Fuck Hogan. I'm glad he's finally been shit-canned. By all accounts, he's a terrible person, and that much was clear long before it was revealed he's a racist to boot.
I do have to take issue with WWE's moral grandstanding though. This is the same company who had Vince McMahon, noted white millionaire, call one of his black employees a "nigga" on live TV as a joke, the same company that wheeled out white Olympian Kurt Angle to comment on his dislike of "the black people", the same company who still employ the white agent who told Mark Henry that he was "less of a nigger" than one Michael PS Hayes, the same company who fired a Hispanic employee for slapping the head of their social media department after said head made continued racist jokes at his expense, the same company who has a long history of saddling black employees with out-dated racist gimmicks, the same company who... I mean, I could go on, but you get the picture.
Originally posted by DJ FrostyFreezeQUESTION OF THE DAY: WWE was right to terminate his contract (IMO), but was it necessary to Benoit him completely? I'm not so sure.
I'll be shocked if much of it isn't restored in a months time. But I doubt we'll see them actively promoting anything related to him though.
Originally posted by DJ FrostyFreezeQUESTION OF THE DAY: WWE was right to terminate his contract (IMO), but was it necessary to Benoit him completely? I'm not so sure.
I'll be shocked if much of it isn't restored in a months time. But I doubt we'll see them actively promoting anything related to him though.
Yeah, this is the most likely scenario. Deleting all references is a bit of an extreme knee-jerk reaction, but I don't expect it to last after this whole thing blows over. He has too many historical contributions to the company that he has to come up occasionally.
But, if they did alter history, that's fun to think about. I can't wait to reminisce on WrestleMania III and how Andre pinned Hogan with that legitimate three count.
As far as what's lost here (beyond historical record), not much. 80s nostalgia has given way to Attitude Era nostalgia by now, so Hogan is easier to cut off. Hogan just seemed to be collecting a paycheck by promoting the WWE Network anyway these days.
Still, I bet Vince is glad Austin and The Rock came along and that WWE didn't die, because he has plenty of other figures (Legends™) in WWE history that made a monumental impact that he can focus on instead.
Originally posted by Texas KellyBigDaddyLoco didn't even mention the worst thing on their record (the HHH/Booker WM19 angle, since it involves two current prominent employees of the company including Vince's heir apparent).
That doesn't even make the top ten list of most offensive things they've done in relation to race. I'm pretty sure Saba Simba easily tops that list, and Akeem the African Dream likely is right behind him.
Originally posted by Texas KellyBigDaddyLoco didn't even mention the worst thing on their record (the HHH/Booker WM19 angle, since it involves two current prominent employees of the company including Vince's heir apparent).
That doesn't even make the top ten list of most offensive things they've done in relation to race. I'm pretty sure Saba Simba easily tops that list, and Akeem the African Dream likely is right behind him.
While I agree the gimmicks are probably more racist. They did Booker/HHH in the 21st Century. Not to say no one knew better in the 80s, but how dense do you have to be to run that storyline and then let the racist win...clean.
Originally posted by lotjxWhile I agree the gimmicks are probably more racist. They did Booker/HHH in the 21st Century. Not to say no one knew better in the 80s, but how dense do you have to be to run that storyline and then let the racist win...clean.
Considering you could have replaced Booker T with a white wrestler in that feud and absolutely nothing would have changed, I'm pretty sure the only dense people are the ones you imagine that feud to be racist. There was one line that was intentionally inserted into it to fuck with people and absolutely nothing else about that angle was racist.
Originally posted by TheGreatWhiteBob This is the same company who had Vince McMahon, noted white millionaire, call one of his black employees a "nigga" on live TV as a joke
Nope, it was John Cena he said that to. Not excusing it, but...
The same company that wheeled out white Olympian Kurt Angle to comment on his dislike of "the black people
This was a throwaway line used in the context of "I can say all kinds of controversial shit and you people will still cheer me". In fact, he said something to that effect in his very next sentence.
The same company who still employ the white agent who told Mark Henry that he was "less of a nigger" than one Michael PS Hayes
The agent was Michael Hayes himself, but I see what you're getting at.
I'm not being contrarian for contrary's sake, but I think it's important to not throw around accusations without there being some kind of...justification isn't the right word, but I can't think of a more appropriate one right now. Balance, maybe?
The creation of Cryme Tyme still gets me. The introduction vignettes involved them robbing white people at ATMs to work on their speed in the ring. They sagged their pants, JTG had a grill, wore gold chains, and consistently committed crimes as part of their gimmick. I would say that Vince took the formula from the Guerrero's of lie, cheat, steal but the difference is that Eddie and Chavo were established with fans way before they did that gimmick in the WWE. Cryme Tyme were introduced as thugs.
If Hogan is guilty of bigotry, then Vince is within his brain trust. I'm more forgiving about his ignorant yet honest opinion on blacks than I am on intentionally destroying wrestling organizations and putting hundreds of people out of work twice.
Cole: "Yeah, thanks to Kane. You should buy Kane a Rolex watch for what he did for you."
Rollins: "Oh don't be silly, Kane doesn't wear watches."
Originally posted by CruelAngel777The creation of Cryme Tyme still gets me. The introduction vignettes involved them robbing white people at ATMs to work on their speed in the ring. They sagged their pants, JTG had a grill, wore gold chains, and consistently committed crimes as part of their gimmick. I would say that Vince took the formula from the Guerrero's of lie, cheat, steal but the difference is that Eddie and Chavo were established with fans way before they did that gimmick in the WWE. Cryme Tyme were introduced as thugs.
What really confused me about Cryme Tyme is that after all those vignettes of them committing crimes, they debuted as faces. I think it took me three matches before I could get my brain wrapped around the fact that they were playing to the crowd.
* Bret Hart looks to be his replacement on Tough Enough.
* Hulk tweeted a picture of him with a black man and said "thanks for the support." Thanks, token black guy! All is forgiven! Hulk really is kind of clueless, right? He should just... take a break from the internets.
* WWE stock took a big hit from the development. NOT THE STOCK!
* Curtis Axel & Damien Sandow wrestled as themselves at a house show last night. Axelmania has been turned back to Curtis Axel on WWE.com, which Sandow is still Macho Mandow. Maybe the positive out of all of this is that we get Damien Sandow back? (Who are we kidding, he'll be impersonating somebody else within three weeks on Main Event.)
* TNA is also scrubbing him from their website and store. Now they'll have to market one of their current talent?
Originally posted by TheGreatWhiteBobThis is the same company who had Vince McMahon, noted white millionaire, call one of his black employees a "nigga" on live TV as a joke
The overreaction to this one always bugged me. That skit was a joke at Vince's expense - he was an old man who tried to talk like THA KIDZ but came across as hopelessly out of touch. It was a bad idea and they shouldn't have been surprised by its reception, but if you're looking for displays of WWE racism, there are 50 more damning examples than this.
(And as mentioned, he said it to Cena - Booker just came in at the end to deliver the punchline.)
Originally posted by lotjxWhile I agree the gimmicks are probably more racist. They did Booker/HHH in the 21st Century. Not to say no one knew better in the 80s, but how dense do you have to be to run that storyline and then let the racist win...clean.
Considering you could have replaced Booker T with a white wrestler in that feud and absolutely nothing would have changed, I'm pretty sure the only dense people are the ones you imagine that feud to be racist. There was one line that was intentionally inserted into it to fuck with people and absolutely nothing else about that angle was racist.
It's amazing how hard people have to fight to refuse to see how that feud was rooted in racism.
I think your memory has glossed over a lot of the details and reduced the feud to "Triple H says 'people like you don't get to be champion'" and then Booker lost. They went out of their way to make it a white vs black thing. If you didn't see that, then you didn't understand the angle.
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Seems to me that not only would it be logical but since it is scheduled live they are going to be looking for a big ratings boost. Having HBK come back keeps it as "secret" as the WWF possibly can since no spoilers can be posted.