The Wrestling Thread made you into a somebody! - Part 195

[Slushy]

The End Of An Era

 

[sweetre15]

I think MetsFan4ever is probably full of crap on this stuff about Kalisto. Vince probably wouldn't try that in this era because he'd be bound to offend ALOT of people with a stereotypically gay character on top of the fact that this is something that WOULD NOT go over children's heads.

I mean he hasn't even let Darren Young even reference his sexuality on Raw and Smackdown like ever and he's actually gay.

 

[OctaviusINC]

The End Of An Era

Corporate Ministry 4 Life

 

[JabarR]

*Spoilers* WWE SmackDown Results For 2/5

Spoiler

WWE SmackDown Taping Results
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Airing February 5, 2015


– SmackDown opened with Miz TV, with Roman Reigns Superman punching The Miz early in the segment. Reigns challenged Daniel Bryan to a fight but Seth Rollins interrupted. Bryan vs. Rollins and J&J Security is announced for later in the show.


– Ryback and Dolph Ziggler defeated Goldust and Stardust.


– Dean Ambrose defeated Curtis Axel.


– Fandango defeated Adam Rose. Rose attacked a couple of the Rosebuds afterwards.


– Roman Reigns defeated The Miz. Reigns was very over with the crowd.


– Rusev defeated Erick Rowan.


– Paige defeated Alicia Fox with the PTO submission hold.


– Daniel Bryan defeated Seth Rollins, Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble in a handicap main event by submission when Mercury tapped out to the Yes Lock. After the match, Kane attacked Daniel Bryan and the rest of the heels joined in. Bryan got a chokeslam and curb stomp to end the show.

 

[Dr. Evil]

hmm....

Kurt Angle's recent TNA contract that he signed was for one year and expires at the end of December.

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

 

[Heretic]

The thing about Darren Young is...right around the time he came out of the closet, Ryback was in a bully type gimmick. It would have been huge for Ryback to do all of those backstage vignettes, then one week start running down Young to his face, calling him a girly man...and have Young beat him in a match, humbling the bully/homophobe. You then never have to mention his sexuality again because you've made your point...that being a homosexual does not make you less of a man.

Instead...if they have a straight guy pretend to be a flamboyantly gay character, it not only will outrage many in the gay community, it is decades behind the times in wrestling gimmicks. And if they use that gimmick instead of a masked high flyer who can sell millions of masks to kids, have his own superhero cartoon and comic etc etc etc etc, then Vince McMahon is undoubtedly INTENTIONALLY hurting the future of his own company just to humble the NXT roster...and that SHOULD lead to a stockholder revolt. Personally, I think that Samurai Del Sol would have been a PERFECT name for marketing (I'm aware that the wrestler did not use that spelling in the indies).

 

[Pink Ranger]

The thing about Darren Young is...right around the time he came out of the closet, Ryback was in a bully type gimmick. It would have been huge for Ryback to do all of those backstage vignettes, then one week start running down Young to his face, calling him a girly man...and have Young beat him in a match, humbling the bully/homophobe. You then never have to mention his sexuality again because you've made your point...that being a homosexual does not make you less of a man.

Instead...if they have a straight guy pretend to be a flamboyantly gay character, it not only will outrage many in the gay community, it is decades behind the times in wrestling gimmicks. And if they use that gimmick instead of a masked high flyer who can sell millions of masks to kids, have his own superhero cartoon and comic etc etc etc etc, then Vince McMahon is undoubtedly INTENTIONALLY hurting the future of his own company just to humble the NXT roster...and that SHOULD lead to a stockholder revolt. Personally, I think that Samurai Del Sol would have been a PERFECT name for marketing (I'm aware that the wrestler did not use that spelling in the indies).

I think you are bang-on in your second paragraph, though I still think it is too early to judge what is going on with Kalisto, as all we have is a rumour from a wrestling dirtsheet, and not even one of the more reliable ones, lol. I'm not the kind to find every gay character automatically offensive, but the WWE has built up so much goodwill in the past, this will (again, if true) really be a setback.

As for your first paragraph, I believe the WWE handled Darren Young perfectly; in fact, it should be a model studied by every other major sports organization when the day comes when an active, in his prime athlete eventually comes out (I know, Jason Collins, but he barely counts). While I like the storyline you outlined, I don't think it would have been a good idea for the WWE's (and in fact, one of America's first) openly gay pro athletes to have that become a plotline so quickly. Maybe the second openly gay wrestler, or at least after Young had a few more years established as a solid singles guy (still hasn't happened yet).

 

[sweetre15]

It was reported last night via Reddit's MetsFan4Ever that WWE NXT officials recently tested out Kalisto with a gay hair stylist gimmick and that it may be his new character going forward.

A WWE source reached out today and said that the report is not true and there will be no character change with Kalisto.

Kalisto was trending worldwide on Twitter around midnight after the report came out and fan reaction was not positive.

Source: Wrestlinginc

 

[Urich Leeds]

That's relieving to hear.

 

[Heretic]

I think you are bang-on in your second paragraph, though I still think it is too early to judge what is going on with Kalisto, as all we have is a rumour from a wrestling dirtsheet, and not even one of the more reliable ones, lol. I'm not the kind to find every gay character automatically offensive, but the WWE has built up so much goodwill in the past, this will (again, if true) really be a setback.

As for your first paragraph, I believe the WWE handled Darren Young perfectly; in fact, it should be a model studied by every other major sports organization when the day comes when an active, in his prime athlete eventually comes out (I know, Jason Collins, but he barely counts). While I like the storyline you outlined, I don't think it would have been a good idea for the WWE's (and in fact, one of America's first) openly gay pro athletes to have that become a plotline so quickly. Maybe the second openly gay wrestler, or at least after Young had a few more years established as a solid singles guy (still hasn't happened yet).

I agree. For the most part, I don't need the sexuality of the wrestlers involved whatsoever. It makes sense if you have a valet like Miss Elizabeth and want to use it in an angle...but "I'm a gay wrestler" really doesn't need to be addressed. I was just saying that IF WWE wanted to have a gay character, there was a great opportunity to do so in a respectful manner by having a gay character overcome and hunble the bully, who was clearly the heel and clearly in the wrong. Instead...I think Ryback just stopped being a bully for no real reason other than Vince lost interest in doing that angle. WWE is full of dead end stories like that. But yeah...I don't know or care if Wrestler A is gay or straight...I only care if they can entertain me.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[cabel]

Dear WWE,

Don't ever break up Cass and Enzo. Ever.

 

[Pink Ranger]

I agree. For the most part, I don't need the sexuality of the wrestlers involved whatsoever. It makes sense if you have a valet like Miss Elizabeth and want to use it in an angle...but "I'm a gay wrestler" really doesn't need to be addressed. I was just saying that IF WWE wanted to have a gay character, there was a great opportunity to do so in a respectful manner by having a gay character overcome and hunble the bully, who was clearly the heel and clearly in the wrong. Instead...I think Ryback just stopped being a bully for no real reason other than Vince lost interest in doing that angle. WWE is full of dead end stories like that. But yeah...I don't know or care if Wrestler A is gay or straight...I only care if they can entertain me.

To be honest, when I think back to Ryback cornering that guy in the shower room, I fear the audience would lose track of who's gay and who's not.

 

[TheNextNolan22]

This whole storyline on Lucha Underground with Cueto and Matanza we keep getting hinted at is by far more interesting than anything WWE has done in God knows how long. This is some great stuff.

 

[Urich Leeds]

Dear WWE,

Don't ever break up Cass and Enzo. Ever.

You know they will. You KNOW they will.

 

[TheNextNolan22]

Either the entrance hallway is getting smaller or Cage is getting larger?

 

[TheNextNolan22]

The Wrestling Thread Pays My Mortgage.

Okay, I thought that was kind of a funny call by Striker.

 

[Kaleb]

 

[TheNextNolan22]

The booking of Cage as the new top heel thus far has been great and Johnny Mundo was the perfect babyface to play off of him tonight. Very good match.

 

[TheNextNolan22]

Why must Lucha Underground/Mark Burnett/Robert Rodriguez tease me every week?! Albertooooooooooooooooooo EL PATRON has arrived!

I kinda marked, not gonna lie. But you already knew that!

 

[OnTheAir]

Triple H sent a replica WWE World title belt to the New England Patriots for their Super Bowl celebration. Defensive Tackle Alan Branch brought it to the parade, and it did make at least one of the television broadcasts.

 

[OnTheAir]

Former WWE Diva Kristal Marshall was in attendance this past Monday at Raw. She brought her (and Bobby Lashley's) son Myles.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Why must Lucha Underground/Mark Burnett/Robert Rodriguez tease me every week?! Albertooooooooooooooooooo EL PATRON has arrived!

I kinda marked, not gonna lie. But you already knew that!

 

[cabel]

This whole storyline on Lucha Underground with Cueto and Matanza we keep getting hinted at is by far more interesting than anything WWE has done in God knows how long. This is some great stuff.

Does Dario have a freaking rancor locked up in his basement or something?

 

[TheNextNolan22]

Does Dario have a freaking rancor locked up in his basement or something?

I was thinking more along the lines of the frozen head of a dead Aztec Warrior.