- WWE has suspended creative team member Michael Hayes. The reason for the suspension is because Hayes apparently made an explicitly insulting comment towards Smackdown star Mark Henry during WrestleMania week in Florida. WWE tried to keep the suspension quiet by telling people Hayes was away on vacation, but word spread within the company over the weekend that he was serving a suspension. Hayes has been with WWE for a very long time and is the head writer for Smackdown.
What? A former Freebird, who used to come down to the ring with the Confederate Flag on their paraphernalia, saying something insensitive to Mark Henry? What could he have POSSIBLY said?
Kevin Kelly: "Mr. Austin, would you like to comment on Wade Keller's Take that endorsing the XFL hurts your anti-authority character?"
Steve Austin: "Oh shit, he actually said that? I thought the boys in the back were ribbing me!"
Kelly: "No, he really said that. Did they tell you the part about you sitting in the stands, looking all skeptical?"
Austin: "AHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yeah... oh man that was too much."
Apparently Hayes has a long history of remarks similar to this, so it doesn't seem like a playful remark blown out of proportion, but rather a person in a significant amount of authority (and direct authority over Mark Henry, a Smackdown superstar) making a derogatory comment with enough history to suggest actual ill will behind the comment.
(Plus he was hammered at the time.)
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Originally posted by Super Shane SpearDidn't Shelton say (basically) the same thing ON-AIR last year to Coach?
Also: If you've ever seen more than thirty seconds of Hayes in your life, you can assume it was a joke.
Last point: If Mark is so easily offended, how did he end up with the name Silverback?
There's something to be said though for proffesionalism. My friends at work and outside of work come from different backgrounds and there's a lot of what we would say to each other that people would find offensive, but when you're in a work environment (or even in a public place where people might get offended who aren't 'in' on the conversation) it is really too much for him (or for that matter, MVP, who he was talking with) to NOT use that word? With the WWE getting bad press and their most recognizable African American leaving the company, do they really need this? And who's goes up to a 350 lb powerlifter and says that?
Plus, the fact that WWE thought this was suspensionable, pretty much means that this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Didn't he get drunk and sing at HHH's wedding and was generally obnoxious.
Mark might be offended by Silverback, but he probably can't say anything of he'll get fired. It's not the first time someone's been unhappy with their job or a situation, but held their tongue because of the money (like Owen and the Blue Blazer gimmick).
(edited by DirtyMikeSeaver on 23.4.08 1413) Kevin Kelly: "Mr. Austin, would you like to comment on Wade Keller's Take that endorsing the XFL hurts your anti-authority character?"
Steve Austin: "Oh shit, he actually said that? I thought the boys in the back were ribbing me!"
Kelly: "No, he really said that. Did they tell you the part about you sitting in the stands, looking all skeptical?"
Austin: "AHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yeah... oh man that was too much."
Originally posted by DirtyMikeSeaverPlus, the fact that WWE thought this was suspensionable, pretty much means that this isn't the first time something like this has happened.
Meltzer has mentioned that racial terms get thrown around backstage. Not necessarily in a derogatory way, mind you - this particular incident reads like Hayes was joking around - but they're talking the way that they've always talked, and they're far behind the times in terms of realizing what words are and are not acceptable in a professional situation (or society as a whole).
The new issue of Figure Four Weekly speculates that this latent racism is part of the reason that Bobby Lashley quit, and that WWE bowed to Lashley's terms when he asked to be released because they were afraid that he could make this a public story.
Originally posted by DirtyMikeSeaverPlus, the fact that WWE thought this was suspensionable, pretty much means that this isn't the first time something like this has happened.
Meltzer has mentioned that racial terms get thrown around backstage. Not necessarily in a derogatory way, mind you - this particular incident reads like Hayes was joking around - but they're talking the way that they've always talked, and they're far behind the times in terms of realizing what words are and are not acceptable in a professional situation (or society as a whole).
that sort of reminds me of how Bill Watts was unable to function effectively in the WCW offices in Atlanta when he was in charge -- "a blue jeans guy in a three-piece suit world."
Originally posted by DirtyMikeSeaverPlus, the fact that WWE thought this was suspensionable, pretty much means that this isn't the first time something like this has happened.
Meltzer has mentioned that racial terms get thrown around backstage. Not necessarily in a derogatory way, mind you - this particular incident reads like Hayes was joking around - but they're talking the way that they've always talked, and they're far behind the times in terms of realizing what words are and are not acceptable in a professional situation (or society as a whole).
that sort of reminds me of how Bill Watts was unable to function effectively in the WCW offices in Atlanta when he was in charge -- "a blue jeans guy in a three-piece suit world."
Well, that's the Disney version of why Watts (who by most accounts is a bona fide a-hole) was fired by WCW.
“How is it that I am a good actor? What I do is I... pretend to be the person I’m portraying. You’re confused. Case in point: in Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson comes to me and says ‘I would like you to be Gandalf the Wizard,’ and I said ‘You are aware that I am not really a wizard?’ and Peter Jackson said ‘I would like you to use your acting skills to portray a wizard for the duration of the show.’ So I said ‘Okay’ and then I said to myself ‘Mmm.. How do I do that?’ And this is what I did: I imagined that I was a wizard, and then I pretended, and acted, in that way on the stage. How did I know what to say? The words were written down for me in a script. How did I know where to stand? People told me where to stand." -- Sir Ian McKellen, Extras
Originally posted by JacksonIs Hayes just constantly trashed? He is either passed out and getting his mullet cut or drunk and belligerent on the Legends On Demand show.
To be fair, the Legends shows are AWESOME. And they need more drinking and smoking to make them even more awesome.
Originally posted by JacksonIs Hayes just constantly trashed? He is either passed out and getting his mullet cut or drunk and belligerent on the Legends On Demand show.
To be fair, the Legends shows are AWESOME. And they need more drinking and smoking to make them even more awesome.
While that is generally true there was nothing awesome about his drunken harassment of Bischoff on the Monday Night Wars episode. I am no great fan of Bischoff but Hayes was just embarrassing.
Originally posted by Super Shane SpearDidn't Shelton say (basically) the same thing ON-AIR last year to Coach?
Also: If you've ever seen more than thirty seconds of Hayes in your life, you can assume it was a joke.
Last point: If Mark is so easily offended, how did he end up with the name Silverback?
There's something to be said though for proffesionalism. My friends at work and outside of work come from different backgrounds and there's a lot of what we would say to each other that people would find offensive, but when you're in a work environment (or even in a public place where people might get offended who aren't 'in' on the conversation) it is really too much for him (or for that matter, MVP, who he was talking with) to NOT use that word? With the WWE getting bad press and their most recognizable African American leaving the company, do they really need this? And who's goes up to a 350 lb powerlifter and says that?
Beyond the idea that he should know better, the context of it from what I've read seems wildly inappropriate. Hayes wasn't even part of the conversation Mark Henry was engaged in, but decided to insert himself into it anyway by using the most derogatory term - whether it was in a "joking" manner or not - that one could use in reference to a black male. Being drunk or having used it in the past in what one might consider a more convenient context isn't really an acceptable excuse.
And I think we tread a thin line (and I'm not saying this as a judgment or accusation since I've been guilty of it in the past as well) when we write off racially insensitive comments we or others may make as just "joking around." I'm certainly not one to adopt a policing of the English language for the sake of political correctness, but I do believe that there's situations such as this where the use of certain words or certain statements is inexcusable. For me personally, nothing I've read from anybody reporting on this comes across has yet to make me think otherwise.
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Originally posted by KJames199The new issue of Figure Four Weekly speculates that this latent racism is part of the reason that Bobby Lashley quit, and that WWE bowed to Lashley's terms when he asked to be released because they were afraid that he could make this a public story.
Well, that and he was using up all the steroids in New England.
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I'm certainly not one to adopt a policing of the English language for the sake of political correctness, but I do believe that there's situations such as this where the use of certain words or certain statements is inexcusable. For me personally, nothing I've read from anybody reporting on this comes across has yet to make me think otherwise.
Any examples? I'm curious.
Vince McMahon, in sworn testimony, used the word "niggardly". In context, like there wasn't another adjective.
At the Hall of Fame, Hayes was dressed like a pimp - Jesus, if you look at the picture you know he must have got dressed drunk. But other than the rumors of him "holding pepole down and chasing off Lashley and his old lady" all else has sounded like an excuse to get out of a bad contract. Maybe someone is making an example
FLEA
Demonstrations are a drag. Besides, we're much too high
Originally posted by RYDER FAKINVince McMahon, in sworn testimony, used the word "niggardly". In context, like there wasn't another adjective.
I'm sure you are trying to make a point here, but after several minutes I can't figure out what it is. What's wrong with using niggardly? It has 100% completely different roots from the word nigger and has a 100% completely different meaning. I understand that there are other synonyms of the word he COULD have used but I can't see why anyone would suggest he SHOULD have used one of them as long as he used the word correctly.