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I saw that another respected writer is ripping The Rock for calling John Cena Fruity Pebbles, saying it's a gay slur along the lines of what John Cena and Michael Cole said. I think he is reaching. What do you think?
Since The Rock initially used the Fruity Pebbles remark in response to many versions of loud colors that Cena has worn in the past, I agree with you. Making those kinds of statements dilutes the real issue and that is the actual gay slurs that have been used. Whoever wrote that should focus on what is real and not do interpretations of people's remarks that were not meant that way. Stick to the real bashing, which Cena and Cole did. There is no need to make things up.
How crappy is it that Hulk Hogan (a TNA employee) makes an appearance on a popular mainstream show such as American Idol, doesn't even mention TNA once, then WWE gets the publicity from it by giving a championship belt to the guy Hogan (again, a TNA employee) went on the show to interact with. Between this and WWE trumping TNA's "Jersey Shore" publicity by having Snooki at Wrestlemania, it sure seems like WWE is spending a lot of effort to one-up a company they claim to not consider competition. I know a lot of times TNA is their own worst enemy, but events like these make it seem like they can't win for losing.
In the case of Hogan and Idol, I agree. He has made a number of mainstream appearance and not at least mentioned the company, which if I were Dixie Carter would infuriate me. She brought him in to help grow the brand, but he has largely only aligned himself with TNA within the confines of the product. When you contrast that with the way John Cena or The Miz carry themselves in mainstream appearances the difference between the agendas becomes pretty clear. With the WWE guys, it's company first. With Hogan, it's Hogan first. As for WWE, who are they one-upping? As you said, Hogan never mentioned TNA when he appeared on Idol, so there was no connection among their massive audience. Where Snooki is concerned, she is a clear star of the show. WWE went for the best, not the leftovers, to get publicity. Was there a side benefit of tweaking TNA? Probably, but it was the reason they did it.
I was shocked to read of Finlay's being dismissed. Is WWE that insecure that they can't apologize for anything? They really have to fire someone each time they get any potentially negative press? But Finlay? Finlay's still better in the ring than half the people there... What does it say about the WWE and about our culture at large if it's never okay to make a mistake?
Some mistakes you can apologize for, others are deemed to serious. Like it or not, WWE is a huge corporation and they have corporate partners. If an employee is not cognizant of what is and is not acceptable, he or she will have to pay with his/her job. Finlay messed up, especially when reps from The Guard were there. With that said, it would not shock me to see him get hired back but the fact of the matter is the WWE world is not a vacuum.
Is it safe to say that WCW was AWESOME pre-Hogan. Not really during the Herd era but, there were still awesome matches then. It seems to me WCW missed the boat to have stars at a much cheaper price had they just kept them instead of, sending them to WWE only to buy them back at a higher price or lose them for good. WCW had some hella talent in the early 90s with, pretty good stories for the time and seemed like they just reset thereself throughout 94 into 95 until they were able to get in the mix with the NWO. But, how much more great could WCW have been had they kept that early 90s formula pre-Hogan and, still gotta prime-time slot later. They just had so much great talent and seemed better organized.
I don't think it's safe to say that, no. WCW got worse when Hogan came in and did all those bad skits but it wasn't awesome prior to him coming.
As a female viewer, the Divas have always had a special place in my heart. What is your take on the Divas division? Do you think they should bring in new talent? Do you think they're given enough time to broadcast their talents?
They treat the Divas in WWE as interchangeable eye candy. They don't treat them, for the most part, as athletes. I wish they did because a number of ladies have had great matches in the past. I would like to see WWE go back to that. Until they do, we will continue seeing them presented as they currently are.
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