Wrestlers vs. Dirtsheets, Round 2398429

Do not mess with any mother, let alone THIS mother Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

The cycle is familiar. A wrestling journalist will publish a report, whether based in something that actually happened like the Sin Cara/Sheamus brawl, or something that someone within the company is rumored to be thinking or some other vague bullshit. Someone associated with the event, whether directly or indirectly, will come out in public and call the dirtsheets bullshit for reporting erroneous news. The tale is one as old as wrestling newsletters themselves, and this time around, it involves the tempestuous Sweet Saraya Knight coming home to roost in defense of her daughter, the WWE Divas Champion Paige:

So the dirt sheets says Vince doesn't like Paige hahahahahahahahahahaha ok lets believe that because it must be... http://t.co/jg1lxLOxQV
— Saraya Knight (@SarayaKnight) June 12, 2014

Knight's umbrage stems from a report on what Vince McMahon "thinks" about her daughter, i.e. the latter of the two scenarios laid out in the lede. To be fair, she did not cite the report that "broke" this "news." Whether or not it was reported by a Dave Meltzer or Mike Johnson first and passed along, or was bastardized in an out-of-context fashion by something one of them said is unknown. I don't begrudge Knight for what she's feeling regardless of source because a mother's natural instinct is to protect the young ones, no matter whether they've left the nest or not.

But regardless of who reported what, the practice of reporting "how people feel" within a given company is the dirt-worst mode of reporting news out there, especially when the feelings in question belong to Vince McMahon, who is reputed to be a madman anyway. If the reports about how flighty and fickle McMahon is are true, then he's the epitome of an unreliable actor, right? Reports on "feelings" seem to be the ones that would most likely be those leaks fucking with reporters. Being a news reporter in an industry built on lies and subterfuge is tricky work, but I think a lot of the guesswork can be removed by recognizing and eliminating the leaks that bring tidings of uncertainty or opinion of individual WWE board members, writers, or bookers.