Ashley Massaro Dead at 39

[Winston]

May sound drastic but this feels like the end of WWE as we know it. If this snowballs I'm not sure how they recover.

Fans already turning off in their millions due to the awful product and the Saudi deal. This ruins Vince personally like nothing before.

[MEGABUCKS]

This is picking up on twitter and reddit. It really needs to get picked up by mainstream news. Ashley isnt here but she deserves justice. I really hope WWE get what they deserve for all those individuals who have suffered becuase of them it's about time

[Keith Houchen]

1 hour ago, Carbomb said:

One of the more depressing things that come to mind is that, whilst the US military has had a tendency to close ranks regarding its atrocities, chances are that McMahon, being an arch-Republican, husband of a former Republican candidate for the senate, and therefore a bit more "in" with the establishment, probably had a bit more chance than most of getting remedy and support for Massaro if he'd actually tried to do something.

I don't think Vince would want to do anything to upset the establishment.  I'm sure he's laughed at in that elite 1% world as the guy who made his money from fake wrestling for kids as is the joke of that fraternity.  Linda getting a bit of respectability probably did more for his own standing in that world than anything.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

5 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

I don't think Vince would want to do anything to upset the establishment.  I'm sure he's laughed at in that elite 1% world as the guy who made his money from fake wrestling for kids as is the joke of that fraternity.  Linda getting a bit of respectability probably did more for his own standing in that world than anything.

Beyond the Mat director Barry Blaustein once said Vince is trapped in the wrestling world and works 23 hours a day because in his community full of successful people, he's seen as the weirdo wrestling guy. Imagine being a billionaire and still feeling 2nd class to those around you? Dixie Carter most well liked in her town than he is.

[Keith Houchen]

Just now, IANdrewDiceClay said:

Imagine being a billionaire and still feeling 2nd class to those around you?

Kind of goes a way to explain not letting your beard win.

[Onyx2]

@Chris B your tweet on Reddit now has just shy of 30k upvotes. That's a lot of noise. 

 

 

Edited May 21, 2019 by Onyx2

[David]

10 hours ago, Yakashi said:

I don’t really mean in court. He can put out a statement to the media with all his counterpoints etc and try and shut it all down.

I do think that the fact it’s a woman and it’s 2019 will help a lot. These things are getting traction now more than they ever were. And some 60 year old male millionaire lawyer using his usual bully boy tactics might actually make things worse for them. Hopefully. 

If this does hit the mainstream media anything a lawyer puts out won't make any difference, as it's the headline and the shock story that sells, so to speak. The big question is if any real mainstream media sources actually carry the story properly.

9 hours ago, Carbomb said:

One of the more depressing things that come to mind is that, whilst the US military has had a tendency to close ranks regarding its atrocities, chances are that McMahon, being an arch-Republican, husband of a former Republican candidate for the senate, and therefore a bit more "in" with the establishment, probably had a bit more chance than most of getting remedy and support for Massaro if he'd actually tried to do something.

Remedy and support for one female "diva" isn't worth upsetting the powers that be in the US military, sadly. The "special relationship" with the armed forces is something that WWE proudly hangs its hat on, and it wouldn't do anything to jeopardise that.

[Carbomb]

9 hours ago, Keith Houchen said:

I don't think Vince would want to do anything to upset the establishment.  I'm sure he's laughed at in that elite 1% world as the guy who made his money from fake wrestling for kids as is the joke of that fraternity.  Linda getting a bit of respectability probably did more for his own standing in that world than anything.

 

53 minutes ago, David said:

Remedy and support for one female "diva" isn't worth upsetting the powers that be in the US military, sadly. The "special relationship" with the armed forces is something that WWE proudly hangs its hat on, and it wouldn't do anything to jeopardise that.

That's the thing: what I was attempting to imply was that, because of the American establishment's more inherently Republican nature, people who have historically displayed a lot of support for it like Vince are more likely to have influence, and depressingly more likely not to use any of it for any kind of beneficial or just purpose.

[Snitsky's back acne]

Sadly, I still think this story will have little impact overall.
Yes, the media may pick it up but, ultimately, people will just think 'Oh it's only wrestling'.
I know that sounds awful but only wrestling fans will truly be bothered enough by what happened to Ashley to do something about it. Everybody else will likely see it as a terrible thing that happened to someone in an industry they already believe to be scuzzy and 'low brow' - and this is how wrestling, sadly, continually gets away with it. 
Nobody outside of the pro wrestling bubble truly gives a shit about what goes on inside it.
Yes, they will 'care' like anyone would reading that affidavit, but are they ultimately going to do anything about it? No.
WWE has weathered storms like this before and likely will again. 






 

[air_raid]

1 minute ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Nobody outside of the pro wrestling bubble truly gives a shit about what goes on inside it.

As mentioned in this thread, "US forces medical staff rape a woman" is news outside the wrestling bubble.

[David]

31 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

That's the thing: what I was attempting to imply was that, because of the American establishment's more inherently Republican nature, people who have historically displayed a lot of support for it like Vince are more likely to have influence, and depressingly more likely not to use any of it for any kind of beneficial or just purpose.

Yeah, but if he did use any influence he had for a just purpose, he'd not be long in losing said influence, as well as any kind of benefits his company may enjoy from their relationship with the military.

[Snitsky's back acne]

2 minutes ago, air_raid said:

As mentioned in this thread, "US forces medical staff rape a woman" is news outside the wrestling bubble.

I truly hope it becomes that, I really do, as it is an absolutely disgusting series of events that WWE should be absolutely ashamed of [something tells me they have barely given it a second thought] but I just think... I dunno, from what I know of America they will forgive the military almost anything such is their idolisation of it, and Ashley will be dismissed as 'one of those wrestling people who was probably on drugs or something anyway'.

Consider modern Trump-ruled America, where abortions are being banned in several states - 'Brave, military hero who fought for our freedom alleged to have raped drug addict wrestling star who parades around in her underwear on TV'. It will obviously gain traction in certain circles but wrestling is such that the impact will be minimal.
Were it a movie star of pop star - things would likely be massively different. If its the army v wrestling - people [in America at least] will side with the army. 


 

[Carbomb]

36 minutes ago, David said:

Yeah, but if he did use any influence he had for a just purpose, he'd not be long in losing said influence, as well as any kind of benefits his company may enjoy from their relationship with the military.

Of course; it's the crux of the whole thing - that he was more concerned about losing his relationship with the armed forces than he was that one of his "independent contractors" suffered a brutal assault.

26 minutes ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

I truly hope it becomes that, I really do, as it is an absolutely disgusting series of events that WWE should be absolutely ashamed of [something tells me they have barely given it a second thought] but I just think... I dunno, from what I know of America they will forgive the military almost anything such is their idolisation of it, and Ashley will be dismissed as 'one of those wrestling people who was probably on drugs or something anyway'.

Consider modern Trump-ruled America, where abortions are being banned in several states - 'Brave, military hero who fought for our freedom alleged to have raped drug addict wrestling star who parades around in her underwear on TV'. It will obviously gain traction in certain circles but wrestling is such that the impact will be minimal.
Were it a movie star of pop star - things would likely be massively different. If its the army v wrestling - people [in America at least] will side with the army. 

It's an odd one, because the politics of the era we're now living in are much more polarised. There's very little middle ground, so you'll have Trump's lot who'll trot out that line that you've mentioned, but there are now also a lot of mobilised people on the American Left (and a few on the actual Left too) who are likely to come out heavily to fight that corner - the way the US is, they'll most likely lose, but it's not something that will necessarily go away quietly.

[David]

9 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Of course; it's the crux of the whole thing - that he was more concerned about losing his relationship with the armed forces than he was that one of his "independent contractors" suffered a brutal assault.

Absolutely. But that's what separates the Trumps and mcMahon's from the compassionate, ordinary human being. Thankfully, there's more of the latter than the former in my opinion.

[Carbomb]

3 minutes ago, David said:

Absolutely. But that's what separates the Trumps and mcMahon's from the compassionate, ordinary human being. Thankfully, there's more of the latter than the former in my opinion.

I'd like to believe so, too. At the moment, though, I despair because it just doesn't feel like they're winning.