10 Stars WWE Took A Perverse Pleasure In Burying
Coating the brass ring with oozing sleaze.
WWE is a toxic company.
The post-Benoit tragedy Wellness Policy cleansing and sponsor-friendly PR initiatives betray a rotten core - a bizarre mentality countless ex-employees and countless fans find baffling. The company is seen to exist in a bubble, its globule formed by a man and supporting "sycophantic yes-men" with an inflexible vision of what a talent should be and what they should do to succeed - and a weirdly gleeful mocking of anything and anybody that does not meet what itself is an undefinable standard. In an interview with ESPN granted upon promoting his book, Best Seat In The House, former ring announcer Justin Roberts summed it up thusly:
"[Bullying is] what happens there, especially if you're recognised for doing something or if something good happened to you; there are guys who will just give you hell for it. They can't be happy for anybody else, they just have to knock everybody else down."
This mentality seemed to worsen in the immediate and long-term aftermath of the Monday Night Wars victory. This reinforced everything WWE believed about itself; it really now was the recognised global leader in sports entertainment, and the keys to that kingdom were elevated above the heads of almost everybody, often for entirely arbitrary reasons. And it's not as if driving anybody out of town was a risk, given that there were no other towns to go to.
If Andre The Giant was around today, Vince would probably instruct Michael Cole to make counterproductive cracks about his drinking...
10. Mickie James
Any suggestion that the treatment doled out to Mickie James was intended as a morality play on the dangers of body shaming dissipates when you consider the influential mindset of Kevin Dunn, known perv, and McMahon - body fascist - himself.
Insider reports have it that officials were infuriated when the definitively not fat Mickie James had the audacity to not be rake-thin - and thus the "Piggie James" angle was born. The LayCool act superimposed images of James as a pig on the TitanTron. Layla dressed up as James in a fat suit. They force fed James with cake. Any girl watching who wasn't rake thin may have felt like sh*t. Any girl suffering from anorexia may have had their fears reinforced.
Even if you view such reports with suspicion - shouldn't the "Women's Revolution" make a mockery of the rumours that many of the Mae Young Classic participants aren't beautiful enough? - you only need watch any given episode of SmackDown as validation that this mentality is just inherent. Kevin Owens is Cartman, the Michelin Man - his weight is zoned in on as if it defines him.
It pretty much does, sadly.