I’m not an insider nor am I anyway involved with WWE, but my god there is some serious amount of bullshit happening backstage. I know the majority of wrestlers are paid good, but to me WWE doesn’t sound like a good workplace. It seems to me as if half the guys there are unhappy in someway shape or form. Lets have a look at some publicly known problems behind the scenes at WWE. The Rock returned – there was problems. Lesnar returned – more problems. There’s guys getting suspended too often due to drugs and violations. The creative team most certainly are the ones most pissed off as they don’t have much freedom to be creative with Vince being so ‘tight’ on them. There was also backstage heat on Lillian Garcia for botching while announcing wrestlers’ names and where they’re billed from.
Firstly The Rock. There were reports that “more than a few” key people in WWE were disgruntled about The Rock having such a prominent spot at WrestleMania while not being scheduled for house shows, tours etc.. I have mixed feelings on this one. I understand why wrestler’s were upset but as a fan of pro wrestling, more specifically WWE, I wanted The Rock return, I wanted to see him. I marked out like crazy. When the lights went out, the feeling of electricity running down your spine anticipating the mystery person who would be hosting WrestleMania 26. His return was an incredible moment that I will never forget. At the end of the day, I am glad I paid for and watched both WrestleMania 26 and 27 live to see the peoples champion. From a fans perspective it worked out, from wrestler’s perspective it also worked out, they would of gotten a fatter paycheck, am I right? I’m really interested to read what you think of The Rock returning and your thoughts on that backstage heat that was on him.
Regarding Brock Lesnar. Not only was this ”backstage heat”, it was quoted as ”Nuclear Heat”. Lesnar showed up at the UFC 141 Pay-Per-View and reportedly met up with the owner of UFC, Dana White, without the knowing knowledge of Vince McMahon. Also there was rumors he was ”difficult to handle” backstage in WWE, even before attending UFC 141. I’m more against Lesnar being back rather than for. You see, the contract Brock has with WWE is for only 29 appearances. He is getting 5 million for it at that. Not only does this piss off the full time guys, it will piss off guys like The Rock, Stone Cold and any other former star who will be contacted by WWE for a run. I seriously doubt The Rock is getting that much from WWE. It’s clear The Rock didn’t come back for money, he clearly doesn’t need it and could have a film lined up almost straight away after finishing the last. Brock is back because he’s a business man. He’s not back because he loves wrestling, not for the fans, he’s back purely for the money. Brock has taken advantage of his immense UFC presence he knew WWE desperately wanted, especially to continue the buzz after WrestleMania and Rock leaving for a few months to make movies. I don’t dislike Brock for doing it, if you have power to do it, then do it. But I criticize WWE for bringing him back. Hopefully when money talks come up with the likes of Rock, Stone Cold (possible CM Punk feud) that Lesnar hasn’t damaged that due to the amount he’s getting. Aggregate Demand will never mean so much from now on. But my question is, what exactly will equilibrium be for future contracts?
Guys getting suspended. I also have mixed feelings about this too. I understand being on the road so much is stressful and it wares wrestlers out. However, that is NO excuse to do drugs. I’ll try my best to not be disrespectful here, and I don’t really care if people do drugs, it’s none of my business and I honestly feel sorry for them. Why? Simply because no matter how hard, stressful, unfair life can be, drugs is never and will never be the answer. Sure they may give you relief at first, but in the long run it damages you and causes harm. You don’t have to be a bloody doctor to figure that one out. I see druggies as weak to be quite blunt with you. Although I don’t care if people do drugs or not as it isn’t any of my business, it is so infuriating to see guys like Evan Bourne, Rey Mysterio take drugs and thus leading to suspension. I’m not going to judge Orton yet as it’s still unclear why he was suspended. But anyway, these guys have tons of money, have a high standard of living, great life etc.. so I ask, why do they take drugs and harm themselves? They are clearly smart enough to know WWE test for drugs every 3 months or so and that they will get suspended for having them in their system. Getting suspended for doing drugs is very idiotic on the wrestler’s part.
The heat on Lillian isn’t such a big deal really but it’s something that shouldn’t be there. With the creative team, well you know all about that. Vince has given more freedom compared to a few years back but still not enough. Perhaps CM Punk will be right in saying WWE will be better when Vince McMahon is dead. I respect Vince a lot but I agree with Punk on that. With great storyline ideas like the Nexus going down the drain quickly, if creative had more freedom and control to write it, I think the angle would of lasted a lot longer without getting stale.
There’s probably tones of more publicly known bullshit that goes on backstage in WWE but the ones I outlined are the ones I felt most interesting to write about. Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts! Follow me on twitter @RayTheRambler and of course @WrestlinRambles. ”Like” the NEW Wrestling Rambles Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/wrestlingramble
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I think the drug issue is the most complex part. It is an excuse(I’ve grown to hate that word. Very over used.), but not a good one. I look it as a basic question a wrestler has to ask themselves: Are drugs worth it? And I feel there are three main culprits when it comes to drugs.
1: The wrestlers themselves. They are the ones who are literally doing it. They are the ones who are getting the drug question wrong and it seems like such an easy answer that drugs aren’t worth it.
2: Powerful people backstage. I know damn well that wrestlers have had to work hurt or get threatened with being pushed down the card. Most probably do drugs to ease the pain, come back from an injury quicker, get “up” for a match while being exausted, get to sleep quicker, etc. When it comes to the drug question, I feel that the unneeded pressure causes the wrestlers to ask themselves that question way more often than they should ever have to.
3. The fans. In order to get over, a wrestler feels like they have to do something crazy to do so. Sometimes, that’s the only way they do. It does break you down. “BORING!!!” chants to a guy just starting out can give a wrestler the wrong impression. When it comes to the drug question, I feel we can cloud a wrestler’s judgement.
Basically, while I can say doing them is the wrong way to go about drugs, I do “get” it, so I wont trash the person. But just hope a wrestler who might be thinking about drugs or doing them has a good support system and can better before it’s too late.
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I know there’s reasons why a wrestler, or any athlete for that matter, may do drugs but they’re not and never will be the answer. Sure, it may ”ease the pain”, but by ”easing some pain” it could ruin your career by getting suspended or what not. Look at Bourne, he was going super well before he got suspended, he’ll be lucky if he’s ever gonna wrestle for WWE again and get over at all. Now, with a bit of pain eased, was/is it worth it for Bourne to do drugs?
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Well, the whole “weed” thing is full of lies. Plus, it’s fake weed. I don’t get it sometimes.
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Has Vince lost his edge? Yes. However, I don’t see the WWE “getting better” when he dies.
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WWE and TNA are all about being creative, it’s how they became successful. In WWE, it’s publicly known that Vince is practically calling every somewhat big angle, storyline etc.. He’s doing a 6 man job by himself IMO. When he retires/dies, all that power should be spread out properly so it’s more efficient in an environment where it’s not one man calling everything.
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Actually, I think spreading it out will be worse. Vince knows his company, the vision, everything. Spreading out the power will lend way to multiple different visions for what the company should be. Creative wise, it should be a team of however many coming up with stuff, like you said, and like it is. However, there should be that one person to approve everything, to keep that vision in check. The problem right now, is that Vince is out of touch with the audience.
I believe that the spreading out of power in the company, will lead to it’s ultimate demise. I mean, think of this example. Vince has control now. Next, Stephanie/HHH/Shane will have that control. They have six kids, so assuming they all want a chunk of the company, split that power into six. Oh, don’t forget the investors collectively own 49% of the company. All of these people are going to want a say.
It’s going to become an even worse clusterf*ck someday.
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Well Triple H and Stephanie know the company, the vision etc.. It’s more than likely going to be them in Vince’s position some day. They’re fresh and up to date with things. I think it was Capt. who said a while back that Vince hasn’t been to the cinema in over 20 years! They could not be that stupid to give chunks to their kids. It won’t be just handed to them. Like Stephanie went to college and got like the highest results in her business degree. She worked to be there and from what I hear, she’s doing a good job.
TBH I don’t know how handing of the power works as WWE are a publicly traded company. The 49% of shareholders will have a huge say like. So it’s not going to be just given to anyone to the children of H and Stephanie. Triple H and Stephanie will get that share Vince has as they know and understand the business.
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I’m still not sure what way the WWE will go after Vince has gone but I do think it will be difficult to take over. I really hope that there is more creativity and stuff.
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Time will only tell, I think it will be anyway. That’s what I’m hoping.
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When Vince goes who knows which way it will turn? But the bottom line is at the moment Vince has the last say on everything. Which explains all these stop/start angles, pushes etc…
WWE are no longer fighting against another company, they’re fighting against themselves.
When Vince is gone (I’d rather he retired completely rather than be forced out by illness or death) Triple H, Stephanie… Whoever takes the reigns may have a more open style and make less rash decisions, which will relieve us of dead end stories and charachters and may even bring back the WRESTLING element.
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Yeah, he seems to have his hands full too much.
”WWE are no longer fighting against another company, they’re fighting against themselves.” – That’s exactly WWE’s problem, I wrote a column about a year back on that.
Yeah I rather he retired than being forced out too. Well I want that to happen and hopefully it does. Who knows what pro wrestling cycle era will be next.
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Vince won’t die. He’ll just come back as a robot.
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Now there’s a storyline.
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He’ll “kill” Cena and Cena will come back as The Prototype character.
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Yeah, when Vince first bought the company off his father he made his way by eating up all the territories. Then he fought to make it a mainstream entertainment outlet in the early 90’s, increasing its popularity and acceptance worldwide.
Then came WCW, the Monday night wars, feeding of his opponentant and fighting the enemy by adapting to the times and going to the next level.
Once WCW was gone it was all about moulding WWE, slowly diverting from the pro wrestling aspect and being promoted primary as a form of entertainment while attempting to establish its Smackdown (and ECW) brand as Raws equal.
Now WWE have hit the roof. No real territories to eat up, no major promotion to compete against and the company has now completed its mission to establish itself as the entertainment entity it is today. Wheres the direction? What’s the goal? Consistently fighting ITSELF in the ratings.
The only priority WWE seem to have is attempting to maintain high attendance and PPV figures, as a result the young up and coming talent suffers as WWE don’t want to risk a shortfall attempting to promote less established stars.
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I think it’s interesting when people talk about drugs. From what I understand no-one has been suspended for doing conventional illegal drugs (Evan Bourne and R-Truth aside for synthetic Marijuana) . The suspensions have came about from steroids, HGH & non-prescription painkillers-which in my mind is part of something entirely different. Even painkillers are acceptable from the WWE’s Wellness policy, the problems only occur when they are not prescribed.
Guys aren’t really being suspended for doing Coke/Heroin or even weed. Weed carries a thousand dollar fine and isn’t actually countable as a violation of the wellness policy, but few guys can realistically afford that: hence why Bourne and R-Truth used synthetic stuff. I’m sure I read that when there was talk of RVD returning to WWE and whether his pot-headedness would cause issues with the policy, and it seemed to be the situation he would only be fined.
Quite frankly, I’d be less concerned if a guy failed for pot or coke or the like than for steroid abuse or a similar type of situation occuring. The last thing the business needs is more tragic cases like The Dynamite Kid who are that screwed up on painkillers and steroids that they can’t actually feel their bodies falling apart on them while their masking the pain with insane levels of medication.
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And they’re not “employees”, so WWE doesn’t have to insure them. That adds to it.
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