Post by nisidhe on Jun 22, 2020 18:55:35 GMT -5
Some of the responses by wrestlers and promoters to #SpeakingOut are coming under a good deal of justified scrutiny. That said, I'm not sure it serves the business all that well to have large swaths of its talent, officials and promotions outright cancelled and driven to ground because of an issue that cancelling offenders might not address adequately.
AEW's response to the Sammy Guevara situation, while not entirely satisfactory to all parties, does address the issue in a professional and level-headed way I think. While some would still call for Sammy's head (and for the heads of everyone else), such a punitive approach would cause an immediate circling of the wagons within the business, and shut a lot of doors for the very people #speakingout is intended to support. Moreover, it would have a chilling effect on attracting new talent to the business and can create a backlash from some promoters who might decide simply to troll the fandom by signing the worst offenders (and drawing their apologists and defenders to their shows.)
Growing the business - the aim of all that the last ten years has tried to do - requires that wrestling promotions and wrestlers respond to the allegations in a mature fashion. Promoters need to assure their talent and fans that theirs are professionally-run organizations that respect the dignity and security of everyone working for them or who access their product. Wrestlers themselves need to examine themselves - their motives for being in the business, what issues they may have that may spill over into their professional lives; heck, simply being aware that their in-ring persona is attached to them personally and all that that attachment entails for fans - and seriously work on creating a more welcoming and growing environment for their careers and the business as a whole. It may require some adjustments on the social-media side - either separate social-media accounts for their in-ring personas and their personal, friends-and-family stuff, or restricting their professional media to what the promotion chooses to promote about them.
This is just starting point, I think, for a discussion of what happens next after all this. What might be the best practices for wrestlers, promoters, trainers, schools to follow in order to a) protect new talent and associates, b) encourage a protective and supportive locker-room environment; and c) maintain profitability and growth in the business and draw viewers and revenue.
AEW's response to the Sammy Guevara situation, while not entirely satisfactory to all parties, does address the issue in a professional and level-headed way I think. While some would still call for Sammy's head (and for the heads of everyone else), such a punitive approach would cause an immediate circling of the wagons within the business, and shut a lot of doors for the very people #speakingout is intended to support. Moreover, it would have a chilling effect on attracting new talent to the business and can create a backlash from some promoters who might decide simply to troll the fandom by signing the worst offenders (and drawing their apologists and defenders to their shows.)
Growing the business - the aim of all that the last ten years has tried to do - requires that wrestling promotions and wrestlers respond to the allegations in a mature fashion. Promoters need to assure their talent and fans that theirs are professionally-run organizations that respect the dignity and security of everyone working for them or who access their product. Wrestlers themselves need to examine themselves - their motives for being in the business, what issues they may have that may spill over into their professional lives; heck, simply being aware that their in-ring persona is attached to them personally and all that that attachment entails for fans - and seriously work on creating a more welcoming and growing environment for their careers and the business as a whole. It may require some adjustments on the social-media side - either separate social-media accounts for their in-ring personas and their personal, friends-and-family stuff, or restricting their professional media to what the promotion chooses to promote about them.
This is just starting point, I think, for a discussion of what happens next after all this. What might be the best practices for wrestlers, promoters, trainers, schools to follow in order to a) protect new talent and associates, b) encourage a protective and supportive locker-room environment; and c) maintain profitability and growth in the business and draw viewers and revenue.
