Bradshaw Causes Incident At House Show

[AndrewTS 0]

"Bradshaw's character is a heel. His character is basically 'cocky pro-American who thinks he's better than everyone'. So I guess it fits."

 

I must have missed all the Seig Heils from Kurt Angle that finally got him over after the guy couldn't buy a decent heel reaction.

[King Cucaracha 0]

"Bradshaw's character is a heel. His character is basically 'cocky pro-American who thinks he's better than everyone'. So I guess it fits."

 

I must have missed all the Seig Heils from Kurt Angle that finally got him over after the guy couldn't buy a decent heel reaction.

Hmm. Yeah, that doesn't look right.

 

Replace 'pro American' with 'anti-everyone' then. Considering he's not really even pro-American anyway.

[AndrewTS 0]

"Bradshaw's character is a heel. His character is basically 'cocky pro-American who thinks he's better than everyone'. So I guess it fits."

 

I must have missed all the Seig Heils from Kurt Angle that finally got him over after the guy couldn't buy a decent heel reaction.

Hmm. Yeah, that doesn't look right.

 

Replace 'pro American' with 'anti-everyone' then. Considering he's not really even pro-American anyway.

I haven't been watching Smackdown, so I wouldn't know. However, wasn't his character supposed to be a Texan DiBiase? Yet from what I see skimming TV reports, basically that was just to set up the big push, and now he basically is playing a racist heel hoss that occasionally brings up the money and book and yadda yadda for bragging rights.

 

I don't expect him to be giving money away to people who will do disgusting things, since they's totally midcard, but huh?

 

It's as if the new gimmick is an afterthought.

[Guest netslob]

Ken Anderson's take on the situation...

 

he does have point, i guess.

[King Cucaracha 0]

On the Howard Stern radio show today, in the midst of a conversation about censorship, Stern compared Bradshaw's conduct during a match in Germany to an episode of the 1970's British Comedy Fawlty Towers. The Stern radio crew laughed about a wrestler also being a financial analyst. He mistakenly said Bradshaw wrestles as Eddie Guerrero, but later was corrected. He said pro wrestling is popular around the world with "idiots everywhere." He then sided with Bradshaw, saying that it was scripted and he didn't deserve to lose his CNBC job.

 

Credit: The Torch

 

Make of that what you will.

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

Ken Anderson's take on the situation...

 

he does have point, i guess.

I wish someone would shove him off his perpetual soapbox. His brother too, while we're at it.

[Only The Strong Survive 0]

Take an honest, hard look at the situation. Put aside all personal distaste for John Layfield, and take an objective look at the pro-wrestling business. When the haze clears, I think you'll wind up seeing a man who after a decade in the business made a stupid mistake, not a Jew-Hating, Nazi-sympathizing monster. The line of good taste has been blurred so much by Vince McMahon over the last decade, that Bradshaw probaby never even realized he had crossed it until he was standing on the other side. Because of this, he might lose everything.

 

I find that sad.

 

That may be true, but I don't think that he will be fired at all. I mean, beyond what everyone else thinks about the incident separately from their thoughts on the WWE, from a business standpoint, firing JBL would be suicide. As much as he doesn't belong in the main event, the point is that right now, he's there, and having him is as necessary as having Eddy. Smackdown! can't lose anything it has right now, and because of that, I don't think you could argue in favor of firing Bradshaw.

[Guest netslob]

Ken Anderson's take on the situation...

 

he does have point, i guess.

I wish someone would shove him off his perpetual soapbox. His brother too, while we're at it.

amen to that...yeah, Jay, we're all REALLY interested in how many girls you fuck...not to mention Mike Sanders' life-story...

[Cherry Blossom Viscount 0]

Can ANYONE have a differing viewpoint without getting jumped on?

[Anakin Flair 0]

Can ANYONE have a differing viewpoint without getting jumped on?

No. What board did you think you were on?

 

Personally, I don't care for Bradshaw in the main event, but what he did was stupid. Not racist.

[AndrewTS 0]

Can ANYONE have a differing viewpoint without getting jumped on?

Unless you manage to word it without sounding like an asshole, no.

[Cherry Blossom Viscount 0]

How did Ken Anderson sound like an asshole? If you read the first 11 pages of this thread, alot of the anti-Bradshaw posters were making a number of immature, childish, assholish comments.

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

He didn't sound like an asshole per se, but if I want to hear somebody preach, I'll watch Oprah, thanks.

 

This stems from a strong dislike of him as a writer from last year - his "differing viewpoint" about the issue at hand has almost nothing to do with it.

[AndrewTS 0]

How did Ken Anderson sound like an asshole?

I wasn't even talking about the Ken article, I meant in general.

 

If you read the first 11 pages of this thread, alot of the anti-Bradshaw posters were making a number of immature, childish, assholish comments.

 

There were pro-Bradshaw posters doing the same. Let's not act like either side has been extremely civil about it.

 

The difference is that the anti-Bradshaw posters were attacking Bradshaw, and many of the pro-Bradshaw posters were attacking other posters. The pro-Bradshaw posters then act like they're so mature and unbiased while simultaneously flame-baiting.

[Guest wrestlingbs]

On the Howard Stern radio show today, in the midst of a conversation about censorship, Stern compared Bradshaw's conduct during a match in Germany to an episode of the 1970's British Comedy Fawlty Towers. The Stern radio crew laughed about a wrestler also being a financial analyst. He mistakenly said Bradshaw wrestles as Eddie Guerrero, but later was corrected. He said pro wrestling is popular around the world with "idiots everywhere." He then sided with Bradshaw, saying that it was scripted and he didn't deserve to lose his CNBC job.

 

Credit: The Torch

 

Make of that what you will.

It wasn't scripted. Bradshaw did it at as a spur of the moment thing to get heat.

 

That brings up a good point. Some people here have defended Bradshaw by saying that he was just playing a character. Yet what Bradhsaw did he improvised himself. Nowhere in the "script" did the WWE want him to do that.

[Guest netslob]

On the Howard Stern radio show today, in the midst of a conversation about censorship, Stern compared Bradshaw's conduct during a match in Germany to an episode of the 1970's British Comedy Fawlty Towers. The Stern radio crew laughed about a wrestler also being a financial analyst. He mistakenly said Bradshaw wrestles as Eddie Guerrero, but later was corrected. He said pro wrestling is popular around the world with "idiots everywhere." He then sided with Bradshaw, saying that it was scripted and he didn't deserve to lose his CNBC job.

 

Credit: The Torch

 

Make of that what you will.

It wasn't scripted. Bradshaw did it at as a spur of the moment thing to get heat.

 

That brings up a good point. Some people here have defended Bradshaw by saying that he was just playing a character. Yet what Bradhsaw did he improvised himself. Nowhere in the "script" did the WWE want him to do that.

just proving, once again, that Stern doesn't know Shinola from that other stuff.

[Guest Choken One]

Why are we still talking about this jackass?

[Guest netslob]

slow news day.

[Celtic Jobber 0]

WWE should fire Bradshaw, not because of this one particular incident;

 

But because he sucks in the ring, his promos suck, he's not nearly over enough for someone who's received such a big push, and from almost all accounts -- he's a locker-room bully who finds great joy in extreme hazing. So, yeah they should fire the dumb bastard.

 

Since Smackdown will need a suitable replacement in the main event once that scumbag is fired, move Rob Conway from Raw and drop his French-Canadian sympathizer gimmick.

[Guest nikowwf]

At a time when they are giving him a huge push, based primarily on loyalty to him for being in the company so long, and when they are not doing that well (especially his brand) he embarassed them by doing NAZI things in GERMANY. Its got national news coverage. That's exceptionally stupid. I'm not saying THEY MUST FIRE HIM but certainly anyone can see that they do have ammunition to do so.

 

Personally, i think he checked with one of the road agents with what he wanted to do, and this is why he has not been fired.

 

niko

[haVoc 0]

I think he hasn't been fired because they have done worst things that have been scripted.

[Enigma 0]

At a time when they are giving him a huge push, based primarily on loyalty to him for being in the company so long, and when they are not doing that well (especially his brand) he embarassed them by doing NAZI things in GERMANY. Its got national news coverage. That's exceptionally stupid. I'm not saying THEY MUST FIRE HIM but certainly anyone can see that they do have ammunition to do so.

 

Personally, i think he checked with one of the road agents with what he wanted to do, and this is why he has not been fired.

 

niko

Shit, he probably phoned up Vince and told him about it and Vince got giddy.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

As much as he doesn't belong in the main event, the point is that right now, he's there, and having him is as necessary

 

No, it isn't They will just push somebody else even if they actually decide to bring somebody from RAW.

 

Smackdown! can't lose anything it has right now

 

That's what we said last year and they lost a lot, but its still there.

[Guest Dazed]

CNBC Wrestles With a Bad-Boy Image

 

Three weeks after announcing it had hired WWE wrestling bad boy John "Bradshaw" Layfield as a financial analyst for the network, CNBC said yesterday it was shocked to learn that JBL was in fact a WWE bad boy and it sacked him for doing the Nazi goose step and stiff-armed salute during a World Wrestling Entertainment match in Munich.

 

That, Layfield told The TV Column, is something he'd done before when performing in Germany both for WWE and for a German wrestling outfit, and is among the "reprehensible" things the character he plays has done.

 

"We find his behavior to be offensive, inappropriate and not befitting anyone associated with our network," the NBC cable financial network said in a statement about Layfield, who wrote the book "Have More Money Now: A Commonsense Approach to Financial Management."

 

"They hung me out to dry," Layfield told The TV Column.

 

"I was playing a character. It's the same as Vin Diesel playing a Nazi."

 

Layfield insists he's not an anti-Semite and says he made the gestures to incite the German audience to root for his opponent, Eddie Guerrero, during the Munich match.

 

"I'm a bad guy [on WWE]. I'm supposed to incite the crowd. I've done [the Nazi gestures] for decades. I really didn't think anything of it -- I know how bad it is, I've lived [in Germany]. I've been to Dachau, seen those places where they exterminated millions of Jews."

 

But, Layfield continued, "I draw the line between me and my character. That's like saying Anthony Hopkins really enjoys cannibalism."

 

Layfield said he had discussed his WWE character with CNBC before taking the contract and even had language put into the contract saying the network understood the nature of the role he played for WWE.

 

"The only thing they asked me not to play was a stock market cheat or fraud. Other than that, they said they totally understood, that it was like [California Gov.] Arnold Schwarzenegger playing a cyborg. . . .

 

"I thought I had it covered. I thought they understood the character is a bad guy and is going to do bad things," he said. "[JBL] has done some reprehensible things recently.

 

"I'm the worst bad guy they have on ['WWE Smackdown!']," he added.

 

Though a WWE spokesman acknowledged that JBL had done the goose step and Nazi salute before, the organization also put out a statement saying that Layfield had been reprimanded for last weekend's gesture.

 

"What he did in the ring was not probably the best thing to have done," the WWE rep told The TV Column. "We all understood why he did it and know that his intentions were good ones in terms of trying to make it the best experience for the fans and his fellow professional Eddie Guerrero -- to get the fans even more with [Guerrero], which is what John was supposed to do as the bad guy."

 

A CNBC spokeswoman said the network first received word of the incident via e-mails. She did not elaborate and referred to the CNBC statement in response to additional questions.

 

It would seem that CNBC was okay with the fact that Layfield's character recently was seen on UPN telecasts of "Smackdown!" as a Hispanic-taunting anti-immigration fanatic.

 

Layfield says his character has turned into "JR Ewing meets Pat Buchanan":

 

"Most of my promos are straight out of Pat Buchanan's run for election. That's where I got it from -- preaching against immigration, the fact that they're teaching in Spanish in public schools, and I say 'Spanish' with a despicable look, like I want to throw up. I got all of this from Pat Buchanan."

 

CNBC apparently also was fine with the fact that in a column on the WWE Web site, JBL wrote of his detractors: "How long has it been since you guys that spend all your time reporting on us have been with a woman other than your mother? After all, when I see you in airports hanging out, you are always with guys. You guys don't have a questionable sexual orientation do you?"

 

Layfield penned that bit on May 11, just six days after CNBC announced proudly that it had signed the wrestler and author, who'd been a guest on that network and others, including Fox News Channel, as a contributor on several shows.

 

"John brings a fresh perspective to the stock market, politics and finance," CNBC said in its announcement. "We are excited that he is part of our team and look forward to his engaging, entertaining insights."

 

 

"I was playing a character. It's the same as Vin Diesel playing a Nazi."

 

the organization also put out a statement saying that Layfield had been reprimanded for last weekend's gesture.

 

Why reprimand him for 'playing a character', unless it was something he'd done without WWE's consent, thus making him not 'playing a character'.

Edited June 12, 2004 by nikjohns

[Art Sandusky 0]

He's done it before? You think something like that would have come up during all of this, considering the collective information-gathering power of the internet.

[Guest Trivia247]

geez is this debate still going on...

 

Bradshaw not gonna get punished no one will ever mention it outside of the company whats the point?

[Cherry Blossom Viscount 0]

So, he has done it before. Looks like this was just the campaign of a community of bitter smarks. Funny how it all comes to light when he's a main event player. Oh well, he still has his job and the whole "firestorm" of media coverage is at a lowly trickle. Like the poster above, he's not going to get a huge reprimand, in fact, his program will just likely be extended to SummerSlam. In fact, I don't see Bradshaw dropping out of the main event light anytime soon. If Kurt Angle does return to the ring, Layfield will probably just assume the role of GM. Happy day for you guys.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

The media could care less about WWE, much less what they do in another country. Aside from the initial story abou the incident, I haven't heard anything else about it as far as Germans being outraged. If you pay to see WWE, you should expect anything.

[Art Sandusky 0]

What irks me is that this just makes the biggest wrestling organization on the planet look carnie again.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

It's funny how people are comparing this stuff to playing a character in a movie. Using words like "professional" and saying he was just playing a "role". Hello, WWE does not have the credibility of Hollywood. It's not comparable. This isn't "art", it's just above porn in that respect.

 

Vince acts like a carnie, I hope he realizes that he will be treated the same way, and professional wrestling will never get the respect it deserves.

 

Ditto about going into NY and mocking 9/11. I wonder who will defend that bit of "acting".

 

Nobody goes into another country, knowingly breaks the law by mocking the extermination of millions and expects nothing but "cheap heat" to happen.