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Post by payback on Aug 11, 2012 9:32:45 GMT -5
Very surprised and disappointed that they fired A.W. You could argue he deserved some form of discipline but firing him is going way too far. Even though Swarm thinks my argument is "bullshit" (I didn't hear anyone on ESPN talk about it ) I contend that rape isn't funny and A.W. could've definitely found another comment to make. He still shouldn't have been fired, however. I also think that there are more reasons to not do/say something other than if people made psychiatric appointments. Rape is one of those issues that have touched many families so as someone on a very popular TV show, you should probably steer clear of those kinds of things. And yes, I agree that WWE's main reasons for A.W.'s firing is Linda McMahon's political campaign. You shouldn't say stuff like that on TV but when the wife of your CEO is running for the Senate, you gotta know the WWE doesn't take chances.
A.W. probably shouldn't have burned his bridges on his twitter page. I could've seen the WWE re-hiring him after this blew over but not anymore. It's too bad because he was definitely someone different and it was cool watching him in that manager's role as the WWE doesn't have any of those so that's disappointing.
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Post by Justin Case on Aug 11, 2012 9:58:15 GMT -5
I suppose AW's next step if he really wanted his job back is file for a wrongful termination suit against the WWE. No doubt that he won't do that, 1) long painful process 2) He still might not win.
I am not a big AW fan, never have been. Don't agree with these politics, and have seen it no just in WWE, but in all business. People getting fired for doing or saying something. Little or nothing. He has to be smarter that this. Lesson learned, hopefully others pick up on it!
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Post by Phoenix on Aug 11, 2012 11:55:58 GMT -5
i didn't think the Kobe joke was funny. It was predicated on the assumption that Kobe raped the girl, and if he did, that wouldn't be funny. On the other hand i do agree with Washington's point's about the WWE. In today's environment there would be no breakout of Austin-Rock or D-Generation X. It's almost shocking that they let the Rock come back and say what he does considering their PG nature now.
i disagree with Swarm's points. Yeah there's been a lot of joking about a lot of things over the years. But not in today's PC environment. Thing's have changed sooo rapidly in this country. Only thing you can joke about is a white Christian. You couldn't have a show like All in the Family today. Hell you couldn't have Three's Company. The landlord making fun of the Gay(fake) Tenant? NO WAY that would happen in 2012.
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Post by LWPD on Aug 11, 2012 13:03:45 GMT -5
Kobe comments aside, strictly from a subjective entertainment standpoint, I felt the most recent AW segments were horrible. Objectively speaking, his quarter hours scored badly, so on top of generating negative attention, it makes sense that the gimmick would be on the chopping block. Could he be repackaged? At age 35 there doesn't seem to be much upside in retaining him in the ring. There are younger/better prospects to pull from, which is probably why he was future endeavored. If the company felt there was real money to be made with him, he would have been retained regardless of what he said or who it offended. That's the line that separates someone like an Abraham Washington from a CM Punk. From a business perspective, that's the only standard that should matter.
From an immediate term marketing standpoint, AW is doing the right thing by playing this up as a case of 'injustice', but the truth is probably that this was just the straw that broke the camel's back. He was most likely already on the bubble of being let go long before this controversy hit. I'll be very surprised if a year from now he's still in the business.
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Post by swarm on Aug 11, 2012 14:22:24 GMT -5
i disagree with Swarm's points. Yeah there's been a lot of joking about a lot of things over the years. But not in today's PC environment. Thing's have changed sooo rapidly in this country. Only thing you can joke about is a white Christian. You couldn't have a show like All in the Family today. Hell you couldn't have Three's Company. The landlord making fun of the Gay(fake) Tenant? NO WAY that would happen in 2012. That's my point. At what point to we stop bowing down as slaves to the PC movement? I understand the majority fall in line and do as their told but nobody asks why. Why is the world this way? Why can't anybody take a joke anymore? Why can only white Christians be made fun of? And why doesn't anyone care about them? Why can't we watch re-runs of All in the Family? That's a great show. Does anyone really think for 1 second that Vince McMahon really cares about rape jokes? Why is everyone so comfortable going around living these lies? Kobe comments aside, strictly from a subjective entertainment standpoint, I felt the most recent AW segments were horrible. Objectively speaking, his quarter hours scored badly, so on top of generating negative attention, it makes sense that the gimmick would be on the chopping block. Could he be repackaged? At age 35 there doesn't seem to be much upside in retaining him in the ring. There are younger/better prospects to pull from, which is probably why he was future endeavored. If the company felt there was real money to be made with him, he would have been retained regardless of what he said or who it offended. That's the line that separates someone like an Abraham Washington from a CM Punk. From a business perspective, that's the only standard that should matter. From an immediate term marketing standpoint, AW is doing the right thing by playing this up as a case of 'injustice', but the truth is probably that this was just the straw that broke the camel's back. He was most likely already on the bubble of being let go long before this controversy hit. I'll be very surprised if a year from now he's still in the business. Likely already on the bubble? Unless there's something I'm unaware of, that's a lot of assuming. Here's a guy who's been repeatedly put on TV dating back to his talk show. He's been on every RAW and SD going back several weeks now, receiving a big a push as anybody. He's part of the feature program in the tag team division, and you want us to think they just up and fired him because he wasn't working out? I don't buy it. Whether or not his segments were "horrible" or not is subjective. Somebody in WWE was behind him up until a couple of Monday's ago. If it had anything to do with anything other than the obvious, he would have been taken off TV, and sat out his contract like anyone else, not immediately fired just like DB was when he choked that announcer. Basically, deja vu.
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Post by swarm on Aug 11, 2012 14:26:37 GMT -5
just sayin'
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Post by Phoenix on Aug 11, 2012 14:29:03 GMT -5
The reason Swarm,, to answer your question, is because all of the special interest groups favor 'minorities'.
I mean did you see that controversy last week about the chic-fil-a restaurant and gay marriage. They're owned by christians. Now can you imagine if they were owned by Muslim's and were anti-gay marriage. No way the protestors would get near them.
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Post by swarm on Aug 11, 2012 14:42:57 GMT -5
The reason Swarm,, to answer your question, is because all of the special interest groups favor 'minorities'. I mean did you see that controversy last week about the chic-fil-a restaurant and gay marriage. They're owned by christians. Now can you imagine if they were owned by Muslim's and were anti-gay marriage. No way the protestors would get near them. Ya, I mean I "get it" from PC terrorist agenda "we're gonna hold you hostage until you comply with our demands even if it ruins a man's career, life and image as long as it makes us and our fragile psyche's happy" point of view, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. Sorry, no amount of picketing and crying and threats will ever make me feel anything, let alone different from how I already feel. When AW said that, I chuckled, and never thought one thing more about it. Never occurred to me anyone would get upset about it. Couple days later he's in hot water, some wimp on ESPN is whining about it, and people are telling me what he said was wrong lol. All this commotion and I was unaware of it. Seems like a lot of wasted energy and time all about nothing if you ask me. So much to do in life and some people choose to spend it getting upset about jokes. Weird. If you can make fun of some things, everything has to be on the table. To pick and choose what is and isn't okay is hypocrisy.
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Post by swarm on Aug 11, 2012 14:55:58 GMT -5
An unnamed WWE spokesperson issued the following explanation to TMZ.com regarding the release of A.W: "Unfortunately, Brian Jossie, playing the character of A.W. was terminated because he continued to exhibit poor judgment by making offensive and inappropriate comments on live television and on social media."
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Post by Shon Maxx on Aug 11, 2012 14:58:20 GMT -5
I think even a lot of 'liberals' agree this is a bunch of bull. Was what he said offensive? Maybe, but he's a heel! He's supposed to be a heartless prick! Getting all worked up over it is like getting worked up over Iron Sheik's pro-Iran promos or Slaughter's pro-Iraq storylines. AW is not supposed to be playing a nice guy. If he says something out of line, that fits in with his character.
I'm a moderate and even I think this level of PC is B.S!
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