When a company deliberately poops on its own talent

[tafkaga]

I'm really confused by why WWF went out of its way to take a big shit all over Marc Mero after he returned with the boxer gimmick.  Yes, Sable got over bigger than Marc, but that was in no small part to Marc playing the obnoxious heel and setting her up to get over.  That's all good, but what good did it do to push the narrative that Marc was just some dead weight wannabe?  JR made mocking references to Johnny B. Badd throughout his matches as if the guy was still working for WCW instead of the guy busting his ass to get their stupid gimmick over.  Makes no sense to me.

[Mid-Carder]

Two examples come to mind-

JBL used to mock AJ Lee on air for getting a tattoo that commemorated the day she won the title.

They used Dolph Ziggler's early handshaking gimmick to make fun of someone (maybe Dolph himself?) for shaking everyone's hand

[Mozenrath]

It's one thing when it's deliberately mockable, like Planet Stasiak, that's fine. What would irritate me is when they'd have Cole, etc, act incredulous about Bray Wyatt, as it that's helping anyone or anything.

Also standing out is when Cody feuded with Damian Sandow over the MITB loss. They had someone point out to Cody, who was sitting with them on commentary, that the match was every man for himself. It just made Cody look silly, and for what, an angle he didn't book? Like how is it his fault his character's motivations for the feud were poorly defined?

[Spider2024]

[schma]

I came in here thinking this was about TNA because that seems like the kind of unprofessional crap they would have done over the years. That said, I'm not surprised it was actually about the WWF and they should have been my first thought.

Also, wasn't Marc Mero the first one with a guaranteed downside or something like that? This could be Vince having buyer's remorse and dealing with it in a very Vince fashion.

[Mozenrath]

Apr 21, 2023 9:27:25 GMT -5 schma said:

I came in here thinking this was about TNA because that seems like the kind of unprofessional crap they would have done over the years. That said, I'm not surprised it was actually about the WWF and they should have been my first thought.

Also, wasn't Marc Mero the first one with a guaranteed downside or something like that? This could be Vince having buyer's remorse and dealing with it in a very Vince fashion.

I am unsure if he was the first, but he had a big contract, like he got paid significantly more than Austin and Foley initially did, MUCH more.

[Bo Rida]

There was a period this seemed to happen with many NXT call-ups, The Ascension probably being the most obvious example.

[XIII]

Re: Marc Mero. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were trying to get him to quit to get out of that huge contract they gave him for some reason.

For the topic in general: the nWo has to be the kings of this, they were out there weekly talking about how shit WCW was and then beating all of the WCW guys and proving themselves right. I think it’s a big part of the reason of WCWs downfall.

[Jaws the Shark]

Wrestling promoters and bookers are often petty, vindictive, silly little men. That's my analysis.

[Mozenrath]

Apr 21, 2023 9:45:57 GMT -5 XIII said:

Re: Marc Mero. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were trying to get him to quit to get out of that huge contract they gave him for some reason.

For the topic in general: the nWo has to be the kings of this, they were out there weekly talking about how shit WCW was and then beating all of the WCW guys and proving themselves right. I think it’s a big part of the reason of WCWs downfall.

It's possible, given they did the same thing with Mark Henry later on, trying to humiliate him into quitting an expensive contract, only for them to say "Okay, f*** you" and doing every bad bit they were given while cashing their checks.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Apr 21, 2023 9:45:57 GMT -5 XIII said:

Re: Marc Mero. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were trying to get him to quit to get out of that huge contract they gave him for some reason.

For the topic in general: the nWo has to be the kings of this, they were out there weekly talking about how shit WCW was and then beating all of the WCW guys and proving themselves right. I think it’s a big part of the reason of WCWs downfall.

Mero was a big get for them at the time, Johnny B. Badd was one of the rising stars of WCW, relatively squeaky clean for wrestling, good with fans and a hell of an athlete until he got hurt. He was the subject of a bidding war for a reason.

[tafkaga]

Apr 21, 2023 9:45:57 GMT -5 XIII said:

Re: Marc Mero. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were trying to get him to quit to get out of that huge contract they gave him for some reason.

For the topic in general: the nWo has to be the kings of this, they were out there weekly talking about how shit WCW was and then beating all of the WCW guys and proving themselves right. I think it’s a big part of the reason of WCWs downfall.

That was so annoying and stupid.  It made me feel sorry for WCW, which I realize is stupid because it was 100% self-sabotage, but I just hated seeing them trash their own brand just to set themselves apart as the cool guys in the room.  It would have been different if a powerful faction of WCW guys had emerged, but when they show Dusty, Luger, Sting joining the nWo it just drove home the narrative that the WCW brand is for losers when even the guys most identified with it join the invading faction.

[XIII]

Apr 21, 2023 11:05:30 GMT -5 The Dark Order Inferno said:

Apr 21, 2023 9:45:57 GMT -5 XIII said:

Re: Marc Mero. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were trying to get him to quit to get out of that huge contract they gave him for some reason.

For the topic in general: the nWo has to be the kings of this, they were out there weekly talking about how shit WCW was and then beating all of the WCW guys and proving themselves right. I think it’s a big part of the reason of WCWs downfall.

Mero was a big get for them at the time, Johnny B. Badd was one of the rising stars of WCW, relatively squeaky clean for wrestling, good with fans and a hell of an athlete until he got hurt. He was the subject of a bidding war for a reason.

Yes they thought that he would be huge for them, but by the time frame that we’re talking here he had a ton of injuries and was plying second fiddle to Sable so I can see them trying to run him off without firing him. lol

[4real]

Cole laying into Top Dolla recently has to be HHH’s doing surely? Not that I’m complaining I find the whole thing hilarious!

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Apr 21, 2023 10:53:15 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Apr 21, 2023 9:45:57 GMT -5 XIII said:

Re: Marc Mero. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were trying to get him to quit to get out of that huge contract they gave him for some reason.

For the topic in general: the nWo has to be the kings of this, they were out there weekly talking about how shit WCW was and then beating all of the WCW guys and proving themselves right. I think it’s a big part of the reason of WCWs downfall.

It's possible, given they did the same thing with Mark Henry later on, trying to humiliate him into quitting an expensive contract, only for them to say "Okay, f*** you" and doing every bad bit they were given while cashing their checks.

The rumour has always been Henry had a no cut deal, so they tried to embarrass him out of his deal, but he went "Whatever, that's just a character" and got every last penny. Good for you, Mark, good for you.

I think they told this on WWE Storytime. But they went bought a bunch of Dollar Store frying pans and watched in amusement as Mark rolled them up. Then Vince handed his credit card to someone and told them to go buy the best one they could find. They giggled with glee while Mark struggled for a moment, then rolled it up too and then decided not to f*** with Mark Henry.

[James Fabiano]

Still the most unsung yet major example of this: GLOW with Ninotchka, post-face turn.

ECW did this a lot, though with joke characters and jobbers.

[bob]

Apr 21, 2023 9:45:57 GMT -5 XIII said:

Re: Marc Mero. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were trying to get him to quit to get out of that huge contract they gave him for some reason.

For the topic in general: the nWo has to be the kings of this, they were out there weekly talking about how shit WCW was and then beating all of the WCW guys and proving themselves right. I think it’s a big part of the reason of WCWs downfall.

Mero was a helluva a wrestler before his knees started giving him trouble

[Sephiroth]

Apr 21, 2023 9:16:29 GMT -5 Spider2024 said:

I actually felt bad for big show. He was supposed the be the racist bad guy, but the look on his face was so darn pathetic that I couldn’t help but feel sorry.

[BorneAgain]

This is why I could never get into Cole and company ripping into NXT season 3. I don't care if the show is bad or how funny their comments are, its a bad precedent to set that its okay to s*** on your talent, even if they're rookies on the C show.

That it led to the insufferable heel run of Cole for the next two years made me dislike it even more.

[jason1980s]

Marc Mero was coming off a hot role in WCW and for several years he always had a good position with commentators putting him over. He almost always on PPVs and for over a year was in a title hunt or title holder. On the other side, Foley and Austin left WCW on their backs. Foley lost a loser leaves town match to an already aging Kevin Sullivan who, despite being with WCW backstage, only appeared on and off over the previous few years. Austin had that awful loss to Hacksaw and IIRC jobbed in a minute or two to Macho Man in one of his last matches.

I'm surprised no one mentioned Renegade. That was such a sad case. Total BS that Hogan and Bischoff would bring him in as a Warrior lookalike, only to be done with him a short while later. Them bringing him in is no different than an indy fed hiring One Warrior Nation or the Ultimate Chippendale. Maybe worse because I think the Chippendale one is probably meant to be a mockery. 6 months after his debut Jimmy Hart was removing his face paint and mocking Renegade as "Rick." He never regained any kind of steam and almost always lost on the lower tier shows.