RAW Pleads the 5th and Suggests We Stick to Money in the Bank...

A Good Monday to You, Enthusiasts.

 

So, there are many rumblings going round in the wrestling world. Plenty to talk about but I’ll only select a few items to discuss. Let’s not dally, shall we.

 

The first bit of news is the reemergence or Cesaro a.k.a. Claudio Castagnoli. He made his debut in AEW for their Forbidden Door event. With Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson out due to injury, Castagnoli stepped in. I’m glad that he’s working again but I wonder if AEW will run into the same problem. True, they focus more on pro-wrestling and Castagnoli can provide but will he entertain? Will it matter? It’s hard to say.

 

AEW may be teetering on the same problem WWE had with a bloated roster. What to do with everyone? I don’t watch AEW enough to tell if it’s hurting or helping them but the general talk tends to revolve around the same people. Jon Moxley is always popular. MJF has dropped off as the truth remains obscured. Jade Cargill is spoken of a lot as is ThunderRosa. Kenny Omega still gets a lot of lip-service even though he’s been out with injury. Chris Jericho always gets some play and that Sammy Guevara comes up from time to time. I don’t really hear much about anyone else though I know they have plenty of talent.

 

Personally, I still hold out for the return of Aleister Black and PAC to WWE but that may be a way off. They got some play this past weekend but talk on them remains minimal. We’ll see what AEW does. We’ll see if they remember recent history and if they have plans to circumvent it.

 

In the WWE Universe, there are some tensions rising as more information comes out on Mr. Vince McMahon’s misconduct. What’s coming to light is that in 1992, a Ms. Rita Chatterton, a former referee for the then WWF, accused Mr. McMahon of rape which occurred in 1986. She decided to keep her accusations quiet after seeking legal counsel. She confessed her story to Geraldo Rivera, a popular journalist personality of the 80s and 90s, known for his shocking, explorative exposés. According to her account of the assault, she was invited into Mr. McMahon’s limo to discuss her future with the company.

 

Only she and Mr. McMahon know what transpired but she apparently spoke her truth to the late Andre the Giant and former wrestler Mario Mancini. Mancini is corroborating Chatterton’s claims as he recalls her coming to him in an emotional shambles after the event. Mancini advised her to keep quiet due to who she was up against.

 

These allegations are coming up for review and it does change the color of Mr. McMahon’s position. When I first addressed this matter, all that I had known was that this was in regards to “an affair”. That lends to consent but rape, not so much. The only real saving grace is that if Mr. McMahon did offer monetary compensation for the transgression and if it was accepted, the issue for all intents and purposes should have been addressed. Granted, such a transgression can have no monetary compensation but some sort of compensation was offered and accepted nonetheless. The legal issue only remains if the offended party, Chatterton, continues to feel “un-whole”. It sounds like Chatterton is done with the matter legally but the story of this incident is breaking again. So, the real issue is the integrity of Mr. McMahon.

 

Given his recent appearances on both RAW and SmackDown, it would appear that the hope is that this all blows over but these details may make that a little difficult. Rape is a far cry from an affair and given these days, that’s a difficult accusation to dodge. What Mr. McMahon and WWE have to monitor is public response. Commenters are feeling vindicated with news of Mr. McMahon’s nefarious nature. Finally, he may be ousted. But I don’t know if that comes to pass. If it does, then Riddle’s knees ought to be knocking together. He basically did, more or less, the same thing and paid off the woman in question courtesy of WWE so, there’s a sense of solidarity there. That fact is probably more damning than any allegations going around. I guess we should be happy they at least throw money at it.

 

This is what distinguishes the matter from the actions Bill Cosby made. Cosby did compensate one accuser in 2006 but the litany that came to light were simply drugged and forgotten about. Mr. McMahon managed to keep allegations from going to court. From a Public Relations perspective, I would say that Mr. McMahon may have to consider presenting a sentiment of atonement. I’m not saying that he should have a press conference or something. The less he says on the matter, the better but, if he wants to be forgiven, he must atone for the transgression somehow. If it shows that WWE has been a longstanding supporter of women’s rights and sexual assault victims, there’s some hope for him. Otherwise, he needs to get on that so that at least it appears that WWE does not stand for such behavior. He could propose he’s learned the error of his ways.

 

This was my main problem with Riddle when his business came to light. He never seemed repentant, just glad the matter was settled. So, if things get bad for WWE, he may get shown the door as well just so WWE doesn’t appear contradictory. Mr. McMahon did step down amid these allegations, Riddle continued to work for the most part and strangely, people don’t have a big problem with it. If that continues to be the case, then I don’t see much happening to Mr. McMahon or Riddle. We shall see.

 

In any case, if the shit does hit the proverbial fan, WWE does have options. Most don’t care for Mr. McMahon being in charge anyway and many don’t care for his Management Team. So, if all else fails the idea I had a while ago could become valid. Even if it’s just for show, Triple H and Shawn Michaels could be named as creative successors and the fun could really begin. I get the feeling if something like that dropped, everyone would forget the bad press and just gear up for the future. We’ll see how bad things get. I don’t expect it to get that bad but that’s always an option in the event the hull gets breached and the whole thing starts to sink. We’ll be watching.

 

In the meantime, John Cena has the awkward job of switching focus as we take some time to celebrate him during this Go Home Week. So far, I can see he’s back on RAW with the old gear as the roster greets him. This has got to be bittersweet to say the least. To fill out the 3 hours, we’ll get some solidification for the Money in the Bank PPV and see how Kevin Owens keeps from blowing his last gasket as he battles the gaslighting from Elias/Ezekiel. Funny tweets and Likes get retweeted. It may be hard to watch right now. People could accuse you of being complicit to the ills of the Chairman by watching but I don’t think that’s quite the cut of it. I watch because it’s fun. I like how I can peace out of life for a few hours and delve into the WWE Universe. It’s an escape, pure and simple. I don’t want to have to think about the political or ethical ramifications of watching. There shouldn’t be any. If WWE can’t establish that distinction, then Mr. McMahon’s days are numbered. Yet, remember, even in that case, don’t expect him to lose much power. We’d just stop seeing him. So, think on what really corrects the problem here.

 

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)