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As many people, including former Lawler manager and close friend Travis Scott Bowden, said, the idea to bring Lawler's mother into the proceedings more than likely came from the King himself. Lawler is an old school carnie, and he's used edgy tactics in Memphis like that in the past. But do those kinds of tactics fly today? Even Lawler's good friend and former broadcast partner, Jim Ross, questioned the tastefulness of the angle.
I would agree in some respects about dragging a poor woman's death into a wrestling angle. It's not something I'd feel comfortable including in my professional life. In same vein that divorce and cuckoldry have too much gravity to use for tension fodder in pro wrestling, I'm not sure the death of a parent is the same either. I can definitely sympathize with that side of the coin.
That being said, divorce and death, while similar in gravitas, are different in how people deal with them. So, as with a lot of issues, I can see both sides of the coin. Lawler is a pro through and through, and if it's Lawler's idea to use his dead mother as a storyline device, then he's probably comfortable using it as a coping mechanism. That being said, while I'm not super-offended by it, and while I don't feel the same outrage that others might be feeling, I don't think the angle needs to have Lawler's mom inserted into it. Michael Cole is proving to be a dynamite heat magnet, and he can generate an epic response without going to that well. If Lawler's mother had survived until WrestleMania was over, do you think the crowd pop would have been diminished for when the King kicked the ever-loving shit out of Cole at the big event? I think not.
It just goes back to edge for the sake of edge. It would be one thing if it was a borderline angle that needed an extra kick to get over. It isn't though. Cole/Lawler may end up having the most heat going into it of any storyline, with or without using bereavement as a plot device. All attention is not good attention. If people are going to the water cooler talking about how tasteless an angle is, I'm not sure if it's a successful one.
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Yeah, I saw this this, and as much as TNA sucks lately, I said to myself "and people think the Jarrett/Angle storyline is tasteless?"
ReplyDeleteIt's insulting how easily some people can be insulted (okay, not really), but sometimes I think people, perhaps even subconsciously, just look for a reason to be insulted.
ReplyDeleteIf you look what Cole said, it was that she was in heaven ("best seat in the house" was the quote iirc) and that the King let her down. At least from my POV, I have more offensive things in my fridge than that exchange.
Whether the King came up with the line or not, there's no doubt he has enough clout to have said no. For all we know, this could've been King's way of doing a sorta tribute to his mother, have a line about her live on MNR. Maybe she would've wanted it.
I like the idea that it may have been King's way of coping with her death.
ReplyDeleteLawler's mother sold tickets back in Memphis, yes? And was involved in wrestling in some outside capacity like that? That may be exactly the sort of tribute she would have adored. Since, as you say, King has the clout to have said no, I'll trust that he knows and I don't.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I loathe the entire angle, but not because of this particular moment in it.
That promo was so old school Memphis that I'd be shocked if Lawler wasn't only ok with it but fed Cole his lines.
ReplyDelete@Rob - the Angle promo is tasteless because they trotted those kids out. they aren't actors and it's probably somewhat confusing to them (especially that young boy) as to what is going on.
ReplyDeleteTrue. At the end of the day, the dead are beyond harm, no matter what anyone says about speaking ill of them. Children? Quite the opposite.
ReplyDeleteHad no problem with it. And I may sound crazy, but Cole looked really nervous delivering that line. I swear that he was blushing when he said it.
ReplyDelete