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Jumat, 15 Juni 2007

Vince Mcmahon Death

On Vince Mcmahon's Death

On June 11, 2007, WWE aired a segment at the end of RAW that featured McMahon (in character) entering a limousine moments before it exploded. The show went off-air shortly afterwards and WWE.com reported the incident as though it were a legitimate occurrence, proclaiming that McMahon was "presumed dead." Although this was the fate of the fictional Vince McMahon character, it is believed that the stunt was a kayfabe and no harm came to the actual person (that is, his death was part of a storyline).

Kayfabe

Vince Mcmahon's Car Explosion image courtsey wwe.com

kayfabe refers to the portrayal of events within the industry as real, that is the portrayal of professional wrestling as not staged or worked. Referring to events as kayfabe means that they are worked events, and/or part of a wrestling storyline. In relative terms, a wrestler breaking kayfabe during a show would be likened to an actor breaking character on camera.

Kayfabe is often seen as the suspension of disbelief that is used to create the non-wrestling aspects of promotions, such as feuds, storylines, and gimmicks, in a similar manner with other forms of entertainment such as soap opera or film. In the past, kayfabe was strongly adhered to in order to preserve the illusion that pro wrestling was not staged. With the advent of the Internet Wrestling Community and the sports entertainment movement in pro wrestling, the maintenance of pro wrestling's backstage secrets are more difficult to keep than they were in earlier decades. Today, kayfabe is sometimes broken to advance storylines, to explain prolonged absences due to legitimate injury, as a tribute to a wrestler, or even for comedic effect.

Through kayfabe, wrestlers often quit or get fired, or are said to have been booked to lose a match where their jobs are on the line (e.g., a "loser leaves town match"), only to return at a future time.

However, such "departures" may also be used to advance a feud between two wrestlers. A classic example is the "masked man", where the wrestler (usually a face) who has supposedly lost his job makes appearances at subsequent events while wearing a mask, and then interfering in his heel opponent's matches; eventually, the masked wrestler's identity is exposed by his foe and the feud intensifies. . – source wikipedia

Kayfabe’s of the past

Dusty Rhodes/Kevin Sullivan feud - 1980s

Feud between Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan - 2003.

On the August 22, 2005 edition of RAW, WWE Champion John Cena successfully defended his title by defeating Chris Jericho in a "You're Fired!" match. Though the match had been conceived to cover for Jericho's departure from the company, Jericho was not truly "fired," as his release was a mutual arrangement, and he continues to have a civil relationship with the company.

Another recent example is the May 2006 match between Rey Mysterio and John "Bradshaw" Layfield in which JBL said if he didn't win the match for the World Heavyweight Championship he would quit the SmackDown! brand. When he lost the match, he said he quit. However, he returned to SmackDown! as its color commentator, replacing Tazz after he went to the ECW Brand. In actuality, JBL was forced to retire from active competition due to a serious back injury.

What the fans think of all this

The following are some interesting logical thinking expressed by our readers in response to our earlier articles on Vince Mcmahon Death. Via comments and Mail.

Let's do some elementary deductive thinking.

1. Vince lost the "hair match" and thus, his hair.

2. Vince has lost some weight (especially noticeable in his face)

3. Vince hasn't really been very active until just a week or so ago when he lost to Lashley

4. Vince hasn't been talking as much as he normally does

5. Vince suddenly just "disappears"

Conclusion (at least mine):

Vince has cancer or some other catastrophic disease that has required chemotheraphy or some other radical medical treatment that would result in the loss of his hair medically. And the car blew up so that he could get even more radical, maybe even invasive treatment for his catastrophic medical problem. (Just a hunch)

The Federal authorities are only involved as part of the kayfabe to make people think that the WWE is real. He did not really die. Here are 2 facts that show he couldn't have died.:

1. If he had really died on television, the camera wouldn't have still been on him.

2. If he had really died on television, they wouldn't keep on broadcasting the explosion everywhere including WWE.com. The WWE hasn't showed any footage of Owen Hart's death except for a 15 second video taken by a fan.

3. We as WWE fans hate Mr. McMahon but that doesn't mean he's not a rich multi-billionaire. If he had really died, his death would've headlined atleast 5 newspapers which it didn't.

If you're still not convinced, notice how Vince McMahon strolled really slowly to his limo. The camera shouldn't have been on him if he was..

For more please refer the comments to our earlier article Vince Mcmahon Dead ???

Vince Mcmahon image courtsey: pwtorch.com

Now whether or not Vince Mcmahon Death was a Kayfebe will hang in uncertainity until its confirmed by some credible authority or till the time Vince reappears in some fashion. Till then we could only guess and really hope that it is just a stunt. if it were really a stunt then i sincerely hope people in the entertainment industry will show some judgement in the future and refrain from performing such stunts just to grab the attention. And as we conclude we need to do some serious thinking on the topic - Are we crossing moral boundaries ???

Vince Mcmahon Death

Vince Mcmahon Death Video

Been through the video what's the impression that you get, was it real or was it fake. Tell us what you think by way of comments to this post.

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Rabu, 13 Juni 2007

What is entertainment?

Are we crossing moral boundaries?

Paris Hilton Arrested Image Courtesy: imageshack.us

On Monday, at the end of WWE’s broadcast of RAW, it was implied that the WWE chairman Vince McMahon was killed in a car bomb. Even though people were stunned and shocked at the time, it now looks increasingly like another of WWE’s gimmicks rather than any actual explosion. The reason? To increase the ratings of the show!!! Some must have found that entertaining but many others found that sickening.

More than anything it is the timing of the gimmick that needs to be questioned. Everyday scores of people die all over the world due to the menace of car and suicide bombings. Even considering the argument that maybe we are taking WWE and its numerous gimmicks too seriously, their effort to trivialize the menace of such attacks just doesn’t make any sense. It was utterly thoughtless and insensitive on the WWE’s part to have come up with such a storyline.

Mr. McMahon Image Courtesy: wikipedia.org

Some might say that it is part of a great storyline and hence we should not be too concerned about it. Agreed it is entertainment and agreed it is fake. But the line between reality and entertainment has always been very thin in the WWE. The thing is, most of the viewers of WWE are kids who idolize their stars and take most of the action to be real. They are sending the wrong message if tomorrow WWE comes out and say that Stone Cold or some other superstar did it. It would imply that Mr. McMahon was a bad guy, so what’s the harm in blowing up his car? In this day and age of campus shootings, that is a dangerous message to send out to the kids. Not to mention the moral and ethical implications of such gimmicks. So then why did they show it? Because we as audience asked for it.

The word entertainment has been acquiring some strange meanings these days. In the name of reality television we are beamed even the mundane activities of people participating in that show. I am not panning all reality shows here. There are some really good ones too, but there are also others which have been pushing the envelope just a bit too much. They are feeding on that most deplorable of vices in mankind; poking their noses into other’s business. The recent BIGG BOSS TV show in India was just an example of this.

Celebrities have endured and suffered a lot due to this very intrusive nature of ours. It is another matter that some of these very celebrities actually encourage such intrusions and come up with so shocking scandal or the other just to stay in the limelight. But there has also been cases when the privacy of a person is violated repeatedly just because that person is a public figure, sometimes even leading to tragic circumstances; most notably as in the case of Princess Diana and her boyfriend. The reason given? We the audience demands it!!!

Princess Diana Car Crash Image Courtesy: wikipedia.org

I have always believed that morality needs to be defined by time and culture that we live in. What is considered to be moral in one society at a particular time may not be the same in another. But still even considering that, shouldn’t there be a line drawn somewhere? Aren’t we pushing the boundaries what is acceptable and what is not? I feel that the line should be drawn by we the audience. Otherwise there could be a day when we see real life murder on TV in the name of entertainment. Would that be entertainment? After all it is nothing more than a show! right?

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Senin, 11 Juni 2007

WWE – Vince McMahon Dead?

Vince McMahon - Is he really dead?

Mr. McMahon's car exploding Image Courtesy: wwe.com

Vince McMahon is the truest definition of a showman. He is also a very shrewd businessman who has rescued his business from a crisis countless times. Which is why everyone is taking the events at the end of tonight’s RAW with a pinch of salt. But it has to be said that regardless of whether or not Vince McMahon is dead (and I really hope he is not), there is no doubt that he has successfully managed to bring a lot of attention and interest back to the WWE which seemed to be losing its hold over the wrestling fans.

If it is true that he is dead (WWE.com proclaims that he is presumed dead) then this will be one of the most shocking news ever. It would be a news item everywhere and not just on wrestling sites and channels. At the time of writing this post I have not seen or heard anything about this in any of the other popular news channels or other media. This in the day and age, where Paris Hilton’s jail term for a DUI is sensational news. So any sane and reasonable person would have to believe that McMahon is alive and kicking. So it is a wonder that people haven’t already caught on to it.

Mr. McMahon Image Courtesy: wikipedia.org

Other things too point to this being a kayfabe. Tonight was supposed to be a Vince McMahon appreciation night. He just rambled on some crap about smoke and premonitions. Then ‘coincidentally’ his car blew up and the camera was waiting there to capture it…yeah right!!! And on top of it all his body is not found!!! This goes to show the lengths to which some people might go to shock people. Well McMahon has certainly achieved that and more.

McMahon has always pulled off some stunt or the other to sustain his business. Be it the Montreal Screwjob or his many feuds with the other superstars in WWE as his in-ring persona Mr.McMahon. But this one has surpassed all the shocking gimmicks (and I really hope it is one) that he has done so far. The morality of it all though is up to each individual’s discretion. Some would take it as a sick thing to do while others may just shrug their shoulders and move on. But the more serious question would be: Is this entertainment?

Mr. McMahon feuding Image Courtesy: wikipedia.org

There is no doubt that people who saw it at first were shocked. I think realization that it might be a kayfabe may have only sunk in a few minutes later. The initial reaction must surely have been for his welfare. This soap opera-yish style of the WWE may put off some really hardcore wrestling fans. But then again, as MR. McMahon has once said, he is in the sport entertainment business and not in the wrestling business. So maybe these hardcore wrestling fans are barking up the wrong tree.

But whether what happened today is entertainment or not will depend on each individual’s perspective of the subject. It is debatable whether he should have played around with car bombs and explosions considering the times that we live in. Many people all over the world, including here in India, has suffered greatly due to car bombs and suicide attacks. If this is a gimmick then it is belittling the sufferings of those people. But then again maybe we are all taking it a bit too seriously. I certainly wont be surprised if I hear that Mr. McMahon has made a miraculous recovery and is in perfect health. Wonder where it all might be leading to though…

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Rabu, 30 Mei 2007

WWE – Stone Cold Steve Austin

His greatest rivalries.

Image Courtesy: search.com

Stone Cold Steve Austin is one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time. It was he who ushered in the attitude era of wrestling and allowed the WWE to beat WCW in the famous Monday night wars. If you take a look at almost all the greatest feuds or matches of the time, you will find Stone Cold featured regularly in the almost all of them. It is ironic to think that once Steve Austin was fired from WCW by Eric Bischoff because Bischoff felt that Austin was too unmarketable. Bischoff would later say that he wouldn’t have fired Austin if he had known what Austin would later become. Austin still remains one of the most popular WWE superstars of all time.

Over the years Austin has had some great rivalries in the WWE/WWF over the years. We are showcasing just a few of them here. Readers might have their own take on these rivalries. Please feel free to contribute your own picks on the same in your comments. But again these are our picks…you know why? Coz Stone Cold said so!!!

With Vince McMahon

Image Courtesy: wikipedia.org

This rivalry gained massive crowd support because it pitted the Rattlesnake against the evil corporate character of Mr. McMahon. The crowd took Austin’s battles against Mr. McMahon as one of the common man against the rich. At the time WWE needed it as they were involved in a bitter battle against the WCW who were leading the Monday Night Wars. Austin became a face with his aggressive attitude and doing things that a hero wouldn’t do. He epitomized the rebellion against the establishment angle.

The rivalry really started after Bret Hart’s departure. Austin became the new top superstar of the WWF. After he had won the 1998 Royal Rumble he interrupted Vince McMahon when he introduced Mike Tyson as the baddest man on the planet. Austin’s conduct on that day made Vince scorn the idea of seeing Stone Cold as the next WWE champion. When Austin went on tot win the title at Wrestlemania 14 against Shawn Michaels with the help of Mike Tyson, Mr. McMahon’s worst nightmares came true. He even tried to make the rattlesnake tow the corporate line. But all that he got in return for his efforts were a Stone Cold Salute (which is the showing of the finger), a stunner and a punch to the boss’s “Corporate Grapefruits”. Vince was incensed and went all out to screw Stone Cold in whatever way possible starting off a long and bitter rivalry.

With The Rock

Image Courtesy: wikipedia.org

This rivalry took off at a stage when Stone Cold, with his heel tactics as a face, was defining the role of a tweener in wrestling. Nobody did it as larger than life or as successfully as Stone Cold managed to do. The Rock on the other hand had just turned into a heel by becoming the exact opposite of what his earlier babyface character, Rocky Miavia, was. He started spitting venom at the crowd and made popular several catchphrases like “If you smell what The Rock is cookin'” or “Finally… the Rock has come back to ”. It was sort of inevitable that the Rattlesnake and the Rock would soon collide with such large personalities.

They first collided with each other during Austin’s title reign as the Intercontinental champion. The feud culminated with Austin defeating The Rock within six minutes at In Your House: D-Generation X in 1998. When Vince McMahon asked for a rematch the following night at Raw, Austin simply forfeited the title before handing a stunner to both the Rock and McMahon. The Rock went on to win the WWF championship and was thereafter proclaimed as the corporate champion by Vince McMahon. Austin and the Rock would feud again after the latter became the WWF champion at Survivor Series in 1998. The two would meet each other at Wrestlemania 15. Austin beat The Rock and won the title paving the way for a rivalry between the two for well over a year.

With Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart

Image Courtesy: wikipedia.org

This was the rivalry that really made Steve Austin what he is today. He had just come out with Austin 3:16 phrase and was beginning to assure in the attitude era at the WWE. But he knew that to truly cement his place he had to go after a big name. So he went after Bret Hart who was taking a sabbatical at the time. He would continuously taunt The Hitman with comments like “If you put the letter 'S' in front of 'Hitman', you have my exact opinion of Bret Hart”! Bret had no other option but to accept the Rattlesnake’s challenge and return to the ring and take him on.

The two collided at the 1996 Survivor Series. Bret Hart won the match by applying his famous Sharpshooter on Stone Cold. But to everyone’s surprise the crowd turned on Bret Hart and started cheering for Steve Austin, thus cementing his place among the fans. They continued to feud with each other until they met again at Wrestlemania 13 in a submission match. It was a match where both superstars gave it their all and went at each other. At the end of the match Bret Hart got the sharpshooter in place. But Austin refused to quit. He eventually passed out from the massive blood loss that he was suffering. This match ultimately turned Austin into a face and Bret into a heel. Although they had a bitter professional rivalry they had a good relationship personally. So much so that it was Austin who inducted Bret Hart into the WWE hall of fame

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Selasa, 29 Mei 2007

WWE – The Montreal Screwjob

The Most Controversial Incident of All Time

Image Courtesy: wikipedia.org

One of the major reasons why people watch WWE is the underlying kayfabes (the events that are a part of a storyline). This makes the matches or feuds between two superstars take a whole new interest by putting in some drama to all the mayhem that is shown on the ring. However there have been occasions when real life tensions between the superstars have caused the matches between them to be viewed with a lot more interest. We are showcasing one such rivalry and how it all culminated in one of the most controversial and real incidents in sports entertainment.

Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart have been rivals from their tag team days itself with Bret as part of the team ‘The Hart Foundation’ and Shawn as part of ‘The Rockers’. At one point The Rockers had even won the World Tag Team title from The Hart Foundation. But the two became intense rivals around the time of Wrestlemania 12 in 1996. Bret was the reigning WWF champion. The match was stipulated to be a 60 minute Iron Man Match where the man with the most submissions or pins becomes the winner. After 60 minutes of high intensity, the match ended 0-0. But the WWF President Gorilla Monsoon entered the ring and ordered the match to continue under sudden death rules. Michaels won the match and the title shortly thereafter. After the match Shawn Michaels is alleged to have told The Hitman to “get the f**k out of my ring” and the seeds for a bitter and personal rivalry were sown.

Image Courtesy: derok.net

After Wrestlemania 12 Bret took some time off and during that time he was offered a big contract in the WCW. But out of loyalty towards WWF Bret chose to stay back and signed a 20 year deal with them. Shawn was widely believed to drop his title to Bret at Wrestlemania 13. But instead he vacated the title just a few months before Wrestlemania 13 in his infamous ‘I lost my smile’ speech. He claimed that his doctor had told him that his knee injury would be career ending. Bret Hart on the other hand felt that he was faking it as Shawn had always said that he wouldn’t do anymore jobs for anyone in the territory. Bret went on to win the title again by winning Fatal Four Way match involving Austin, Vader, the Undertaker and himself.

In the meanwhile Vince McMahon, the owner of WWF, made a U-turn and came back to Bret Hart and asked him to reconsider the offer made by WCW. Vince said that since the WWF was in a tight financial situation at the time and that he will not be able to afford the earlier contract. After a lot of deliberations Hart finally signed a contract with WCW for an alleged figure of $ 3 million a year. Thus it was decided that the 1997 Survivor Series in Montreal would be his final match in the WWF.

Image Courtesy: search.com

Vince McMahon wanted Bret to drop the title to Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series before moving on to WCW. However by this time the feud between Shawn and Bret Hart had reached a personal level and Bret was unwilling to drop the title to Shawn Michaels. Both of them had made several personal comments about each other in the build up to the match. While Bret questioned Shawn’s sexual preferences, Shawn made a comment that Bret was having a lot of Sunny days lately. This was in reference to alleged relationship that Bret was having with WWE diva Sunny. However this comment led to a major fight between the two in the locker room.

When Vince persisted for the title to be dropped at Survivor Series Bret said that he was willing to drop the title to anyone anywhere other than to Shawn Michaels in Montreal. One of his reasons was that since Shawn has always been unwilling to do a job for anyone else Bret would not reciprocate either. Second, since Bret by this time was a big national icon in Canada he didn’t want to lose over there.

After a lot of arguing it was finally decided that the match would end in a disqualification. Vince in the meantime called a meeting at his hotel room with his confidantes and Shawn Michaels and allegedly set into motion the screwjob. Bret’s confidantes also advised him to be careful and not to let his guard down during the match. Bret insisted on having his friend Earl Hebner to officiate the match so the he can be in the match without any fear of a double cross. Hebner swore upon his children that he would not double cross Bret.

Image Courtesy: derok.net

Before the match it was decided that Michaels would put Hart into the sharpshooter hold while the referee would be unconscious. Hart would grab Michaels' foot and reverse the hold, putting him in the sharpshooter. Michaels would tap out, but the referee would still be unconscious. Michaels would then hit Hart with his finisher, Sweet Chin Music, and make the cover. A second referee would then run to the ring with Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith following close behind and the referee would be prevented from making the count. When the original referee starts again Bret Hart would kick out and the match would ultimately end in disqualification.

During the match the ref was knocked out cold. Shawn Michaels put the sharpshooter on Bret Hart. But the ref suddenly stood up and asked for the bell to be rung even though Bret had not tapped out. Vince McMahon who was on the ringside asked the timekeeper to “Ring the f**king bell”. The time keeper rang the bell just as Bret reached over grabbed Michael’s leg and thus breaking the hold. Shawn Michaels’ theme music began to play and he was announced the winner and the new champion. Hebner exited from the ring straightaway and was driven to his hotel room, from where he went to take the first flight out of Canada.

Everybody involved was still in shock when Bret recovered and spat directly into the face of Vince McMahon. Vince ordered a seemingly irate Michaels (it was later revealed that he too was in on it the whole time) to “pick up the f**kin' belt and get the f**k out of here!” Vince too exited the ringside quickly, while Bret went on a rampage and destroyed the equipments on the ringside before he was clamed by his brother Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith. Before going to the dressing room Bret signed “I Love You” and “WCW” to the fans.

Image Courtesy: wikipedia.org

Backstage he confronted Michaels who swore he had nothing to do with what had just transpired. Many WWF superstars backstage were pissed off at the treatment meted out to Hart, a veteran of 14 years in the WWF. Undertaker went into Vince McMahon’s dressing room and told him in no uncertain terms to apologize to Bret Hart. When Vince went to meet Bret Hart, the latter punched the living daylights out of Vince and gave him a black eye in the process.

All the major players in the Montreal Screwjob have got on with their life. Bret went on to WCW had a brilliant career there before suffering a concussion at the hands of Goldberg, due to which he retired from wrestling. Shawn Michaels suffered an injury in the very next PPV and was out of action for almost 5 years. Bret has recently said that he has forgiven Earl Hebner though his animosity with Michaels still continues. Vince McMahon and the WWF went on to buy out the WCW and Vince became a billionaire. He also spawned the Mr. McMahon character out of the entire episode. But the incident can never be erased from the minds of any of these people or the millions who watched it.

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Kamis, 05 April 2007

WWE - Fake but Entertaining

Fake but entertaining

Image Courtesy: frontrowking.com

I first started watching World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) when I was around 12. Then it was known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). I was very much taken in by the professional wrestlers at the time. Hulk Hogan was my favorite and I was very much taken in by Hulkamania.

I was later on disappointed when I learned that all of it that I saw was part of an act. It was all a fake. It was tough to accept that the people whom I considered to be heroes were actually playing out their role from a script. I was angry with the whole concept for some time.

But after a few years I found that when I watched the WWE I was actually loving the soap operaish build up to any big ‘fights’. Even though I knew that the matches were fixed I started following the show on TV mainly to see how the story lines would develop, what all plot angles would be explored and especially the theatrics that WWE’s ‘Superstars’ would put on.

Image Courtesy: answers.com

However I also realized that not everything involved in it was fake. Some times the contestants were rivals in real life as well like Shaw Michaels and Bret Hart. Some time screwjobs too are real like the ‘Montreal Screwjob’ by Vince McMahon on Bret Hart.But above all the risks these guys take are also real. You can’t fake a fall from the top of a big 12 ft cage and not have some impact on your body. Sometimes you can only hope that everything would go to plan with some of the stunts that these guys try to pull off. The best example of this being the accidental death of Owen Hart while trying to perform a stunt. The injuries these guys suffer and the torture they put their bodies through are as real as anything else. You have to respect their courage regardless of their intelligence.

The main reason why people like to watch it is because it’s the male version of a soap opera. You have artificial drama, intrigue, treachery and what not. Almost everything that you can find in a soap opera is present in the WWE wrapped in testosterone pumping alpha male combats, albeit staged. It’s brash and profanity laden dialogues are something which you don’t get to hear everyday.

Image Courtesy: myspace.com

People who watch professional wrestling are not all idiots. Everyone knows that what they are watching is a fake and the matches pre-determined. But they suspend their belief for some time just like they would when watching a movie about Aliens or Godzilla. They take it as just another form of entertainment. They don’t follow it for the records, because the records are as artificial as the sport they are involved in. They don’t follow it for the excitement of the fight because real fight never lasts as long. They watch for the story line.

Take the latest Wrestlemania 23 for example. People go to watch if Vince McMahon would get his hair shaven by Donald Trump. They go to see if the Undertaker can defend his Wrestlemania record (again a contrived and manipulated one) of 14-0. They go to see if Shawn Michaels can overcome John Cena and become a champion once again.

Image Courtesy: spokesmanreview.com

Yes the wrestling fans know it’s fake. Some may even question their sanity or their maturity in watching these. But my point is who cares. It’s just another form of entertainment. Take a look at the ratings and you will know for sure that it is entertaining to many. Enjoy it as if you would enjoy any action movie. As for violence, I have seen more violence in movies like ‘Saw’ than in the WWE.

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