IMPACT SHOULD FIRE ARIES
Most of you probably don’t care, or didn’t notice. Just as C.M. Punk is the voice of the voiceless, I serve as the brain of the brainless.
But on Thursday’s Impact, ring announcer Christy Hemme mistakenly introduced Christopher Daniels and Kazarian when Bobby Roode and Austin Aries were on their way to the ring. Aries was clearly perturbed. He made Hemme correct herself – reasonable – then trapped her in the corner and mounted the second turnbuckle, thus putting his crotch in her face. Hemme looked terrified.
Aries should be fired, or at least suspended for a significant period.
This is on-camera bullying and sexual harassment. A shoot, not part of a storyline. Hemme complained about it on Twitter.
A male performer intentionally put his genitalia in the face of a female performer in a company owned and run by a woman. If nothing happens, what’s that say about Dixie Carter as a woman? As a human being? Wrestling is a boys’ club, but that went way too far.
Could anyone possibly disagree, or justify what Aries did? Sure, Hemme made a mistake. Impact makes lots of ‘em. Impact is where mistakes go to die – or main-event, brother. Should everyone employed by Impact who makes a mistake get a crotch in their face? You’d need lots of crotches.
Aries should be terminated. He’s a nobody. A cult guy. If he left Impact, the rating would not drop one bit. Impact would not sell one less ticket.
But, to make clear: ANYBODY doing what Aries did should get canned. Even Hulk Hogan. Thing is, Hogan couldn’t climb to the second turnbuckle.
Non-action on Aries just confirms that Carter is a total mark, not to mention an idiot. This isn’t an unconfirmed backstage story. It’s not a rumor. WE ALL SAW WHAT HAPPENED. IT WAS ON NATIONAL TV.
If Aries remains with Impact and I’m Hemme, I lawyer up and sue Carter’s ass off. A different woman might own Impact. She couldn’t do worse.
Women get treated terrible at Impact. Underpaid and minimized.
Carter is just so stupid. If Paul Heyman knew her in 2001, we’d all still be chanting E-C-Dub. #MoneyMark
WRESTLING 101
Ryback – O’Doyle rules! – faces WWE champion John Cena in a last man standing match at Extreme Rules. How extreme.
Ryback is supposed to be a killing machine. Supposed to be. Constant misuse has cooled that notion, if not killed it, but…supposed to be.
So why, just nine days before Extreme Rules, why did Ryback sell so much for Chris Jericho on Smackdown?
The idea is to convince us that Ryback can overwhelm Cena, beating his ass to the point where Cena can’t answer the bell. I really didn’t feel that way after Smackdown. If Ryback sells for Jericho, I expect him to sell even more for Cena. That minimizes potential danger to Cena.
I’m a Jericho fan. I would never diminish him. But Jericho doesn’t need to win to stay over. He’s not in a feud where he needs protected. He’s feuding with a ballroom dancer, for God’s sake. Ryback should have won by squash, leaving Jericho damaged after the fact.
But, hey: Make-a-Wish. Social media. Brand name. Buy by rote. Logic is so far down the list of what’s important to WWE.
Follow Mark Madden on Twitter: @MarkMaddenX. Listen to his VOICE OF WCW wrestling podcast at WXDX.com.
