WWE Called The “Biggest Bully On The Blockâ€￾, Ripped For Mocking J.R. On TV

[PHX]

Linda Sánchez, the U.S. Representative for California’s 39th congressional district, is being criticized for promoting WWE’s multi-platform, nationwide anti-bullying campaign, “be a STAR,†at a rally last Friday at Whittier, California’s Parnell Park in the Los Angeles area. She had a Twitter exchange with Irv Muchnick, author of CHRIS & NANCY: The True Story of the Benoit Murder-Suicide and Pro Wrestling’s Cocktail of Death and Wrestling Babylon, regarding her appearance, who noted his displeasure with his favorite congressperson on football brain injuries being “coopted by WWE/Linda McMahon propaganda.â€

Sánchez responded to his remark, tweeting, “As a mother & lawmaker, bullying prevention is very important 2 me. I speak w/ kids re: the dangers of bullying any chance I get.†Muchnick then wrote, “Respectfully, I don’t think you know background of why WWE, biggest bully on the block, is involved in this campaign….â€

Sánchez’s communications director, Adam Hudson, responded to Muchnik’s concerns Monday via e-mail: “We saw your Tweets regarding Linda speaking at anti-bullying events with the WWE and other celebrities. I’m happy to follow up on why Linda was there if you would like. Regards.â€

Muchnick then gave a lengthy response stating his belief that prominent politicians such as herself and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who also spoke at the anti-bullying rally, should not get in bed with WWE by covering, “or, worse, extolling the company’s self-aggrandizing propaganda.†He details the hypocrisy of WWE promoting an anti-bullying campaign when the sports-entertainment organization, or rather, the McMahon family, has ingrained a toxic culture of bullying in their workplace. He notes, “WWE became part of the Be A Star campaign in the first place only because the company was dealing with the public relations fallout of controversial actions, gestures, and public utterances of its performers, which put them at odds with organizations such as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.â€

Muchnick then lists examples of WWE compromising its anti-bullying campaign, including company chief Vince McMahon mocking announcer Jim Ross’ affliction with Bell’s Palsy in a backstage segment on the June 11 episode of Raw. He details, “Recently, to great televised and dressing-room glee, the Monday Night Raw program on the USA cable network broadcast a parody of on-and-off announcer and company executive Jim Ross. Mocking Mr. Ross’s bouts with the disease Bell’s Palsy, which has partially paralyzed his face, the talent performing the parody twisted his own mouth theatrically and grotesquely, while a commentator chimed in with unrestrained mirth. Here, the on-air bullying anecdote harshly illuminated the same methods in WWE’s backstage relations with its own employees.â€

Muchnick adds, “I think our conversation on this matter can advance public understanding of the bullying issue, as well as provide fodder for the Senate race in Connecticut between Ms. McMahon and her Democratic opponent, Chris Murphy.â€

Almost a week ago it was I was going back n fourth with someone on here about this about how just cause he's Vince McMahon don't mean he'll get a pass on breaking the company direction and this is further proof. Just gonna make WWE look much worse than the A.W situation or anything any wrestler has done.

 

[Cena's Jeans Shorts]

Almost a week ago it was I was going back n fourth with someone on here about this about how just cause he's Vince McMahon don't mean he'll get a pass on breaking the company direction and this is further proof. Just gonna make WWE look much worse than the A.W situation or anything any wrestler has done.

And you still don't get it.

Is Vince fired by his employer as a result of what he chooses to do with his own company? No, he owns the damn thing. AW does not get to do it because he doesn't sign the checks, he doesn't own the company, he was a mere employee paid to do a job.

Vince, like anyone else, can be called out for his bullshit. That's really up to him to deal with knowing he's potentially wrecking his wife's campaign. It's not the same circumstances as an employee that knows a wrestling promotion is going in a certain direction yet chooses to test those limits.

Get the difference? Should Vince have done that skit? Nope. But he owns the company and do what he wants. The boss will always get to operate by a different set of rules than the employees. Simple fact of life. Fuck AW for thinking a rape joke could ever be funny. Fuck AW for being stupid enough to use a reference that dates back over ten years and thinking that's comedy gold. Fuck AW for being a big enough moron to even think rape jokes shouldn't get a guy fired on a PG show.

He must have the mentality of an 8 year old if he's going to stomp his feet and cry about how dad gets to, so he should too.

 

[PHX]

Again I get everything you're saying my point simply is they did this Be A Star stuff to avoid backlash. You seem to think I'm trying to only say this to defend A.W and it's not. Screw the A.W situation for a minute and you have the owner of the company giving the people he's trying to get off of WWE's back on their back. It's just self destructive and is gonna make Vince and WWE as a whole look stupid.

 

[Deezy]

It's pretty easy to target something thats sole purpose is to create controversy, pro--wrestling itself is a morality tale played between good and evil, just because someone does something on tv doesn't mean they are not allowed to be against it off screen.

Does anyone think Anthony Hopkins eats people? Does Disney have the tight to be attacked solely on the content of a show they air?

political gamesmanship aside, it's a shitty thing to point out and say this is why the company is evil, the guy mocking someones Bells Palsy isn't Vince McMahon, it's the Vince McMahon character, and anyone who can't make the distinction is a mark.

 

[Blujay]

Regardless, A.W. didn't exactly bully someone with his comments so I don't see how that's relevant to the Be A Star campaign in the first place. What he said after his release is a different story. What Vince did was downright idiotic entirely and a complete contradiction to the message that he's trying to push forward with the company. I'm personally sick of hearing about the fuckin' campaign though. All politicians are evil shittalking liars anyways.

 

[Deezy]

Regardless, A.W. didn't exactly bully someone with his comments so I don't see how that's relevant to the Be A Star campaign in the first place. What he said after his release is a different story. What Vince did was downright idiotic entirely and a complete contradiction to the message that he's trying to push forward with the company. I'm personally sick of hearing about the fuckin' campaign though. All politicians are evil shittalking liars anyways.

Again, Vince was being his character of Mr McMahon, who over the years hasn't been the ambassador of anti-bullying.

marksmarksmarks the whole lot of em.

This is like the last time Linda ran and was bombarded with videos of her hitting JR in the balls.

 

[AF.]

Hurry up and quit being a politician Linda. Us Australians want to see good TV and could not care less about whether Linda wins or not.

 

[Dale]

Been waiting since Vince did that terrible skit for it to hit the media and I'm really hoping it catches on and it keeps getting mentioned because it was pretty vile. I also don't buy into it being the Vince McMahon character either, more just the real Vince McMahon.

 

[We Are Legion]

It's pretty easy to target something thats sole purpose is to create controversy, pro--wrestling itself is a morality tale played between good and evil, just because someone does something on tv doesn't mean they are not allowed to be against it off screen.

Does anyone think Anthony Hopkins eats people? Does Disney have the tight to be attacked solely on the content of a show they air?

political gamesmanship aside, it's a shitty thing to point out and say this is why the company is evil, the guy mocking someones Bells Palsy isn't Vince McMahon, it's the Vince McMahon character, and anyone who can't make the distinction is a mark.

I would agree completely with this if it weren't for the fact that the Vince McMahon character is portrayed exactly as who Vince McMahon really is... the chairman and owner of the WWE. I'm quite positive Vince doesn't really go around backstage mocking JR's disease when he isn't on camera, but the fact still remains that such a level of ultimate control over the company puts him in a unique and disadvantageous position to be getting away with that kind of stuff on air. It would be a little different if he appeared on television regularly like he used to and was so far-fetched that even the most cynical critic could make the distinction. But when he only shows up once every blue moon, his actions stick more and it's harder for some to make the distinction between the two. "Is he saying this as "Vince McMahon - Chairman of WWE" or "Vince McMahon - fictional character""? The line between those two people blurs even further when you start the show speaking as the former, thanking the WWE Universe for 1000 episodes of Raw. I'm not saying Vince shouldn't do those types of things on television anymore, but I can definitely see both sides to this argument.

 

[~Fallen Angel~]

If they want to keep promoting this "Anti-bullying campaign" then, even Vince McMahon should stop acting like a bully. As PHX said, it makes Vince and the WWE look stupid. You have all these wrestlers claiming they were bullied, how painful their experience was and how it should stop; yet a week later, Vince will make fun of a ring announcer. It doesn't make any sense.

 

[Kiffy Lube]

Can someone tell me how this is going to impact the overall product? If it's not going to change WWE's programming or anything I'm not even going to bother thinking about these lunatics that hate wrestling finding any reason they can to slander it.

 

[The Hoov]

political gamesmanship aside, it's a shitty thing to point out and say this is why the company is evil, the guy mocking someones Bells Palsy isn't Vince McMahon, it's the Vince McMahon character, and anyone who can't make the distinction is a mark.

I would agree with this if this was the same Mr. McMahon of the Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression Era but the fact is it's not. Mr. McMahon, the character, has been dead or what we knew of the character is dead and has been for a long time. Vince now portrays the "Chairman of the Board" and is a face. A face does not do things like mock a face ring announcer who isn't even on television anymore and especially doesn't mock a debilitating disease he has had that is out of his control. He mocked Zach Gowen for having one leg, fine he was a heel and heels do that and it was to further a feud between the two. What did this accomplish? Pissing a lot of people off. That would be fine in 1998 when business was booming but in 2012, business is damn near at 1995 level and it's extremely detrimental to the product to pull shit like that. Why Vince McMahon just doesn't step aside when clearly he's out of touch with the business is beyond me and speaks volumes for his TRUE character.

 

[PHX]

95 level? Not seeing it in any aspect unless you just simply meant from a transition standpoint of rebuilding the company image.

 

[Rated R Superstar]

And you still don't get it.

Is Vince fired by his employer as a result of what he chooses to do with his own company? No, he owns the damn thing. AW does not get to do it because he doesn't sign the checks, he doesn't own the company, he was a mere employee paid to do a job.

Vince, like anyone else, can be called out for his bullshit. That's really up to him to deal with knowing he's potentially wrecking his wife's campaign. It's not the same circumstances as an employee that knows a wrestling promotion is going in a certain direction yet chooses to test those limits.

Get the difference? Should Vince have done that skit? Nope. But he owns the company and do what he wants. The boss will always get to operate by a different set of rules than the employees. Simple fact of life. Fuck AW for thinking a rape joke could ever be funny. Fuck AW for being stupid enough to use a reference that dates back over ten years and thinking that's comedy gold. Fuck AW for being a big enough moron to even think rape jokes shouldn't get a guy fired on a PG show.

He must have the mentality of an 8 year old if he's going to stomp his feet and cry about how dad gets to, so he should too.

Does the term, lead by example mean anything to you? Being the boss does not mean you can do whatever you want. Only a dumb ass who doesn't know anything about business would think that's okay. It's like saying it's okay for the boss of a company, the boss who owns the company to hit on an employee and that would be okay. You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

And in all honesty, this whole situation is stupid, WWE is trying to help out where it can. Politics and wrestling should not be something teamed up together.

 

[Cena's Jeans Shorts]

Does the term, lead by example mean anything to you? Being the boss does not mean you can do whatever you want. Only a dumb ass who doesn't know anything about business would think that's okay. It's like saying it's okay for the boss of a company, the boss who owns the company to hit on an employee and that would be okay. You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

Lolz. Yeah, okay, a dumb shit comedy segment is the same as violating labor laws via sexual harassment.