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| Did the fans' reaction to Maria Menounos cross the line? Photo Credit: WWE.com |
It was the booing of Cena and ESPECIALLY Menounos that riled people up. One might think that the Hall of Fame was one time when it's time for people to show some decorum. Yeah, on the surface, I might agree, but I think there's a need for perspective here before really railing on the fans there last night.
I myself just in the first paragraph justified why someone might want to boo Donald Trump. I would feel a bit hypocritical if I was going to say that and then chastise a bunch of fans for doing the same thing to Menounos. Now, I don't think Menounos should have been booed, and if I were there, I know I definitely would not have booed her. But the thing is, if I had my reasons for booing Trump, then what makes them more valid than a random person's for booing Menounos? You could argue that because it's the Hall of Fame, it deserves a sense of decorum in that no one should be booed and everyone should golf clap, but I find that very hard to reconcile with my own belief system. If you have a problem with something or someone, you should vocalize it. I think the reasons people might have been booing were fucking stupid (Oh, she was a part-timer who pinned Beth Phoenix? That's not her fault, assholes.), but nothing ever good has come from shutting down an opposing viewpoint, right?
And going back to the idea that the Hall needs a sense of decorum, that sort of spits in the face of what the Hall really is. It's not really a measure of objective honor like a sports Hall of Fame. Even those are suspect, because entry into those is decided usually by a group of crusty, stubborn sportswriters whose views on the respective games they cover are static from the Stone Age. But still, there are at least criteria to get in. Where's the floor for getting into Vince McMahon's Hall? He either has to like you, or he has to think you're going to make him money on ticket sales. That's it. So what kind of decorum do Hall of Fame entrants or people inducting them really deserve if they're only cronies of a guy most of us seem not to like when he's not an actual wrestling character? I'd say the answer is between "none" and "infinitesimal."
Besides, why should the fans show any kind of decorum if the performers don't? It was clear that the wrestlers were still working during the event. Sure, Bob Backlund's "was it real or just a callback to his early '90s character" breakdown during his induction and the impromptu Chris Jericho vs. Mick Foley "match" that ended with special guest ref CM Punk counting three on Y2J after a Foley elbow drop were all done in fun, but they both set the precedent that this was a total in character thing. So if the wrestlers were putting on a show, then wouldn't it be expected that the fans booed the ever-loving Christ out of John Cena no matter what the appearance? We are part of the show, even the Hall of Fame, and booing Cena is a company-sponsored thing for fans to do to the point where they made shirts highlighting it.
Again, I'm not comfortable with booing someone like Menounos (although to be fair, other reports seem to say that she got a zero-sum reaction, which can be just as jarring if everyone else is getting cheered), or hearing boos for Cena when his charity work was being highlighted. It's also not to excuse wrestling fans for being crass, but at the same time, it's very hard to police crowd reactions. But when you engender a certain environment, you really shouldn't expect the fans to behave differently just because the dress code is more heightened.