Bonnette: Toughen Up, Will Ya?

Hypocrisy runs rampant in the current generation of Twitter users. Maybe some thicker skin and less trigger happy crying is in order?

I was all set to go on a rant about how the women of the WWE have been getting short shrift since WrestleMania (that’s coming soon, don’t worry) but something happened this week that requires my immediate attention while it’s still hot, and that’s the AEW photo shoot for TV Guide.  Why?  Because the hoopla around it and the responses by some of their biggest supporters reinforce some of the things that I and several others have been saying about the people in charge there – that they’re thin skinned, easily gotten to, and can dish out but can’t take it.

Why you hating, Rob?  Don’t you want more options for people watching, and the people working in the business?

I’ll answer the second part first.  Yes, I absolutely do want more employment options for the people in the business.  But as to the first part well, there are already multiple options for fans who may want something other than the WWE to watch.  If you’ve been too lazy to check them out that’s not on me.  As for AEW, well I’m gonna be totally honest and admit that when it comes to the people they have in charge………….I don’t like them much.

Nothing personal I just don’t their particular way of performing, particularly the Young Bucks, and I don’t like that Cody has been all ‘we’re gonna show you, Vince!’ ever since the run up to Double or Nothing.  I thought the throne smashing was try hard and super cringe worthy.  It irritates the hell out of me that Codys brother Dustin keeps referring to WWE as a prison when he was still willingly signing contracts to work there well into his forties and they offered him a way back after all his documented issues.  And lastly, it irks the hell out of me whenever they engage in all this revolution talk when they’ve walked back most of the stuff they implied they’d be up for a few months ago (unionizing, health care benefits, equal pay, how much freedom they’d give people for outside work, etc).

So what’s all that got to do with a photo shoot?  Well, if you haven’t seen it the photo shoot was pretty joke worthy.  Nick Jackson had on a really ill fitting suit and the entire group photo looked like a PR shot for a sitcom or a midday law firm commercial.  Nothing about it suggested anything about professional wrestling.  So a bunch of people, myself included, started getting some jokes off.  Which brought out the defenders to call us a bunch of haters and WWE bootlickers.  Am I a WWE bootlicker?  Not really.  An AEW hater?  I used to say no but I damn sure act like sometimes so I’ll wear the uniform with pride.  But even with that it’s not like we don’t crack jokes at all things WWE either. Just in the past year there was plenty of joking about John Cena’s hair, John Cena’s wardrobe, Becky Lynch’s hair and wardrobe, Ronda Rousey’s makeup, Bobby Lashley’s headband, Lana’s wigs that keep falling off during matches, and all the bad T-shirt designs that come out of the WWE merchandise shop.  And beyond WWE plenty of people poke for at the hair on guys like Tetsuya Naito in New Japan, some of the televised skits that have happened on Impact TV, the very state of Impact’s TV on Twitch, and at Ring of Honor for merely booking a run-in by Enzo and Big Cas.  Everybody can get some, ok?

Seriously if you are that bothered by some ribbing towards your new favorite company you’re going to have to get over it.  And no they don’t get a pass for being new.  Cody and Brandi have no problem making it clear that they’re oh so smart about how to run a wrestling company.  The Bucks and Kenny Omega have no problem poking fun at all things WWE on their YouTube show.  There are no shortage of other guys willing to fire shots at the WWE over how they were handled when they were there, from Shawn Spears to Chris Jericho to the new guy John Moxley.  And lastly, they chose to step into the arena on the biggest stage so they get big stage scrutiny.  It’s no different than the high school player who skips college to go straight to the NBA.  The other players don’t take it easy on and neither does anyone else.

This goes double if you’re an AEW fan who likes to run in the Twitter mentions of the WWE itself or any of the people who work there and proclaim that they’re about to be taken down or that everything they do is terrible or that certain people there need to leave and come to AEW or that you must be mentally impaired to still enjoy WWE programming today.  Door swings both ways, people.  They’re not going to get the kid glove treatment be it from an admitted antagonist like me or anyone else.  But here’s the thing – even I don’t want them to fail.  I may not give a damn about the people who run the place but they have dozens of other wrestlers, people who work in the office, TV crew people, etc who have hitched their wagon to this gig and don’t deserve to be out on the street unemployed.

But back to my main point here – when it’s appropriate we’re gonna get these jokes off so learn to take them or……or……..or……..I don’t know, delete your account.