 |
| Nothing Keenan said about Kong is accurate Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Enter Kevin Keenan, who is most notable for sexually harassing Mandy Leon when he was a referee in Ring of Honor, leading to his hilarious dismissal. For anyone who thinks those kinds of accusations can sink even the whitest and most masculine of White man, well, I regret to inform you that he failed upwards into a gig at Sports Radio WIP in Philadelphia. I know, I know, you're as shocked as I am, which is to say you're not shocked at all. Anyway, Awesome Kong made a surprise appearance in one of the two women's matches, a four-way also featuring Nyla Rose, Kylie Rae, and Britt Baker. Keenan saw her addition, and folks, he was NOT HAVING IT. At least he wasn't having it until everyone decided to yell at him, because he deleted the tweet. However, because the Internet never forgets, many people screenshotted it, and bad takes live longer than Keith Richards:
 |
| Screenshot thanks to @Courier619 |
Where to start with this whopper of a take for a dude who was fired for laying his filthy hands unwanted on another human being. How about I just start from the top.
History of assaulting other female talentKong has had two incidents of assaulting people backstage, and only one of those victims was a woman. The first was Bubba the Love Sponge, a notoriously racist shock jock who filmed his wife having sex with Hulk Hogan on a tape where he himself admitted he was racist. Birds of a feather flock together, it seems. Anyway, way back in the wilderness of 2010, Bubba tweeted something hella offensive about a Haiti that had just seen a gigantic earthquake, not even bothering to spell the name of the country correctly. Kong, who was Bubba's co-worker in TNA at the time, took umbrage with the tweet and sucker-punched the shit out of him. At the time, I wrongly thought that Bubba deserved at least notice, but now I know that he deserved not to have the time to get his guard up. If you're going to trash an entire, mostly-Black nation that just got rocked by tectonic plates, you deserve much worse.
The second incident involved her attacking Reby Hardy backstage at a TNA show in the United Kingdom in 2016. The issue stemmed from issues that arose between the two on Twitter years before, and that was the first time Kong got a chance to get her hands on Hardy. Depending on the source, Kong either put her hands around Hardy's throat, or she throttled her before she was restrained. No matter what, the altercation happened while Hardy's son, Maxel, was closeby. Obviously, in no way does this make Kong look good, and unless Hardy, who is well-known for making people upset, said something racist (not out of the realm of possibility), then Kong's actions cannot be condoned here. That being said, Kong is not the only wrestler in history who has used physical intimidation to get their way. Bruiser Brody threatened promoters all the time, and it ended up getting him killed in Puerto Rico (not saying he deserved it, to be honest, to be able to intimidate capital isn't the worst trait to have). So many other male wrestlers partake in locker room MMA themselves with dubious providence. Hunico/Sin Cara, Chris Jericho, Simon Grimm, and The Big Show are most notorious participants, with at least Show being confirmed to be an instigator. Will Keenan be as vigilant to make sure these wrestlers aren't booked? I mean, Jericho is on track to be the first AEW World Champion. Grimm isn't struggling for bookings either. Next:
Hasent [sic] been on TV in yearsWhile it's true that Kong has not been on current wrestling television since being fired from Impact/TNA in 2016 after the Reby Hardy incident listed above, to say she's not been on TV or even "wrestling" TV in years when she's a major player on the Netflix show GLOW. Besides, Jericho wasn't "on TV in years" when WWE welcomed him back in 2008 after his hiatus to go be a rock star and a VH1 talking head. Didn't make that a bad move, did it? Next:
History of giving management a hard time and being a pain in the ass to deal withOh man, where to start with this. First it's fucking hilarious that the dude who was fired from ROH for giving management a hard time by harassing the booker's girlfriend is on this shit. Second, the dude fucking retweeted Austin Aries deflecting claims that he himself was hard to work with:
So Aries is justified in saying he "calls [promoters] out on [their] bullshit" but Kong isn't? Hard to see what the difference between the two is except one is a White male and the other is a woman of color... oh I think I answered my own question here. Anyway, "being difficult to work with" in wrestling is capital code for "knows their worth." Again, Brody knew his worth, and he exerted it. He's seen as a folk hero in wrestling for it, his death mourned to this day, and it is justified. So why is Kong's behavior not? Again, I answered my own question. Next:
If you're working for the pop, I get it.No he doesn't, or else he'd be calling out WWE for bringing Hogan back, for example.
But not setting a great example from the outset.I'd argue it's a great example, that rehabilitation is possible for everyone. Of course, Keenan isn't the only one who has had these thoughts, but he's the most prominent one dumb enough to speak them into existence. If you want to know why one should give this asshole attention, it's because whether you like it or not, he's a guy with a following. These people need to be shown their asses as much as possible, to have it made difficult to spew their bullshit.
