That’s Vince McMahon chortling as he says to himself, “Hey, look what I can make these girls do.” Even as Ashley Fliehr chokes back tears on her promo.
It’s sick. But that’s wrestling. It’s no place for the overly sensitive, or the overtly decent. I give Charlotte credit for getting through it. This is the business she’s chosen.
As with Charlotte, I knew Reid Fliehr since he was born. I loved him. I have very fond memories. When Paige said what she was directed to say, I was outraged. But I wasn’t surprised. Because that’s wrestling. It’s happened before, and will happen again. Randy Orton told Rey Mysterio Jr. that Eddie Guerrero is in hell. I knew Eddie, too.
If you want to work for WWE, you have to swallow stuff that doesn’t taste good. You do it because of the lure of the business. You accept that, and hopefully succeed.
Charlotte’s payoff will be when she faces Sasha Banks at WrestleMania to culminate the feud that hopefully makes the Divas’ Revolution just like it made NXT, and then the winner engages Bayley as WWE tries to anoint a kids’ hero. Charlotte’s excellence will get her where she wants to go. She won’t be deterred.
I knew Reid Fliehr well enough to know that’s exactly what he’d want for his sister. That’s what mom and dad want, too.
Follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkMaddenX
