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| Whatever punishment he gets won't be enough Photo Credit: ImpactWrestling.com |
I was ruminating on this Monday night, and my colleague K. Sawyer Paul asked me what I thought of Jay Briscoe not being fired from Ring of Honor. Honestly, while Briscoe's tweets did not physically intimidate a member of the non-establishment, they were threatening verbally, so much so that they could be construed as felonious. Even if they weren't, they were bad form for anyone in this day and age, regardless of religious belief. Aries and Briscoe share commonalities with Michael Cole, John Cena, The Rock, Scorpio Sky, Bully Ray, Michael Hayes, and even going as far back as Randy Orton, in that they all committed egregious acts against women, homosexuals, and other aggrieved people, and none of them lost their jobs because of it. Sky might be an exception to this because he was not brought back as "Harold" in WWE, but to my knowledge, he wasn't fired from Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, and Impact Wrestling even brought him back for spot appearances in the X-Division after he made his awful, homophobic comments.
Sometimes, I wonder why things haven't gotten better, why these acts, verbal and physical, continue to happen in wrestling especially. But then I look at that earliest case I mentioned. Orton defecated in women's bags, and he was not fired for it. It happened before I got back into wrestling, yes, so I'm not sure what the disciplinary action was if any. But looking back at everything else, the punishments were not deterrents. Cole was able to keep his high-profile job as voice of WWE after calling Josh Mathews a "faggot" on Twitter. The Rock has received absolutely no blowback for his misogynist or homophobic promo material, while Cena was only forced to go through sensitivity training for his. Again, Sky still gets bookings for CWF Hollywood and TNA, while Hayes is still in a prominent backstage position with WWE even after he made utterly racist comments towards Mark Henry. Bully Ray had to make a half-hearted apology for calling a fan a "faggot" in Chicago after winning his title. Everything else is a slap on the wrist compared to them being able to continue with their jobs, sometimes unscathed, other times, with a forced, unpaid vacation that in the long run means absolutely nothing.
Whatever punishment Aries is going to receive will not be enough to deter other people from their blatant lack of regard for other peoples' humanity. Sure, maybe Aries will think twice before jamming his crotch into a woman's face on camera against her will, or maybe he won't. I have no idea what goes on in his head. But if people see that they can, in the long term, continue to amass money and fame despite saying things that perpetuate a culture that keeps aggrieved people aggrieved, then what's to stop them from popping off at the mouth, either verbally or online, and then hide behind some flimsy belief, or shout at people for political correctness as the status quo is maintained?
That's why wrestling promoters need to hit these people where it hurts. If a wrestler or any employee does something from as physically horrendous as Aries' crotch thrusting or Orton's bag-shitting to as innocuous-seeming as Kevin Kelly framing a highly xenophobic article as concern about his former employer and current competitor not "drawing," they should be fired. Threaten them with their employment and their ability to advance their own careers for the continued perpetuation of a system that doesn't allow other people to do the same because of their race, gender, or sexual orientation. It's only fair. Normally, I am not as glib with the calling for other peoples' jobs. I think there should be a certain modicum of mercy granted to those who make mistakes. But to marginalize what was a premeditated sexual assault in front of a million people for the crime of flubbing a ring entrance as a mistake continues to let these people off the hook for their bigoted behaviors.
We're not going to get anywhere by pledging lip service to end bigotry, bullying, and all other forms of heinous human behavior. Action has to be taken. People need to learn. If they have to learn the hard way, we as a society need to become comfortable with the fact that those people suffering the punishment brought it upon themselves. Women shouldn't have to feel like sexual assault is something they have to live with if they watch wrestling. Gay people shouldn't feel like they need to stay in the closet to be fans. People shouldn't have to feel ashamed of who they are to live in every day society. I'm sorry if you're among the people who can't deal with that, but you know what, you're the dinosaurs here. If you can't make your stupid, backwards opinions extinct, then you have no place moving forward. Wrestling is totally part of that movement, whether you like it or not.