that YOU KNOW they are good and decent and moral people as it is that they might actually feel an iota of sympathy for the real victims here. Trust me: more people expressing outrage towards WWE today are doing it to impress you with their decency than are doing it because they read a single news article or self-investigated a single element of the deal in London. They don't give a shit about what happened. They give a shit about Looking Good To The Public.

 

Well, fie on that. Bland, vapid rhetoric about WWE's thoughtlessness doesn't make you look good. It makes you look like somebody who can't be bothered to nut up and put the blame for yesterday where it belongs. But it only makes you look like that to me, I fear. Because what really annoys me is that these self-righteous morons spout off their stuff, and then people who honestly might not be bothered by WWE's actions are forced into the politically correct response of "Oh, yeah, I guess that wasn't too smart." Because nobody wants to look like an asshole.

 

Well, folks: here I am... I'm an asshole. I'll be your uber-asshole. You don't have to feel guilty or lonely if you follow me. But guess what? That's what make me different from the self-righteous douches: because I'm not insisting that you follow me with big, grandiose talk about how right I am. All I'm doing is asking you to read up on what happened in London, learn about the real victims, learn about the real criminals. And then consider what WWE ACTUALLY did last night. Think about it, ponder it. And in your own head, decide what you think about the situation.  But just don't follow blindly the "WWE are heartless pricks" PC Group Think out of fear that you'll be labeled a Bad Person, OK? Please don't do that.

 

And hey, if you decide you still don't think WWE behaved the best way possible, I guess that's your business. But it's YOUR business, and I don't think many of you who actually take the time to think this through will feel so strongly about it that you need to go flying off the handle. The most I can really envision a healthy and sane person mustering is "There were probably better ways to handle this." But then you realize, given the scope of the REAL tragedy, that WWE's actions are far from criminal, and you just keep your disappointment (but no anger or outrage or any stronger emotions) to yourself. Because it might not have been a GOOD situation for WWE to be in, but it's also not one where anything they could have done would have made things substantially better for anybody.

 

Are we clear on this? Good. Because until you can show me that WWE drastically altering last night's already-taped show would save one life or make the world any happier of a place, then mild disappointment is about all one should feel about this. Unless one is a moron.

 

For the record: WWE edited out the entire angle for today's UK broadcast. Which I will agree with. Because there's a difference between doing your own thing and knowing that you had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks and rubbing the REAL victims' nose in it. Just another thing that makes me laugh about many of the Americans (in e-mails and in forums/columns) who bitched and moaned about this: not only is it akin to all the hyper-sensitive straight people who seem to swarm on me the second I say something remotely humorous about homosexuals, but it's worse because it's an EVEN LESS-INFORMED version of that, since they all say that WWE is being "insensitive" to the victims, without stopping to understand that WWE's broadcast where the victims actually lived and worked IS being altered. Again, I *hate* these types who act like they are always one of the Corsican Brothers in some ill-conceived of cross-Atlantic (or cross-sexual-orientation, or whatever) Orgy of Misery. Just start taking an interest in your own life and living it well, morons, and don't worry so much about empathically living somebody else's to try to make yourself feel like you're a better person, dammit.

 

Whew. End Rant. I think.

 

All that said? Hey, I didn't like the angle, either. But for reasons that are actually Not Retarded.

 

The whole beauty of the Hassan/Daivari gimmick was that they were Arab Americans, and that they hadn't done anything wrong against our Nation. They weren't heels because they committed criminal acts, they were heels because they were whiny little punks who thought they were owed something by the system. Going back to one of my very original analyses of why Hassan and Daivari were catching on, and why: at their best, Hassan and Daivari weren't booed for being Ay-rabs, they were booed for being Ay-holes. This frequently involved them saying and doing things that inspired "USA, USA" chants, but at the end of the day, their evil stemmed not from being terrorists, but from being obnoxious. And some of you might not want to hear this, but at least PART of that obnoxiousness came from the fact that you kinda knew Hassan was right about some things. Even without making this political, he could still say he's undefeated and hasn't been rewarded commensurate with his accomplishments. And you kinda had to know he was right. Which made him annoying to many fans. It's a good thing.

 

But that Good Thing is what makes last night's angle such a Bad Thing. It's got not a damned thing to do with political correctness or sensitivity. Because unless you were one of the clueless tards who wrote in and tried to get "24" off the air last year for their portrayal of Arab Americans, trust me, you're not nearly sensitive enough to get your dander up over this. It's got to do with the simple fact that this is a complete departure from what made Hassan and Daivari's characters work for the past 8 months. And that strikes me as monumentally stupid. And unlike the rest of you cliche-spouting jack-offs, my stance is just as rock-solid no matter what happens or doesn't happen in London yesterday morning.

 

With this latest twist, Hassan and Daivari now *ARE* terrorists, or at least in league with people who look and behave like them. Why? This wasn't necessary; the characters were so much more genuine, so much more versatile, so much deeper when they had more realistic and genuine motivations. Now, after 8 months of relative success, Hassan and Daivari are the one-dimensional caricature that RAW managed to avoid turning them into for so long. Even if the "terror cell" was a one week thing, it now lingers in the back of the creative team's mind whenever they need an "out" for Hassan but are too lazy and uncreative to come up with a good one. And the image of Hassan leading the "cell" won't be washed away from fans' minds so easily either. I might disagree with the fucking morons who are so worked up over this, but I won't deny that there's a lot of them, and the damage WWE did to Hassan's character in those fans' eyes will be harder to repair than they think. Because these are the type of people who won't forget easily.

 

The last thing that really added to the "character assassination" element was the closing bit where the "terror cell" carried Daivari's carcass away from the ring in martyr-like fashion. It's the presentation of Daivari (not of the "terror cell") that came closest to calling up the image of a "suicide bomber" or a true "terrorist," if you ask me. But even though I felt that underscored the "new side" of Hassan and Daivari, and that was bad, I also think it was presented tastefully enough, since it's not like Tazz was making jokes about the 72 virgins awaiting Daivari backstage.

 

Instead, *I* will make those jokes. Because they are funny. And not particularly in bad taste, either. No matter what you thin-skinned douchebags might want to believe.

Read it all, if you wish over at OO

[Guest Cam Chaos]

Scaia stopped being worth a shit the second CRZ left Wrestleline. He's little more than a troll with a column these days, like Scotsman if he was shit. I have only read a handful of his columns since then and they all just seem to be baiting someone or the other. The fact he can't put 2 and 2 together isn't surprising.

[Al]

Spineless wussbags? Thin-skinned douchebags? Geez. That has to be a new record for a formerly respected columnist resorting to name-calling to try and prove his point. At least Sass gave a well-reasoned response. This was just sad.

[goodhelmet]

When was the Rick ever respected?

 

And even Sass admitted he was wrong. Just because it was argued, does not mean it was well-reasoned.

[Al]

It was well-reasoned on the basis that he attempted to provide valid points and resorted to little of the name calling that others do to express their viewpoint. If our view is correct, then it does not hurt to have someone argue the opposite because our view is sound, and can be successfully argued. Without that, a messageboard is just a bunch of like-minded people staring blankly.

[goodhelmet]

I'm all for debate. I am even for Sass expressing his opinion. The reason it is not well-reasoned is because Sass's argument did not have a good reason or even a valid point behind it. He did a fine job of arguing the point... but it was not reasonable to think that the message the WWE, Hassan and crew were trying to get across was that of the beheading video.

[Guest Sass]

Great, Scacia's talking now. Where's Hyatte when you need him?

 

They didn't have anything to cut the Undertaker's head off with though. I just don't get this beheading deal. Also, I don't remember the announcers bringing up any beheadings either. Then again, I try to tune them out when I'm watching the shows.

 

Does anyone know the full exchange of comments between Cole and Tazzzzz? I'm curious now to see how they were trying to spin it.

[Guest SweetMama Scaat]

I dont mind The Rick most of the time. His view are usually more spot on.

 

I dunno if Tazz and Coles comments were edited or not. But I think they spent most of the segment stupifyed, never really drawing any comparisons to terroists actions. Though I think I remember hearing Davari subtly being called a "martyr".

[Guest Dr. Tom]

I'm not sure which is sadder:

 

- Sass blowing this ridiculous incident off as the equivalent of a Letterman stupid pet trick, or

 

- Sass completely changing his tune once Meltzer told him how to think about it

 

Hey, have a controversial opinion. That's fine. I'll tell you you're a goddamn cretin for it in some cases (this obv being one of them), but whatever. But don't just change your tune because some wrestling writer came out all full of vim and vigor. We've been telling you for pages that the problem was about the beheading videos, and you want to talk about 9/11, Hassan's entrance video, and everything else that isn't the beheading videos. Then Meltzer lambasts WWE for it and you change your tune.

 

So, we've seen that Sass is Mr. Ed, and Meltzer is the guy who jammed a carrot up the horse's ass to get him to move his lips.

 

And if you want to talk about 9/11, a friend of mine lost his father when the second tower was destroyed. His father was the head of security, and had gone back in to help others get out. He never made it back out. My friend had gone to NY that morning to visit his dad, and basically watched the whole thing happen right before him. Would he have been offended by Smackdown? I don't know. But I think your blithe dismissal and insensitive remarks about the families of victims would have riled him up. I think he'd probably kick you in the balls for that shit, and I'd stand there and cheer if he did.

 

PS: Here's another thing that's said: that the first post I've made here in months is about this fucking horseshit.

[Guest Sass]

Fair enough Tom. I just don't get genuinely offended by wrestling. I've only been genuinely offended twice by the WWE and that's two times too many to me.

 

I was 12 years old when Sgt. Slaughter turned traitor and I was more upset over how Sarge's drastic turn was because of some past indiscretions with Vince over royalties for GI Joe. The angle was so over the top. I mean, Sarge meeting Saddam was ridiculous. I didn't buy it and neither did my family who were watching the WWF with me at that time too. It was all too silly to be real.

 

14 years later and I feel the same way about Hassan's angle that I did about Slaughter's traitor turn. Katie Vick, Booker's "your people" debacle with HHH, the implied rape with Kane & Lita, etc. I chalk up to embarrassing or stupid angles. But, I don't think they were offensive. Those are things that I feel insult the intelligence. Just like how I feel Hassan strapping on the camel clutch on the Undertaker after Taker got choked out was insulting to the intelligence. That looked ridiculous. Carrying out Davari, the lil bitch of the WWE, in the martyr pose was just silly to me. Just like how it was silly for me to see the Iron Sheik and Sgt. Slaughter teaming up together along with how the WWE was trying to pass off the Sheik being from Iraq after telling us for years he was from Iran. That was just asinine.

 

One other thing...

 

If we're playing the "how were you affected by 9/11/London Attacks" dick waving contest Tom, then I'll toss out my story too. My uncle lost his lover, a fire fighter for the NYFD, on 9/11 after he went back into the first tower with his group of firemen. The next day, my mom had her brother on the speaker phone and everyone in the house heard what happened. My uncle, who was a retired police officer in KC, is one of the last people I would have ever expected to break down the way he did but he did. It was one of the hardest things I have ever listened too. I can still remember my uncle sobbing over the loud speaker telling us how much he missed his companion...his friend...his lover...

 

My uncle died last year of a heart attack alone in his house. That was one of the things he said he didn't want to have happen to him when he spoke on the speaker phone. He did not want to die alone. Yet, that's how the end of his life turned out. He shut off all contact from my family after his loss and I heard from him maybe a handful of times after that phone call. My mom still can't believe her little brother, the guy she looked out for the most, is really gone. My mom hasn't been the same since his death and I doubt she'll ever be okay. I love her and wish her the best. She's been through so much and losing her brother did not help matters. I wish he was still around. He was *the* wrestling fan in our family that helped get me into watching it. I miss him so much some times. He was such a neat person.

 

You're not the only one here who was hurt by 9/11 Tom.

 

I've only told one other online person this story since I felt it was family business and no one else?s. I'm tired of talking about this debacle though. I feel like I'm falling in with Vince's side when I'm really not agreeing with them. It was a tasteless and classless angle that the WWE sunk to the bottom of the creative barrel to come up with and if the WWE got blackballed by TV tomorrow for the angle, I would not bat an eye.

 

I love America and hope that one day all these horrible atrocities stop. That includes terrible WWE exploitation angles too.

[Loss]

UPN demanded Hassan be kept off of TV this week and that the storyline be dropped immediately after all the bad publicity they started receiving on Monday. They really are their own worst enemies sometimes.

[Loss]

Looks like they're putting Hassan's planned response on WWE.com now instead of on Smackdown since UPN is banning him from this week's show:

 

I stand here tonight the only patriot left in America. I stand here tonight perhaps even a martyr against tyranny and injustice. Because the fact is I am an AMERICAN professional wrestler, but because of my heritage, because of my background, because of who my ancestors were, I'm labeled - we're labeled terrorists. Terrorists; I'm a terrorist! Well it must be true - it's gotta be true - because it's right here in black and white, in a reputable source, like the New York Post.

 

What, you don't believe me? Here it is: "Terrorist Wrestles After Bombing." I'm a terrorist - we're terrorists. We wrestled after a bombing. Well, Mr. Don Kaplan, (to Daivari) have you ever met Don Kaplan? Have you ever spoken to Don Kaplan? Have you ever called Don Kaplan on the phone? Well, I never have either. So, if Don Kaplan of the New York Post has never met us, how does Don Kaplan know we're terrorists? Don Kaplan also wrote that "Arabs in ski-masks carried Daivari out as a sacrifice last week." Arabs in SKI-MASKS...in SKI-MASKS...in a ski-mask. How does he know that they were Arabs?

 

The point is, because of articles like this, because of the fear that the media has put in all of you people, I have been denied my God-given right to pursue the profession of my choosing...to pursue the American Dream. I have been denied my basic rights as an American citizen. You know, as I look around this crowd and I look at all these faces looking at me in disgust, I think a lot of you have forgotten what this country was founded on. I think you have forgotten that your ancestors fought for their freedom. They gave their lives for their freedom - whether they be black, Irish-American, Italian-American, Jewish-American, Asian-American, they gave their lives for their freedom.

 

What's next? What's next? Because anytime anything goes wrong in this country, it's the Arabs. When a plane crashes, it's the Arabs. When a bomb goes off, it's the Arabs. The blackout two summers ago - it was the Arabs. Hurricane Dennis must be the Arabs.

 

You people say what you want. Because I have a right to be in here. I have a right to say what I want. And what I'm going to say, my name is Muhammad Hassan. I am an Arab-American and I am very proud of my heritage. But, as an American, my first amendment rights have been trampled. And, I stand here before all of you ashamed of my country.

 

(Hassan rips the NYPost article as Daivari translates the speech)

[Coffey]

Man, that would've been such an amazing promo. It's a shame no one will be able to see/hear it. I love me some Muhammad Hassan.

[sek69]

God (or should that be Allah?) bless 'em for trying to spin their way out of this, but offensive aspect aside there's no way you can walk away from that angle without getting the clear "terrorist" vibe which wrecks Hassan's whole character of being a guy who everyone thinks is a terrorist because he's Arab-American. Now they had him act like a terrorist, so to have him still claim to be innocent makes him look stupid.

[sek69]

Also, didn't the taping reports say that promo was done for Velocity? It should still make it on TV.

[Guest KingPK]

Gotta admit, that was a pretty good promo. Doesn't mean the whole thing was idiotic to begin with.

 

Still, if he wanted to beat down the Undertaker, shouldn't he have just hit him with a pipe or something? He could have still went with the whole "Daivari, you're a sacrifice" thing and just blindsided Taker when the match was over.

[Loss]

The first line of that promo should be the first line in the next promo he does. That's a fucking amazing line.