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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2009 19:35:29 GMT -5
Rico proved differently
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Post by jfpierce on Aug 27, 2009 19:36:52 GMT -5
Seeing as TNA was fully aware of his gay gimmick, and that that's the reason they wanted him, I'd guess this was the result of a bad encounter with a creative team member who wasn't on board with bringing him in, or a plan for his character that he wasn't comfortable with.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2009 19:41:34 GMT -5
Good For Him
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2009 19:45:48 GMT -5
Seeing as TNA was fully aware of his gay gimmick, and that that's the reason they wanted him, I'd guess this was the result of a bad encounter with a creative team member who wasn't on board with bringing him in, or a plan for his character that he wasn't comfortable with. That makes me wonder too. So you want to bring in this flamboyant gay character....but you don't want him to actually be gay? Seems a bit hypocritical. There's got to be a lot more to this story. Anyone got any vids of this dude's work? I'm intrigued.
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AriadosMan
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Post by AriadosMan on Aug 27, 2009 19:47:24 GMT -5
Maybe they wanted him to be gay for pay? I dunno.
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Post by crudulak on Aug 27, 2009 20:17:15 GMT -5
This sucks, as I was really looking forward to him joining TNA. He's definitely been a stand out to me in the Lucha Libre scene.
It does seem odd to me, as there have been flamboyant characters (openly "gay" or not) who have gotten over in the past as either faces or heels. I can't speak on any homophobia in TNA, but if he feels that TNA's plans were bad for him, I respect him for turning them down. I'm not gay, but I would think twice about reinforcing negative attitudes about my sexuality, or ethnicity or religion for that matter, even as a cheap heat heel.
Homosexuality is still a touchy subject in society as a whole, and I think it would be different and cool to have an openly gay wrestler who doesn't make it a big part of their gimmick. Have there been any? I mean, that were acknowledged as gay but weren't booked to play up stereotypes? I know there were snide (usually playful) comments about Pat Patterson by the announcers, but it was never openly said, especially when he was an active wrestler.
For an (potential offensive, but not intended that way) example of how I see the issue: Black wrestlers are not booked to be eating watermelon on the way to the ring. This would be totally unacceptable, and rightfully so. I hope that openly gay wrestlers will someday be able to be booked as wrestlers, instead of as "gay" wrestlers.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Aug 27, 2009 21:25:21 GMT -5
I wonder if Cassandro's complaint i legitimate or if he's playing the homophobe card as a cop-out? I wouldn't say I'm a homophobe, but sweet Jesus.... That's pretty far out there. Good God, it's Mae Young, circa 1886!
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Post by Andrew is Good on Aug 27, 2009 22:21:07 GMT -5
To be fair to TNA, the roster is currently loaded with talent, it would be tough to get anyone in.
On the homophobic thing, I hope it's not true, because it sucks that it happens at all in wrestling. The whole point is to try to make money, and no matter what you are, religion, sexuality, race, gender, whatever, if you can help make a company money, what does it matter? The only colour that should matter in wrestling is green (or purple/blue/red/green etc in Canada). It shouldn't matter. Colt Cabana had the same problem with WWE, when someone was anti-semitic towards him.
You don't hear too much about this problem in wrestling, but it's a shame when it does come up. I don't think WWE would have the same situation. From what I understand, Cassandro was trained by Rey Mysterio, and though he did get busted for something recently. And of course, I doubt there would be that homophobia would be tolerated in WWE, saying that the head writer's godfather is openly gay himself.
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Post by casualobserver on Aug 27, 2009 22:32:07 GMT -5
He was considered too gay to work in a company where musclebound, oiled-up men in spandex grab each other night after night.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2009 23:28:24 GMT -5
According to reliable sources, Cassandro is now being heavily recruited by Randy Orton to join Legacy.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2009 23:35:24 GMT -5
It could also be a case of this guy being way too oversensitive. And don't take this as me picking on gays. I'm really not. I have friends who are gay so I know how oversensitive they can get sometimes. How is this even REMOTELY different than if a wrestler refused to work for someone if they were racist? He's not exactly oversensitive to not put his career in someone's hands if he doesn't think he'll be treated fairly. That is the law, not a sensitivity issue. Plus, though we don't know the circumstances, I find it rather difficult to believe that a man who makes a living based off exaggerations of his sexuality would be incredibly sensitive about how he gets treated because of it. Looking at some of the footage, he plays with the stereotypes and had a pretty long development where I'm sure he had to deal with some dicey things.
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Post by thatguybayne on Aug 28, 2009 1:37:46 GMT -5
I see this as different than the Kanyon thing because Cassandro never even had a single tv appearance. Where as Kanyon, like you said, was getting a decent push. Cassandro saw or at least perceived that he would be discriminated against soely due to his sexual prefrences and decided against working for TNA. Plus, though we don't know the circumstances, I find it rather difficult to believe that a man who makes a living based off exaggerations of his sexuality would be incredibly sensitive about how he gets treated because of it. Looking at some of the footage, he plays with the stereotypes and had a pretty long development where I'm sure he had to deal with some dicey things. Like I said I was just throwing it out there and prehaps was trying to put it a little too delicately when I should have just been blunt as one poster was and just said maybe he was playing the homophobe card as a cop-out as it's happened before with Kanyon. Didn't mean to cause any offense.
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Post by Ryushinku on Aug 28, 2009 3:14:59 GMT -5
I remember when they showed the teaser promo that one week.
I didn't know him, but I also remember a few people being very enthusiastic about how good he was and the ability he could bring to TNA.
Still, never find out now.
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STMP
Hank Scorpio
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Post by STMP on Aug 28, 2009 3:41:45 GMT -5
Was it the same interview where he was all shocked when a caller told him how popular he was in the gay community? "The gay community?!?" Just the way he said it made me crack up, caught him so off guard. I also remember seeing a match of his against Brian Danielson where he called him the f-word. It's funny, because I always thought AJ was gay. But then I heard he was a homophobe. HoweverI'm still not convinced, I'm getting that Mr. Garrisson vibe about him.
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MCMGM
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Post by MCMGM on Aug 28, 2009 3:58:55 GMT -5
I wonder if Cassandro's complaint i legitimate or if he's playing the homophobe card as a cop-out? I wouldn't say I'm a homophobe, but sweet Jesus.... That's pretty far out there. I think he's pretty.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2009 4:04:08 GMT -5
Plus, though we don't know the circumstances, I find it rather difficult to believe that a man who makes a living based off exaggerations of his sexuality would be incredibly sensitive about how he gets treated because of it. Looking at some of the footage, he plays with the stereotypes and had a pretty long development where I'm sure he had to deal with some dicey things. Like I said I was just throwing it out there and prehaps was trying to put it a little too delicately when I should have just been blunt as one poster was and just said maybe he was playing the homophobe card as a cop-out as it's happened before with Kanyon. Didn't mean to cause any offense. No problem. Since we don't know much about the story, things are just speculation. It might have nothing to do with sexuality and its rather pointless to say, "Jarret doesn't like gays." or other such remarks without any real proof.
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Post by Baixo Astral on Aug 28, 2009 4:14:17 GMT -5
I wonder if Cassandro's complaint i legitimate or if he's playing the homophobe card as a cop-out? I wouldn't say I'm a homophobe, but sweet Jesus.... That's pretty far out there. I think he's pretty. I think he looks like a man in drag in a 70s British sex comedy.
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Post by thatguybayne on Aug 28, 2009 5:37:01 GMT -5
Oh my. I didn't see those pictures before. You guys weren't kidding about playing up the gay...ness? Do you think maybe they tried to give him a sweatin' to the oldies gimmick?
I'm going to have to apologise again aren't I?
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Post by TheDarkestKnight on Aug 28, 2009 6:14:11 GMT -5
It's a shame he isn't coming to TNA.
The guy is really talented and I think a gimmick like he uses could have been something different and exciting in TNA.
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Post by Lenny: Smooth like Keith Stone on Aug 28, 2009 9:57:46 GMT -5
I'm on board with the people who say that he was most likely not discriminated against for being gay, and he's using it as an excuse.
He was going to have the gender bending gimmick in TNA based on the one promo they did, and it seems clear that they knew exactly who he was before they even spoke to him. It's not like they were expecting some hulking badass MMA star, and instead got a guy that looks like the Fabulous Moolah.
I'm guessing he left for some other reason, and he's using the homophobia thing because he knows that people are hesitant to go up against that card.
Again though, it's all just my speculation since I obviously wasn't there.
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