Does WWE Hate The Environment?
The animosity towards Borga was partly inspired by fans turning off their brains to a boo a man ostensibly telling them how they should live - even if it was for their own benefit. There was no such explanation for generally enlightened NXT fans going sour on Illinois-born CJ Parker. A modern day eco-warrior, Parker echoed Daniel Bryan's sentiments in berating the crowds' contribution to destroying the planet. Unlike Bryan, the Full Sail faithful simply didn't want to hear it at all, and Parker's chains were eventually hacked from the Performance Center's tree. He's since reinvented himself as Juice Robinson - a name ironically far more in line with a Vegan diet.
It's patently clear that, for all politics by necessity stay out of WWE's anodyne product, it is implicitly twinged by them. WWE's a global company, but in reality it's a glorified mom & pop shop - and there are constant, subtle signs of the chairman's personal beliefs in their output. It's impossible not to imagine Vince McMahon, a close friend of climate change denier Donald Trump, viewing green campaigners as soy-drinking hippies - or some variation on the slur. In his mind, they are a point of ridicule, not champions of a worthy cause.
It might go some way to explaining why, although WWE's corporate arm is involved in many estimable philanthropic pursuits - even if their sincerity is permanently undermined by Stephanie McMahon's infamous 'marketing' Tweet - none of them encompass environmental issues. Though a private company like WWE has no actual obligation to combating climate change, their enormous travel schedule means there should be an ethical incentive to reduce their carbon footprint. So far in their history, just about the only outwardly positive comment on the subject has been the character Duke Droese - a garbage man who probably helped recycle. It didn't help him much. Is it enough?
There may be another, non-political but entirely petty explanation for WWE's conservatism on conservation. In 2001, the company lost a lengthy legal battle with the World Wildlife Fund over the rights to the 'WWF' initialism. The consequence was an expensive and damaging process of re-branding which, for some generations, has still yet to take hold. Searches for 'WWE Environmental Causes' immediately redirect to Vince's panda provocateurs. One can only suspect that the famously grudge-holding chairman, still embittered after nearly two decades, doesn't want to give his worthier rivals any more publicity for free. Apparently spite is worth more than the planet.