Some fans immediately rolled their eyes at The Authority giving Roman Reigns this opportunity. Don't they hate the guy? Why would they do this? I don't think this is so bad. I've seen worse. Ever since The Authority was created, they have consistently teased tension within their own group. And not always to set up an angle where someone was leaving the group. It was just dumb. It made the group look bad and it took away from feud development at times. What are fans supposed to make of this inconsistency with the group? I found that more annoying than recent developments.
Can you make sense of what the heel authority figures want to do? Could they be trying to drive a wedge between Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns? The two are as close as brothers. Can the opportunity to headline Wrestlemania cause a split? Don't forget Brock Lesnar is in there. Could they want the mercenary to destroy both Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in one match? And don't forget, it isn't like The Authority is just handing Roman Reigns his rematch. They are forcing him to win this match if he wants a shot at Triple H for the title.
Will Roman Reigns even win this match? In terms of the storyline, it would be obvious to have Roman Reigns win here and face Triple H at Wrestlemania. Lesnar can move on to something else, like The Wyatts. Dean Ambrose has the Intercontinental Championship. Roman Reigns would be the one left with no real direction if he does not get to continue his feud with Triple H. But fans still do not like him as much as the WWE would like. Roman Reigns was in a similar position last year, where he faced Daniel Bryan with a shot at headlining Wrestlemania on the line. Reigns won that match at Fast Lane. Is the WWE ready to give up on Roman Reigns? Or will he get the likely win? Time will tell.
Let me do an aside. The WWE took some heat last week for certain angles involving the divas. Ric Flair kissed Becky Lynch and The Rock made some comments towards Lana in his return segment that have led some to say the WWE is sexist towards their women.
I did not have a problem with anything that happened last week. Did Ric Flair do anything that crossed the line? This kind of thing happens all the time. Chris Jericho kissed Stephanie McMahon. Jeff Hardy kissed Stacy Keibler. Brie Bella kissed AJ Lee. You have instances of men spanking women in wrestling. There are a lot of interactions of women being handled like this. Happens all the time.
As for what The Rock said to Lana, implying she cheated on Rusev with him, that was also no big deal. I know dirtsheets tried to spin things like Lana is in the doghouse. The Rock referred to Lana as a "Russian Streetwalker" during his first segment with Lana and Rusev a few years ago. Any reports of Lana in trouble back then? The Rock is walking backstage, verbally owning people along the way. He owned Miz. He owned Big Show. He left Lana and Rusev in a sticky situation. His whole return segment on Raw was filled with things that probably pushed the limits of what the WWE would normally allow. His exchange with Lana was the least of it.
Is it all sexist? You can make the argument that it is. Thing is, is it really worth condemning to the point that the WWE has to issue a statement about it? I don't think so. I am a fan of horror movies. There are definitely sexist things that happen in a lot of horror movies I have seen. You get gratuitous nude shots of women. You sometimes see the "airhead" slut character. You see some girls portrayed like sex, drugs, and other such things are all they have on their mind. I am sure there are a lot of people that dislike this stuff, but I have never come across anyone in the horror business have to justify what they do. These kind of things are still featured in these kind of movies. One of the tricks is to make sure that is not all you feature. Also feature women with different characters.
I have talked about the Sleepaway Camp movies before. Angela, the killer in these movies, is not portrayed as the women I just talked about. And what draws me towards Pamela Springsteen's version of the character is that she is just entertaining. I found her cute. She was never slutty. She was never nude. And she was the main character in some of these movies. And there are a lot of other horror movies where I am more drawn to other female characters, like the serious heroine, than to one of the other female characters portrayed in a sexier manner. I sometimes like that strong female character. I try to watch Friday The 13th: Part 3 whenever I can because I like the character of Chris, played by Dana Kimmell. Cute, but with a strong character. Never nude. Never too slutty.
Back to wrestling, as long as there is variety, I do not see a problem. You will get sexist segments and characters here and there, but you will also get other things going on. I do not think the WWE pushes things too far. I would say they need to give their women fair opportunities to succeed. I would say they need more unique gimmicks for their women. I would say they need better character development. Of the many problems I see in the diva division, I do not see a problem with what they did last week.
In the end, I think the WWE has pretty much asked for this. They are running a family-friendly product. Their television shows are PG. They do not hide that they target kids. When you do these things, you have to watch what you do. I have said many times that the WWE pushes the limits. I do not think what they did last week with Becky Lynch and Lana was even the worst of it. They are asking for trouble. Horror movies are not PG. If they tried to draw in little kids, then they would face heavy criticism.
The WWE needs to find an identity. They cannot please everyone. They cannot be family entertainment to draw in kids and still be edgy to please fans complaining for the Attitude Era to come back. No matter what, someone will complain. Even with the WWE being edgy here and there, fans still complain about them being PG. Even though they do try to be a family-friendly product, people still call them out for certain angles. Sitting on the fence is not going to protect the WWE from criticism. They will be criticized from both sides. They may think they are producing a product that appeals to all kinds of fans, but they might just be producing a product that gives all types of fans reasons to stop watching.
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