Technico Support Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 It's like he never saw Hassan and Daivari, who worked a similar nuanced gimmick for a little while before being turned into full blown terrorists. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 Meltzer said on the radio show this morning that apparently it was Vince came up with whatever the character was supposed to be and Ali didn't like whatever the character was supposed to be and now we are here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technico Support Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 In my headcanon, Vince is suffering from dementia and thinks it's 1984. He absolutely walked into the room and said to Ali, "here are some friends of mine that are going to get you over like nobody's business, pal!" And proceeded to hand him a keffiyeh and some pointy boots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLowe Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 39 minutes ago, Technico Support said: In my headcanon, Vince is suffering from dementia and thinks it's 1984. He absolutely walked into the room and said to Ali, "here are some friends of mine that are going to get you over like nobody's business, pal!" And proceeded to hand him a keffiyeh and some pointy boots. Vince would do that, but thinking "The Iron Sheik is pretty popular online but he hates me personally, so what can I do to piss him off?" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 Good thing Woods already wears the pointy boots in the company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 steps to get a push from Vince 1) wear pointy boots 2) kick people in the crotch regularly 3) get pushed as the evil foreigner who kicks people in the dick with a spiked boot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go2Sleep Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 I mean, that's obviously a heel gimmick even if most of his points are true. It's literally Muhammad Hassan 15 years later, except at least played by an actual person of the culture being depicted. A face or even a true tweener can't be openly hostile to the audience. Once the fans start booing your smug superiority, any good points you make will not only be lost, but seen as wrong and bad. Then you get an established face coming out and saying "I know the people of (insert city) aren't racist" and it's all over. If you want a successful anti-racist angle in wrestling, the character has to be an unambiguous face, then you use established heels to be the racist assholes. The announcers and other established faces should also denounce the racism. Nothing undercuts a "nuanced" gimmick like the announcers saying "Well, I don't agree, but it's America, so he's entitled to his opinion." Basically, you can't expect one PoC to make an anti-racist angle work, it has to be a company-wide effort. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thee Reverend Axl Future Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 (edited) 8 hours ago, Technico Support said: In my headcanon, Vince is suffering from dementia and thinks it's 1984. He absolutely walked into the room and said to Ali, "here are some friends of mine that are going to get you over like nobody's business, pal!" And proceeded to hand him a keffiyeh and some pointy boots. This is literally what I would use as my genie/monkey paw/leprechaun wish for myself. "I'LL MAKE IT WORK, MR. MCMAHON!" Imam Axl ben Future, baby. I guess it would have to be 1984 as well, really. Brass ring, here I come. Edited January 19, 2022 by thee Reverend Axl Future added more STUFF 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zendragon Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 15 hours ago, Go2Sleep said: I mean, that's obviously a heel gimmick even if most of his points are true. It's literally Muhammad Hassan 15 years later, except at least played by an actual person of the culture being depicted. A face or even a true tweener can't be openly hostile to the audience. Once the fans start booing your smug superiority, any good points you make will not only be lost, but seen as wrong and bad. Then you get an established face coming out and saying "I know the people of (insert city) aren't racist" and it's all over. If you want a successful anti-racist angle in wrestling, the character has to be an unambiguous face, then you use established heels to be the racist assholes. The announcers and other established faces should also denounce the racism. Nothing undercuts a "nuanced" gimmick like the announcers saying "Well, I don't agree, but it's America, so he's entitled to his opinion." Basically, you can't expect one PoC to make an anti-racist angle work, it has to be a company-wide effort. I think this is pretty much why you want to stay away angles involving race, sexuality or gender identity (like having a Fallon Fox story for Nyla Rose). Shows like Law and Order can do "ripped from the headlines" type content but wrestling works in broad strokes, heros and villains. As a medium I just feel it lacks the nuance and subtlety to convey things that complex 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shartnado Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 26 minutes ago, zendragon said: I think this is pretty much why you want to stay away angles involving race, sexuality or gender identity (like having a Fallon Fox story for Nyla Rose). Shows like Law and Order can do "ripped from the headlines" type content but wrestling works in broad strokes, heros and villains. As a medium I just feel it lacks the nuance and subtlety to convey things that complex And then, there's the fan base. Even if you do everything as respectfully as possible, there's no real guarantee that the audience will give you the reaction you were hoping for. The old ten foot pole-rule is a good one, when it comes to wrestling and these sort of angles. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Also, in terms of things like race, politics and nationality, you have plenty of people who will support the designated "heel" in the situation. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Cincinnati Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 SRS is reporting that WWE doesn't plan to release Ali. We'll see what happens in the next couple rounds of cuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unnatural Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
username Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 I choose to believe that Ali was worried about being in one of the next round of cuts and is just playing some 4d chess... (not really, don't yell at me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Moneghetti Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 2 hours ago, L_W_P said: How does it work if someone quits? Can WWE hold them on a 'No Compete" for the length of the contract? Well, from what Meltzer said, Toni Storm still had to negotiate a release from her deal even though she basically just got up one morning and decided to quit the company and no-show that night's event. Meltzer thinks the WWE agreed to release her from her deal with conditions (i.e., she probably agreed not to wrestle for AEW or not to wrestle in North America or whatever). In general, quitting your job does not void a non-compete clause. Usually, non-compete clauses can be enforced for whatever period of time is specified in the contract. If you have a non-compete, you can quit your job and change careers or whatever, but you probably won't be able to go to work for a direct competitor of your employer. I've never seen a WWE contract, but my impression is that the contract can only be terminated early by the company, not by the wrestler. This sort of tracks with talent choosing to sit home or ask publicly for their release. If Ali or Anderson and Gallows could simply walk out on their contracts, i expect they would do instead of sitting at home complaining or campaigning for their release publicly. Also, Vince has added time to the length of contracts to make up for time the wrestler missed due to injury or whatever. Dave says nine months are going to be added to Candice LeRae's deal to account for the nearly nine months she is missing due to pregnancy. IRRC, Vince feuded with Rey Mysterio over his contract years ago and kept extending the contract to make up the time Rey missed due to injuries (against Rey's wishes, obviously). From everything i've heard or read, WWE deals are very one-sided. I'd feel a bit sorry for talent, but, at this point, they are knowingly signing one-sided deals, so..... Wrestling Observer says Sami Zayn signed a deal deal, so he won't be going anywhere for awhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxB Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 Pac had to take a full year off waiting for his contract to expire, at a time when AEW didn't exist. He just wanted to live in England again and work the indies, and Vince still refused to release him early. Brodie Lee took a bit less time than that, but same principle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt925 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 41 minutes ago, AxB said: Pac had to take a full year off waiting for his contract to expire, at a time when AEW didn't exist. He just wanted to live in England again and work the indies, and Vince still refused to release him early. Brodie Lee took a bit less time than that, but same principle. Kairi in japan. A “spokesperson” for wwe in japan nowadays literally means nothing. I understand not wanting her in aew, but not letting her wrestle in Japan, when she’s never coming back? Crazy. Hopefully she’s showing up in Nagoya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 On 1/20/2022 at 10:28 PM, matt925 said: Kairi in japan. A “spokesperson” for wwe in japan nowadays literally means nothing. I understand not wanting her in aew, but not letting her wrestle in Japan, when she’s never coming back? Crazy. Hopefully she’s showing up in Nagoya. The weird thing with Kairi is they clearly were ok with the idea of her wrestling there at some point, but randomly changed their minds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shartnado Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 1 hour ago, Eivion said: The weird thing with Kairi is they clearly were ok with the idea of her wrestling there at some point, but randomly changed their minds. Which of course is in direct contradiction with what was said about Mickie James entering Royal Rumble while with Impact. "That's not a problem anymore", when it's someone working for WWE and all of a sudden it totally still is a problem once it should work the other way around. That's just peachy. Of course, the Kairi situation was prior to this, but I doubt their stance has actually changed on that all of a sudden. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimo Necro Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 Lio Rush tweeted his AEW contract expires in a few weeks and will be a free agent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Meltzer is reporting a bunch of expiring AEW contracts won't be renewed. Quote If it's a guy who's contract is up and he's not on TV anymore or being used, they will probably be let go. If someone shows Vince a picture of Brian Cage, he's going to be NXT Champion by June. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVA Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Only if he invokes Scott Steiner’s approach to drug testing. ”Send Brock in a limo, and we’ll get tested together.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Moneghetti Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said: If someone shows Vince a picture of Brian Cage, he's going to be NXT Champion by June. Except he's about 15 yrs. too old for NXT. He's nearly 40. Also, WWE had him in developmental about fifteen years ago and he did last long (about 15 months). Edited January 23, 2022 by Tarheel Moneghetti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raziel Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 To be fair, that was before Cage decided HGH was a food group. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 They'll bring him in as Wolvie the Terminator. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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