The State of Things
by Tiffany R. Merryhill
April 18, 2020
This piece isn’t a recap of any show in particular. However, this is a review of how the last month has gone in the world of wrestling and how the change has affected talent and fans alike. When the world changed a month ago I figured that wrestling would come to a pause until we all could return to some kind of new normal. What I didn’t foresee was how the landscape of the business would still be reshaped at a standstill, or how ‘quarantine society’ brings out the worst in some people at a time where keeping everyone separate seems to evoke antisocial behavior. The craziest part? All of this upheaval and mess unfolded within a span of a week.
...so yeah, what the fuck is going on?
WWE Releases
I don’t know about you, but I didn’t expect so many releases to take place this week. There was always the feeling that WWE would be financially impacted by the loss of a WrestleMania weekend crowd, true. Maybe I was mistakenly under the idea that WWE would be solvent enough to weather the situation and make strategic cuts elsewhere rather than have people lose jobs or paychecks. Not so, apparently - especially after the demise of the XFL’s renaissance. From Wednesday on to today it's been a terrible week for the wrestling world, no matter how much one could try to brightside it by thinking up post-WWE career moves for those who were on the chopping block.
Perhaps the worst thing about the releases is the uncertainty of any upcoming return to shows being held again. These men and women will have a difficult time making a steady living from the work that they love doing. There’s a pause in the wrestling world, but day to day life continues for everyone who needs to support families and pay bills. Fans can play a helpful part by buying independently produced merchandise of released talent in the meantime, but it’s dismaying to have no idea of how long times will be this hard.
Idiocy and Racism
Of course, while all of this tough news is going on and we all continue to live as separately as possible, you’d hope people would do as much as possible to be their best selves. Seriously, how difficult is it to not be a jerk around people when you’re really not around people to begin with? Human nature tells a different story than the hopeful expectation. This week saw some of the worst personal conduct arise out of an already bad situation. On Friday morning, wrestling fans on social media found out about a racist video posted on TikTok that involved a guy who, prior to Friday, had been training out of AR Fox’s Atlanta-based wrestling school.
This individual, Jay Hunter, couldn’t have torpedoed himself any quicker than he did on Friday. Not only was a potentially bland wrestling personality shot down in flames, but his girlfriend (the one who posted the video on TikTok) didn’t do herself any career favors by involving herself with such ignorance as well. In less than 24 hours both of them were unceremoniously dropped from all association with any school they’d been involved with. I’m left to wonder if quarantine life is just meant to make already unbalanced people even more unstable. It’s encouraging to know, however, that there’s true solidarity in wrestling. It didn’t take long for fans and talent who usually spend most of their social media time arguing over petty things to unite against one asshole, and Jay Hunter was summarily cancelled in less than a few hours. There is still some good out there to outshine the negativity.
Sick Pranks
I wish I could say that the Jay Hunter mess was the only instance of trash behavior in the wrestling world this week. While that situation unraveled on Friday there was yet another case of fuckery about, but this particular occasion has yet to yield a confirmed instigator. Word circulated on independent wrestling Facebook and Twitter about late night prank calls that were recently made to a number of indie wrestlers and talent. The calls were extremely sensitive in nature; the caller emotionally and convincingly claimed that someone close had died. Speculation was heavy on Friday afternoon about who was behind the prank, but so far nothing has been confirmed as to who the prankster really was. Look, I realize that pranks and wrestling have been around forever, but how sick does a person have to be to think up such a thing at a time like this?
We've got to continue to look out for each other even though we can't be physically close to one another. Thankfully there's more good out there than bad at the moment, but it astounds me to see how deeply affected things in wrestling have become in such a short period of time. We're all supposed to be at a standstill, so why are we waking up every day wondering what's next?