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Posts Tagged ‘Vince McMahon’

I always enjoy Mick Foley. There’s not a better comic on the WWE roster, plain and simple. And Mick could have fun with the revelation, talking about his struggle to reconcile his image of his parents… especially his mom… with the idea that Vince slept with Mrs. Foley.

It’d be great fun with Mick, something worth watching from the comfort of theater seating. But there are some problems with it.

Most obviously, Mick’s a part-timer now, at best. He might show up for the payoff, kind of like Stone Cold did for Saturday Night’s Main Event a couple weeks ago, but he’s not coming back full-time again, so it’d be the waste of a good storyline.

So, I doubt it’ll be Mick.

SummerSlam has come and gone and the secret of who on the WWE roster is Vince’s son remains. That’s disappointing.

The main reason it’s disappointing is that it’s not that compelling a mystery that one would want to see it play out beyond one pay-per-view. Sure, it was a graceful way to twist the storyline that began with a tacky, ill-timed “Who Murdered Vince?” storyline, which was dropped, only to be replaced by the “too close to the original storyline for comfort” take, which was more of a “Vince Faked His Own Death” storyline. That was given a sharp left turn and now we’re into familiar “McMahon Family Drama” territory… Vince has a “bastard” son who is a WWE superstar.

Let’s hope the storyline pays off soon so that it can advance before the whole thing starting feeling played out. It doesn’t yet, but will very soon. I’m gonna start posting some of my favorite possible resolutions to this storyline in this space. It could be more – or less – useful than a collection of cabinet hardware. You decide.

OK, in reality, we know that Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are husband and wife, initially drawn together by an in-ring fictional story that cast them as a couple. Now they have their first child and no one questions it.

But the new storyline in the McMahon Family Saga is that Vince fathered an illegitimate child in the past and he or she is now the “missing McMahon,” who’s probably pretty pissed off about missing out on the chance to share bunk beds with Steph and Shane, Vinny Mac’s two real-life kids.

Is this tacky? Sure. But is it better and safer than a fictional murder storyline when a real-life WWE superstar committed a double-murder then took his own life?

You bet.

As predictably as a cash advance to a minimum wage worker, WWE owner Vince McMahon is back. Vinnie Mac turned the “who blew up Vince” disaster of an angle – made particularly tacky by the real-life double-murder suicide instigated by WWE wrestler Chris Benoit – into a “faked his own death” idea and quickly this past Monday ushered Raw into a fresh era by anointing a new Raw general manager, wrestler William Regal, as a replacement for long-time assistant GM and pain-in-the-keister Johnathon Coachman.

While Regal isn’t the most scintillating personality, it does give some closure to the era that was marred by the Benoit tragedy. While that real-life crime may have turned off many a casual fan, WWE’s most loyal viewers will feel that the change was long overdue.

Let’s just hope Vince doesn’t overexpose himself again, and allows Regal to take center stage and shine in his new role in the Raw storyline.

Fox 5 in Atlanta continues to uncover disturbing new details in the double murder-suicide involving WWE wrestlers Chris Benoit; his wife, Nancy Sullivan-Benoit; and their seven-year-old son, Daniel.

One detail is that Benoit had a history of alleged domestic violence with his wife. In a 2003 divorce filing – a complaint that was later dropped – Nancy alleged that their marriage was irrevocably broken and cited “cruel treatment” when asking for a restraining order against him, saying he’d broken furniture and threatened her during a dispute.

Somehow, their marriage survived and the 2003 divorce filing was never pressed forward. Apparently, however, the couple did not put their issues to rest.

According to the Fox 5 report, based on information released by local authorities, police now believe that Benoit killed his wife as early as last Friday night; she was found in an upstairs room with both her feet and hands bound, the victim of an apparent strangling at the hands of her husband. Blood under her head indicated there may have been a struggle prior to death.

Authorities place son Daniel’s death as occurring late Saturday or early Sunday. He was found smothered to death, on his bed.

Authorities then place Benoit’s suicide as taking place no earlier than late Sunday, perhaps even Monday morning. The long intervals between the two murders and his own suicide will be one of the unanswered mysteries of the case.

Benoit was scheduled to wrestle C.M. Punk at Sunday’s PPV event, Vengeance: A Night of Champions, and was scheduled to win the ECW title that night; Benoit’s in-ring character had been drafted from SmackDown to ECW two weeks prior to the event, setting up the clash. When Benoit canceled his appearance at a WWE Live event on Saturday, as well as his PPV appearance on Sunday, the company promoted wrestler Johnny Nitro into Benoit’s spot and gave Nitro the ECW title in his place. WWE.com reports that Benoit had contacted the company on Saturday to explain his absence, and that he told WWE staff that his wife and child were “not feeling well,” and that he couldn’t make the trip.

While Benoit was reported to be paid roughly $500,000 per year in the 2003 divorce filing, the family’s financial health is not clear at this hour; whether there is insurance coverage for either parent or children insurance on Daniel is unclear, although in cases of murder, insurance companies do not always pay a death benefit to surviving family members. Hopefully, some arrangements can be made for both Nancy and son Daniel.

Credit goes out to Fox 5 in Atlanta for reporting a detail Pro Wrestling Views missed; on Monday Night’s RAW broadcast, Vince McMahon did appear in a pre-show address, admitted the “Who Murdered Vince?” storyline was made up, and said that the storyline had been dropped in light of the Benoit tragedy, which at that point was still not known by WWE officials to be a double murder-suicide.

Props to WWE for dropping the tacky, too-close-to-reality storyline promptly.

Casting aside the “storyline murder” of Mr. McMahon, WWE owner Vince McMahon appeared on ECW on SciFi tonight, delivering a solemn address prior to the beginning of the show. His comments were as follows:

“Last night on Monday Night Raw, the WWE presented a special tribute show, recognizing the career of Chris Benoit. However, now some 26 hours later, the facts of this horrific tragedy are now apparent. Therefore, other than my comments, there will be no mention of Mr. Benoit tonight. On the contrary, tonight’s show will be dedicated to everyone who has been affected by this terrible incident. This evening marks the first step of the healing process. Tonight, the WWE performers will do what they do better than anyone else in the world – entertain you.”

As promised, there was no mention made of Benoit on the Tuesday show; it was the first WWE event held after the tragic events of the weekend and Monday came to light. What was not apparent in the broadcast was whether the WWE had also decided to cast aside the “Vince is murdered” storyline, which seems to be a no-brainer, even without conducting any market research on the topic.

As an apparent double-murderer prior to his suicide on Monday, Benoit deserves no tearful goodbyes or heartfelt retrospectives. Pro Wrestling Views will give WWE the benefit of doubt and assume they aired the Raw tribute before the company knew the complete nature of Benoit’s acts.

Now, if they can only confirm that the “Who Murdered Vince?” storyline is dead, perhaps the healing can begin; if they choose to continue it, the storyline will only serve as a painful reminder to the families affected by this tragedy.

A couple unfortunate weeks ago, WWE decided to spice up its storyline with a murder mystery. In out-of-character fashion, Vince McMahon acted a bit goofy after losing the ECW title, and at the end of a Raw broadcast, walked out into the parking lot and got into his limo, which immediately blew up.

The storyline, intended to call to mind the “Who Shot JR?” cliffhanger of the classic TV show Dallas, started out with a bang, but soon grew disturbing and tacky as the WWE played out the concept, because rather than playing it for humor, the company played the storyline straight, airing clips of somber, apparently-grieving wrestlers spilling tears over an owner who, within the storylines, never made any friends.

Pro Wrestling Views was among the first to call for the storyline tone to change or be dumped because it cheapened how the WWE had treated real deaths, like those of Eddie Guerrero and Owen Hart. That call seemed further justified as last week it was learned that classic WWE Diva Sensational Sherri Martel, who died at age 49; Martel passed away in her sleep, with circumstances still under investigation. No foul play is suspected in Martel’s death, though toxicology tests are being run as part of the autopsy to determine if drugs or alcohol were involved.

Now, with a current WWE superstar involved in a possible double murder-suicide, there can be no further justification for continuing the “Who Killed Vince?” storyline. It’s simply too disturbing and too close to real life events. Forget the marketing, forget the T-shirts, forget the engraved pens. The storyline must be dropped immediately to make room for wrestlers and fans to deal with their mixture of grief and anger on a deserving target: a real-life tragedy.

When it first aired last Monday, I was excited by the potential of the car bombing of Mr. McMahon’s limo and the storyline it could generate. It was a move reminiscent of the classic Dallas cliffhanger, “Who Shot J.R.?” I could imagine it played up for fun and suspense, perhaps generating summer T-shirt sales (“Who firebombed Vince?”) and maybe leading up to a campy Halloween resurrection storyline involving The Undertaker bringing back “the First Evil.”

No such luck, however. The storyline is being played entirely too seriously for a death everyone knows is fake and for storyline purposes. The segments based around Vince’s death are about as thin on humor as a person taking Phentermine is on excess body fat.

Playing it so similarly in tone to recent actual WWE deaths, especially the recent passing less than two years ago of Eddie Guerrero, is a tacky move, cheapening what the WWE does when a real, actual death does occur within their ranks.

I’m sure at a story session, some idiot spoke up and insisted, “We have to do this straight or the fans will never buy in to the story.”

Sorry, Vince. Wrong choice.

I realize that from a WWE perspective, putting the ECW belt on Vince McMahon was a classic retread of the Stone Cold Steve Austin storyline template: rebellious employee faces off with evil owner. But that formula is wearing a bit thin, carrying the luggage of overuse in recent years, and while WWE’s defenders may say it was all about pushing ECW’s Bobby Lashley as much as possible, the backlash of the move certainly carried with it substantial risks related to alienating ECW lovers.

ECW has been the subject of a McMahon-centric makeover ever since ECW creator Paul Heyman was bounced from WWE last December, but what such a Vince-centric storyline really needed was an opposing force manipulating from behind the scenes who could go toe-to-toe with Vince. That’s right: ECW needs Heyman to really sell this “ECW Originals vs. The New Breed” storyline that has become central to each Tuesday night broadcast on SciFi.

The New Breed has Vince pulling the strings, which is fine, but who is the unmovable object to Vince’s irresistible force? Bringing Heyman back would take this storyline to the next level, and open of the possibility of an “ECW Walkout” in which ECW seems to go independent again, under Heyman’s leadership, even though it would be in storyline only.

Something like that is needed to fix the current ECW, which in the months since Heyman’s ouster has become just another identity-less WWE brand, not distinguishably different from Raw or Smackdown, except that the show’s an hour shorter.

Heck, even One Night Stand has become a multi-brand PPV event. Sure, the belt was put back on Lashley, but anyone who think’s McMahon’s reign is over is fooling only themselves. Yawn.

As much of a Mick Foley fan as I am, I was relieved during last week’s WWE Raw to find out that Foley was a swerve and that the real guest referee for the “Battle of the Billionaires” is Stone Cold Steve Austin. It’s always good to see Stone Cold in the ring, even if his main eventing, title holding days are well behind him.

I must admit, though, that despite it being corny and predictable and silly, without the Battle of the Billionaires angle, the WrestleMania 23 match between ECW Champ Bobby Lashley and big-man Umaga would be such a snorefest match, it could be sponsored by any company that makes sleeper sofas. With the angle, it’s more interesting if only because we all know there’s no way Donald Trump would ever agree to be part of something where he’d get his head shaved, so it’ll be a hoot to tune in and watch Trump shave McMahon bald.

Even after all these years of playing the evil owner, Vince McMahon still knows what it means to, “give the people what they want.” And if Vince complains about being bald, we all know Stone Cold will be there to deliver the final insult: a Stone Cold stunner!

Bafflingly, Umaga is still getting a bigger push from WWE than The Great Khali. I mean, both are monster-sized heels, but considering neither are very good on the mic, the best way to compare them is by their physical presence.

Bottom line: Khali is more impressive in every way. He offers WWE something they haven’t had in a while; a guy who, by his very appearance, really can be believable as an unstoppable force.

Umaga, by comparison, may be heavier, but he’s also shorter and looks like someone who needs to be on a fat burner medication.

While it’s a waste of talent either way, the “battle of the billionaires” between McMahon and Trump would be a lot more unpredictable if Vince’s representative was the Great Khali, not Umaga.

As recent broadcasts reveal, the WWE’s top four superstars are now clear. The only people considered “WrestleMania main event-worthy” are The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, John Cena and Batista. Arguably, only one of those superstars belongs in that elite group.

Heck, even though WWE claimed Undertaker could lay claim to ECW champion Bobby Lashley’s title just as easily as Cena’s or Batista’s, he wasn’t even featured in the big showdown on SmackDown last week. He finally showed up on Raw this week, but it was too little, too late. Despite ECW being more entertaining than SmackDown, WWE clearly doesn’t respect the promotion.

John Cena is unarguably WWE’s current top superstar and belongs in a WrestleMania main event. But the rest? Well, Batista doesn’t put butts in the seats and doesn’t really belong in that elite group, and if SmackDown wasn’t such a roster wasteland, he wouldn’t be there.

As for Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker, anyone who was main eventing back when Hulkamania was still running wild in the WWF ought not still be main eventing today. And it’s sad, since there are many younger superstars who would be better fits for a WrestleMania main event.

On the SmackDown side, Mr. Kennedy is very close to being ready, and nothing would help him peak better than a WrestleMania main event against Batista. Matt Hardy is also close to breaking through to main event status as a singles wrestler, after years and years of being a star tag-team player and having to make the adjustment to singles wrestling the last couple-three years.

The talent pool is even deeper on the Raw side of the pond. Both Edge and Randy orton are already ready to main event WrestleMania, and would make worthy adversaries for Cena. And if VKM really wanted to call back some memories of Hogan-Andre, he could easily toss The Great Khali against Cena un a man vs. monster type of storyline.

But for now, it seems, VKM can’t look past the stars of two decades ago, so it’ll be a retread of Undertaker and Shawn Michaels sharing main event stages with the current champs. And with ‘Taker having an undefeated record at WrestleMania, they may as well put his address plaque on Batista’s belt right now.

Uninspiring. Predictable. Too bad…