Comments that don't warrant a thread

[Beast]

I don't necessarily disagree with their stance on firing her especially considering her gimmick, but I think there has to be a double standard because we've all heard those stories about JBL and the like unless things have changed since the PG rating.

[Loss]

When was JBL's gimmick that he doesn't drink?

[El-P]

Yes, everyone knows it's fake, but why remind everyone of that every chance you get?

The behaviour of a WWE employee *outside* the realm of his work has nothing to do with "reminding every chance you get" that it's fake. It's not like the straight edge girl is showing up wasted to work, is it ? So, anyway, I think it's petty bullshit, as always.

 

The only thing hypocritical about this is people who hate "shoot" promos in wrestling because it exposes that it's fake, but don't think wrestlers should live their gimmicks either.

There's a huge difference between exposing your product as fake on your own TV show, and wrestlers not living their gimmick in public when they aren't working.

 

Only because they've never seen them in public. If they did, and they acted totally different than they do on TV, don't you think that would probably disappoint them a little?

You think kids really are able to get to the places where this girl is partying ? I think not. Since it's for KIDS mostly, who cares about what she does in bars, since no kid will be able to see her drink anyway.

[Beast]

Should have used a different wrestler. I just meant everyone drinks and JBL wanted everyone to come out and drink and would be pissed at you if you didn't. It's only recently that WWE has been so weird about some people living the gimmick and some not.

 

But yeah she shouldn't have towed so close to the line with this one.

[Sean Liska]

Listening to Meltzer's audio, it sounds like there's more going on here than her simply having a few drinks in public. Dave said she shouldn't do what she's been doing, and if she does, do it far away from where all of the talent is staying.

[Strummer]

well sounds like she has a serious problem. She's only 24. Hopefully she can turn it around and maybe get another shot. Maybe

[sek69]

So was that angle with her falling off the wagon to prove Punk didn't vegitize the Undertaker one of those weird WWE punishments where they teach someone a lesson by making it part of their storyline?

[jdw]

Listening to Meltzer's audio, it sounds like there's more going on here than her simply having a few drinks in public. Dave said she shouldn't do what she's been doing, and if she does, do it far away from where all of the talent is staying.

WTF? Can someone transcribe what he's saying and the context, because that paraphrase is a big WTF.

 

That doesn't sound like anything they could test for (since it doesn't matter whether it's with or away from the talent). And drinking in with the talent doesn't sound like something that would be something she shouldn't be doing. So...

 

WTF?

 

One wishes there are times when Dave would just get out with it.

 

John

[rovert]

I really thought Punk actually shoot vetted members of the SES as it was his crew which WWE took a chance on based on what he said in his interview on Colt’s podcast. To a certain degree I thought Joey's time from being signed to debuting on TV under a mask to the amount of time he was under the mask was Joey proving himself to WWE and Punk that he could be straight for an appreciable amount of time.

[Sean Liska]

So was that angle with her falling off the wagon to prove Punk didn't vegitize the Undertaker one of those weird WWE punishments where they teach someone a lesson by making it part of their storyline?

According to Meltzer, yes.

 

Here's my attempt at transcribing Meltz. God only knows what this means. My first thought is harder drugs than tolerated.

 

"If you're going to do something, do it far away from where everyone else is staying and do not let people see you, unless you are far away from everyone else. If you are going to socialize, do it far away, because on TV taping time, the word will get around very quickly to management. That's the rule of thumb. The best rule is probably don't do it. But the second best rule is if you're going to do something, go far away. Don't let people see you."

[sek69]

There was just an interview with Luke Gallows where he credited Punk with helping him lose weight by adapting some of the Straight Edge lifestyle (eating healthy, etc), not sure if he was just living the gimmick in new frontier of WWE Shootyworld 2010.

[rovert]

Here's my attempt at transcribing Meltz. God only knows what this means. My first thought is harder drugs than tolerated.

 

"If you're going to do something, do it far away from where everyone else is staying and do not let people see you, unless you are far away from everyone else. If you are going to socialize, do it far away, because on TV taping time, the word will get around very quickly to management. That's the rule of thumb. The best rule is probably don't do it. But the second best rule is if you're going to do something, go far away. Don't let people see you."

Is WWE’s policy that "the use of alcohol at any time twelve hours prior to any scheduled performance is prohibited" still around?

 

 

There was just an interview with Luke Gallows where he credited Punk with helping him lose weight by adapting some of the Straight Edge lifestyle (eating healthy, etc), not sure if he was just living the gimmick in new frontier of WWE Shootyworld 2010.

I think Punk directed Joey to rehab too.

[Beast]

All I got from the "do it away from everyone" and "the angle was a message" is that she drinks a ton and due to her angle and maybe even for other reasons, they don't like it. I don't know if she did anything worse. Dave was implying that if she's going to get shitfaced, to not do it around the office stooges.

[Sean Liska]

Here's my attempt at transcribing Meltz. God only knows what this means. My first thought is harder drugs than tolerated.

 

"If you're going to do something, do it far away from where everyone else is staying and do not let people see you, unless you are far away from everyone else. If you are going to socialize, do it far away, because on TV taping time, the word will get around very quickly to management. That's the rule of thumb. The best rule is probably don't do it. But the second best rule is if you're going to do something, go far away. Don't let people see you."

Is WWE’s policy that "the use of alcohol at any time twelve hours prior to any scheduled performance is prohibited" still around?

 

 

It comes across as confusing, but I think he meant that she was doing this at hotels after TV tapings when management is around.

[rovert]

Wild speculation but do you think Punk might have gotten her fired?

 

P.S. Where is Bix?

[sek69]

I don't think Punk would actively get someone fired, but he may not have gone to bat for her as much he could have if it was over drinking.

[kjh]

A wink wink comment by Dave Meltzer from his Impact spoilers that may shed some light on Serena's issues:

 

Rayne said she feels like barfing in the ring right now. If she shaved her head she could be just like the last girl who felt like that.

I read that and thought Serena was bulimic, before I found out she was fired for her drunken behaviour.

[Jingus]

Yeah, her getting wasted at the hotel bar with all the other employees around sounds like the most reasonable interpretation there.

 

I agree with El-P's take on the kayfabe aspect. Basically, I want wrestling to handle itself like any other entertainment industry. During the course of their own television show, I don't want them to admit that it's a work. That would be like an episode of True Blood stopping dead in its tracks for the actors to remind us that they're not really vampires. But I also don't expect them to wear their prosthetic fangs and pallid makeup 24/7 while off the set. I don't give a shit what the performers do in their real life. Keep their character confined to the show itself.

 

Besides: if Serena's drinking in public was the big deal, then why haven't we heard about it before now? Much like the "no-choking rule" with Danielson, it seems odd that we never hear about these things until the person actually gets fired. If she were constantly getting shitfaced in front of the marks and embarassing the company, the dirtsheets/websites would have mentioned it already.

[kjh]

Yeah, I largely agree with El-P and Jingus about kayfabe, with the caveat being that when you're around young kids who may still believe then you should revert back to character.

 

Regarding why we haven't heard about Serena's drinking in public before now, there are not double standards in wrestling, but quadruple standards. What's enough to get Serena fired is AOK if you're Chris Jericho or Ric Flair, for example. Also, the wrestling media has proven time and time again that they will only report on a person's issues until they publicly screw up or they become an issue with the company they're working for.

[Loss]

Wrestling promoters have expected talent to act a certain way in public as long as wrestling has been around. This isn't a new idea.

 

Think about this year's Wrestlemania. Bret and Vince going on talk shows to promote the show together and talking about how they're making a great storyline out of their former very real rivalry that isn't real anymore probably wouldn't have been a wise move, right?

 

WWE has admittedly entered the ballgame where they prefer to be treated as a show instead of a sport, and that's how they're discussed by most people. But wrestling also has roots that have wrestlers living the gimmick outside the arena with the goal of making everyone believe everything they saw was real. They still walk the line at times, but I can understand the inconsistency on WWE's part considering wrestling's roots.

 

And if there's anyone who doesn't think wrestling being so exposed has led to an environment where it's harder to suspend disbelief, create emotion, and get heat, I'm not sure what I can say to convince them otherwise.

[Cox]

If WWE made a reasonable request (and I think "Don't get sloshed in public" is a pretty reasonable request) then they shouldn't be blamed if they fired somebody for violating said request. Serena was unwilling or unable to comply with her employer's request and was let go as a result. Sucks, because I thought she was good in the role, but clearly she wasn't a good fit for it.

[kjh]

Think about this year's Wrestlemania. Bret and Vince going on talk shows to promote the show together and talking about how they're making a great storyline out of their former very real rivalry that isn't real anymore probably wouldn't have been a wise move, right?

That's exactly what Bret did in Canada!

[Hollinger.]

The biggest point that is being ignored here is that people are getting self righteous about a situation that no one has the slightest amount of detail about. I'm going to make an assumption, and it could be 100% false, but I'd guess that whatever she was doing, it was a bit more involved than going out and having one too many drinks every night.

[KrisZ]

This is fantastic. Some vintage fishing.

 

http://twitpic.com/2i6py8

[Guest Talon]

This is fantastic. Some vintage fishing.

 

http://twitpic.com/2i6py8

Makes sense, they're both South Texas boys. What makes me sadder is Funaki is not there.