Just when it seemed Vince and company couldn’t become more heavy handed or condescending, he sent in the troops to share their opinions in a Forbes article about the Hell in a Cell ending.
Roman Reigns, Becky Lynch, Drew McIntyre, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows each had a different take, but echoed the same underlying theme.
Roman Reigns goes full company man
“I think you should express your opinions, but it doesn’t hurt anybody if you have a shred of respect. Have a little respect for the performers who were out there killing themselves for you. I didn’t like the Hell in a Cell finish either, but I wasn’t about to cuss some guys out who got hit in the head over and over. Bray Wyatt put his health on the line to entertain some fans to the best of his ability. I didn’t like it, but I respect Bray’s effort and willingness to go out there and do what you have to do. So, if you can, just a little bit of respect.”
He makes a valid point. We need to show the performers respect for what they’re putting their bodies through. It makes perfect sense until halfway through his second sentence.
Hinting the fans were booing Bray Wyatt is a new take.
The fans were NOT booing Bray Wyatt. Anyone watching it knows that, so to hint at that to shame the fans is a load of, well, I’ll leave it at that. Also, in the entertainment business, heels are supposed to get booed. They thrive off it as a sign they’re doing their job right. The fact Rollins is a face and the fans aren’t buying it continues to be ignored. As was the fact the fans were pissed at a Hell in a Cell match ended in a no contest (really a DQ but that brought a ton of blowback).
Becky Lynch was sympathetic
“It’s hard being a wrestling fan sometimes. We’re all just going out there doing our best to entertain you guys. We care about you guys. We want you to enjoy yourselves and it hurts when you don’t like it. We feel your pain. We’re all in this together. I’ll do all I can. Just tune into my Twitter. I’ll be entertaining there.”
In a nutshell, this is why we love her so much. Someone gets it. We don’t go into these things wanting to dislike a match or outcome, but to enjoy ourselves.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3fgpfTBYEa/
Drew McIntyre was balanced
“I don’t remember being this negative as a kid. I mean, I liked things and I didn’t like things, but I got over it. It’s a negative culture. It’s like every aspect of life, people are very negative. You see them complain on social media. When I was younger, I became complacent and deserved to get fired. Because I forgot I was living a dream. You have to realize, you can’t always be in the lead. If you work hard, you’ll get your opportunity. Look at Chad Gable. He’s getting his opportunity. I don’t remember seeing him on social media every minute saying, “I’m not getting the opportunity I deserve, brother. He just worked hard until he got it.”
While he has a point, one has to consider that it’s not so much that people are more negative now, it’s that they have a voice without fear of repercussions (internet muscles). His comment also seems more directed at wrestlers like EC3 or Mike Kannelis, who publicly asked for his release on Twitter yesterday, than fans. There have always been people that feel they have a better opportunity elsewhere and share their thoughts or demand to be released. It is what it is. McIntyre is extremely humble and believes in working for what he gets, and that’s great. Nothing wrong with that.
Karl Anderson preached McMahonism
“I like the television show Lost. I’d watched it every now and again. I didn’t particularly love it, and it wasn’t because I thought the writing was bad, I was maybe a little mad about background. I think you just have to let the story play out. WWE has been in business for how long? The company has been master storytellers. Vince obviously knows what he’s doing. There’s got be a reason for certain things that happen. If you love wrestling, just let it play out.”
Vince McMahon is a genius, there’s no arguing that. The problem is, he’s made some huge mistakes throughout his life, and when in the entertainment business, those stand out. The biggest problem that’s missed isn’t that one boneheaded move at HIAC, it’s the cumulative effect of being ignored for months, even years, and talked down to when we show our displeasure. When a sports player is in a several month slump, they tend to be benched. When the product on stage is suffering, the cast and/or the director is replaced.
Luke Gallows went Hollywood
“There are 52 weeks of episodic television. There was controversy over the pay-per-view (HIAC) the other night. Guys, the story continues on Monday. It continues on Wednesday, Friday, and then on and on. My advice would be to enjoy it. In a movie, there has to be an antagonist. There has to be a negative to turn into a positive. So, in my opinion, if you like what we do, it’ll turn out the way you want it to. We’re in a culture of complainers.”
Interesting enough, it didn’t continue Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. They acted like the ending of HIAC didn’t happen for the longest time. If we don’t like a movie, we turn it off or walk out in the middle of it. We are in a culture of creators telling us what we should like, which leads to a culture of complaining.
Final Thoughts
This isn’t something I normally do outside of show takeaways or recaps, but it feels important here. As creators of art, whether it’s painting, drawing, animating, writing, or performing, it’s important to understand it’s up to us to tell the story we feel works best. We are the craftsmen of our chosen tale.
We are also subject to bad reviews and told what we can do with ourselves if what we do is hated enough.
We are also subject to looking at what we did and either learning from it or sticking to our guns and continuing down our chosen path.
How we handle that is what’s important. Respect at all times is key.
Do we accept said criticism and continue on, revamping or maintaining our vision, or do we lecture our fans about how they should treat our product?
Guess which one is unprofessional and unacceptable?
