Is it or is it not?
by Jonathan Brown
Black is white and white is black. This is the logic behind the WWE’s decision to call its programming sports entertainment. It is illogical and a down right lie. Wrestling at its absolute core is about competition and the spirit of sport. If the WWE continues to parade this bastardized “sports entertainment” hybrid, TNA will be further helped by poor WWE decision making.
There are many areas in which the WWE needs to clearly separate entertainment from sport.
Rey Mysterio weighs as much as a heavily soiled diaper and is about as tall as the tallest competitor in the now defunct Junior’s Division. Watching him get annihilated at the hands of the Big Show on the Smackdown special a few weeks back should have served as a reminder to all of us that Rey Rey is in the wrong league. Yes, Yoda was the most powerful of all the Jedi. His diminutive appearance was misleading to his enemies. But George Lucas clearly and unmistakably presents Star Wars as SCIENCE FICTION. To watch Rey Mysterio compete week in and week out against much larger opponents kills the very little credibility that pro wrestling brings to the table. When he and Dave Batista tagged up, it looked like one of Dave’s reproductive organs escaped his shorts. Come on WWE, trying to sell the idea that Rey can actually compete with the heavyweights is the largest of all facial smacks. Many arguments for his inclusion with the big boys is that Rey is utilizing his quickness against the much slower beg men. Mosquitoes do too, but I have not seen them defeat anyone larger than themselves.
In an organized sport, the only thing that makes it organized is unbiased (and conscious) officiating. What the WWE has allowed to happen with the referee bump is a travesty. How many times in the last 2 weeks has a WWE official, while on television, been conveniently knocked out? Watching the referee pretend to sleep after a simple bump in the back is as insulting as Kurt Angle “not being a fan of the black people”. The ref bump is neither sport nor entertainment, yet it seems to make its way in a match every single broadcast. Does the Jumbotron have a filter where refs can’t look and see what happened? Are the rule makers too blind to assign more than one referee to match? This cheap way to allow heels to cheat (and Eddie too) causes more people than you know to change the channel only to never come back. If WWE wants to pass this off as entertainment then they are simply tasteless; but if they think that this creates an atmosphere of sporting than they should just say no to drugs.
PUPPIES! Every man likes a nice rack and many women do, too. Clearly, Diva matches are designed for sheer entertainment. Promos are definitely ways to engage and entertain fans of wrestling. Gimmick matches are entertaining, too. But in the scripted world of professional wrestling, there is definitely a lack of “sport”. As the WWE continues to face the ever promising competition of TNA, they would be wise to add some sport to their entertainment.
