Post by Trent Valentine on May 3, 2010 13:59:33 GMT -5
by Richard Trionfo @ 11:27 AM on 5/3/2010
Bubba the Love Sponge discussed his recent termination from Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on his radio show on Monday morning.
The show's discussion started with an audio clip of local news coverage of the firing which detailed the incident in January as well as the phone confrontation between Bubba and Awesome Kong on the Cowhead Show (which airs on the same station in Tampa that carries Bubba’s show) that took place last week.
Bubba noted how the incident with Awesome Kong started over his comments about the relief programs for Haiti after an Earthquake caused significant damage in January. He discussed the way that the relief has been distributed to the people and how a lot has not been given to the people and he said that he "looks right" about Haiti.
In regard to his firing from TNA, Bubba said that it was because he was "racially insensitive" for calling Awesome Kong a "dumb black bi**h." Bubba asked how that was ‘racial’ when TNA has a character called "The Black Pope" [Note: While D'Angelo Dinero has used that term online, TNA has never referred to him under that nickname], has a character who is “openly gay throwing milk on himself as if it is sperm” (Orlando Jordan), has booked Chelsea ‘dry humping Black Pope’, has a wrestler called "Black Machismo", and has a wrestler named Awesome Kong. [although Kong is no longer with the company.]
Bubba said that Dixie sent him an e-mail regarding the firing and there was discussion of having zero tolerance for racial insensitivity. He said that Dixie has advertisers, investors, and a board to answer to.
Bubba commented, “nobody watches TNA” while wondering why he got fired for what he did on the radio. He noted it was not on TNA programming and suggested that Awesome Kong and her fans organized Bubba’s firing from TNA.
During the segment, Bubba called Dixie a “mark” and wondered if Dixie listened to the Cowhead Show segment because Dixie "makes most of her decisions from marks". He talked about how she uses the internet to make decisions and then wondered if Vince McMahon listened to the internet to make decisions. Bubba then said that “TNA is run like marks” and suggested that Vince Russo, Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan, Terry Taylor, or Ed Ferrara should run the wrestling product.
Bubba said that they should “fire me because I suck or the product sucks”, but not because people Tweet Dixie Carter. He wondered how Kong could say "kiss my black a**" on the radio, but Bubba is considered the ‘racially insensitive’ one. He said that “Dixie hires and fires based on the internet.”
Bubba also wondered why Dixie still followed Kong’s Twitter account after she was no longer with the company while Dixie never followed his Twitter account. Bubba called Dixie a “mark b***h”.
Bubba said that he doesn’t care if he is part of TNA because it is “below him.” Bubba said that he was flipping off TNA with both hands while saying “thanks for the money.” Bubba again said that the “product sucks.”
One of the people on Bubba’s show wondered how they could complain about Bubba being ‘racially insensitive’ when they have a wrestler called Awesome Kong when ‘Kong’ is usually associated with King Kong. [They did not mention on the show that Kong was known as ‘Amazing Kong’ before she signed with TNA, so the name existed long before TNA hired her]. Bubba mentioned that he did not want to be considered a racist when he talked to her on the Cowhead Show by calling her by her real name.
Bubba discussed where he stands with Hulk Hogan and he said that he did not know. He said that Hogan told him to “take the high road”. The situation may effect their friendship because Hogan will probably have to distance himself from Bubba. One of the people on his show asked Bubba “what did Terry do for him?” Bubba said that he did not sue over the Kong beating incident in January because of his friendship with Hogan. Bubba did say that his attorney had discussed the situation with him and they are now looking into the possibility of seeking damages against TNA at this time.
Bubba asked if he deserved to be hit three times for his comments about Haiti in January. He said that the people in TNA “shuffled it off like nothing happened.” Bubba said that he would play the clip of the Hogan phone call the day after the incident when Hogan was laughing about it. Bubba read an e-mail that suggested that he should have challenged Kong immediately, but Bubba wondered how he would have looked if he did confront her physically at that point.
Bubba said that he has not mobilized his Bubba Army to deal with the firing, but said that a “modern day war” is going on. Bubba then read a number of e-mails that attacked him and were glad that he got fired from TNA. One of the cast members on Bubba’s show, Brent, called people who follow wrestling “morons.” They also wondered why so many people cared about Bubba being fired by TNA.
Bubba called Dixie a “mark a**” before commenting on a column written by Kevin Eck of The Baltimore Sun that discussed the Kong/Bubba telephone call on the Cowhead Show. Bubba wondered why Kong was now being portrayed as the victim in this entire situation. Bubba said that if he read the article and did not hear the radio interview, he would probably have fired himself as well. Bubba commented that Eck wrote “During the verbal exchange, BTLS called her a word that cannot appear on a family Web site seven times and also made remarks that had racial overtones” in his column. Bubba and his staff mentioned that they would have assumed that Bubba called Kong “the ‘n’ word” those seven times based on that working.
Bubba also commented on Eck’s bias against him and in favor of Dixie Carter because he started off his column saying “Before I get into this, let me first say that I would like nothing better than to never have to type the words “Bubba The Love Sponge” ever again. One, because I hate giving him or any shock jock publicity when they say outrageous and venomous things because that is exactly what they want; and two, because he is a crony who only has a job in pro wrestling because of who he has latched himself onto” and then wrote “I like TNA president Dixie Carter, and the consensus among everyone I know who knows her is that she is a classy person with a good heart” about Dixie.
Bubba said that he believed that Eck's column was the reason why he was fired from TNA. Bubba then played the confrontation on the Cowhead Show between him and Awesome Kong.
After playing the audio, Bubba said that he is “not going to miss the bull crap at TNA” but said that he met some great people in TNA. Bubba pointed out Sting, Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett, Jeremy Borash, Kurt Angle, Eric Bischoff, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash among those he liked in TNA. It was actually a group of about thirty people. Bubba commented they “should get as much money as they can” from TNA.
Bubba took a number of calls from listeners and most of them were supportive of Bubba’s position. They said that they only watched TNA because of Bubba. One of the callers said to watch the ratings drop now that Bubba is gone.
Bubba said that Dixie’s decision to fire him was “knee-jerk” and that TNA will “feel the wrath of Bubba.” Bubba said that he is “not going to go out as the racist b***h they are portraying him as.” They ended the discussion by going back to Dixie’s mention of how she had to answer to advertisers and commented, “nobody is going to advertise because it is a horrible product.
Bubba..
