While I thought the Dean Ambrose heel turn on Seth Rollins was brilliantly executed last week, WWE followed up the heartbreaking Shield demise by constantly inserting Roman Reigns’ battle with cancer into the story. It was one thing when the announcement was fresh in the air and stayed with the crowd the entire night (and it’s not like it was actually brought up during the turn itself), but the WWE melded together video packages that showed Joe Anoa’i’s real life battle with cancer with the turn. They even ran videos back to back that showed Ambrose’s turn after a hospital full of kids struggling with cancer shared their well wishes for their hero that happens to be suffering from the same ailment as them.
It was also brought up during Seth Rollins’ promo as he ranted about how Dean Ambrose couldn’t deal with not being the center of attention. “On a night when Roman leaves to battle leukemia, you [had to] make it all about you,” screamed Rollins. It was a turning point in what had been up to that point been a fantastic promo, as Rollins struggled with his own self-doubt and regret for his own actions in the past that may have caused the betrayal.
It didn’t even stop there, however. In an effort to garner the cheapest heat possible, RAW acting General Manager Baron Corbin wound up making snide remarks about Reigns and saying that he doesn’t want him on RAW if he returns. In a night where WWE should’ve been just encouraging fans to send well wishes to the man battling cancer for his life, they instead took the lowest road as well since it’s the easiest option to get a response.
Just Another Bad Moment In A Company Full Of Them
WWE is seemingly a company that can’t keep itself away from controversy. They seem to bask in as of late, as they double down on business deals involving corrupt governments while also telling every press outlet that will listen how progressive they are towards women. This open hypocrisy is just another example of the worldwide leader in pro wrestling setting a poor example. It’s disappointing to see day in and day out.
Wrestling is sometimes best when reality blends with storyline, but it’s never the case when a tragedy is being exploited. It’s not as if Joe Anoa’i broke his leg and is out a number of months. Nobody knows if he’ll ever be able to return to professional wrestling. He’s currently in a fight for his life, and while it’s never fun to think about, there’s no denying how high the death toll is for leukemia.
Although, considering how this company treated Eddie Guerrero’s death as a way to get cheap heat, it wouldn’t be surprising if they did the same if this situation goes in the worst possible direction. Something has to change, and this company desperately needs to do better at respecting its own talent.
