WWE TV 04/15 - 04/21: Superstar Shakeup but the real Shakeup is a country who arrests and beats up its teachers

[Loss]

5 minutes ago, BigBadMick said:

I agree, Loss. But extending that to its logical conclusion would remove all celebrity from the world.

I'm good with this.

[Loss]

Sasha posted cryptic comments on Twitter. Most of us have probably also done this on Facebook, and we're especially passive aggressive if we're venting about work. Just saying that wrestlers are people too. They're allowed to not like their jobs. 

[C.S.]

12 minutes ago, Charles (Loss) said:

Sasha posted cryptic comments on Twitter. Most of us have probably also done this on Facebook, and we're especially passive aggressive if we're venting about work. Just saying that wrestlers are people too. They're allowed to not like their jobs. 

True, but the difference is, most peope's posts are only seeing by family, friends, and "Mr. Burns." Sasha's are seen by millions. Total apples and oranges situation, and a one size fits all approach cannot realistically apply to the Average Joe or Jane's social media accounts vs. Sasha's.

Let's take Sasha out of the equation for a second, @Charles (Loss), and use ourselves as an example...

Hypothetical social media post:

"ProWrestlingOnly.com is the best and www.f4wonline.com fucking sucks!!!" 

If I post that, who cares?

If you post that, it's more of an issue. 

The same applies to Sasha on a much bigger scale.

[PhilTLL]

2 hours ago, DMJ said:

Yea. I was a couple beers deep when I wrote that rant.

I think what I was trying (but failed) to convey was that, 

Oh no, it totally worked, it's just funny that you wrote it in promo voice and then capped it with the former USA Network slogan.

[El-P]

1 hour ago, SirEdger said:

Can you honestly tell me with a straight face that Harper had as many opportunities in the spotlight than Sasha did? 

It doesn't really matter. And really, Sasha has been booked like shit for the last year or so. Yeah, her and Bailey was given the brand new tag titles. And then what did they do ? Tell them they are gonna job the title away to an undercard comedy tag team and split them up without doing anything more with their brand new team. So yeah, whatever, Sasha had all the right in the world to be pissed about her current push, honestly. 

As far as someone like Bliss understand the game much better, no issue about that. Hell, I would even agree about pushing Bliss over Sasha, simply because I thought Bliss was terrific in her role anyway. But that's neither here nor there.

[El-P]

24 minutes ago, Charles (Loss) said:

They're allowed to not like their jobs. 

But come on, WWE is the dream work of every sport entertainer in the Universe. You may laugh, but I'm sure that's how corprorate WWE sees things...

Like I said a few days ago, we've reached the #Brand Era, where the audience are supposed to support the Brand against its workers. 

[SirEdger]

5 minutes ago, El-P said:

It doesn't really matter. And really, Sasha has been booked like shit for the last year or so. Yeah, her and Bailey was given the brand new tag titles. And then what did they do ? Tell them they are gonna job the title away to an undercard comedy tag team and split them up without doing anything more with their brand new team. So yeah, whatever, Sasha had all the right in the world to be pissed about her current push, honestly. 

As far as someone like Bliss understand the game much better, no issue about that. Hell, I would even agree about pushing Bliss over Sasha, simply because I thought Bliss was terrific in her role anyway. But that's neither here nor there.

Everyone has the right to angry about their position in a company at some point. But while Sasha's booking has also been questionable as you pointed out, at least, she got those opportunities. I don't think I need to point out here again when Harper was red hot during the Orton/Bray feud and fans were begging for Harper to be added to the WWE title match at Wrestlemania. No one would've expected him to win but at least, he would've been given an opportunity to shine on the Grandest Stage of 'Em All and to raise his stock within the company. Instead, I don't even remember if he was in the Andre battle royal or if he wasn't booked period.

Again, I don't question Sasha's right to be angry about the creative material but I sure give myself the right to question the way she's been handling it and reportedly, dragging Bayley into it in a way that could screw up her standing in the company because her BFF has a case of the boo-boo face.

[C.S.]

5 minutes ago, El-P said:

Like I said a few days ago, we've reached the #Brand Era, where the audience are supposed to support the Brand against its workers. 

But no one had that reaction when Harper, Tye Dillinger, etc. decided to leave. For the most part, people were very supportive of them.  

[Loss]

Do we know for sure that Sasha's angry about her position or are we just assuming that because as fans, that's what we care about the most? What if it's the schedule or the money or a personal conflict with someone? What if she's going through private issues with her health or her family and WWE is not providing adequate support? I don't know any of these things to be true, but I think it's short-sighted when someone wants out of WWE to always assume that it's because they're unhappy with their push.

[SirEdger]

Then, just say it. It's not hard to release a statement that she needs time away to deal with personal stuff, whether it's for her health or for family reasons. The way she acts leaves room for a lot of interpretation and that can only backfire on her.

[El-P]

1 hour ago, SirEdger said:

Everyone has the right to angry about their position in a company at some point. But while Sasha's booking has also been questionable as you pointed out, at least, she got those opportunities.

Damn, you speak like Vince now. 

It's not a question of comparing the status of Sasha & Harper either. And honestly, although Harper is a really good worker, it's not like he could have anchored the promotion or anything like Sasha (for the women's division) could at one time. Sasha got pissed off, and then what ? People have the right to get pissy and salty. The fact people assume that they are "babies" because they don't go all corporate and shit is ridiculous to me. Again, it's not like she refused to do the job or was unprofessional as a performer, so what is the big issue with her being pissed, really ?

[SirEdger]

The issue isn't Sasha being pissed. It's the way she expressed it. And speaking of being unprofessional as a performer, what does it say about Sasha if Bayley - who's also impacted by all of this - was there the next night to do her job and perform, despite her obvious disappointment at her short run as champion?

[El-P]

3 minutes ago, SirEdger said:

The issue isn't Sasha being pissed. It's the way she expressed it.

Seriously now ? People are pissed at the way Sasha expressed being pissed ? Is the audience working in WWE's Talent Relation office now ? That's how it sounds to me, sorry.

As far as taking a leave of absence, well, considering she's an "independent contractor", I guess she can do whatever the fuck she wants... That's not being unprofessional. Being unprofessional would be, I dunno, hurting people left and right like say... Nia Jaxx. Or refusing to do a job and go home with your belt championship like multiple time Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels. 

[SirEdger]

Well, yeah, there's a proper way to express your disagreement. See how Dean Ambrose handled his unhappiness creatively. He got fed up, quietly told WWE he's not re-signing, fulfilled his commitments and he's about to ride in the sunset, doing whatever he'll wanna do next. I don't wanna hear about someone doing the bacon on a floor or sending cryptic tweets drawing attention about poor Sasha not getting what she wants. I'll say it a million times again; it's OK for Sasha to be mad at what she's been given creatively. At some point, pretty much everyone will in WWE. But settle this reasonably and in a professional way.

[C.S.]

On 4/17/2019 at 4:43 PM, Jmare007 said:

In the weekly fuckery from Lana. She uploaded a clip of a couple having sex on her snapchat (possibly her, though I honestly have no clue). Of course people speculated a bunch of stuff. Then she deleted her snap.

I wonder how close WWE is from to banning social media or some wild shit like that

It turns out Lana was hacked. Why you'd think anything else is a mystery to me.

Yes, she has seemingly been trying to get fired for months now, but this is above and beyond even that. 

[sek69]

I've long felt there's a really good story to tell in Carmella being a second generation star, but with the twist that her father was a jobber rather than a legend. Like I could see her having a real good feud with Charlotte, cutting promos on how she grew up in the business too but didn't have things handed to her as the heir to a great legacy. 

[Jmare007]

4 minutes ago, C.S. said:

It turns out Lana was hacked. Why you'd think anything else is a mystery to me.

Yes, she has seemingly been trying to get fired for months now, but this is above and beyond even that. 

Wait, you've been arguing about Sasha Banks and her antics (some, just alleged). And now you are asking why would people speculate over a random sex clip from a wrestler's snapchat that has been doing weird stuff on social media - that seem to be aimed to pissing people off and getting fired, or some really weird/ridiculous worked shoot/meta stuff - for months?

[SirEdger]

I could see it working, especially now that she's become more over as a babyface. I can see people being more sympathetic to her now if Charlotte attacks her, compared to a year ago when everyone wanted her to be ripped apart because of how annoyed they were with the Ellsworth pairing.

[DMJ]

1 minute ago, sek69 said:

I've long felt there's a really good story to tell in Carmella being a second generation star, but with the twist that her father was a jobber rather than a legend. Like I could see her having a real good feud with Charlotte, cutting promos on how she grew up in the business too but didn't have things handed to her as the heir to a great legacy. 

Agreed. I was as critical and down on Carmella as anyone when she first got pushed, but she's clearly come a long way in the past two years. And I think its also to her benefit that her progression has been somewhat tied to her character's development. Like, she started off as an inept heel who targeted a much bigger name to make her own (the Nikki Bella feud), when that didn't work she hired/seduced/manipulated Ellsworth to help her and wins the MITB - the ultimate shortcut to a championship. 

As she improved, though, she became a babyface and now that she's actually competent, she no longer has to cheat because she's finally been accepted by the fans, blah blah blah. 

To me, that shows the kinda range where, sure, her current gimmikc is fun dancer/rapper, but I could easily see her becoming a more serious challenger with the kind of storyline you described above. And, because she has range, even if she were to lose that feud to Charlotte, she could go back to being that fun dancer/rapper or they could always turn her again and she'd be a bigger threat because she's not the inept rookie anymore. 

[C.S.]

43 minutes ago, Jmare007 said:

Wait, you've been arguing about Sasha Banks and her antics (some, just alleged). And now you are asking why would people speculate over a random sex clip from a wrestler's snapchat that has been doing weird stuff on social media - that seem to be aimed to pissing people off and getting fired, or some really weird/ridiculous worked shoot/meta stuff - for months?

Because Sasha's posts are believably from her. Lana posting a random sex clip is so obviously not something she'd actually do, no matter how badly she wants to be fired (or not). Plus, if she really did post it, she would've been canned long before most people were even aware of the post's existence. 

44 minutes ago, sek69 said:

I've long felt there's a really good story to tell in Carmella being a second generation star, but with the twist that her father was a jobber rather than a legend. Like I could see her having a real good feud with Charlotte, cutting promos on how she grew up in the business too but didn't have things handed to her as the heir to a great legacy. 

Damn, now you're making me really want this. But we both know WWE "creative" is too inept to ever give us a storyline with this level of thought and depth. 

[SomethingSavage]

18 minutes ago, C.S. said:

Damn, now you're making me really want this. But we both know WWE "creative" is too inept to ever give us a storyline with this level of thought and depth. 

Their only TV angles are about title reigns and records. That's all they put on TV. All other angles are relegated to the Twitterverse.

So yeah. I mean, it *could* happen - but the "feud" itself would only exist in a back & forth exchange of fake insults on social media.

If you're lucky, Cole will reference a tweet or two the night of their PPV match maybe. So there's that?

[Herodes]

Something disturbing about predominantly white men talking about how a woman of color should shut her mouth and do what she’s told and be grateful.

[SomethingSavage]

Who's white?

And who isn't?

Or are we just assuming?

[C.S.]

2 hours ago, Herodes said:

Something disturbing about predominantly white men talking about how a woman of color should shut her mouth and do what she’s told and be grateful.

Something disturbing about a fake white knight pulling a catchy sounding "issue" out of his ass so he sounds "woke" or whatever.

Especially since no one in this thread actually said or implied any of the things you're suggesting. 

Your post is the first "hot take" ridiculous enough that I actively considered looking for a "block" button on this site. And lord knows I've certainly populated this board with enough strange (to others) "hot takes" of my own.  (Even the guy who screamed about everyone "fat shaming" Kassius Ohno because a couple of people mentioned that wearing weird basketball gear to the ring wasn't the best look for him didn't sound nearly as outrageous as your post does.)

[Strummer]

Yeah I don't mind wrestlers "complaining" about their status or push.  Or if they are not happy at their job.  It happened all the time in the territory era and well into the 80s and 90s.  I guess because wwe has the monopoly a lot of people aren't used to wrestlers taking a stand anymore  Maybe it's a generational thing but it doesn't bother me one bit