Some TV shows can handle developing storylines based off of current events. Usually theres some type of social commentary to justify the story, and theres also some form of lesson to be learned. The top minds in WWE creative are not this intelligent. If they bring up a recent tragedy, you just really wish they wouldnt have. At Battleground, fans were wondering what WWE was going to do about Rusev and Lana due to the downing of flight MH 17 in eastern Ukraine. Was Vince McMahon going to show a little class and not mention the tragedy? Or was he going to do some good old fashioned exploiting? Well, if youve seen his product over the years, you probably already knew the answer. When Lana came out, she cut a promo and still had the photo of Putin on the big screen. It was tacky, but then WWE went a step farther when she said You blame Russia for the recent current events? It was an uncomfortable moment, as most people watch wrestling to escape real life, and not have the worst parts of humanity become a part of a storyline where we then are supposed to cheer a xenophobic manager and his protege battle a man from Bulgaria. What made it even worse was that Vince McMahon didnt have those famous grapefruits to at least own up to it:
"Last night's segment during WWE's Battleground event was in no way referring to the Malaysia Airlines tragedy. The storyline with characters Rusev and Lana has been a part of WWE programming for more than 3 months. WWE apologizes to anyone who misunderstood last night's segment and was offended."
Yeah, sorry Vince, Im not buying it. So basically, were all idiots if we thought they were referencing MH 17. Were just mistaken, its not like WWE has a history of doing stuff like that. Its not like they ever had Sgt. Slaughter turn into an Iraqi sympathizer during the Gulf War or have Italian male Mark Copani play the offensive Muhammad Hassan for cheap heat. Nope. If you made a connection, youre wrong, Im wrong, The Daily Show was wrong, as well as many other major media outlets. Thanks for clearing that up Vince, you and HHH make me proud to be a fan! Time to kick out.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
