Welcome to another sombre issue of THT… I dedicate this issue to my Nan who died today, she’s the one who taught me to say what I think, not what others want to hear…so she inspired me to write in a sense…
This column is a coda to the Eddie column I wrote just a couple of weeks ago, since then the whole situation (and indeed the world if you believe some of the IWC) has turned upside down.
Since the “Smackdown Special” aired we have heard nothing but negative press about WWE, including, it seems, from within their own ranks.
I can see why the IWC is in an uproar, as I said before, Eddie was one of “ours” he was our mythical ‘one one who made it’… We wanted him there, we got him and we will viciously defend his memory for that.
But…let’s look at it coldly for a moment… Eddie was part of the ‘Sports Entertainment’ business and indeed the only true force within that business… Eddie was part of the “Dominick” story, which many at the time found in as equal bad tase as Tuesday’s events.
He knew the matches are nothing without a gut-wrenching story… The reason the Eddie-Mysterio feud and the matches that were part of it were so good is because it had the emotional edge needed to make it more than just another feud…
Eddie knew that “good taste” doesn’t equal ratings…He preached “Lie, Cheat & Steal” at every oppurtunity cos he knew without ratings, the show doesn’t get the numbers…if the show doesn’t get numbers…families don’t get fed…
Most importantly though, Eddie would have known that Paul Wight showed up on the night he died and on RAW poured his heart out in true grief for his friend, as did his friend Rey and even Randy Orton… That night was about the guys behind the characters saying their goodbyes… Tuesday night, you saw “The Big Show”, a character, a construct of a big, bad, nasty, giant, spit on a car and ruin a fairytale… You saw ‘The Legend Killer’ ‘kill’ a legend…. you saw Rey Mysterio ‘The Perrenial Underdog’ take a massive leap in his evolution to a major player…
What exactly are people mad at? How exactly did this ruin Eddie’s legacy? after all, Eddie’s legacy was not a low-rider… it was that a man the size of Rey Mysterio is now able to survive and succeed in a position to carry not only his fans, but Eddie’s potentially all the way to a world title…
If I have a critisim of anyone in this situation, it is the unnamed WWE star who allegedly mailed Dave Meltzer criticising those who did take part in the angle that night… My honest thoughts… if you really think so badly of WWE and what the others did, or care so little about booking repercussions, name yourself… Go Public and walk out in disgust! No one would blame you for feeling that way, but have the courage of your convictions. The reality is that that person will 99% certainly show up to work next week, and do whatever Vince tells him to do,… that in my honest view is far more hypocrital than anything Big Show, Orton or Rey did on Tuesday… They did their jobs…played their roles just as Eddie would have done for them if they had passed instead.
If you agree or disagree mail your feedback to robwilltaylor@hotmail.com… or post on the WZ Columns lounge…. Keep it civil, as ever this is my view…but I welcome all feedback.
