|
Post by Final Countdown Jones on Oct 27, 2023 7:58:47 GMT -5
Another unfortunately ugliness to it was how they framed the story to get Kofi sympathy. Lots of racially veiled comments from the crappy boss saying he's not good enough. I'm kind of amazed people don't talk more about the ways in which Vince playing that role in story and then booking the ending of the feud to make him look like shit that way. It's why the all of the years of Evil McMahon Shooty Characters have sucked so bad; the character of the guy who forever decided how Kofi was portrayed and if he was good enough got proven wrong in the moment but then the real life human being booked that incredible disrespect to end his title and make him a joke. It's really f***ed up.
|
|
|
Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Oct 27, 2023 8:04:46 GMT -5
Another unfortunately ugliness to it was how they framed the story to get Kofi sympathy. Lots of racially veiled comments from the crappy boss saying he's not good enough. I'm kind of amazed people don't talk more about the ways in which Vince playing that role in story and then booking the ending of the feud to make him look like shit that way. It's why the all of the years of Evil McMahon Shooty Characters have sucked so bad; the character of the guy who forever decided how Kofi was portrayed and if he was good enough got proven wrong in the moment but then the real life human being booked that incredible disrespect to end his title and make him a joke. It's really f***ed up. Which is like what I said before, made it near-impossible for these things to be viewed solely within the context of the televised narrative (one that even then basically said Vince was being racist?), only serving to exacerbate an issue that still plagues WWE even now. That anything put on TV is pushing a booker's agendas and vendettas, not just telling a story.
|
|
|
Post by Final Countdown Jones on Oct 27, 2023 8:20:10 GMT -5
Another unfortunately ugliness to it was how they framed the story to get Kofi sympathy. Lots of racially veiled comments from the crappy boss saying he's not good enough. I'm kind of amazed people don't talk more about the ways in which Vince playing that role in story and then booking the ending of the feud to make him look like shit that way. It's why the all of the years of Evil McMahon Shooty Characters have sucked so bad; the character of the guy who forever decided how Kofi was portrayed and if he was good enough got proven wrong in the moment but then the real life human being booked that incredible disrespect to end his title and make him a joke. It's really f***ed up. Which is like what I said before, made it near-impossible for these things to be viewed solely within the context of the televised narrative (one that even then basically said Vince was being racist?), only serving to exacerbate an issue that still plagues WWE even now. That anything put on TV is pushing a booker's agendas and vendettas, not just telling a story. I'd say the second WWE leaned a little bit too hard on the worked shoot approach to 'boss doesn't like this champion', they set themselves up for that. It's why Austin was always the guy who benefited from this and trying to recapture the magic is horrible Austin didn't have those political woes and Vince's opposition was always so firmly in-universe and clearly defied by the actual reality. It's in chasing diminishing returns and running all these storylines that try to chase that magic by escalating that f***ed things up. These ideas can't exist simultaneously without telling the audience something.
|
|
|
Post by Feargus McReddit on Oct 27, 2023 8:42:41 GMT -5
Like, the thing that boggles my mind is that the Kofi story was so easy to tell from Vince’s standpoint;
Kofi had his shot at the WWE title, lost and he didn’t think he could hang. He’s a decorated talent but that stigma, that lack of killer instinct, stopped him from being considered higher than that.
Kofi goes into the angle and the match showing he has that hunger and Vince relents.
There we go. No need for vague comments or Big E racism statements not designed for television.
|
|
Oak: Certified Jade Hater
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Edgier than Wayne Brady, Harder than Chinese Arithmetic, and Higher than the ratings for Blade: The Series
TOP ROPE CATCH A VIBE YEAH I SWERVE WHEN I DRIVE
Posts: 15,412
|
Post by Oak: Certified Jade Hater on Oct 27, 2023 11:44:44 GMT -5
I can appreciate the boldness of this topic but respectfully I think it’s off the mark.
Six months was sunk into the Kofi title run. Six months of him as champ, facing Bryan and Owens and Orton. Whether you wanna say boring or not, you spent six months on top of the Kofimania run building Kofi Kingston up. And he loses in, what, eight seconds?
Even then, okay, maybe there’s something there. Maybe it’s a shock and Kofi could come back. Nope, Brock’s on his Hogan shit and has to get a win back years after it matters brother. So Kofi not only gets moved down the card, but the next week he’s smiling and showing no signs he was ever the WWE Champion. He’s just “aw shucks” and back to his tag team, never to challenge or even hint he may want to be champion again.
The follow up is what damages Kofi as a singles wrestler to the point his credibility is shot. A competitive match and the courtesy of a rematch would’ve at least kept him somewhat in the conversation but they failed Kofi and told the fans to accept a status quo.
Wild to me that it took longer to beat Bob Backlund in 94 than Kofi Kingston in 2019.
|
|