Counterfeit Pennies 09.05.03: Gratuitously Beyond Entertainment

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While professional wrestling is, by nature, violent and aggressive, the WWE creative team must realize – whether they like it or not – that there is a line that must be drawn between shocking entertainment and overtly offensive bullshit. The bottom line is that wrestling is still watched by millions of kids worldwide, and even though parents have to take part of the blame for letting their children watch unmonitored programming, WWE should take a whole chunk of blame as well for crossing over into the realm of senseless violence. I am not a fan of censorship by any means; however, I am an advocate of calling a company out for not knowing better in one or two purposefully scripted, combustible situations.

In all honesty – and perhaps this is the prospective high school teacher in me speaking – I shudder to think about how kids watching Raw and Smackdown! this week reacted to WWE’s decision to essentially torture two of its babyface superstars.

On Raw we had the displeasure of seeing Shane McMahon handcuffed to the ring post, his legs trapped under the steel steps while Kane proceeded to attach jumper cables to his testicles and shocked him a few times.

Smackdown! was no better this week, as the new super-heel Brock Lesnar tormented a gagged, broken-legged Zack Gowen. Young Zachary was verbally abused for a few minutes that were very hard to watch, and afterwards he was tossed down a flight of stairs to end the show.

Not that I think WWE is solely responsible for the upbringing of bullies everywhere, but man, isn’t enough ever enough? Isn’t there another way to get over as a so-called “bad guy” besides resorting to cheap bullying tactics?

I am getting sick to death of wrestlers turning heel and becoming so bad that instead of me rooting against them I tend to change the channel because my stomach can’t take another woman-basher like A-Train or Test or another off the charts monster like Brock or Kane.

I look at it like this. The best way for WWE to become to illicit “Holy Shit” chants from the crowds both at home and in the live audience is to put on entertaining, thought-provoking MATCHES that have interesting STORYLINES. Which brings me to my next point.

While I was in the middle of writing this piece, my brother, the infamous 411mania music columnist and moodspins founder Matthew Michaels posed the following question:
“How can you, being such a huge Mick Foley fan – and probably his biggest fan ever – qualify being uncomfortable with excessive violence in WWE programming?”

While I stopped the presses for a few minutes to think about this question (and it’s a really good one), I came to realize a huge fundamental difference between the Mick Foley years and the latest offshoot of WWE “ruthless aggression.” Most of the violence that happened against Mick was executed in a certain “heat of the moment” type of manner that has been lacking lately. If you think about some of Mick’s greatest bumps – such as the infamous Hell In A Cell cage dive onto the announcer’s table or taking a million chair shots from The Rock in another match – these actions were done during actual wrestling matches.

In my opinion, there is a level of understanding among most older kids and other viewers that when a match is advertised as Hell In A Cell, Falls Count Anywhere, or No Holds Barred, etc., the violence that occurs in these situations is happening during a professional competition and thus the inferred message is that whatever occurs in the matches should not be tried by amateurs at home. But when WWE promotes wrestlers who commit premeditated torturous assaults, to me it sends a message that is more dangerous and resonant with viewers. These types of acts infer that if you don’t like someone for a certain reason you should sneak up on them, take them aside and punish them vehemently.

Furthermore, when a match is advertised as violent, parents who do pay attention to what their kids watch could make sure in advance that their children do not tune into the program. When these violence incidents occur unadvertised and with excessive frequency on Raw or Smackdown!, these parents may not realize the extent of the gratuity that goes across the airwaves.

Ultimately, I was bummed out by the end of what I thought was a pretty good Smackdown! before Brock Lesnar took his role as a monster heel to a new and highly uncomfortable level.

Moreover, it makes me truly appreciate the heels of the old school of professional wrestling, who could spark thousands of boos with witty promos, a low blow and a thumb to the eye.

What do you think of WWE’s latest acts of violence? Feel free to send me all of your unbridled thoughts and opinions by emailing chris411wrestling@yahoo.com, or by clicking on the email link below.

That’s all for now PEACE.

Chris Biscuiti

“Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box.”
-Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, from the one-hit wonder: “What I Am”

CB is an Editor for Pulse Wrestling and an original member of the Inside Pulse writing team covering the spectrum of pop culture including pro wrestling, sports, movies, music, radio and television.