breakingthe-4th-wall

[breakingthe-4th-wall]

‘Crown Jewel’ ppv

Once again, another WWE pay-per-view I don’t want to bring myself to watch. I definitely won’t be giving WWE any money for it if I ever decide to either. Vince McMahon and co’ really pushed it too far with this one. I’ve read the results and seen the ‘highlights’ and personally, I think it’s absolutely shameful. 

After ‘pushing the boundaries of wrestling’ by hosting an entirely female pay-per-view just weeks before, the idiocy of booking and promoting an event where women are banned just proves that the company itself has more of a preference towards money rather than respecting its talented female workers. Now, as ancient as the culture is, I understand that this is Saudi’s culture and that women are merely objects, but how can a company who claims to strive for equality for their women host a pay-per-view where women aren’t allowed to perform? 

The fact that certain big name superstars actually refused to work the event is really telling. I have a lot of respect for Cena and Bryan, who put their morality first and rejected big payouts. The killing of Jamal Khashoggi just weeks before the event should have been enough for any respected company to cancel an event, or even just change it’s location. The PPV could easily have been held in ANY arena in the USA and it would have sold out. I understand that this limits the audience attending, as many Saudi Arabians ventured to the first Saudi event as it was ‘once in a life time’ (clearly not) and less likely to happen there, as opposed to tours constantly happening in Western areas, particularly the USA where WWE was founded. Khashoggi;s execution is believed to have been ordered by Prince Mohammed; the man paying WWE crazy sums of money to bring out legends like DX and, sigh, racist Hulk Hogan. They’re taking money from a literal killer in this 10 year deal. Have some fucking moral standards. 

As for the event itself, it just looked and felt (according to reviews/results) like a glorified house show. As did Greatest Royal Rumble. We had Brock Lesnar absolutely squash Braun Strowman, a guy who’s been working super hard as of late and deserved the title, for the belt. I don’t think the title would even have changed hands if Roman (poor angel) hadn’t had to vacate it. And on top of this, we got some bullshit about Shane McMahon being the best wrestler in the world; as if WWE could throw any more shade at Punk. Will anyone actually fight for that cup again? Absolutely not. Was it made purely for a WWE old-timer to look good and please fans in Saudi? Absolutely. The entire pay-per-view was purely about that. HBK breaking retirement? Crowd pleaser. Old Hulk Hogan presenting, despite the fact that he’s an utter piece of shit? Crowd pleaser, ‘cause he’s a big name. 

I really believe that taking money for this utterly shoddy event, from paying fans in Saudi was a joke. Let alone taking money from Prince Mohammed. I certainly won’t be renewing my Network subscription to watch it anytime soon. 

[breakingthe-4th-wall]

‘Evolution’ ppv

As a female myself, you’d expect me to provide absolutely glowing reviews of WWE’s first ever all female pay-per-view. In fact, I haven’t even bothered to watch it. I’ve seen the ‘highlights’ and read the results on multiple wrestling sites, but I was not inspired and I think that’s really sad. 

I’ve never been huge on female wrestlers. Back when I first started watching wrestling, there were the likes of Torrie Wilson, Maria and Michelle McCool. All incredibly talented women, but given Bra & Panties matches instead of being part of the main card of an event. These matches were always noted as being toilet breaks or the time that my brother would grab us another bottle of Pepsi Max to keep us awake at 3am on a school night. 

It has been amazing to see the women’s revolution on WWE but I feel like Evolution pay-per-view could’ve been so much more and should have happened before 2018. Advertising was more so for Crown Jewel, WWE’s upcoming event in Saudi Arabia, where Vince will likely make thousands and women aren’t ALLOWED to wrestle - absolute bullshit. They even promoted Crown Jewel during Evolution. It just made me question whether the company really WANTED to host an all women’s event, knowing that viewing numbers would likely not be as high as normal, or whether they were doing it because ‘it’s 2018′ and they felt like they had to. 

Ronda Rousey is an incredibly talented lady, and she’s absolutely blown me away with her skills in wrestling considering her background in UFC. That being said, I don’t think it is fair that she can waltz into a company and take the number 1 spot for women. I agree, she is an amazing athlete, but there are women in the WWE who deserved the chance more than her. For example, how long did it take Becky Lynch to finally win the Smackdown title? Her heel turn against Charlotte was incredible but she was buried for so long, even though she’s worked incredibly hard in the business for 5+ years now. 

I did like, however, that the WWE invited some legendary female wrestlers back to wrestle again. I’d say my favourite women in wrestling ever are Lita and AJ Lee. I think I just wanted to be them really because they were alternative and seemed pretty hardcore in comparison to other ‘girlier’ wrestlers (and they both dated CM Punk, of course). 

[breakingthe-4th-wall]

‘breaking the fourth wall’

I decided to name this blog after one of my ALL TIME favourite segments of WWE - CM Punk’s infamous Pipe Bomb. I can recite the majority of it off by heart and it still gets me emotional each time I watch it. 

Anyone who knows me can tell you that CM Punk has always been my favourite wrestler. I had a six-pointed star tattooed for a while before I had to get it covered up - the apprentice who did it was horrendous and literally scarred the outline into the ball of my ankle - and I’d happily get another Punk related tattoo if I could figure out a decent placement for it. 

Not a single wrestler since Punk retired has resonated with me as much as good ol’ Phil. Although I’m not straight edge, his willpower and eagerness to strive for his clean way of living really stood out for me, even though I was only 8 when he debuted in WWE. 

What’s even more important to me I think, is that he was the only wrestler to really stand up for himself when shit was going south within the company. The Pipe Bomb segment on Monday Night Raw 2011 was so different to anything I’d ever seen before. One man, frustrated and tired of being treated like dirt, just told an honest account of everything that he thought was not fair in the business. I only wish I had the guts to put myself first and hold myself as well as Punk did during his speech. 

I’m not 100% sure how I feel about Punk in the UFC, since his departure from professional wrestling. There’s a part of me that believes that he was destined to fail in the UFC ‘cause he already has a ‘big’ name in professional sports. People want to fight CM Punk to say that they’ve fought CM Punk, not because they respect him or his dedication to training and trying out a new profession. I haven’t watched either of his main card matches because I can’t bare seeing the man I look up to get absolutely squashed. 

The Colt Cabana law-suit issue completely shocked me when I read about it. I can’t defend Punk for not paying his fees and I think he was a real arsehole to Colt Cabana - a guy who he’d been friends with since wayyyyy back. Maybe Punk is still frustrated and wants to just rid of everything WWE which, in a way, Colt is related to. I can’t say it’s not changed my opinion slightly on him, but he’s still my favourite wrestler to date and I’m not sure anyone can ever top him. 

[breakingthe-4th-wall]

what is the point of all this

It dawned on me recently that I no longer have a creative outlet for anything that goes on in my head. Back in college, I’d focus all my projects (as many as I possibly could, anyway) on wrestling - I’d find a way to weave it into everything I did. I even focused my final year English Language project on it, by re-watching The Shield vs Evolution at Payback 2014 and analysing the language. I mean, it was an excuse to spend my time in class immersing myself in my favourite sport, but I got full marks so it worked. I’ll probably end up posting it on here at some point, but add more things that I’ve noticed in the 4 years since. 

I’ve toyed with the idea of starting a blog for a while now as a way to spend my time when I’m not miserable at work. I don’t have many people to speak to about wrestling, except for one guy who comes into my work (thanks Jon), so I figured an online outlet to write down my thoughts and frustrations with the WWE at the moment might be a fun idea. I’m not too sure whether anyone will actually give a shit about what I have to say, but it saves me ranting to my ever-so tolerant boyfriend who doesn’t care about wrestling much at all. 

So hi, I’m Jade. I’m 21 and have been watching wrestling since I was about 4 after my older brother forced me to. I’ll be talking about all sorts of wrestling related stuff, although I’m not sure how regular my posts will be as it all depends on how inspired I feel. 

Thanks for reading. Peace.