AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com
So, it's election season. Linda McMahon's running for the Senate again. What does that mean for WWE? It usually means your favorite wrestling shows gets sanitized. Fans are used to this by now. Of course (insert eyes rolling sarcastically) WWE has NOTHING to do with the Linda McMahon Senate campaign. The fact that they tone down their product each time she runs for office is a TOTAL coincidence.
This campaign, as opposed to the last one, seems to be more successful for Linda McMahon's camapign as she is running a competitive campaign
Well, now WWE has gone further. Now they are trying to re-write history. Seems that the WWE Attiude era DVD, depending on the day the story is being told, is either being shelved, or santized for your viewiing protection...or to keep Connecticut Democrats from featuring it on campaign ads. Look, Vince, for those who remember the Attitude Era...you can't sanitiize it, or there's little point in having a DVD. People remember the era. It co-opted a lot of the ECW style with sex, violence, and more adult storylines. Did it go too far sometimes? Of course. But it was what it was. So it seems that WWE knows peopel want to see the product, but feels as soon as it's put out there, the Democratic Party willjump all over it.
Linda McMahon can't have it both ways. Either she runs on her record as President of World Wrestling Entertainment, and the product and treatment of independent contractors and employees gets examined; or you don't bring it up at all If you don't bring it up at all, there's very little for you to run on. The other claim, when these storylines are examined, so you aren't responsible for them....is nonsense.
As "not being involved in storylines", anyone remember the dramatic classic where Vince McMahon supposedly demanded a divorce from Linda, followed by her supposedly "suffering a nervous breakdown". After being medicated, was in a wheelchair and medicated to the point of zombiedom. In the middle of this, McMahon has a "very public affair" with Trish Stratus. But apparently the Linda McMahon campaign wants you to believe what you see is not what you saw.
No one's saying Linda McMahon wrote storylines. But to play innocent when you run the company with your husband that airs all these storylines is silly at best, .and deceptive at worst
Even with temperatures in the 60s and 70s in the first week of Octoberr here in the Philadelphia area, and green leaves still on the trees here in southern New Jersey, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year will soon be here. Your friendly not-so-local retail mega-store will soon be killing lots of trees to print advertisements to sell you and I all sorts of goodies. Ads will be running on TV non-stop. Various home shopping channels arealready running Christmas sales. People will maul each other to get this year's "must have" toy or game system or IPhone version for their kids or themselves.
But more in keeping with the actual spirit of the season, the wrestling community will reach out to those in need. Independent promotions hold a wide variety of events to benefit various food pantries, shelters, Toys for Tots drives. Over the years, promotions ranging from the family-friendly United Wrestling Coalition to the hardcore themed Combat Zone Wrestling to indies of various sizes and types trough the United States and Canada. Even if you don't have one in your own area this Holiday season, please take time to contribute to or volunteer with such organizations.
So as I ask promotions and readers each year, please e-mail any announcements about scheduled Holiday charitable-themed (fund-raisers for clothes, food pantries or Toys for Toys, etc.) wrestling or MMA events to bobmagee1@hotmail.com.
Until next time....
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