Reflecto
Hank Scorpio
The Sorceress' Knight
Posts: 6,847
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Post by Reflecto on Dec 16, 2013 10:15:43 GMT -5
It does need to happen "sometimes".
There is a world of difference between what WWE will do it for, and they go to the well too often (using AJ's recent stories as an example: There's a world of difference between, say, punishing her for allegedly screaming at a celebrity who works for an important TV partner for WWE when they're close to their TV deal coming due [and who have multiple dogs in the race] because the woman talked to her boyfriend [if it happened, reasonable], and punishing her onscreen for AJ legitimately fainting on the tour [which is complete and utter bull.] )
Should it be done? In a perfect world, no- but the big issue is: A lot of the big, televised punishments- not all of them, but a vast majority- occur for offenses that boil down to: The performer's push has gone to their head. In addition to that, it's doubled because in wrestling- a person's star power is the last thing to go. Witness how stars from the '80s, even if they can barely walk to the ring or do more than a couple of punches and 'maybe' their finisher, can still get money on the indie scene solely because they were stars 20-30 years ago and people will still want to see them.
Because of this, by just punishing wrestlers- especially wrestlers being punished because they feel like they're bigger than the oompany, need to be punished by taking the wind out of their sails and humiliating them onscreen to lessen that draw value. Using the example of Randy Orton: If you only punish him behind the scenes- even if he ends up fired, his response would be "Fine. I don't need the WWE right now. I can take some time off, heal myself up, and come back in a couple years when they get desperate because they need me. I can make some big money appearances in Japan, I can get some acting roles...hell, I might even sign with TNA or start training and do some MMA- and then the WWE will really regret letting me walk away." By contrast, the punishment's "Fine, Orton. You did these things too often? Great- you're not getting fired. We'll let you pay homage to your family's classic gimmicks. Randy Orton, Face of the WWE is dead- long live Cowpoke Randy, the Twerking Cowboy from Brokeback Mountain...?" The gimmick would severely hit the wrestler in the one place you 'NEED' to hit them before risking it happening again and again and being forced to deal with it, and the one place which would hurt them more than their bank account: Their star power, the thing that would keep a wrestler from bouncing back if they got fired for all of their offenses.
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shaker
Team Rocket
The numbers don't lie - and they spell disaster for you at Sacrifice!
Posts: 779
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Post by shaker on Dec 16, 2013 10:44:51 GMT -5
Every so often it needs to happen.
If Orton got his third strike tomorrow and was out of the WWE forever, I'd be totally fine with them absolutely destroying his character on TV for the purpose of building up someone else.
If Kofi accidentally stepped on Vince's shoes backstage, he shouldn't be given a new gimmick of "Evil Magician" or something like that.
But I do think the customary "beatdown injury" to write a guy off after a wellness policy strike is brilliant.
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Dec 16, 2013 11:54:17 GMT -5
It's carny bullshit, flat out. If I owned a restaurant and I wanted to punish one of my employees, would I intentionally let them f*** up orders? This is the main reason why the WWF New York restaurant got shut down by the NYC health inspectors. Your signature has made me realise that my ex-wife's new boyfriend looks a lot like Kevin Dunn. As if I didn't have enough reasons to hate him.
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Dec 16, 2013 11:59:31 GMT -5
The problem with "punishing" guys on TV, is 1. It usually hurts us fans. The guy we wanted to be champ so bad, RVD, was severely punished for a relatively small thing (smoking weed). I don't think they had the wellness policy back then, and I'm not sure if pot is technically against it. No, but given that pot is 'technically' illegal that kinda stops being relevant. You can't keep a druggy as your champion, and yada yada yada 'just look at the guy, he's on roids and still champ!' about whoever people want to cite as an example, but the fact is, if they've not been caught, WWE probably won't care. RVD was caught doing something illegal, while world champion. Keeping him champion would be f***ing stupid for a publicly traded company.
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Magnus the Magnificent
King Koopa
didn't want one.
I could write a book about what you don't know!
Posts: 12,548
Member is Online
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Post by Magnus the Magnificent on Dec 16, 2013 13:08:38 GMT -5
The problem with "punishing" guys on TV, is 1. It usually hurts us fans. The guy we wanted to be champ so bad, RVD, was severely punished for a relatively small thing (smoking weed). I don't think they had the wellness policy back then, and I'm not sure if pot is technically against it. WWE should've at least taken him off the road for a few weeks rather than destroying a huge storyline. RVD was caught driving,even speeding I think, while high. That's not a "relatively small" thing. That's being a a complete moron well deserving punishment.
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Post by carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army) on Dec 16, 2013 13:53:06 GMT -5
Every other TV show manages to have continuing, serial storylines without running the risk of the actors' backstage behavior ending or significantly changing the storyline. It's not hard. Does not mean I have to agree with it.. You really think that if Aaron Paul had gotten a DUI, or if he'd snapped at a stagehand during filming, they should have changed the entire course of the show to suddenly make Jesse Pinkman look like a schmuck? Just to teach the actor a lesson? That makes sense to you?
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Post by SCCB Was Told To Do Steroids on Dec 16, 2013 14:28:15 GMT -5
There are definite social morays of having appreciation for one's job and realizing how quickly it can be taken from you. HHH jobbed to the guy running the concession stand way before the Kayfabe Era. That was his punishment. IMHO, Swagger didn't get enough time off. Usually, the deal is that, when you come back, something better comes along. The idea is that you have to prove and work like you believe it. Notice not peep one from Swagger since, as, actually, his career has been given a boost.
My job has two unforgivable mortal sins: sleeping with or doing drugs with your students. If you do something untoward that brings negative attention to the district, for example, a third arrest for DUI, you get sent on administrative leave, and your punishment is to be sent to the "bookroom", the giant textbook and equipment warehouse. Later, when things get cleared up, unless there is jail time, you get reassigned to a different school.
In enterainment, characters can't be simply written off, like Richie Cunningham's brother Chuck (I think) without explanation to the fans, especially if they are champsin wrestling. They took forever to write Swagger dropping the belt. Could you imagine that conversation:
Fans: "Where is Swagger? Doesn't he have a title defense tonight on Raw?" WWE: "WWE regrets to inform you that 'Jack Swagger' will not be defending the belt tonight due to the recent arrest of Jake Hager. Tonight, the role of 'Jack Swagger will be played by Jason Reso. Thank you for your patience." Fans: "Oh."
To me, it really is no different than at ay other job. It's just more notciable in the E.
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Reflecto
Hank Scorpio
The Sorceress' Knight
Posts: 6,847
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Post by Reflecto on Dec 16, 2013 14:30:40 GMT -5
Does not mean I have to agree with it.. You really think that if Aaron Paul had gotten a DUI, or if he'd snapped at a stagehand during filming, they should have changed the entire course of the show to suddenly make Jesse Pinkman look like a schmuck? Just to teach the actor a lesson? That makes sense to you? Being fair, that's also not uncommon on regular TV shows either (just from your examples- Lost wrote two characters out because the actresses playing them got a DUI, and Grey's Anatomy wrote Isiah Washington's character out over the TR Knight issues)- so it's not like they wouldn't do exactly that.
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Post by carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army) on Dec 16, 2013 14:49:17 GMT -5
You really think that if Aaron Paul had gotten a DUI, or if he'd snapped at a stagehand during filming, they should have changed the entire course of the show to suddenly make Jesse Pinkman look like a schmuck? Just to teach the actor a lesson? That makes sense to you? Being fair, that's also not uncommon on regular TV shows either (just from your examples- Lost wrote two characters out because the actresses playing them got a DUI, and Grey's Anatomy wrote Isiah Washington's character out over the TR Knight issues)- so it's not like they wouldn't do exactly that. The Lost writers CLAIM they intended to kill off both characters before the DUIs, for what it's worth. Isiah Washington's thing is pretty cut-and-dried, though. It's not unheard of, but it's very rare. Much more common is the actor deciding to leave, which screws things up. But, whatever the case, it's bad TV, and people go out of their way to try to keep it from happening. Point is, the writers of Breaking Bad care more about putting on a good TV show than making sure Aaron Paul doesn't get a swelled head. Christ, this business needs a union.
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Post by bootytea on Dec 16, 2013 17:32:21 GMT -5
Does not mean I have to agree with it.. You really think that if Aaron Paul had gotten a DUI, or if he'd snapped at a stagehand during filming, they should have changed the entire course of the show to suddenly make Jesse Pinkman look like a schmuck? Just to teach the actor a lesson? That makes sense to you? Just because people are on television, does not mean they can not be held responsible for their actions. There are plenty of ways to change the story without doing too much damage. Lets say Aaron got a DUI an episode after his character proposed to someone. They could easily just do a flashback episode that shows how the woman he proposed to grew up or focus on other characters. Anything that lets the actor know he or she did something unacceptable. Doing the opposite would be similar to a principle return a day after a sixty day suspension and telling the staff they can start their suspension whenever they want because they are an important faculty member.
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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Dec 16, 2013 17:41:07 GMT -5
Seems like a shitty, stupid, archaic way for a publicly traded company to operate.
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Post by Long A, Short A on Dec 16, 2013 18:20:14 GMT -5
It's basic business. Never handle behind the scenes issues in public. Never air your dirty laundry in public as the saying goes. It makes you look bad. Thank you Why would you take part in passive-aggressive BS when you're break your neck to cultivate a professional image.
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