Abdullah
Hank Scorpio
Thank you, Ishmeal Loves Bayley!
Posts: 6,420
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Post by Abdullah on Dec 24, 2018 11:09:20 GMT -5
We should be clear that, as of now, WWE won't fire anyone for something that they posted online. They don't respond to fans in a number of ways and this seems to be yet one more. The closest they've come to passing on someone because of internet posts would appear to be Jessicka Havok. Although... who knows? Maybe she didn't impress enough during her tryout anyway.
Having said that, most people agree that what Lars posted was awful. Some think he should have been let go. What will we think when he's out there, wrestling and cutting promos?
In a company that doesn't fire people for their views no matter how horrible, and even rehires them in spite of their views, this is the loss. This is why kayfabe is still important and why I wish more wrestlers adhered to it. It's not gonna be 'hard' for me to watch Lars but I know that whenever I see him interacting with a black wrestler or a Hispanic wrestler, or even just generally, I'm going to be thinking of that. I'm gonna think: 'Here's this racist who really should have taken the time to issue an apology. Why didn't he?'
To a lesser extent, and I've written about this before, Ziggler has been tarnished for me in a couple of ways: there are elements that are out of his control, such as his booking, and then there are his tweets. Nothing remotely as bad as Lars Sullivan, but just humor and indifference and trolling about important issues that rub me the wrong way. I can still enjoy work that he's a part of, that tag match at 'Hell in a Cell' was unexpectedly great, but now I look at him and I see this... privileged, smarmy orange thing. I didn't before.
With Ziggler, I think I feel that way because I used to be a strong fan of his. Other wrestlers have views I disagree with and I don't care as much. So, I'm curious: for those who were fans of Lars or if you're still a fan now, will you be able to separate the work from the worker? If he goes to be a surprise hit like Braun, do you think he'll live down the controversy and it'll become a meme like AJ Styles and the gay community?
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Bub (BLM)
Patti Mayonnaise
advocates duck on rodent violence
Fed. Up.
Posts: 37,742
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Post by Bub (BLM) on Dec 24, 2018 11:16:49 GMT -5
It was already hard to watch him. He sucks. He's Undefeated Snitsky in red trunks.
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Post by Ludwig Kaiser’s Walk on Dec 24, 2018 11:17:28 GMT -5
Nope. I can separate a Wrestling character from the person playing it.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2018 11:17:44 GMT -5
I'm not watching him that's for sure. It'll be an easy thing for me to do too.
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Bub (BLM)
Patti Mayonnaise
advocates duck on rodent violence
Fed. Up.
Posts: 37,742
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Post by Bub (BLM) on Dec 24, 2018 11:22:03 GMT -5
I'm not watching him that's for sure. It'll be an easy thing for me to do too. But how else will you get your fill of "GRR! I'M BIG! WATCH ME SQUASH A JOBBER!" on Monday nights?
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Post by chronocross on Dec 24, 2018 11:22:43 GMT -5
No, as for his character I didn’t find him all that interesting in NXT, reminds me of Snitsky.
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Post by Feyrhausen on Dec 24, 2018 11:23:50 GMT -5
I was a fan of his before all this stuff came out. I just hope he ends up on Raw, I don't watch that anyway. I wont stop watching Smackdown if he ends up there, I just will ignore him more or less. I just see him getting lost anyway.
Don't think he should have been fired though. Yeah, if he hasn't changed his views then he is a real POS, but as far as I have seen he has been a model employee. No more message board posts, no video of him marching in rallys or wearing hitler costumes for halloween. And I have not read about any backstage problems. So while he may be a POS and have terrible views if he keeps it to himself at work and does not cause problems what cause is there to let him go?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2018 11:32:18 GMT -5
I honestly barely watch as it is (I pretty much watch just to make fun of it for an hour or so in the live threads then move on). And, to be clear, f*** the guy. I didn't even get the appeal even before the racist shit came out (he's a big ugly guy who is a little taller than average with a shitty finish... wow). But... I can't help but feel morbidly curious as to what they'll do with him. I honestly hope he does get lost in the shuffle like other NXT people.
And, I wonder if the story is known well enough to the point that smarkier crowds will give him hell.
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.
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Bye
Posts: 16,452
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Post by . on Dec 24, 2018 11:36:44 GMT -5
Nope. I can separate a Wrestling character from the person playing it. I can't. what little I watch of the product, should it contain that asshat in any way, will be flipped to a different channel. However, I must ask, by that logic, Could white power lars, IRL, be caught on camera say throwing a puppy out a moving car and it's cool because character =/=person. Like what's the limit before it's too much for you?
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Post by Ludwig Kaiser’s Walk on Dec 24, 2018 11:39:21 GMT -5
Nope. I can separate a Wrestling character from the person playing it. I can't. what little I watch of the product, should it contain that asshat in any way, will be flipped to a different channel. However, I must ask, by that logic, Could white power lars, IRL, be caught on camera say throwing a puppy out a moving car and it's cool because character =/=person. Like what's the limit before it's too much for you? Being ignorant and having terrible opinions is different to me than murdering a puppy, so that would be too much.
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Nosnorb
El Dandy
Nachos and Fraggle Rock are TIMELESS.
Posts: 7,665
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Post by Nosnorb on Dec 24, 2018 12:17:24 GMT -5
Yes. Wrestling is about trust and every single time a wrestler performs a move, the person taking the move is literally putting their life in their hands.
And it's going to be incredibly uncomfortable seeing Lars out there with guys that due to his beliefs, he sees as inferior. It was disturbing seeing him wrestle Keith Lee on NXT.
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Abdullah
Hank Scorpio
Thank you, Ishmeal Loves Bayley!
Posts: 6,420
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Post by Abdullah on Dec 24, 2018 12:19:55 GMT -5
The reaction in this thread so far is surprising. I'd assumed, from a few posts here and there, that he was viewed as a talented big man with a lot of upside.
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Post by xxshoyuweeniexx on Dec 24, 2018 12:26:09 GMT -5
Not really, dude’s a moron but I don’t know the guy personally. He hasn’t gone on twitter rants about this stuff, so he’s safe until he does that. Companies care more about what you post on big social media platforms (Instagram, Twitter, etc) not internet forums.
Also, with the way WWE backstage culture works with people his age, he’ll either learn (or he might have learned already) he was wrong about what he thought or he’ll get quickly weeded out if he acts like a bigot around his minority co-workers.
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Post by blscks on Dec 24, 2018 12:40:30 GMT -5
In like 3 or 4 weeks, casual fans will see how robotic his matches are. I dont expect nothing but crickets.
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Post by Zombie Mod is not a ghoul. on Dec 24, 2018 12:59:22 GMT -5
change the channel while he's on and the switch back when he's not on.
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Post by Alice Syndrome on Dec 24, 2018 13:02:19 GMT -5
I refuse to.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
Celestial Princess in Exile.
Posts: 46,065
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Dec 24, 2018 13:10:21 GMT -5
*shrug*
I'm used to people who hate me being allowed to make lots of money and be in the entertainment business, so Lars won't be any different.
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Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,037
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Post by Mozenrath on Dec 24, 2018 13:13:33 GMT -5
It'll be hard to watch him with the TV off, yes.
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Post by Fade is a CodyCryBaby on Dec 24, 2018 13:14:55 GMT -5
“Hards” the wrong word. It’s “hard” to watch a lot of WWE programming to be perfectly honest.
I think this Lars shit is gonna bring on a lot of unintentional humor.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2018 13:15:14 GMT -5
He's on my skip segment list for sure. First one for these reasons mind.
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