The Wrestling Guys OFFICIAL SITE!

The Mainstream Media- Foiled Again!

Just when you thought there was nothing to talk about in professional wrestling, Vince McMahon stages a mock gay wedding…or so you thought. This was one of the big news stories of the week when it really should not have been. I mean, let’s face it, as a country we had far more important things on our minds. One day we are remembering a national tragedy and honoring fallen heroes. The next day we are discussing the outrage of a gay wedding on Smackdown. Only in America!

In case you do not know what I am talking about (and if you don’t know you should visit this site more often or call the hotline!), Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo were set to be married on this week’s edition of Smackdown. The show was taped on Tuesday and aired on Thursday, but the media blitz really started Monday. Billy and Chuck, as well as Stephanie McMahon, appeared on numerous national radio and television shows to talk about the wedding and its impact on our society. Ok, maybe not so much the impact on society part, but they were discussing the wedding. It seemed that everyone wanted to know if it was real, if they were really gay, or if they were just doing it as a publicity stunt (hint: it’s professional wrestling, always choose publicity stunt as the answer on multiple choice questions!)

One show stood out from the rest, however. Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly dedicated a segment on his show to this topic! One day after he broadcast live from Ground Zero, he is showing clips of the wedding from Smackdown and discussing the topic with a gay rights activist and Shaun Assael, the author of the book “Sex, Lies, and Headlocks: The Real Story of Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation.’ Now keep in mind that I am a huge fan of Bill O’Reilly. Yes, I am a conservative. I am a Republican. Before yesterday, I would say that I have agreed with Bill O’Reilly 99% of the time. Make that 98% of the time…

O’Reilly stated that gays should be outraged by the wedding. He said that Vince McMahon and the WWE was mocking the gay movement by holding this wedding. He was telling the gay man what he should be feeling about this storyline. However, the gay man said he was not offended. He realized it was a storyline. It was not happening in real life. O’Reilly kept playing the clips and saying “That doesn’t offend you?” He also went on to state that wrestling is a despicable business and that children should not be exposed to it, etc. etc. As wrestling fans, we hear the same arguments day in and day out. I have grown used to them in the 22 years I have followed the “sport.”

But O’Reilly made the same mistake that every other “mainstream” journalist makes when they cover professional wrestling. THEY DON”T WATCH THE PRODUCT! Had any of these so-called “journalists” watched the “wedding”, they would have seen that it was never intended to be a wedding. It was a storyline within a storyline! “Chucky” interrupted the wedding ceremony and said “This wasn’t supposed to go this far!” Billy chimed in with, “This was just supposed to be a publicity stunt!” And then the run-in took place, and the bad guys got one over on the good guys, and Billy and Chucky will be as over as faces they have ever been as heels because of it. Score another one for Vinnie Mac!

In a time when being gay is almost en vogue with such shows as “Will & Grace”, “Six Feet Under”, and “Queer as Folk”; and stars like Ellen DeGeneres, Rosie O’Donnell and metal legend Rob Halford “coming out of the closet,” it seems curious to me why this angle received so much media attention. Call it the lure of pro wrestling, the genius of Vince McMahon, or the anxieties of our society, but this angle was really big. Many of the journalists who covered this story have actually said during their reporting that it was done strictly for ratings. They also go on to point out that the popularity of wrestling is declining and that nobody is watching anyway. Wrestling is fake. Wrestling is low-brow entertainment. Yet it warranted 5 or 10 minutes of their air time. I wonder what “legitimate” story was cut to make room for this low-brow sports entertainment story?

Of course it was done for ratings! In this day and age of television, everything is done because of ratings. The more attention a show receives, the higher the ratings will be. Why did Rachel and Ross have a baby on “Friends?” Why did Will and Grace decide to have a baby together even though Will is gay? Who shot JR? In these examples we have premarital sex that leads to an unwanted pregnancy by two parents who do not want to get married, another case of premarital sex that will produce a child with a single mother and a gay father, and a promiscuous millionaire who was shot for his many transgressions in the original cliffhanger season finale. So I ask you, why is pro wrestling held to a different standard? Would it be better if Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer were involved? (Hint: yes to Aniston, no to Schwimmer)

I would like to close with one final thought. Pro wrestling has used the predetermined outcome for close to a century. It has used the most evil of characters- a German in the 60’s (Killer Kowalski) who wasn’t even German, a former U.S. Military serviceman turned G.I. Joe character turned Iraqi sympathizer during the Persian Gulf War (Sgt. Slaughter), and a few Russians along the way during the Cold War. It has used all sorts of characters- gay, straight, murderers (Humongous, Freddie, etc), pimps, drunks, fornicators and voodoo witch doctors. So why would anyone be surprised that they have gay characters now? Moreover, for such “low-brow entertainment that nobody watches anyway”, why would they care?

I'm Cam, I'm the man and I'll see you at ringside!