Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Standing Up

Yesterday, WWE unleashed its "Stand Up for WWE" campaign, asking fans to show their support for the WWE. The company has gotten alot of bad press lately (and let's face it, almost every time they are in the mainstream spotlight) as a tactic to hurt former CEO Linda McMahon's chances of being elected to the Senate.

The "Stand Up for WWE" has nothing to do with Linda's campaign except for the fact that it is answering allegations made by her opponent, Richard Blumenthal, and others not interested in seeing the successful businesswoman elected.

Allegations are the typical heard in the media, and probably even by some of your non-wrestling-fan friends-- steroid use, poor treatment of talent and the portrayal of women on WWE broadcasting.

A New York Post columnist even went as far as a calling the WWE a "drug-infused death mill." (FYI- the Post endorsed Linda on Oct. 8... I guess this guy wasn't too happy with his supervisors' decision...)

Yes, I'm sure there is pressure to be bigger and stronger, as there is in most sports. These guys also put their bodies through hell each week. This is going to result in some guys making poor decisions.

This is why WWE has a Talent Wellness Policy, which results in suspensions and sometimes releases of their contracts if the guys don't pass the random drug testing. Guys like Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy and Carlito have suffered the consequences making stupid decisions and getting caught.

WWE wrestlers are independent contractors, which means they are not employees of the WWE, but basically business owners who provide their services to the WWE. However, WWE does cover the costs of injuries, provide medical health evaluations, and covers the cost of rehab for it's talent. According to WWE.com, the average wrestler earns more than $550,000 a year.

Women many times over the years have been used as pawns in a heel's storyline. This is a classic way to show who the villain is in a story. Any story, not just the WWE's.

The other day an ABC soap opened with a young woman holding a baby and another character was pointing at the two of them. I did not stay on the channel to watch the soap, but in those few seconds, I knew exactly who the bad guy was. Oh, and that was a basic channel in the middle of the day... WWE programming is on at night, on cable, and whenever they had a PG-13 (you know, before they went PG) storyline, it was usually on after 9 p.m., when most viewers who it would be unsuitable for would be in bed.

And on the other issue concerning female wrestlers, if I had a daughter, I would be happy if a Diva was her role model. Divas show girls they can be athletic and smart and still be sexy and gorgeous.

To learn more about "Stand Up for WWE," visit WWE.com.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

TNA needs Jersey?

After their biggest show of year, what does TNA have planned for tonight? Yup, the real J-Woww beating up Cookie, a Snooki look-a-like.

If you're thinking J-who?, let me explain. J-Woww is the nickname for Jenni Farley. Farley is a guidette from Long Island on MTV's "The Jersey Shore." Snooki, aka Nicole Polizzi, is also on this show. I attempted to watch this alleged hit show, but couldn't stand more than 5 minutes.

Apparently, TNA is trying to boost viewership again. I mean, I keep seeing that The Situation (another Jersey Shore castmate) still isn't eliminated from "Dancing with the Stars," so I guess that means these Bennys have fans who will watch whatever they do.

According to reports, Farley was paid $15,000 for the appearance on tonight's show, and there's a possibility it may not be her last.

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Monday, October 4, 2010

New clothes for Cena

Tonight John Cena will debut a yellow and black look after losing last night at Hell in a Cell. I would like to see Cena show up tonight unshaven and maybe a little drunk in an bad-Superman sort of way. We've only seen the good side of Cena, and I think taking cues from Superman III may be the way to go for this boy scout...

He probably won't (got to keep up that Make-A-Wish image) and will probably just reluctantly go along, saying "sorry" just before jumping someone backstage.

I only hope this storyline doesn't become like the JBL "owning" Shawn Michaels from a few years ago.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Moving Day

If the constant advertising wasn't enough to convince you to make the move to Syfy tonight for Smackdown, the WWE unleashed possibly it's biggest SD moment last week: the return of Paul Bearer, urn included.

The last time we saw Bearer he was buried in cement at the 2004 Great American Bash. We assumed he suffocated, but in reality (okay, in reality, Bearer wasn't even there and it was all videotaped earlier, but you know what I mean) the audience saw him escape, and the following SD revealed he was severely injured.

Speaking of injuries, Christain was injured last week but SD's hottest new star, Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio is the shot SD needed, and dare I say, ever since he's arrived, SD has been the better show.

(Of course, TPTB at the WWE don't think the SD viewership is all that great since last week they advertised John Cena and the Nexus to show this week, four days before Cena/Nexus decided on Raw to show up on SD...)

Hopefully, SD is not injured by the move from local broadcast to cable. One of SD's advantages has been that anyone, no matter what kind or level of television service they had, could access it. One positive from the move is SD will no longer be postponed by Yankees or Phillies games, depending on your viewing area.

If you're not sure if you have Syfy, check now. From my research, Syfy can be found on channel 244 for DirecTV, 122 for Dish Network, and it seems to vary on the cable providers in the area (and even shows up as "SciFi" still in the listing sometimes). If you normally tape SD, be sure to check your settings so you still tape the show.

By the way, NXT will no longer be on Syfy as a result of SD's move. It will now be "aired" on WWE.com...

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