It’s something TNA has been building to. The teases have been effective. It’s already taped. In the can. Ready to air.
But TNA can’t show Bully Ray putting Dixie Carter through a table. Just can’t.
Man-on-woman violence is ill-advised, period. Yeah, it happens in movies. Everyone knows that’s not real. Everyone knows wrestling isn’t real, too.
But wrestling is a whipping boy for the mainstream media, which has never felt an obligation to treat wrestling fair. All it takes is one news outlet with a burr in its saddle about wrestling, and Bully Ray putting Dixie through a table will be featured news. And then it spreads like wildfire.
OK, dumpster fire. It is TNA.
This was a bad idea from the get-go.
But the Ray Rice incident has made it the worst idea ever.
Rice, a Baltimore Ravens running back, knocked his wife out at an Atlantic City casino. Everyone has seen the video of Rice dragging her limp, unconscious body out of an elevator. Thanks to the thuganomics of the NFL, Rice got a mere two-game suspension. That’s not even a hard slap on the wrist.
Oh, and Rice’s wife apologized. It’s theatre of the absurd. Every time NFL commissioner Roger Goodell opens his mouth, he sticks his foot in it.
PR-wise, now is the worst possible time for Bully Ray to put Dixie through a table. Because a comparison will be drawn, and not a favorable one.
Spike TV doesn’t want to renew its deal with TNA. Bad publicity from this angle gives Spike another nail – a big nail, perhaps the final nail – to hammer in TNA’s coffin. Spike can give TNA the boot, and play babyface all the way.
Why is Bully Ray putting a woman through a table, anyway? He’s a babyface. Why would a babyface use man-on-woman violence? It makes zero sense. Bully Ray should embarrass and humiliate Dixie. He shouldn’t kick her ass.
Bully Ray sucks as a babyface. He was the best heel in TNA. Heck, the best heel in wrestling. Now he’s dragging around his washed-up albatross of a partner, not to mention all-time great indie promoter Tommy Dreamer and the whole ECW legacy, which has finally been rendered mind-numbingly boring.
I mean, Rhino? WTF?
Destination X was a decent show. Hardyz-Wolves was excellent, but too short. They should have wrestled longer. Dixie should have babbled less, or not at all.
When the Hardyz were in WWE, they were among the smaller performers. But they dwarf the Wolves. Above-average workers, but typical ROH clones.
If TNA wants to play off current events, they should have The Menagerie catch the Ebola virus. That might be the best use of them.
Two Wrestling 101 notes:
*You don’t want the fans to chant “This is awesome!” That’s validation for spot monkeys and indicates the crowd has not been sucked in emotionally. Wrestling will always be about getting marks to CARE. That’s where the money is. And TNA certainly shouldn’t want the crowd chanting “E-C-W!” I love Dreamer. He does a better job promoting a dead company than Dixie does with TNA.
*Bully Ray sucking up to New York got a live pop. But you’re not supposed to milk the live crowd exclusively. The crowd watching on TV is much bigger. Then again, perhaps that’s debatable with TNA.
Follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkMaddenX
