The WWE Hall of Fame needs a revision

Warning: The following article contains several topics readers may find upsetting, including discussions on political matter, strong language, and more.

“Look in my eyes. What do you see? The Cult of Personality.” – Living Colour, as used within World Wrestling Entertainment for CM Punk. These are words that would become oddly prophetic. Not just within wrestling, but with this other personality thereinafter. What happened yesterday afternoon was years in the making, and it would only happen in the most twisted and perverted of fiction. It was something no one in their right mind would call for, much less go out of their way to avoid denouncing. Horrible acts of violence and destruction broadcast not only within the U.S but worldwide.

This is an open letter, not just to Vincent Kennedy McMahon but the entire entity surrounding him too. An entity which is co-signing (for lack of a better term) the sentiment displayed by one of WWE’s most loyal employees. As many of us watched the sky over the U.S Capital and behind the Capitol building blacken, dispersing many of those collected on the steps of the building, we were all rocked by the images we saw across social media, news sites, and TV. After the hours during which the Capitol was plunged into a lockdown a curfew was enacted. Additionally, the FBI, the National Guard, and many other law enforcement officials descended on the building and surrounding areas. Mick Foley, formerly a WWE (then WWF) wrestler, implored the present chairman and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment to give the 45th U.S President the boot out of the Hall of Fame that his company holds aloft.

Hey Vince – how about throwing this sorry son of a bitch out of our Hall of Fame?@VinceMcMahon

— Mick Foley (@RealMickFoley) January 6, 2021

It would truly be a symbolic act if there ever was one. However, the company is not one for being on the wrong side of history with their actions (or lack thereof) in other controversial acts by the company’s current or former employees. Well, they would be called employees if someone – say an English bloke with glasses and HBO series – were to look at the status of these “independent contractors” and see what they do for the company. I’m striking a nerve on purpose, of course, as the WWE hates their wrestlers being called employees. That would require the WWE to provide benefits and standards. We know this as Thea “Zelina Vega” Budgen was (reportedly) fired from the company this past November over unionization support.

What indeed made Foley (and many wrestling fans) show their ire towards the 45th president? His (and those around him) previous, and current stoking of conspiracy theories, baseless claims, and language that has now incited a siege on the U.S Capitol amid a deadly pandemic. Something that caused many of the President’s fellow elected U.S officials and staffers to cower as a collective marching under Confederate and Nazi German flags, stormed the Capitol. Among those were people with his own banners while wearing his merchandise with his name emblazoned on it.

I want to make it clear: As a wrestling fan and a fan of the entertainment that is wrestling, I do not want something that is so beautiful tarnished with this vitriolic and disgusting display of plain and simple hatred. Having this man honored with prestige within your make-believe house of great people within your industry, well, is an abomination. I could (instead) devour the company in several different ways on many issues the company has/had had with surgical precision. The aforementioned contractor status is just one issue. Mortality rates would follow, along with the treatment of women, LGBTQ+ people, people-of-color, and so much more. Nevertheless, the WWE has a simple performance move that they could pull, that Vince himself could pull.

Senate and House representatives (line of succession members) were asked to use their gas masks under their seats. A woman stormed the building during the riots and was shot and later killed (along with three others who died). In the hours since these riots broke into the building’s perimeter, many of the President’s closest allies were denouncing these acts. His closest confidant for his presidential run and 4-year term, Vice President Mike Pence, would himself seek the deployment of the national guard as the President did not. Pence himself was rushed from the Senate floor as this domestic terrorism broke-in and played siege, destroying and stealing property, for a time.

It was not something that falls at one man’s feet, though he is allied within the upper court of wrestling’s monarchy lead by the McMahons. Linda, Vince’s wife, was part of the president’s appointment for the administrator for the Small Business administration, thanks to donations the family made to the president’s campaigns. By no mistake, the McMahon family and the greater WWE entity is part of what gave this man a platform. They are not the only ones giving him a platform, but they are the ones giving the man honors.

No one in their right mind will (or should) condone what was incited by this President, along with his lawyer and others. What happened in the United States Capitol building and surrounding areas on January the 6th, 2021, was not an episode of Jack Bauer’s life. It was real life. This was an incident (sadly, to put it so turgidly) that saw four-lives lost. Additionally, there were what appeared to be two pipe bombs that were disarmed. On top of that, very little was done by law enforcement until it was too late. Arrests alone in the hour following the enactment of curfew saw 13 (or so) arrests. To bluntly put it, in 2017 when disabled people protested repeals of ObamaCare, there were 180 arrests done swiftly and with purpose.

More than 180 disability activists were arrested yesterday protesting the latest Republican effort to repeal Obamacare pic.twitter.com/zflrzcAqdT

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) September 26, 2017

I’m not asking questions on a political side with a curving come-hither finger. I am simply looking at the people who incited, those who acted, and those who did nothing in the face of active revolt against duly elected officials. The inaction by those on the front lines, the improper preparations that led to this by law enforcement, and the actions of those who claim to stand for law and order yet did not show understanding, empathy, or respect for that process.

So once again: I am urging not only the WWE, but fans of wrestling who do or have supported the WWE as well, to denounce this man and his action. It may just be an honor in the make-believe house of clanging and banging, but you are honoring a man who has and is standing on the wrong side of legacy.