WWE’s hypocrisy on full display with their criticism of AEW self-harm

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A WWE spokesperson recently criticized AEW’s bloody self-harm during the December 31 episode of Rampage. This AEW event featured a violent women’s tag team match that included tacks, barbed wire, and lots of blood. By criticizing this level of violence, WWE was trying to position itself as the company that actually cares about children, sponsors and the health of wrestlers.

It might be tempting to look at current WWE PG product as opposed to more mature AEW content and think they’re just telling it as it is (aside from the odd claim that they’re in a different company from AEW). But all you have to do is go back to a February 1996 letter to see the hypocrisy and underlying motivation of WWE.

Vince McMahon was having a hard time coping with the rise of WCW in early 1996. He decided to attack Ted Turner and the old WCW roster through various skits on WWF programming. In an attempt to damage WCW’s relationship with its sponsors, he wrote the following letter to Turner on February 8, 1996, once again centering on self-harm. Here is the full letter, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

Dear Ted:

Since there has been no response to my repeated request and that you and your pro-wrasslin company stop the practice of self-harm, I can only assume, based on the last two weeks of Nitro, that the practice of self-harm (slicing oneself with a razor blade) is not only tolerated but encouraged. As you know, Hulk Hogan has been bleeding everywhere for the past two weeks. There have been numerous references on your wrasslin lineup that this weekend double cage match will be so violent that an opponent will bleed to the point of being unrecognized. This encouraged practice of self-harm is disgusting, violent, potentially contagious, and completely inconsistent with your testimony before Congress in June 1993 and contrary to your 1995 participation in Voices Against Violence. Despite many unprecedented predatory practices against the World Wrestling Federation, if you continue to promote self-harm, I hope your shareholders will hold you accountable for this unethical, guttural, and potentially unhealthy practice.

Of course, we know it didn’t take long for the WWF to embrace the self-harm that Vince was criticizing in that letter. The more forward-thinking Attitude era helped propel the WWF to new levels of success from 1998 to 2001, and culminated in the closure of WCW. While it was financially beneficial for the WWF to incorporate self-harm into its content, Vince McMahon suddenly didn’t seem to care about violence, gutturality, unhealthiness, or contagious potential.

Fast forward to today, and WWE no longer embraces this kind of violence in its programming. But let’s be clear here: the reason they’re featuring a PG product today is because they think it’s the best way to make money right now. As Vinces’ letter from 1996 shows, if WWE thought edgier content and hardcore violence were the best way to make money today, they’d change their stance with a snap of their fingers. Keep in mind, as recently as 2016, WWE booked a controversial angle where Brock Lesnar opened up and concussed Randy Orton with legitimate elbow strikes to the head. When WWE thinks this is the best way to create interest in their product and make money, they suddenly don’t mind looking away from the potential danger and health risks involved.

It’s also worth noting that WWE has no problem making money off self-harm today via its streaming archives available on WWE Network and Peacock, where there’s plenty of this violent content for fans to enjoy. nostalgic fans hand over their money to watch.

Don’t kid yourself that WWE cares more about the health of its wrestlers than AEW, that WWE cares more about family values ​​than AEW, or that WWE stands on some sort of moral ground. higher. Much like in 1996 with Vinces’ letter to Ted Turner, WWE’s recent criticism of AEW’s violent content was another attempt to damage AEW’s relationship with its network partners, as well as the ability from AEW to earn money through sponsorships.

It’s always about money and position in the market for WWE. They will even enter into a disgusting long-term relationship with a government that sanctions the murder of journalists and commits horrific human rights abuses, as long as there is plenty of money to be made. This is what WWE cares about more than anything else.

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