Every Wrestling Secret WWE Tries (And Fails) To Hide
9. The Banned List
More on how Vince McMahon's influence can be felt in every nook and cranny of his product later, but before examining what his commentators do say, it's worth remembering what they can't. And more specifically, how this prohibition exposes many of the industry's minute dark arts.
Wrestling - like everything - has a certain lexicon, but McMahon's effort to shift and adjust that over the years has resulted in some bizarre moments of promotional malpractice and wider public acceptance. "Sports Entertainment" was perhaps the flashpoint, devised as it was to avoid tax whilst also serving as a catch-all that pulled McMahon away from the wrestling he supposedly despised.
Pronouns are notable bugbears of the Chairman, and various standardised terms such as "house show", "belt" and "title shot" have been subject to similar disdain. A reliance on overblown synonyms ("live events", "championship titles" and "championship opportunity") resulted in the original terms becoming more conspicuous by their absence, drawing derision to WWE's attempts to brand absolutely everything.
It's why so much of the product feels faker than it's meant to. It's why fans aren't permitted to be concerned about wrestlers going to hospital, but members of the WWE Universe can worry about their favourite entertainer being admitted to a local medical facility. And because it's McMahon's kink specifically, it's why it'll only get dafter the older he gets.