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MMAR: #18: Pride 15: Raging Rumble TBP: #10: WWE Bad Blood 2004 Preview When Worlds Collide: Bad Blood 2004 SS: #93: Relatively Combustible Chemistry AMV: #155: Bad Blood 2004 - Point
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House of Payne: #4: The Double Standard
by: Adam Payne on: 6/14/2004 2:45 pm est  Yeah, I still write here. School's out for the summer so hopefully I'll be able to get back into the swing of things real soon. All it takes is one topic to get someone back on track in regards to writing and one topic has done just that. Over last weekend, fans witnessed John Bradshaw Layfield depicting nazism in the ring by delivering a nazi salute to the crowd and goosestepping while in the ring. Now if that isn't controversy for people, then I don't know what is. Many people in the internet community are calling for Bradshaw's job hoping that they never see him on TV again. Not only that, but they have successfully had him fired from CNBC as a financial correspondent for the company. Since his actions, people have been attacking him left and right, yet can't seem to differentiate between John Layfield the human being, and John Bradshaw Layfield, the wrestling persona. The way people have become passionate about Bradshaw's actions makes me wonder. Are they watching wrestling for the right reasons? controversy: a discussion marked especially by the expression of opposing views The character John Bradshaw Layfield, since its inception post Wrestlemania XX, has always been about controversy. Nobody seemed to complain wholeheartedly about Bradshaw when his character made remarks about Mexicans on numerous occasions on Smackdown over the past few months. Nobody bothered to say anything then about what he said, so why are people suddenly becoming upset over actions that they didn't even see, nor did they actually witness live? People act as if this was displayed on national TV and the WWE had large, flashing red arrows pointing to Bradshaw saying, "Look what He can do!" People need to be consistent about their allegations of prejudice and can't single out one event if questionable others have occured as well. This is how Bradshaw is suppose to go about his daily life, to make people hate him. That is exactly what he has done here, yet people don't seem to understand that's his job. I'm not saying this is exactly what John Layfield wants, seeing as how he's been canned by CNBC, but in Vince's eyes, the more controversy, the better. More people will possibly be watching Smackdown over the next few weeks that normally wouldn't to get a grasp of the Bradshaw character, and isn't that what Vince really wants each and every day, high ratings? In the wrestling world, money makes it go round. And whatever Mr. McMahon can do to put a few more dollars in his pocket, he'll do it. The idea of controversy is gaining someone's attention, and by the looks of things, Bradshaw has everybody's attention that he wants. People seem to enjoy confusing John Layfield as a human and a character. They seem to easily forget the passionate speech he gave on the post 9/11 Smackdown as he nearly began to cry. People seem to forget the countless trips that he has made overseas to visit US troops because he cares so deeply about this country. I ask you, does this sound like the same person that would goosestep in front of a German nation, and when he does it, finds enjoyment from it? Many people like to think that Bradshaw is a stupid redneck that enjoys drinking beer and wearing cowboy hats. But people seem to forget that Bradshaw is also a fucking genius outside the ring. How many of us can give useful financial advice in regards to the stock market? The man knows how it works, and not everybody in this world can say that. He has countless portfolios and is constantly trading no matter what. Regardless of what you may like to think, Bradshaw is more than just a high-class Pat Buchanan-esque thinker. John Layfield values life just as much as the next person. So for people to be up in arms about his actions is a travesty in its own right. The character that Bradshaw plays is suppose to be hated to the Nth degree. The man was merely doing his job in a wrestling ring because that's what he gets paid to do. His wrestling opponent for the night, Eddy Guerrero, according to reports wasn't getting over with the crowd very well. So what Bradshaw attempted to do was get the crowd behind Eddy instead by performing the Nazi-like actions. I don't know if they worked or not, but it was an attempt at aiding someone. People seem to look past the reasons behind the actions and just look at the actions himself. It's not as if Layfield walked down the street with a Hitler outfit on and goosestepped while performing the Nazi salute. No, no, no, Layfield performed his actions in the middle of the ring for the sake of Eddy Guerrero. He was attempting to help him out by giving the fans a reason to get behind Eddy. Nevertheless the internet wrestling community seems to think that Bradshaw is a skinhead. Right, some people sometimes just need to get a clue about a situation before jumping to these types of conclusions. The fact of the matter is, Layfield has good intentions while performing the actions, he wasn't walking around the ring like that for the hell of it that's for sure. Let's look around the WWE roster shall we? Let's suggest that someone else from the WWE performed these actions. Would everyone be up in arms the same way as they are about Layfield? Would the same outcry occur if Kurt Angle performed these actions or if Chris Benoit did the same thing? If people can sit there and tell me there would be, then they are full of more shit than I thought. Benoit would not be flooded with letters calling for his job, nor would Kurt Angle either. Everyone would possibly be mildly upset for a day or two, but they wouldn't call for either job. The other part that sickens me the most though is that people at this point would probably recognize the fact that either Benoit, Angle, or any other superstar was performing the acts to help their opponent get over. They would not be this upset over what has happened, and even then they wouldn't be doing it for the right reasons. They would be forgiving because of the wrestler's past accomplishments in the ring, not even thinking about Chris Benoit the human being or Kurt Angle the human being. People want to look at Layfield's past and see that he hasn't done anything worthwhile in the WWE in recent years, so they simply don't care about him. And don't tell me that I am not allowed to fucking compare Chris Benoit with John Layfield because when it all boils down, it comes down to one thing, and both of them are human. They both have the ability to show compassion, and many times in their lives they have both done just that. The question that remains however, is that if Bradshaw has been able to do this in Germany over many years, then why is their outcry now that people seem to notice Layfield more often? As I said before, you can't hold a person accountable on a single act of prejudice or something that may be controversial, if they do it one time then people need to act on it. Yet where are the people from several years ago when Layfield performed these acts before? Oh wait, that's right, they didn't fucking care a single bit. So why the backlash now? Because people seem to think they can dictate a man's life based on a single set of events in a wrestling ring. But is this all necessarily Bradshaw's fault? What about the WWE allowing him to perform said actions in the ring. Regardless of what people say, Bradshaw's actions can also fall squarely on the face of Vince McMahon as well. From day one Vince has backed the John Bradshaw Layfield angle and has added fuel to the fire by continuning the feud between the two. Although what John Layfield did was unlawful in Germany, it doesn't even compare to other wrestlers and their actions in the WWE. Countless wrestlers have been known to take steroids or abuse their political power while working for WWF/E. That sort of stuff fucks with people's actual lives. Political games hurt wrestler's careers. What Layfield did while illegal, certainly is not of any magnitude of other things in the WWE, both in and out. When Stone Cold was arrested for assaulting Debra nearly two years ago, people weren't outraged because of Austin's career and were more willing to forgive him. Of course when Austin assaults women while working for the WWE post-Debra incident, nobody seems to care. Why? Why is there this double standard within the world of wrestling? I don't remember reading once that people were offended when Austin assaulted the likes of Stacy Keibler on RAW. Nobody said a damn thing then, so why is there all this fuss about Layfield's actions? I can understand the man perhaps being reprimanded, but calling for his job? Give me a fucking break. Also, I beg peolpe to answer this question. If it is illegal in Germany, and since there were countless amounts of witnesses to said action, then why hasn' the German government sought prosecution against Layfield? Maybe because either it isn't that big of a deal to them, or they simply don't care. That might give you a bit of a clue on what the actual reaction should be like. Doesn't it sound somewhat ridiculous if people here stateside are making a big deal when the ACTUAL GERMAN PEOPLE don't seem to give a rat's ass? Though many people would like to conclude that the Nazi goostepping and the salute itself are not parts of Bradshaw's character, I beg to differ. The idea behind the John Layfield character is that he's a completely right wing conservative thinker in terms of politics. When referring to Mexicans, he tends to use a lot of basic stereotypes. Layfield likes to call them lazy, and freeloaders and various terms that are simply derogatory towards their culture, so shouldn't his character be no different overseas? Jesus Christ, I can't imagine any right wing conservatives that believe Germany is still full of Nazis and skinheads. In essence Bradshaw was using stereotypes once again to get his character over, but apparently it didn't turn out that way, at least not to the people that didn't even witness the actions in question. Go figure though I suppose. Of course Bradshaw understands now that he was in the wrong for said actions. Nobody in this world is perfect, and I'm sure people working at their own jobs have fucked up numerous occasions, hell I've done it myself with my current job as well. You honestly cannot make everyone happy in the world at once, and I've learned that as well. But because a guy fucks up one time, people have the audacity to call for his job(s). To those who work full-time and support themselves off of their livelihood, ask yourself this question as well; How would you feel to be found in the wrong one time, and then having people ask for your job even though you fully admit it was a mistake that was made. Nobody would appreciate it, and in a case of this minimal magnitude, it definitely isn't deserved. I find the effort that many people have put forward to have Bradshaw fired downright atrocious. Maybe people just need to fucking wake up for a second and realize that there are far worse things going on in the world. Of course there are people that are homeless, people that are dying of hunger, and other worldly needs, but people choose to write letters to a fucking wrestling company to have a man fired. Instead of people being so fucking negative, maybe they need to reevaluate themselves and realize that maybe that energy could be used towards a better cause. I volunteer on a weekly basis and understand this myself. Regardless of all the letters that people write though, the only way people like Vince McMahon will listen is if people stop watching, and that's the greatest power that you have against the company. Although that might make your voice smaller, it's what people are generally relegated to these days, though collectively it can mean a lot. Before people send out their letters of anger or hatred. Think for one second, could all that anger and energy been directed towards something more worthwhile? The best weapon is to do nothing. Don't watch, then the WWE will have to listen. What will happen to Bradshaw? Hopefully nothing more. The guy has probably had to live through hell the past week and has already lost one job. The way he is being treated is nothing short of horrendous. The man made a mistake like other people in society have and now he'll have to live with it. His life will never be the same, and hopefully it can be a learning experience for all parties involved. The man doesn't deserve to be thrown out onto the curb, and hopefully he isn't. He is a character on a wrestling show and unfortunately, some people's minds can't differentiate between the two. Maybe they need to wake up, because when a man's job is at stake, play time's over. -Adam Payne Bpshow10@aol.com AIM:Bpshow10 |
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