BigDaddyLoco
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|  #1 Posted on 8.4.17 1857.29
Reposted on: 8.4.24 1857.39 | I think this warrants a thread. I find the JBL saga interesting as a wrestling fan, but I find it pretty amazing as just a normal person. If this were any other sport, business, school or military in this day and age this would be a scandal and yet because it's wrestling we just sort of watch Meltzer argue with folks on Twitter. While ESPN's wrestling "reporter", Jonathan Coachman, claims they don't report on rumor, when maybe saying nothing would have been the way to go if ESPN really wanted no part of this. The fact that WWE hasn't fired or had JBL step down is a fascinating all in move.
(For anyone not following the story it involves Mauro leaving TV that just happens to coincide with a Justin Roberts book that was just releasing as well as tons of old backstage stories. Oh and an incredibly shitty JBL tweet on the matter that maybe someone will embed for me https://twitter.com/jclayfield/status/850314743306833921 )
{ Well, OK - Ed. }
I'm curious what WWE does next. JBL has to go, but will sacrificing him like Hugh Morrus be enough? I'd like to think not this time, but it might. It's hard to say how far any investigative report would get with so many people relying on Legends Deal possibilities. One wild card here might be CM Punk. Almost every JBL story I've ever heard is pretty terrible, but he is Vince's voice so this could go a lot of ways.
(edited by BigDaddyLoco on 8.4.17 2054)
(edited by CRZ on 8.4.17 2020) | Promote this thread! |             | CRZ
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| #2 Posted on 8.4.17 2019.52
Reposted on: 8.4.24 2020.17 | I lack context to really know what's going on with this story but I will drop this here:
Full disclosure: JBL blocked me a long time ago but he tends to block anybody on Twitter who says anything "bad" while mentioning him. He really doesn't seem to take it as well as he thinks he's dishing it out.
EDIT: And it sounds now like Coach has recently decided he's not gonna talk about WWE AT ALL any more, so who knows why he even piped up - or if that had anything to do with this seemingly rather sudden decision.
(edited by CRZ on 8.4.17 2026) | lotjx
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| #3 Posted on 8.4.17 2047.42
Reposted on: 8.4.24 2047.43 | | They won't fire him. Partly, because he has been there forever and partly, because Vince hates being told what to do. JBL is the sales man that barely makes quota anymore, but still has a job due to the boss liking having someone like him around to keep the younger kids in line then is shocked that division is always down. That is JBL and the WWE's toxic relationship. They finally had a good competent guy in the commentating booth and they lost him to a man who keeps shoving Texas down our throats. Texas, who hasn't won anything since we all thought Vince Young was good. | Tenken347
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| #4 Posted on 9.4.17 0849.00
Reposted on: 9.4.24 0849.08 | Imagine finding out just now, in 2017, that JBL is a piece of shit human being.
I'm stealing that take from someone else, but I can't imagine a more perfect summary of my feelings on all of this. This is a company run by a giant bully that actively encourages bullying, so I don't see a whole lot of potential fallout from this. I bet JBL doesn't even take a vacation. | thecubsfan
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| #5 Posted on 9.4.17 1535.47
Reposted on: 9.4.24 1535.57 | The context is...messy.
the totally public stuff
- Mauro won the WON award for best announcer of the year.
- Mauro posted a screen cap of the award and thanked people
- on the WWE Network PTI knockoff show, JBL had a diatribe ripping Mauro for being happy he won that award
- someone actually watched the WWE Network PTI knockoff show (!?!?!) and told Mauro
- Mauro missed a SmackDown show, which was explained as travel issues during a blizzard
- various WWE people, JBL included, ripped Mauro on Twitter for not being dedicated enough to get to the show anyway
and then into the hinted at stuff
- friends of Mauro pointed out his battle of bipolar issues and depression, heavily implying Mauro had an episode
- Mauro stops talking to people for a few days, turns up to explain his doctor had told him to stay off social media for now, and recently says he will still be doing his already scheduled boxing gig. Mauro's comments feed into the "JBL caused Mauro to sink into depression" but he's not said it - and it may not be fair to ask him to say it.
- all those tweets after Mauro for missing the SmackDown shows were deleted, WWE stops mentioning Mauro, and Mauro and WWE quietly removed references to each other
Meltzer has framed this as a case of bullying, and part of a history of JBL bullying people. Telling someone to tamp down on the self congratulations on social media does not seem like the worst thing, but I guess how you do it makes a difference, and something that ordinarily is not a big deal may be so if you're battling mental health issues.
Meltzer has said he didn't want to be the one to push this, but hasn't really explain why. It's implied it's because it's his newsletter that started all this, and he thinks people are going to take it as a WON issue. It's less well known that Dave's long time very good friends with Frank Shamrock, who happens to be Mauro's agent. Dave's got good connections with a lot of people, but that's pretty close and might be seen to affect his reporting on this if it was out there.
More than anything, this is a classic frustrating Wrestling Observer newsletter story - Dave taking a hard stance based on information he knows, but can't/won't actual report most of that information as to not give up sources, and so readers/listeners are focused to believe a circumstantial story mostly because Dave says that's what the story is. Dave is who he is because he's right on those things most of the time, but the missing piece is really glaring. It feels like there's another incident here that Dave knows of, but can't/won't say, which would make this as obvious a bad situation as Dave says it is, but we don't know and won't know unless someone else leaks it out. In it's place, we're getting every retread story of JBL being a bad guy, all of which are probably true, most of which are new, but none of which exactly tells us what's going on in this situation.
WWE will fire people, if the sponsor cares. They fired Finlay for the time Miz interrupted the National Anthem at a house show for heat because a military sponsor was there, they fired Bryan for choking out Justin Roberts because they told their sponsors that sort of thing wouldn't happen. They'll fire JBL if a sponsor complains (though it's instructive that both of those guys were brought back.) They're not going to fire JBL based on heavily implied stuff from the WON alone, because sponsors don't react to that. That's where ESPN (and a half dozen other sites) come in, but that's a different dead horse. And there's also the bit that this is not JBL as a lone bully, but a culture of it in WWE that starts all the way at the top with Vince who enables it, and taking one guy out isn't going to fix it.
(I think it might, JBL's level of mean spirited pranks were part of a generation that's now two or three past, and something that doesn't seem as prevalent with the guys today.)
I, totally selfishly, would like to see Mauro back calling NJPW - at least on AXS, and as the entire English language voice of the promotion if possible. (He and JR were better in their original spots.) But I think he's going to a pretty popular guy whatever he does next.
(edited by thecubsfan on 9.4.17 1537) | Kevintripod
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| #6 Posted on 10.4.17 0155.59
Reposted on: 10.4.24 0156.00 | I guess I'm in the minority of not being a fan of Mauro's announcing on Smackdown. I really hope he defeats his depression issues, but I'll be happy if he doesn't come back to the WWE.
I just can't stand how he seems to have just three volume announcing levels:
1. Loud
2. Extremely loud
3. Screaming
I love an announcer who shows emotion during a match, but Mauro goes ballistic on the mic for the most simplest and common moves in the ring throughout the whole match. It just completely distracts me from the match and becomes very annoying. | BigDaddyLoco
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| #7 Posted on 10.4.17 1353.10
Reposted on: 10.4.24 1353.12 | Originally posted by Kevintripod
I guess I'm in the minority of not being a fan of Mauro's announcing on Smackdown. I really hope he defeats his depression issues, but I'll be happy if he doesn't come back to the WWE.
I just can't stand how he seems to have just three volume announcing levels:
1. Loud
2. Extremely loud
3. Screaming
I love an announcer who shows emotion during a match, but Mauro goes ballistic on the mic for the most simplest and common moves in the ring throughout the whole match. It just completely distracts me from the match and becomes very annoying.
This is a fairly common stance on Mauro. I guess my first point would be no matter how bad Mauro was we shouldn't be here.
I used to think that way about him too, but he is for the audience they are after not the one they already have. The adult wrestling fan who already buys the replica belts and AJ Styles shirt who pays for a good ticket to yell Fuck You Roman isn't going anywhere and is already dumping money into the company. Mauro is for the newer fan or even the Cena and Roman fan. The young fan. The fan who gets their parents who don't care for wrestling to spend their money on the product. The more I watch WWE programming from this perspective the more I enjoy the content.
I'm not sure I can project this point as clearly as I'd like, but Vince having someone like JBL is a good way to control a labor force you don't want banding together for more rights or a bigger piece of the pie. Whether that is the intent or not I couldn't be sure, but if you are worried about your passport being stolen or your ass being soaped up you are less likely to think about travel and working conditions. | Hot Newz
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| #8 Posted on 12.4.17 0908.51
Reposted on: 12.4.24 0909.05 | WWE needs to bring back Steve Blackman to take on Brad Shaw in a SHOOT Brawl 4 All to punish him! Once he's been taken down twenty times and lost on points he'll be so humiliated that he'll never bully anyone agayne!
(edited by Hot Newz on 12.4.17 0709) | andy1278
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| #9 Posted on 12.4.17 1009.41
Reposted on: 12.4.24 1009.44 | From all accounts, JBL seems to be a pretty bad guy. But, as said, he's probably Vince's favorite person.
That said, there were "Fire Bradshaw" chants several times during SD Live that didn't make air. I feel like they are going to end up having to do something, knowing Vince it'll just be a 90 day leave of absence or something. | used2bcool
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| #10 Posted on 12.4.17 1109.42
Reposted on: 12.4.24 1110.32 | I was at SDL yesterday at the Garden, and JBL was booed by at least 50% of the crowd when he entered. During the tag match, there were fairly loud "We Want Mauro", "Fire Bradshaw", and "Bradshaw Sucks" chants. Whether they were picked up on TV I do not know, but everyone in the arena most certainly would have heard them. JBL did not respond to the chants or the boos in any way that I could see. Later in the main event, there was a guy with a large neon "JBL Bullied Me" sign who was escorted out of the arena (he went peacefully) after he'd wandered up to the guardrail on the announcers' side. That caught the attention of the crowd, and there was some loud booing.
The crowd was certainly aware of this, and I don't think it was a particularly smarkish crowd (although to be fair I'm used to the crowd in Chicago), so maybe it's bigger than we're giving it credit, and maybe some action will be taken. | HMD
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| #11 Posted on 12.4.17 1934.35
Reposted on: 12.4.24 1936.00 | Originally posted by thecubsfan
An awesome summary
I think your take on this, the way you broke it down and your analysis was really fantastic. I felt compelled to share that. | thecubsfan
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| #12 Posted on 15.4.17 0024.13
Reposted on: 15.4.24 0024.13 | Meltzer says WWE and Mauro's side are working on a settlement. It's probably the end game.
The only issue is WWE has less leverage than usual. WWE would like Mauro to never talk about what did (or did not) happen, but they can't offer Mauro his freedom because he already most has that. The deal he signed originally allowed him to do non-wrestling events - as he's going to do this weekend - so the things WWE can offer him for his silence is lots of cash or freedom to do other wrestling, and there's no telling how much either means to him. (Guess they could offer a public apology too, but that confirms it a story and WWE wants anything but that.)
If he gets free of WWE with no restrictions, Mauro's going to be a Cody Rhodes level free agent. Every other US promotion is going to be throwing themselves at him. But he's going to be asked what really happened for the rest of his life, and not being able to answer would be rough.
We're probably never going to see Mauro on a WWE screen again, and probably the only meaningful effect of all this is JBL will be forced not to be a braying donkey on commentary for the next few months. It's the smallest of victories and he'll slip back at some point. I think WWE will be content to weather out the rest of the reaction and wait for something else to distract people. | | ALL ORIGINAL POSTS IN THIS THREAD ARE NOW AVAILABLE |
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