*Blog post was started on May 13, 2021.
There was a lot to like about the May 12 episode of "AEW Dynamite". It at least gave us a title change which means I may have to update the OCHO: The Disgruntled's Real Secondary Championship (Sheamus holds it, but if he were to lose it, I think Miro has the edge over Apollo Crews.). The Forbidden Door gave us a great match up for the IWGP US Championship (Jon Moxley's reign during a pandemic puts him behind Crews and Miro in claiming the OCHO.). Tony Khan showed his flexibility as a booker to get to the ideal championship match for his next pay-per-view. Who better than the Young Bucks to disband The Addiction/Bad Influence (With no Scorpio Sky, was it really SCU going into the bout?)?
Of course I am bringing up all the grand things to say that something really got under my skin. That segment was Cody Rhodes's patriotic promo to hot shot his bout with Anthony Ogogo. Is there anything wrong with patriotism? In the United States, maybe?
Rhodes promo went on to say the world looks down on us over our screwy election. What was screwy with the election? He says that foreigners like Ogogo fail to see how far this nation had come from there being slavery in the South to him marrying a black woman who he is expecting a daughter with. The idea that we should all be proud of that schools are not segregated anymore was suggested as well. This seems to imply that racism is over.
The promo wanted to imply that Ogogo was a hypocrite for coming to America to find the "American Dream" and not the "English Dream". I think he was hired by AEW because of his international celebrity, thus more markets to sell the product to. If Cody was offered to act on the West End in London, would he turn that down?
There was also a rant about Shahid Khan reviving Jacksonville's economy with Flex-N-Gate, but after visiting their website and looking for job opportunities, there were none in any of Florida or its neighboring states. AEW has definitely not done much to improve the life of Jaxsons. I can even say that going to full capacity for "AEW Double or Nothing" in the midst of a pandemic in a state that just trusts you will not have COVID instead of asking for proof is going to harm many of this city's citizens.
Cody Rhodes said that what make America great is the freedom to argue. The problem with that statement is that it does not require any intellect or compassion to argue. Chris Jericho had demonstrated this with his calls to reopen. The gender reveal for Cody and Brandi's daughter shows they are a little more about them than WE. To call this patriotism is a mistake. This is selfishness that you are having everyone try to relate to. Selfishness is bad.
There
is a reason why patriotism in the rest of the Western World seems to
lack importance. Oscar Wilde nailed it with "Patriotism is the virtue of
the vicious". Samuel Johnson beat him to the punch with "Patriotism is
the last refuge of a scoundrel". When you lack anything positive to warrant you actions, just proclaim them as the thoughts and acts of a
patriot. Ever since the lock downs began last Spring, we have seen that.
That promo left me feeling like AEW is of the stance that everything is fine with the world as long as it is not affecting them. I cannot recall them addressing the civil unrest last summer like other sports. There were talents with BLM armbands, but no side was taken by the company. They may be hiring talents from all walks of life, but they are not doing anything to bring diversity to the audience.
It
feels to me that the audience is the same one that ran me out of the
scene back when I called out Peoria's scene for promoting babyfaces who
sport the Stars and Bars. If that is their audience, why do anything to
piss them off like speaking well of President Biden or shutting down
their belief about a stolen election?
I
find it difficult for me to be misremembering much of this. My personal
DVR is filled with most of the episodes dating back to June when I
moved to my current place in Urbana. Pardon me for not following more
people than the amount who follows me on Twitter (@catbusruss). AEW's entire roster
may have made the right statements, but that is a lot of content to
scroll through.
It just feels like AEW is content with the audience just being rabid. If there is a woke portion, that is just incidental. This leaves me feeling like they are no longer trying to change the world. They got their success. As long as the video game goes off well, they will effectively rule the wrestling landscape at least from a domestic stand point.
If I can take solace in anything, it was the perceived knowledge that there was at least a woke Internet fan contingent. My live tweets calling Cody out for his mistakes received some likes. But, booking our way out of this means for Cody to trademark "The American Dream" moniker was not well received. My suggestions that the bout should end with Ogogo's fellow Englishman Marty Scurll coming to his aid worked up some keyboard warriors.
*May 17, 2021.
"Stop trying to make this pedi a thing." Was how @trollwrestle responded to my suggestion. He immediately blocked me when I responded to him. It was less of a headache than dealing with @TruePatriot112 who lived to get the last word in whenever I suggested that Marty Scurll maybe pro wrestling's Aziz Ansari, but at least the Patriot112 wanted to try and speak "sense" to me.
If anything, this reaction shows that there are at least two audiences for wrestling. Too bad they are both dedicated to letting us know how right they are. I was able to counter every argument to just be told that is what happens to people like Marty Scurll (Scurll claims to have had consensual sex with a partner who was of legal age [16 in the UK] but was jerk about it while the other party claims it was a sexual assault.) while other confirmed sexual offenders (predator Jimmy Havoc, asshole Sammy Guevera) are allowed second chances.
Once a pedophile and predator, always one regardless of the legality of the first accusation and the lack of evidence towards the second was the stance being brought up. Patriot112 also went of to bash Scurll's current girlfriend because she does not see him as evil. I wonder who knows him better.
I
will not deny that I can come across as stubborn when it comes to some
of my views, but if I am stubborn, it is usually a black and white
issue. Promoting people who were proud that their ancestors fought for
the right to own people is morally wrong. Telling me that believing the
above may not allow me to be booked is wrong...and
stupid (Just say we do not have any openings.).
Do
I think Michael Elgin is a rapist? The testimonies of the parties and
Elgin's past behavior have me leaning in that direction. Regardless of
my thoughts on this, it is on its way to be resolved in the courts.
It
will take a lot of rehab for me to become a Rich Swann supporter.
Because I am a codependent person, believing that he manipulated his
significant other into saying he did not commit domestic abuse is valid.
My best friend committed violent acts towards me, but I did/do not see them
as irredeemable. It maybe just an empathetic nature, but I can
consider their state of mind when it happened. If his significant other
is feels he is redeemable, my stance maybe a bit harsh.
When both sides said an event happened, it is just perceived by both parties differently, the lack of a body kind of leads me to say this is not "Rashomon". Both sides have been hurt by this issue be it trauma or finances. How much hurting do we want to continue? If Scurll is left out of the business, his passion was killed. If he stays, unless he can "Scarlett Letter" this situation, it will always be addressed because her trauma should be recognized.
AEW has taken the approach of rehabbing people who have done or said worse things than Marty Scurll's act. You can call what Scurll did pedophilia but I have screwed up my search history enough to say it cannot be considered that (I am just assuming that searching "age of consent" does not look good.). We cheered on Luke Wilson in "Old School" for doing what Scurll did. Do we just abandon people if they get caught? If that is the case, why is Guevera working?
A company that you have a working relationship made their world champion someone who may have blackballed a #SpeakingOut victim. How can you say that after Havoc and Guevera that Marty Scurll is too much drama too handle?
So
is AEW for everyone? I would say no. It is for the same wrestling fans
that have excluded those who are different than them. The people they
deem untouchable come from an audience that wants to seem concerned, but
they are just trying to prove they are not the moron who held up
insensitive signs during the Monday Night Wars (I will not call it the
Attitude Era) or chanted degrading things toward women.
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