10 Despicable Double Standards We See In WWE
Turns out it pays to be a part-timer, or to have the name McMahon on your birth certificate.
In 2015, Seth Rollins' Curb Stomp finisher was quietly phased out after it was perceived to be too violent, amidst concerns that kids might attempt it on their mates. These days, rather than stomping people’s faces on the ground, he instead now bashes them in the chin with his knee, which is apparently much more acceptable.
Granted, it’s slightly more difficult to emulate, but the whole thing does seem like a bit of a contradiction. Still, it’s arguably a relatively pedantic one, given some of the other contrasting principles observed in WWE.
From onscreen etiquette to public relations stances, including a number of notably weightier issues, it seems there’s often one rule for certain folk and another for everybody else. And unlike the case of Rollins’ curb stomp, very few of them can be described as pedantic, especially those that relate to incidents in which employees have been injured or lost their jobs, or when real-life transgressions have been so blatantly overlooked.
Here, we delve into ten of the more noteworthy double standards that we've previously seen in WWE and that have somehow, in certain circumstances, almost been normalised...
10. Wellness Testing
When Brock Lesnar failed a USADA drugs test while training for his UFC return last year, the Nevada State Athletic Commission slapped him with a $250,000 fine and a one-year suspension from competition.
Yet, there was no such punishment from WWE.
That’s because, somewhere down the line, WWE had quietly adjusted its Wellness Policy to apply exclusively to full-time performers. The argument was that, as a part-time talent, Lesnar was exempt from Wellness testing and therefore no disciplinary action was required. Which, by the way, means that the likes of the Rock, Triple H and the Undertaker are presumably also exempt from testing.
Lesnar went on to headline and win at that year’s SummerSlam with no hint of his push being impeded. Meanwhile, had a full-time performer been flagged for the same offence – and assuming the substance was on WWE’s blacklist – they’d be facing a fine, suspension and a strike against their name, three of which would see them lose their job.
What makes this worse is that part-timers are invariably already the bigger stars, and yet here they are allowed to take supplements - not that they do, of course not! - to further differentiate themselves from the pack.