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| Was the biggest problem the mixed messages sent to the live and iPPV/post-feed crowds? Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
I had a discussion with Dylan Hales over National Pro Wrestling Day (which he reviewed here), and it centered mostly around the perceived misogyny in the Resistance Pro match. Of course, he wasn't there and watched the event via the replay feed. As he noted in his review and reiterated, he saw what was great storytelling. It was actually a great, gender-blind story featuring smaller wrestlers, specifically D'arcy Dixon, overcoming the odds to come close to defeating Robert Anthony, a larger wrestler and the Champion of the promotion. In the end, she was overcome by her teammate's incompetence and the Champion's determination. Afterwards, the lariat didn't fulfill anything; rather, it set up a revenge scenario.
The thing is, if I had watched it on the screen, I might have had a similar reaction. Or if not similar, my outrage might have been nerfed. The major reason being that every one of the things uttered by Anthony or Jay Bradley that raised the ire of our entire group did not come across on the viewing at home. Hales' biggest complaint of this match, actually, was the announcing of Gavin Loudspeaker and Bryce Remsburg. He accused them of not taking the female competitors of the match seriously and doing them harm by joking too hard with them. I can't judge the commentary, because I haven't heard it. But the thing is, Hales (and other people who watched the feed and actually agreed with my assessment) can't judge on the things he didn't hear either.
He couldn't make the appraisal that I could have because he couldn't hear the misogynist running commentary from both Bradley and Anthony. I can tell you that Bradley came out hurling "GB2KITCHEN" from jump, that Anthony started a "DOMESTIC VIOLENCE!" chant, and that the postmatch stuff, something that was supposed to get a heel reaction, actually validated every scumbag in the crowd lusting for Dixon to get put in her place. I mean, if the story was to make me feel bad for Dixon and to put Bradley over as a mega asshole heel, then wouldn't changing the script and not giving into the crowd that was cheering for Bradley to do everything but beat Dixon with a rolling pin been a good audible to call? I mean, the only thing missing was Bradley proclaiming "THIS ONE'S FOR ALL THE VICTIMS OF MISANDRY!" before dropping the lariat. If Hales got that from the match and didn't hear the hidden, live soundtrack, he would just be going on the word of what people told him to believe.
To me, that puts into question which version of the story we're supposed to take as gospel. Is the live version the real McCoy? Or should we give them the benefit of the doubt and go with what was on the screen? The answer is that it has to be the one that you experienced, right? So that makes things murky, and it creates a rift that isn't easy to arrive at compromise.
One thing that I think is inarguable that no matter how the wrestlers perceive their art, the fact that the co-owner of the company reacted the way he did to those who called out the misogyny was unacceptable. It's also a clear signal that women in wrestling still have a long way to go before they can gain acceptance the way men have. It's crazy that after all this time, the gap is still wide, but then again, look at the market leaders. Fuck, the best way for a woman to get screen time in TNA is on a fucking cheesecake TNA shop ad.
Some see this as a call that intergender wrestling doesn't work and never will. I have seen far too many Rachel Summerlyn matches to know that statement is false. It's a matter of people promoting it giving it respect. Apparently, R-Pro had a story in mind. That story was subverted by the manchildren in the crowd who may or may not be CZW fans (which is funny given DJ Hyde's outspoken and progressive attitudes towards gender equity in wrestling). Whether it was the wrestlers who weren't smart enough to call the audible or whether they secretly were glad they got over as faces, that had to be in the back of everyone's mind as something that might happen, right? At the least, it was the wrong match to send as representation, given that it was better served as part of a larger story where Dixon (and maybe even Thunderkitty) got to work towards a better payoff over time. I think that point is inarguable.
But the point is that it wasn't clear. The message was garbled, and that in and of itself is a bad consequence. If you're going to present something as sensitive in tone, you have to be clear with the message. ACW is clear. You don't have to be there live to get one presentation and watch it on tape to get another one. The blame goes not only to the R-Pro crew, but to the NPWD organizers, and even to Remsburg and Loudspeaker if their commentary was indeed inflammatory. Everyone's gotta be on the same page. If not, then what the hell, you might as well be better off presenting a curling game.
The thing is, if I had watched it on the screen, I might have had a similar reaction. Or if not similar, my outrage might have been nerfed. The major reason being that every one of the things uttered by Anthony or Jay Bradley that raised the ire of our entire group did not come across on the viewing at home. Hales' biggest complaint of this match, actually, was the announcing of Gavin Loudspeaker and Bryce Remsburg. He accused them of not taking the female competitors of the match seriously and doing them harm by joking too hard with them. I can't judge the commentary, because I haven't heard it. But the thing is, Hales (and other people who watched the feed and actually agreed with my assessment) can't judge on the things he didn't hear either.
He couldn't make the appraisal that I could have because he couldn't hear the misogynist running commentary from both Bradley and Anthony. I can tell you that Bradley came out hurling "GB2KITCHEN" from jump, that Anthony started a "DOMESTIC VIOLENCE!" chant, and that the postmatch stuff, something that was supposed to get a heel reaction, actually validated every scumbag in the crowd lusting for Dixon to get put in her place. I mean, if the story was to make me feel bad for Dixon and to put Bradley over as a mega asshole heel, then wouldn't changing the script and not giving into the crowd that was cheering for Bradley to do everything but beat Dixon with a rolling pin been a good audible to call? I mean, the only thing missing was Bradley proclaiming "THIS ONE'S FOR ALL THE VICTIMS OF MISANDRY!" before dropping the lariat. If Hales got that from the match and didn't hear the hidden, live soundtrack, he would just be going on the word of what people told him to believe.
To me, that puts into question which version of the story we're supposed to take as gospel. Is the live version the real McCoy? Or should we give them the benefit of the doubt and go with what was on the screen? The answer is that it has to be the one that you experienced, right? So that makes things murky, and it creates a rift that isn't easy to arrive at compromise.
One thing that I think is inarguable that no matter how the wrestlers perceive their art, the fact that the co-owner of the company reacted the way he did to those who called out the misogyny was unacceptable. It's also a clear signal that women in wrestling still have a long way to go before they can gain acceptance the way men have. It's crazy that after all this time, the gap is still wide, but then again, look at the market leaders. Fuck, the best way for a woman to get screen time in TNA is on a fucking cheesecake TNA shop ad.
Some see this as a call that intergender wrestling doesn't work and never will. I have seen far too many Rachel Summerlyn matches to know that statement is false. It's a matter of people promoting it giving it respect. Apparently, R-Pro had a story in mind. That story was subverted by the manchildren in the crowd who may or may not be CZW fans (which is funny given DJ Hyde's outspoken and progressive attitudes towards gender equity in wrestling). Whether it was the wrestlers who weren't smart enough to call the audible or whether they secretly were glad they got over as faces, that had to be in the back of everyone's mind as something that might happen, right? At the least, it was the wrong match to send as representation, given that it was better served as part of a larger story where Dixon (and maybe even Thunderkitty) got to work towards a better payoff over time. I think that point is inarguable.
But the point is that it wasn't clear. The message was garbled, and that in and of itself is a bad consequence. If you're going to present something as sensitive in tone, you have to be clear with the message. ACW is clear. You don't have to be there live to get one presentation and watch it on tape to get another one. The blame goes not only to the R-Pro crew, but to the NPWD organizers, and even to Remsburg and Loudspeaker if their commentary was indeed inflammatory. Everyone's gotta be on the same page. If not, then what the hell, you might as well be better off presenting a curling game.